On September 5, 2009, the IYA 09 visited the village of Douma. Located in the mountains above the
Batroun coastal area, Douma is one of those Lebanese villages with its own very special character. It has preserved a lot of the typical characters of Lebanese
villages, namely stone houses and red-tilted roofs (2armid). It has a very nice old souk and a characteristic look when you look at a photograph of the whole village.
Announcements where posted everywhere across the village, inviting residents to meet at 8:30 pm at the Mar Doumit place. Jamal Bitar and Roger Hajjar animated the evening. 
It started with a word by Mr. Elias Wakim who organized the evening in collaboration the Douma Festival Committee. The IYA trailer preceded a presentation by Roger Hajjar to the attendance. The Magazine 3ouloum Al-Falk was distributed to those present and a discussion along with telescope viewing of the Moon and Jupiter followed. Although close to Full Moon (it was waning gibbous), it was possible to view the shadow of craters near the terminator, at a magnification of 90 times.
It was interesting to learn from the Mokhtar, an old trick used to calculate the approximate date of the lunar month, a trick heard from grandfathers but never jotted down. Now, it's written and will be posted soon on the website.
We also had very interesting discussion with some of the residents of Douma who are extremely fond of 
the night sky and do not miss a day without goig out on the roof of their house in the village, lay back and take a walk through the Milky Way and the constellations. A number of contacts were made with teachers who live in Douma and work in its schools.
All in all, another experience with its own flavor! Be it the location, the people, the place, the setting, the phase of the Moon, the program of the night, every one of these astronomy evening never ceases to surprise you. One of the beauties of Astronomy outreach!
