Beirut Travel Warnings

Hello Everyone!

I am new to the community and to the forum!
I am planning on coming to Beirut within the next couple of months and wanted to get a feel for the city and for the country from people like me currently living there so that I can prepare myself properly!

I am really excited to come but do have a hindering question which I hope some of you could shed some light on being that you are all living there and can provide me with some better and more real information than what I hear from the media.

I have been constantly confronted by people saying that traveling to Lebanon now or the foreseable future is not a wise decision. It is hard for me to look beyond the travel warnings issued for Lebanon at the moment.

I would love if some of you could give me your impressions of the country and the city in terms of safety in light of the current situation and being situated next to Syria.

Thanks for your time - and please do not think that I am trying to offend anyone or thinking negatively about Lebanon. Quite to contrary! I am just trying to educate myself through other means than what I read about and hear about in terms of unstable politics in the region and the subsequent travel warnings.

Thank you!
Andrea