Professor in Beirut has wife worried on Oahu
Ibrahim Dik awaits notice from the U.S. Embassy to get out of Lebanon
Kapiolani Community College professor Ibrahim Dik says he is in a "holding pattern" and cannot get out of war-torn Lebanon.
That is frustrating his wife, Dik said. "She's worried. She wants me home," he said, noting he spoke to his wife in Honolulu as she returned from Malaysia yesterday morning.
He told his wife, Susan, a KCC professor who had been on a Fulbright fellowship, "It's OK, I'm in relative safety. Don't worry. I'll be home soon."
But "that doesn't help," he said. "She worries anyway."
The 62-year-old said he is staying at a relative's home in Beirut, waiting for word from the U.S. Embassy on transportation out of the country.
He made the arduous 2 1/2-hour journey, traveling 60 miles along a rarely traveled narrow, mountainous road from his hometown of Roum to Beirut during a 48-hour cease-fire by Israel.
The highway normally taken -- the Beirut-Damascus Road, which includes a high bridge -- was bombed, and the bridge was heavily damaged.
"I was hoping there would be no bombing," he said. "I didn't get bombed but they bombed other things."
Last night at his relative's home in Beirut, Dik watched Lebanese TV news.
Beirut "is destroyed. It's World War II," he said. "They just bombed a milk processing plant."
Dik had been visiting relatives since late May in Roum, in a mountainous region.
Leaving family and friends was difficult, he said.
"The whole ordeal is sad and frustrating, so your nerves are on edge," he said. "You just say goodbye and wish the best of luck."
But it was not a tearful occasion.
"You don't want to do that," Dik said. "You hold your tears and say, 'See you next year.'"
Despite his family being safe, the war is already tearing his and other families apart. Many, particularly young educated professionals, have fled the country for jobs.
Nephews, nieces, sons and daughters are leaving for Africa, other Persian Gulf states, Australia, Canada and the United States.