Beirut Blues: terminologies and explanaitions

Terminologies:
Sitt Yvette(10): Sitt is a term in talking language that suggests two meanings: a Grandmother, or a great Madame.
Eastern and western Beirut: the civil war that broke out in 1975 divided Beirut into two parts; the east part is dominated by Christians, while the west part is dominated by Muslims.
Saint Maroun (12): a Syrian Christian priest who fought for the Catholic Church to control the byzantine Church in Syria; died in 410. His followers where been supervised, captured, tortured and killed by the orthodox. Therefore, they left Syria and take the mountains of Lebanon as a refuge; by the time, they became the rulers of this part of the Middle-East and declared by France as an independent country in 1920. today, the Marounit is the largest Christian sect in Lebanon.
Baklava (14): a Lebanese sweet. Many stores in Montreal offer this kind of sweet, for example, Adonis supermarket.
Aba (14): a long dress that believer women wear. When it is black, it indicates that the woman belongs to Shiite sect, mostly.
Dollars (15): the national currency in Lebanon is Lira; however, when the war started, most people converted their money to American dollar to protect their value.
Samadi’s patisseries (16): A very famous sweet store in West Beirut. It has a branch here in Montreal, Sauvé street.
Imam Ali (16): The cousin of the prophrt Muhammad. He was killed in 661. His followers are known as Shiite.
Arrack (17): a very strong Lebanese alcohol.
Al-Dahiya (19): the southern suburb of Beirut.
Houris (21): In Islam, paradise is a place where imaginable women reside. Those who go to paradise after death can get married with many of them.
Beit Mary or house of Mary (28): a tourist and historical town in the Christian mountains in Lebanon.
Cave of Qadisha (28): in fact, it is not a cave but a grotte in French language more than caverne. It is situated in north of Lebanon. It contains the spring of Qadisha river.
Hirj Beirut (31): a little forest. It is the biggest park in Beirut. Because of the war, all trees inside were destroyed. It used to be the divider between both east and west Beirut; this position causes the destruction of it.
Mecca (32): the holiest city for Muslims. It is in Saudi Arabia. It is where the Prophet Muhammad born; where Abraham built the first house on earth required by God, according to Islam.
Asmahan and Anwar Wajdi (33): very famous actors in Egypt during the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Asmahan is also the sister of a famous Syrian singer farid Al-Atrash. She died in a car accident. Rumors said that king’s Farouq wife was behind this accident because of Asmahan beauty that the king appreciated much.
Asya (41): Asia. Some people call their daughters with this name.
Muezzin (51): is the person who calls people for prayers in Islam.
Buraq (61): In Islam, it is believed that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven over a holly horse that name is Buraq. This ascension happened in Jerusalem.
‘67 war (71): Although Lebanon did not participated in this war, many Lebanese supported Palestinians and other Arab countries that engaged themselves in this war. The war lasted six days. In this war, Israel achieved a large victory and occupied parts of Jordan, Egypt, and Syria.
Qur’an (75): the holly book for Muslims.
Umm Kulthum (82): the most famous Egyptian singer at all.
Zaitouna (82): part of west Beirut known for its bars and Cabaret.
Fedayeen (85): a term that describes the Palestinians militants. Israel called them mukharebeen: Destroyers.
Ain Mraisseh (87): Near Zaitouna region. Today, this is one of the wealthiest regions in Beirut.
French (89): Historically, Lebanese Christians consider France as their tender mother; therefore, French is a dominate language in east of Beirut.
Jounieh (90): a typical Christian coast town. It is where Christians used to travel from during the war period abroad.
Kaffiyeh (92): a head cover used by fedayeen principally. Many Montrealais use it today to cover their necks.
Al-Hariri (98): The wealthiest man in Lebanon. He started to work politically in the 80’s. He was elected as a prime minister many times since 1990’s. He was killed in a bomb in February, 2004.
Qashqawan (99): An expensive cheese comes from eastern Europe.
Zemzem: is the name of Asma family’s maid. Also, it appears in page 109 as a well of Zemzem. The well of Zemzem is in Mecca. Its water is considered holly by Muslims. According to Qur’an, the well of Zemzem appeared during the era of Abraham when Hajar, the second wife of Abraham, was looking for water in order to make drink for her son, Ishmael. Mecca is in the desert.