Graduate student flees Lebanon via taxi

Wits, courage and cash brought Spokane native Shayna Silverstein from Lebanon back home Tuesday when the U.S. government could not.

When Israel began bombing Lebanon last week, the 27-year-old was in Beirut as part of a four-month trip to study the impact of popular and traditional music on Lebanese society for her University of Chicago graduate thesis.

“The escalation was so severe that everybody was taken completely by surprise,” Silverstein said.

By Friday, she knew it was time to leave. But how?

She and other Americans watched in frustration as French, Canadian, Italian and Greek citizens were evacuated by their countries. Meanwhile, it was impossible to get any clear information about American evacuations from the U.S. Embassy.

“All they could say was stay put,” Silverstein said.

So Silverstein and several other American academics took matters into their own hands, hiring two taxis to drive them Saturday to Damascus.

The trip took about 31/2 hours and as they sped along the Beirut-Damascus highway, Silverstein could hear, see and smell nearby bombs.

Her driver, Michel, used side roads as much as possible, and at times the small convoy was directed by children and sheepherders.

But getting to the border required driving on the main highway at times.

“There was this really frightening stretch where Michel put the pedal to the metal. I was so happy to see the border,” Silverstein said.

The ride cost her $200, including $50 in bribes – still less than the $300 she heard the U.S. government was charging its citizens for evacuation services.

Once in Damascus, Silverstein secured a flight to Milan, where she fought ticket counter agents for seven hours before boarding a plane to Chicago and then home Tuesday to Spokane and a big hug from her mother, Pam.

She now worries about the Lebanese friends she left behind.

Pam Silverstein said she was worried during the ordeal but not distraught.

“My job was to keep up with what was going on,” she said.

Shayna relied on cell phone contact from her mother to get the latest information.

With the electricity frequently out, tracking news of the day was difficult.

“You don’t know what is going to happen, so you don’t know how to make decisions,” Shayna Silverstein said. “The only thing you know is where the last bomb has fallen.”