I had to fight through crowds to get some bread

Dubai: My brother and his wife were travelling to the UK. It was July 13. I had booked a taxi for 6.30am to the airport. It was late. They called to check why the taxi was delayed.

That's when we knew that war had started. At 6.15am Israel bombed the airport. Then bombed the roads and blockaded the ports.

That day I was supposed to be interviewed for a traineeship, with an advertising company. I called the girl I was supposed to meet. Instead of the meeting she advised me to buy "rations" - a word I was not used to hearing in the 21st century.

The three of us decided to buy food before it ran out. Everybody had gone mad on the streets. You could sense the panic. People were ranting about how we didn't need another war. They just wanted peace!

Heartbreaking

We didn't know how long we would be in Lebanon, so we bought canned food, long life milk and gallons of water. I had to fight through the crowds to get some bread. For the next few nights, I sat at home and e-mailed friends. As a bomb would land, bright lights would streak through the darkness. The windows would rattle as the sound pulsated through my body.

After a few days we managed to travel to Syria to join our mother's family.

Seeing the destruction along the way was heart breaking. Although I was born and raised in the UK, the war reinforced that Lebanon is not only my father's country, but also mine.