In Lebanon, we have 2 major players when it comes to original boards:
EKT a.k.a. Katranji and
CNC Lab. Katranji has the tendency to have a couple of defected items (I had a couple of Arduino Pro Micros that didn't work though I got the original ones). CNC Lab is in Tripoli (Bahsas to be exact), but all his products are top notch and never did I receive a defected item. You can also get them via RS On-line shop (Verdun, across Zara), but they are expensive.
You can also order them online via Massdrop and AliExpress for better pricing.
For electronic components to go with your boards, Katranji is your best bet, followed by Incotel and Boujikian (both located in Doura). Another good electronics provider is Kubbi (Bourj Brajni, best source for SMD components). You can also try Kanafani (Bchara El Khoury, next to Ministry of Finance and across Berytech Digital Park). Despite the friendly staff, they tend to have old stock (since they don't move their items as fast as Katranji or Boujikian). Boujikian is also the Armenian store that Johnaudi might be referring to (don't know if they etch and assemble the Arduino Uno boards though). In home automation projects you might be needing circuit breakers and other high current controllers, so I recommend Takom energy for that (Ghazieh).
For the workshops, Lamba Labs!! We do build nights on Wednesdays between 7:30pm and 10pm (sometimes we start earlier and sometimes we stay later, depends on the timing of keyholders). Check our FB page for events as well (we did an all Python workshop where we touched base with the Raspberry Pi; we're holding an intro to Arduino workshop and maybe an IoT workshop based on NodeMCU and Blynk app in January as well). Even if we don't have a dedicated workshop during Build Night, you can ask for help anytime from any attendee who is willing to help out (myself included). We always welcome questions, no matter how dumb or nooby you think it may be :) Contacts: 70/854780 (if you want me to add you to our whatsapp group notify me on that number as well), or email at
contact@lambalabs.com. You can also PM me if you want to keep things private or whatever. Note: we provide the hardware during the workshops and Build Nights if you're curious about something and just want to test it out before buying, and majority of the workshops we hold are free of charge.
To be fair, BDD and some university clubs (like AUB Robotics Club and STC club at RHU) sometimes do workshops on Arduino and Raspberry Pi (though sometimes access is restricted and other times workshops are paid).
PS: between Dec 1st and Dec 5th I'm not available in the country, so best way to contact me then is via whatsapp.