Window to Romania - Romanians in Lebanon

So far are known to exist around 1,000 Romanians established in Lebanon. There are no clear statistics. There are few other hundreds who are working, or just residing here.
In the 60s and 70s it was the first "wave" of Romanian women marrying Lebanese citizens, mostly of Muslim ethnicity. Most of the couples met in Romania, while the Lebanese studied there. Since Romania was at that time a socialist country, and the largest majority of Muslim citizens are sympathizers of this ideology, it was obvious that the most numerous Lebanese that went to study there were followers of the Islam. Therefore the new-formed mixed families were half Muslim, with children that inherit the father’s religion. Some Romanian women later gave up their Christian Orthodox faith to embrace their husbands’ religion, Islam. However, the transition was not very difficult since religious practice was suppressed in communist Romania. The Romanians suffered the same hardships like everybody else during the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war and remained with their new families.

The Lebanese that studied in Romania still talk Romanian, which makes it easier if you are, let's say, a Romanian that does not speak English/French/Arabic in need for a doctor.

In Beirut there is also an association of the Lebanese that studied and graduated in Romania, which numbers few hundred members

(Asociatia Absolventilor Facultatilor si Institutiilor din Romania Which is currently presided by Dr Mohammad Nabil Outa (For contact: +961 3 665666).
The association numbers more than 550 medical doctors, 130 engineers, 475 dentists, 55 pharmacists, few journalists, university professors and other specializations.

The other new "wave" of Romanians is the 90s one. After the Romanian revolution from 1989 and the end of the Lebanese civil war, it was easier also for the Christian Lebanese to come to Romania and also for the Romanians to travel and work abroad. And this formed the second wave of mixed marriages between Romanians and Lebanese, but this time children inherited also the Christian religion and women got to keep theirs.

Lebanon has a vivid nightlife and a high request for exotic dancers who entertain the rich Arabs coming from the Gulf to spend some money. Some of the exotic dancers are Romanian (others are Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, ex-Yugoslavian, Moldavian) and therefore the fame of Romanian women is not a very good one. One has to bear critical looks every time the citizenship is declared. However, there are also decent and educated women who got married to Lebanese citizens (met in Romania, over the Internet etc) and who try their best to keep up the moral standard.
It is worth mentioning that Romanian women married to Lebanese men are eligible for Lebanese citizenship one year after marriage registration in Lebanon. Unfortunately, it is common knowledge that the application for citizenship is not approved until the couple has two children, although there is no specific/written law to sustain that.
In Lebanon are also like few hundred engineers and workers who work on the Beirut naval port and in the Shekka Cement factory.

The pride of the Romanian Diaspora seems to be the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, or at least a part of it, that includes more than 30 Romanian musicians (out of a total of 80) who holds concerts twice a week at Saint Joseph Jesuit Church to popularize European classical music.