Libya is no longer the cosmopolitan entrepot of the 1940s. Its Jewish community emigrated to Israel, the Christians left, and public entertainment in this observant Muslim society is limited to the odd restaurant and a thriving Sufi music scene. With mixed-sex interaction occurring mostly inside houses, lovers meet in dusky parks or frantic hospitals.

Alcohol is banned even in international hotels, but Benghazi’s Western and Westernized youth can still dance, drink and have their first romantic encounters in furtive social gatherings at home, or - once the weather warms - on isolated beaches far from peering locals along Libya’s sprawling coastline.

But more important than academic achievement, Mandolios says the school is a petri dish for building the next generation of multicultural, multilingual Libyans, as comfortable in English and French and mingling with Christians, Jews and agnostics as they might be around fellow Muslims or talking in their native Arabic.

“What they gain is a multicultural community which is a necessary weapon in the international society we live in,” said Mandolios. “They get in a conservative Arab environment the gift of a foreign culture.”

To this end, an ethnic quota system was instituted, which strikes a very conscious balance between international students, full Libyans, and half Libyans from mixed marriages. In this game of balances, the idea of a dominant culture emerging is avoided in favor of pluralism - a symphony of languages and colors.

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