Hope for the Unseasoned Visitor to Beirut?

With "Navigating the streets of Beirut, one landmark at a time," The Daily Star reporter Niamh Fleming-Farrell tells us about  a new process for giving people directions in Beirut  (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Lifestyle /2011/Oct-29/152506-navigating-the-streets-of-beirut-one-landmark-at-a-time.ashx#ixzz1cMUoGnKb) . We'll see if this navigational tool of design firm PenguinCube catches on. It's a series of seven steps that could even fit on a business card. Some Beirutis have reservations about standardizing landmarks in their city and neighborhoods, since explaining to people where places are in their communities is a matter of identity as much as social conversation. Designer Tammam Yamout says he is trying to honor that, though. Who knows, perhaps there is hope for newcomers like me to be less late for appointments while honoring our hosts' cultural identity!