Tunisia Pictures #1

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Done!

I'm officially done here in Tunis. Our final party and graduation is tonight.

I'm leaving for Egypt on Monday. It should be a great time.

My internet will be a bit spotty, but hopefully I'll be able to update when I get back.

- Molly

More Detailed Description of Last Weekend!

We left Tunis on the 9 pm bus to Tozeur, in southern Tunisia. It was a 7 hour bus ride. I was sitting in the back so my seat didn't decline. It also happened to be broken, so the seat kept falling off. I was also sitting near the window, or what used to be the window. It had broken at some point and been replaced with aluminum siding. The Tunisians in front of us were also playing music on their cell phones - different songs at the same time. Needless to say, it was an adventurous bus ride.

We arrived in Tozeur at about 4:15 am, just before the call to prayer. We spent the next couple of hours sleeping outside the bus station (see picture). Yes, we look like hobos.

We wandered around searching for a tour. We found one and the six of us headed out to the Sahara. We ended up off-roading in a 4x4. It was a lot of fun, once our guide fixed my seatbelt and I no longer feared for my life (jk). We went zooming over sand dunes and around rock formations. It felt like a rollercoaster.

As we rounded a sand dune, we suddenly saw a bunch of huts in the middle of the desert. What is that, we wondered? Our guide informed us (or rather me, since I was the only one who spoke French) that it was the Star Wars movie set. We got out of the car and took the obligatory Jedi pictures. (hehe I'm whoosing).

Afterwards, we drove around a bit more, stopping to see a herd of wild camels and a well that the desert people used. Then, our guide took us past border security, explaining that the only reason we were allowed past was because we were with a guide. He took us to some guides who were going to give us a tour on camels. It was very very very hot and the sun was incredibly intense, but it was amazing to ride camels. Also, we're pretty sure that we crossed the Algerian border, which is technically illegal without a visa. However, since we were in the desert, the border is rather negotiable. We had some trouble crossing the the border guard/Sahara police in the other direction, who didn't want to let us in without our actual passports (which were left for safekeeping at school in Tunis). It was the same officer who had let us through 2 hours before, so I'm pretty sure that be was just giving us a hard time because all he has to do all day is sit at this guardpost in the Sahara and wait for people to come by. Still, it was a bit frightening.

Upon returning to Tozeur, we had lunch and grabbed a louage to Gabes, on the other side of the country, where we were spending the night.

We left the hotel at 6 am Sunday morning to grab a louage to Tatouine. Yes, the planet on Star War was named after it. There is not much of touristy interest in Tatouine itself, however, the surrounding villages served as sites for the Star Wars films. Remember the troglodyte houses in the films and the Cantina? We visited Chenini and Douari. More historically, people lived in these villages until recently. A recent storm washed out one of the villages so all the people moved out, although there is reconstruction being done to preserve these beautiful dwellings. In Chennini, the homes were the dwellings of the ancient Coptic Christians, and their cross could be found over the doors.

After Tatouine, we grabbed lunch. Easier said than done. Our cab drivers took us back to the bus station, where we learned that there was a two km walk to the center of town to find the nearest restaurant. We went to the nearest salon de the and ordered drinks. They offered to make us sandwiches. They went and bought bread, chopped up vegetables, and mixed it with tuna (I swear its the national dish of Tunisia). They even gave us free water (and didn't overcharge us). They were sooo nice.

We then arranged a louage back to Tunis - 8 hours. And our trip was over!

This was definitely my favorite weekend in Tunisia. The people were so incredibly nice. We had no stalkers or vulgar comments. Everyone went out of our way to be friendly and help us get where we were going. I have found that everyone in Tunisia seems to genuinely like Americans. We may get comments about our government, but it seems that they have a good opinion about the people themselves and admire and envy the freedom and prosperity that we have.

The weekend was also a great opportunity for me to practice my French. I was the only person in the group who could speak a large amout of French. I was the go-to person for translations and negotiations and all that good stuff. I also learned that it's not just my French that's bad - it's often the Tunisians. Less educated Tunisians often don't speak French as well. French is also less common in the south, which is much more conservative and a lot less European. It made me feel better about my ability to understand French!

Unfortunately, the weekend passed so fast. There was so much more I wish I could have seen. I like the south a lot better than Tunis and wish I had a chance to go back.

What I did this weekend

1) I slept on the ground outside of a bus station in Tozeur - a town in southern Tunisian.

2) I crossed from one side of Tunisian to the other (north to south, then west to east).

2) I went off-roading in the Sahara Desert.

3) I saw Star Wars movie sets in the Sahara.

4) I rode a camel along the Tunisian-Algerian border.

5) I visited the troglodyte rock houses in Tatouine.


Overall, it was a pretty wonderful weekend. Only 1 week left!

Sad Sad Day

My computer is officially dead. Now, I have to lug a broken piece of electronic equipment across 3 continents in the next 3 weeks. yay.

On the other hand, we went to Tabarka and Dougga this weekend.

Dougga is the site of Roman ruins about 20 km from the Algerian border. It was very very hot. It is much less touristy than Carthage, so I really enjoyed it. An archeologist went with us and explained stuff. Strangest thing: a communal toilet - 12 toilets together...

We also went through a tiny town called Ain Something (Spring something). Many towns in the area are called Spring something because of the natural springs in the area. This particular town was very un-Tunisian looking. It was founded by French Catholics in the 1800's and looks very European. The roofs are even pointed because it actually snows here in the winter (since it's in the mountains).

We spent the night in Tabarka at a beach resort. Yay for buffets of good food provided with the hotel. Nothing new about the experience. Just another excuse for our directors to have a free vacation on the American government. I'm totally ok with this as long as I get to go along. And there was another weird cabaret that all the Italians at the resort seemed to love but which none of us Americans understood...

Some random thoughts

To answer David's question: I'm pretty sure it's calibrated to Mohammed. Tradition holds that his barber is buried in Kairouan. No, I'm not kidding.

To answer Krissy's question: Camels are mean animals. Since this particular camel walks in circles around a well all day, it is a good idea to blindfold him so he doesn't know where he's going, try to attack the people watching.

Also, I'm whooshing at Carthage in the first picture. I am underneath the coliseum in El Jem in the second (I thought it looked kinda artsy).

On a side note:
I am starting to dislike American media, and it's global influence. The US is a superpower, no doubt about it. One might think that our foreign policy is our greatest export. The Arabs don't like us because we invade and destroy their countries (and they certainly have a valid argument). However, this is hardly our greatest influence in the world. Even more than our foreign policy, we export our media (everyone here knows Paris Hilton, Grey's Anatomy, Sex and the City, 24)...and American television and film does not portray the most flattering view of the western world.

First, the American portrayal of women and sexual behavior is often far from reality. "Good girls" in Tunisia often wear the hijab, and parents keep a tight watch on their daughters. They don't go out much at night. Although more common today, the mixing of the sexes is still very supervised. Women dress conservatively-shoulders and knees usually covered. (According to my host sister, Tunisian women are considered the skanks of the Arab world. As my tutor told me, the people from the Middle East believe that if you are Muslim and want to wear tight jeans, you should go to Tunisia). Alcohol is permissible here, but those Tunisians who drink are seen as having lower morals and alcohol related car accidents are a major problem. America is seen as a much freer country. As an American female, I grew up wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts. I'm allowed to go out with friends (and even, o my, associate with the male sex) (even at night). As a Catholic, I have been tasting wine from a young age, and I have grown up in a culture that embraces social drinking. And despite all this, I come from a fairly conservative family.

American media certainly portrays this, but it also portrays a lot more. The Arab world sees this, but it also sees the large amounts of free sex and alcohol in the media and associates them in the same way with the western world. As an American, I am expected to act the same way as the people in the movies. Upon entering a touristy restaurant, I am immediately offered beer, since that is apparently the standard western drink, no matter what meal of the day. When walking down the street, I am constantly stared at and occasionally followed (no matter what I am wearing). Since I am a Western girl, I must be the opposite of traditional Tunisian girls. Solicitations for sex are quite common.

Simply because I come from a culture in which women have more freedom, doesn't mean that I am quite as "free" as the media shows. My high school experience certainly was not the equivalent of American Pie or even Mean Girls. The greater freedom comes with greater responsibility, something that Hollywood certainly hasn't picked up. Tunisians don't understand that I am free to wear less clothing partly because young men are taught not to stare and to treat women with more respect. I can go out at night, but I don't wander around alone, because it can be dangerous. I do not live with my parents, but I am also in charge of much of my own money and managing my own time. Alcohol is permissible, but it is part of our culture. As a result, I don't drink a lot and I certainly don't drink and drive. My 17 year old host sister was amazed to find out that I had a curfew in high school, that I didn't alcohol in high school, that I wasn't allowed to watch movies with lots of sex and violence, and that (unlike her) I'd never snuck out of my parents' house to go see a boy.

Think about it: if Arabs only see the Western world portrayed as such, they will think that is how we really are. It is in such stark contrast with their own that they believe everything they see. No wonder they look at Western girls as wild and immoral. When American media portrays western women this way, how can I expect to be treated with respect?

My other problem with American media is its portrayal of Arabs. We actually watched a short documentary on the American media treatment of Arabs. They are portrayed as dirty and as terrorists. In fact, in the cinema release of Disney's Aladdin, the opening song, "Arabian Nights" said "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face/It's barbaric, but, hey, it's home," (later changed to "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense/It's barbaric, but, hey, it's home" in the video version). When we portray their culture this way, no wonder they dislike us too. In the video game Call of Duty, gamers play an American military official shooting dirty-looking Arabs. Imagine how awkward it was for some of the students in my program to find themselves playing this game with their host brothers during their homestay!

With our foreign policy combined with the portrayal of media, the Arab world thinks we are out to get them. They are astonished to find out that I know people in the US who are Muslim, even young women who wear hijabs! They didn't believe that (for the most part), Muslims are treated with respect.

It is our media, more than anything else, that determines how the rest of the world sees us. How can we possibly challenge typical American stereotypes when we only reinforce these images?

A Trip to Kairouan - القيروان

This past weekend, we took a Saturday day trip to Kairouan. It is the 4th holiest city in Islam (after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem). It is also the hottest city in Tunisia (even more than the southern ones most of the time). It was founded by the Arabs in 670. The picture of me has the minaret of the Great Mosque in the back. The Great Mosque is very beautiful and very old. When it was built in 670, Kairouan was the center for the Arabs in North Africa. Over time, it lost its power, but the Great Mosque is still considered very holy (and it's easy to see why).

We had lunch at a ritzy restaurant (we seem to do that when we travel). It was followed by a visit to the medina. I saw a camel drawing water from a well (see picture below). I bought orange and green scarves for anyone who is interested in one when I return to the US :).

We were supposed to go to Sousse after Kairouan, but no one was very interested, especially in the heat. I was starting to wish I'd brought a short sleeved shirt.
It was definitely upwards of a hundred degrees. I slept on the bus on the way back.


That was the end of Saturday. Sunday was the first day I'd had off in two weeks. (trip to Monastir + homestay). On Sunday, I was definitely ready to relax. A couple friends told me they had found an amazing beach within a taxi cab ride from Tunis. I was a bit skeptical, because most of the Tunis beaches are a little too seaweedy and filled with sketchy people for my personal enjoyment. But...they were right! The beach was pretty great (not as good as you can get several hours away, but it was no time to be picky). At first there was a lot of seaweed (I got blamed for being bad luck since there wasn't any seaweed any other time they'd gone), but it gradually washed away, and the water was very warm. We left the beach around 2:30 and took a pretty crazy taxi ride back. The driver didn't have any gas in his car, so he kept stalling and drove on the shoulder most of the way back to avoid getting stuck in the traffic. Luckily, we made it back ok.

After a relaxing shower, we rejoined at 4:00 for couscous at a nearby restaurant. Coucous is the customary Sunday afternoon meal because it is so filling and it makes people sleepy. I went back around the corner to the hotel and took a nap. I had a sugar crepe for dinner at about 8. (pretty much an ideal food day!)

A Tunisian family weekend

Last weekend was certainly an interesting experience. We were not told who we would be spending the weekend with until they showed up on Friday. I was staying with the average Tunisian family - a mother, a father, a 17 year old daughter (Ines), a 14 year old son, and a 6 year old daughter. (They also had a live-in maid). They lived in a typical Tunisian family compound - Ines' maternal uncle lived above them, her grandmother lived next to them, her paternal uncle lived above her grandmother. Maggie, another student in the program, was staying with the family of the maternal aunt, who lived about a kilometer away. I was pretty much entertainment for the 17 year old, who considered me her American doll for the weekend. Her 18 year old cousin Siwar had had an American student last semester, and now it was her turn too. She showed me to all her friends and everything.

Unfortunately the family spoke no English, which is a problem because I don't speak Arabic. However, they did speak French. I got by pretty well, except for the mother, who didn't speak proper French and had a heavy accent.

Maggie and I were picked up by my host mother, Ines, and Maggie's host sister, Siwar, and were taken to Ariana, a suburb of Tunis. The weekend was great because I got to see a lot of Tunis - we went to Carthage on Saturday, and the Bardo (museum with half of the mosaics in the world).

I'd like to share a few thoughts on the Tunisian family:

It is customary to feed guests, and it is considered an insult if they refuse. As a result, I was eating every hour all weekend. To make things a bit more difficult, I wasn't allowed to serve my own plate. There was pretty much no way for me to eat everything they gave me. I had chicken couscous, salad mechouia, fried salad, Tunisian baklava, Lebanese baklava, a variety of juices, a fried pancake thing that reminded me of beignets, and the list goes on and on. It was great to finally be eating somewhere that wasn't a restaurant, but there was just sooo much food.

My host mother wore a hijab. However, since I was a female, she didn't wear a hijab in the house. In fact, she did not wear much at all - a very light, low cut, short, house dress. This is just another example of the difference between how women act outside the house and inside the house. Ines did not wear a hijab. Ines claimed she did not pray or follow Islam except for Ramadan.

This brings me to Saturday night. I had the expression that Maggie, Ines, Siwar, and I were going out with another friend named Miriam for the evening. We were told we were going to a teahouse on Le Lac. It turns out that we were being used as an excuse for the girls to go out with their secret boyfriends. Wow. In fact, Miriam was meeting her boyfriend for the second time (ever), who was 23 (she was 17), and whom she'd met on the internet. I guess the expectation is that the girls will not go and spend time with boys, so their mothers don't think to question what they are up to.

Everyone in Tunisian holds hands. This made me feel very uncomfortable all weekend, as I was expected to hold Ines' hand while walking around all weekend. In fact, when I crossed the street, everyone held their hands out to me to help me cross. I felt like a five year old again. I was also kissed by so many people that I couldn't keep track. Relatives walked in and out of the house, and of course wanted to meet the American. Because of the separation of the sexes, girls only hold hands with girls, and guys with guys. In fact, it is common to see guys with their arms around each other on the street, giving each other kisses. As an American, this seems particularly strange to me.

Some interesting ideas from the weekend:
1) Obama is Mulsim. That is why the Arab world wants him to win. But it will be hard for him because Americans hate Muslims.
2) The Jews in America control the American economy.
3) I must have snuck out of my house all the time as a teenager and done lots of drugs and alcohol because I am American.
I'll add more as I think of them...

By the end of the weekend (in which I'd managed to do a lot), I was ready to return to my own bed in the hotel (I felt bad because I'd stolen the six year old daughter's bed for the weekend). However, they were not ready for me to return. I had to tell them that I had tutoring at the hotel, so they would take me back. They wanted me to stay and return every weekend. In fact, I even got invited to a dance party with Ines this weekend (not going because I don't want to/am going to Kairouan).

Even if it was a bit overwhelming, I did have an enjoyable weekend. The family couldn't have been nicer, and I plan to go to Sidi Bou Said with Ines later in July.

Homestay

I had a homestay with a Tunisian family this weekend. It has been a fun couple of days because I am listening to everyone's stories.

Here are a few of the more interesting ones:

1) 2 of my friends ended up not spending the night because the guys kept offering them pot and to take them to clubs for one night stands.

2) Another friend saw a Muslim circumcision of a 5 year old boy. Later that evening, a friend of his family tried to take him to a brothel. The man claimed that he had the night off because his wife was in the hospital having a baby.

3) Funny hammam stories, involving naked scrubbing by an 80 year old woman while the student's host family kept popping in.

Of course, these are the more extreme stories, but everyone seemed to have at least an interesting, if not great, time. As for me, I was pulled around my a 17-year old Tunisian girl and used as an excuse for her and her friends to leave the house to secretly meet boys. More on this tomorrow...

First Weekend Excursion!

This past weekend was our first official excursion with the CLS program. Everyone from CEMAT went - the director and the staff, two of our teachers, and both of our tutors. We left the hotel at 8 am, and took a bus to El Jem (about 2.5 hours south of Tunis). Our first stop was at a museum, where we saw excavated mosaics. From there, we went to the huge Roman coliseum. We hung about the ruins for a while, walking through the underground pits and climbing the stands. We grabbed lunch, where I shared a stuffed pepper with a friend.


After lunch, we piled back on the bus to Mehdia. By then, the whole group was feeling rather tired, so we wandered through the medina and sat on the rocks by the sea. Then, we piled back on the bus (again) for Monastir to reach our hotel. I figured that it would be the normal hotel, but no! It was a 4 star beach resort (thank you, American taxpayer). I had a view of the Mediterranean from my balcony.

I went for a quick swim in the pool, then got dressed for dinner. I ate so much, since my lunch had been small. Although the dinner was only mediocre, it seemed great because there were actual vegetables. (and watermelon!) I've been eating in cafes for two weeks, so a buffet seemed simply amazing.

The evening just got "better" from there. There was a disco in the basement of the hotel. Tunisian staff members had formed a group called Celtic Tiger, and attempted to perform traditional Irish dance to techno music. Then, they made the audience get out and dance too. Of course, there was a strobe light. And no dance party would be complete without Michael Jackson and Shakira. Once we became to hot, we ran outside the hotel and took a swim in the sea. Overall, the entire evening was a bit surreal. How did I end up at a beach resort in Tunisia, watching Tunisians Irish dance to techno music?

The next morning, I got up and sat on the beach for several hours. And I thought I was spending the summer in an Islamic country, in which I would not be tanning! The water was perfectly clear and shallow. Unlike Nice, there were no jelly fish. Absolutely beautiful. I grabbed the free lunch buffet at the hotel (yum watermelon), before we left at 2.

Monastir was the hometown of Tunisia's first president - Bourgiba. We visited his mausoleum. It was a huge marble building in the middle a cemetery. (see pic)

On our way back, we stopped in Hammemet. By this time, the whole group was tired of seeing random Tunisian tourist beaches and was ready to head back to Tunis. I ended up having the most amazing fruit salad in the restaurant while we waited to leave.

When I got back on the bus I was greeted with a surprise. I had been sitting with one my teacher's nieces (age 11). She just started taking English in school, so we talked in French. Honestly, it was a bit awkward because she kept asking me about American popular culture (do you like Rihanna? I love One Tree Hill). Typical eleven year old stuff, but I'm sure I sounded like an incredibly uncool American. However, it was a great way to practice my French. She presented me with a bracelet with my name in Arabic that she had gotten in the medina. (By the way, my name in Arabic is spelled the same way as the African country Mali).

On the way back, Dr. Michalek, the head of the program, quizzed us on Tunisian tourism. Apparently, that was the goal of the excursion - to experience Tunisian tourism. I am certainly ok with that goal - the US government paid me to lie on the beach! Really, though, I think it was just a free vacation for everyone.

New blog post coming soon.

In the meantime, here is a pretty picture from the Ghar el Melh excursion!

My Daily Life

I thought I would give everyone a brief overview of my day-to-day life in Tunis.

I get up and have breakfast at the Carlton Hotel, where we are staying for the next 2 months. It is on Avenue Habib Bourgiba, the main avenue of Tunis, named after the first president.

I am currently in the afternoon session classes, so we have tutoring in the morning from 10:12:45. I have been taking my time getting to school, often doing some homework in the hotel before I leave. My roommate has morning classes, so she usually leaves by about 8, so I have time to be lazy and organize things by myself in the morning.

Walking to school is always an adventure. It is about a 15 minute walk that is usually quite pleasant. It is almost always very sunny, but not hot yet - in the upper 70's in the morning. Like most of the girls, I wear large sunglasses to detract unwanted attention. Getting to class involves crossing Avenue Habib Bourgiba, which is quite large. The classic arcade game Frogger is probably the best way to describe the experience. Crosswalks are seldom used. You pick somewhere along the street, crossing lane by lane, darting among cars. Once you make up your decision to go, you've got to keep going. People who suffer from indecision will probably never make it across the street! Yes, it is dangerous, but yes, that seems the only way to do it.

The school is down an alley that often has a pretty vile smell. However, once you get through the blue doors of the school, it opens into a pretty Italian villa. I sit outside in the morning under the fig trees finishing my homework and checking my email. The fig trees contain quite a few trees, and the morning is interspersed with splats from the figs falling. So far, none have landed on my head, although I have been attacked by fig juice falling from ripe figs still in the trees.

Lunch is from 12:45 to 1:45. I usually go to the market down the street for fresh bread, cheese, and fruit. If I spend over 2 dollars on lunch, it's a problem. Even spending 2 dollars, I often have lots to share. One of my friends accidentally bought four bags of blackberries the other day because she didn't realize how cheap they were.

Class is from 1:45 to 6:15 with a 30 minute break in the middle. During the break, we have a snack of fresh fruit (including figs from the fig trees outside), juice, and mint tea. Mint tea is a popular drink in Tunisia. It is made from green tea, mint, and lots and lots of sugar.

By the time I get out of class in the evening, I am exhausted. I usually go back to the hotel for a while. People eat dinner late in Tunisia, so if I have an actual dinner (chicken couscous seems to be my favorite), I don't usually go out until 7:30 or 8. Sometimes, I just have a gelato or quiche or something (everything in Tunisia comes with tuna and/or egg, which can get quite tiring).

Evenings involve homework and hanging out with friends. There is not a whole lot to do in Tunisia at night, especially for women. We usually just take it easy and relax after a day of sooo much Arabic class!

( Ghar el Melh and Sidi Ali el-Mekki) سيدي علي المكي ﻮ غار الملح

We had a free weekend, and everyone split ways. I decided not to go far for the weekend, since the week has been so crazy and we are going to be gone for the next few weekends. As of Saturday morning, I had no idea where I was going to go. Several people who were staying in town had plans to go to Bizerte - a touristy beach town about 80 km from Tunis. I wanted to go to the beach, but I didn't feel like sitting on a beach all day and being stared at.

I opened the guidebook (I highly recommend Lonely Planet - Tunisia) to Bizerte and the opportunities around it and found a small, beautiful beach that you could only get to by walking from a nearby town. I managed to persuade a few people to come with me, and we were off!

First, we took a louage to Bizerte with the larger group that was going. A louage is a large van that travels from city to city. They have stripes on the side and leave whenever they are full (8 passengers). They vans park in a louage station and all the drivers yell out their locations.

Once we got to Bizerte, four of us continued on to the next louage. Since we were going to a small town about 45 minutes from Bizerte, we had to pay for the whole louage. We paid a little too much (40 dinars (about 35 dollars) for the whole ride - 10/person, but he offered to come pick us up and take up back to Tunis for 30 dinars at 6:00).

We went to Ghar el-Melh (very difficult for me to say in Arabic - involves a gutteral French r sound, followed by a rolled Spanish r and ending with a silent h). It is a small, quiet town that used to be used by pirates. It means cave of salt in Arabic. There are two abandoned Ottoman forts in the town.

We spent about 20 minutes in Ghar el-Melh, buying bread and using a very sketchy bathroom in a men's cafe. Tunisians can be exceptionally friendly. We asked an old man on the street for a bathroom, and he actually took us to the nearest one, rather than just pointing. Another old man sitting outside the cafe gave us directions to Sidi Ali el-Mekki - the beach.

The beach we headed to was about 6 km outside of Ghar el-Melh. It was a pleasant walk in the 75 degree weather along the coast. The road was narrow and we were occasionally passed by bicycles, trucks, motorcycles, and the like. Our pace was very slow, and it took us nearly an hour an a half to get there.

Once we arrived at the beach, it was definitely worth it! There was hardly anyone there. The mountains ringed the beach. The water was incredibly clear - I could see all the way down to my feet! It was possible to walk out at least half a mile because the water was so shallow. Aside from a great deal of wind, it was perfect. In my opinion, it was better than Nice (*gasp!*). (notice our attempt at a CLS picture...)


To make the experience even better, we stopped at the only restaurant in the area. Since it was about 4:30 (and Tunisians don't eat until at least 7:30), we were the only people in the restaurant. The owner ushered the four of us into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. At first, we were a bit hesitant that this was going to be another "interesting" Tunisian experience, but he started pulling out fresh fish for us to choose. We each picked one, and we were ushered back to the main room, amid etchings of the owner's family and various sea accessories. We could see the fish being fried on the grill outside the window on pine cones. In the kitchen, the restaurant owner and his wife could be heard yelling at each other, as the pots and pans clanged - a very authentic Tunisian eating experience it seems. When our food arrived, it was the definitely the best seafood I've ever had. Hanna (my roommate) and I had ordered the largest shrimp I've ever seen. After getting past my hesitation at pulling off the head and the legs, I tried it - yum! I've had quite a bit of seafood, so I guess it's the grilling over the pinecones that made it so good.

The ride back was fairly uneventful (aside from being stopped by the police to see if we planned to stay the night in Ghar el-Melh - the Tunisian police take very good care of tourists, especially Americans, since 7 million tourists visit this country of 10 million anually, and Tunisia wants to protect it American ties. We are constantly being stopped and asked if we are ok). We took showers, ate couscous and mint tea at a local restaurant, got some gelato, then tumbled into bed. A wonderful experience, and we were very glad we'd chosen to stray off the beaten path.

In Tunisia

Hello, everyone!

I've just finished my first week in Tunisia. Tunis is a great city. Except for the creepy guys (because I am a Western female), it is very safe. The language is a bit overwhelming. I have learned an entire new alphabet this week - including a bunch of sounds that don't exist in English. I am getting the equivalent of an entire year of Arabic - over 150 classroom hours by the end of the summer, with 90 hours of tutoring. The 30 students in the CLS - Tunisia program live in a hotel with our tutors, about a 15 minute walk from CEMAT (Centre d'Etudes Maghrebines a Tunis), where we have 2.5 hours of tutoring, followed by 4 hours of class. We have 4 different Arabic teachers that cover 2 classes (2 for 1 class, 2 for the other, and they will switch in July). There is also optional tutoring in evening. I am so overwhelmed, but I don't have much of an excuse to be.

I currently have a 3 language thing going on. I speak to the people I am with in English. I am reading in both French and English. I go to Arabic class all day. I speak to the people I interact with in Tunis in French with an increasing amount of Arabic (most people don't speak English). Overall, pretty much very confusing. It's a good thing I speak French - Tunis is like a 3-D dictionary. Everything is written in French and Arabic. I am still working on sounding out the Arabic words, and I can read what they mean in French!

Tunisia is a very diverse country. In Tunis, about half the women cover their heads, and half do not. Short sleeves are common and so are skirts, as long as they reach below my knee. When I go to the resort towns on the beach, I can wear whatever I want (sleeveless shirts, even my swimsuit at the beach!). When I go south and visit Tatouine and the Berber villages (think StarWars), I will need to be more fully covered.

I now have a cell phone and wireless internet access at school. Hopefully, some of you will be lucky enough to catch me online when I am there (Skype me at mollywurzer), even though it is in the wee morning hours on US time. I also use this nifty internet cafe, where internet is free as long as I buy a drink (fresh orange juice for 60 cents?!). Hopefully, I will now be able to keep up with my blog now!

So much to do!

Ok... I'm leaving for Tunisia in 1 week (actually, for D.C. then Frankfurt, then Tunis). So much to do!

I going to Dallas tomorrow to pack, etc. Should be tons of fun (not...).

It's also been 10 months since I last posted. So... for those of you who don't know, I'm going to Tunisia to study Arabic through the Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Dept of State and the Center for American and Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) (what a mouthful!)

No, I don't speak any Arabic - though hopefully I will by the end of the summer. Luckily, I do speak French and since Tunisia is a former French colony, this should come in useful.

Holá from Madrid!

We are having a wonderful time in this beautiful city. The weather is great and we are staying in the middle of the old part of town, only a few blocks from the Puerta del Sol.

Yesterday, we visited the National Palace and explored. It is so big, and when we looked at it from the outside, we realized we´d only seen a fraction of the whole palace. The day finished with the flamenco ballet of Carmen. Great costumes, fun dancing, lovely music.

Today, we are going to visit the art museum. Hopefully, the afternoon will be finished by meeting Abraham at the train station. He will be arriving in Madrid this afternoon for work. We have a night train out of Madrid and should be in Paris by 8:30 tomorrow morning.

Tours

Currently, we are in Tours. We arrived at about 2 am on Bastille Day, so we slept in the next morning. We explored the town in the afternoon and generally enjoyed the beautiful, hot weather. In the afternoon, we took the little train for tourists around town and bonded with the old French people on the tour. It was in French, and I half-heartedly translated for Jessie. Translating is more difficult than I thought!

We can't be in Tours without visiting the chateaux. Whenever I think of the Loire Valley, I am reminded of high school French projects! Anyway, we decided to bike to a chateau today. The nearest was Villandry, the construction of which was overseen by the same man as Chateau Chambord. Biking through the countryside in the Loire Valley is absolutely beautiful. THe weather was perfect: overcast and cool. However, after biking over 60 km (about 40 miles) I am very sore and sitting hurts rather a lot.

Tomorrow, we head to Bordeaux. I can't believe I only have a week left.

Our trip is going by sooo fast! I am currently in Köln, Germany, where we are staying with my friend Janina from Alliance Francaise. So sweet! Last night, we walked by the Dom and had an authentic German meal at a restaurant. It was a lot of fun! The weather here was really nice, although Janina says it has been raining for the last two weeks.

Unfortunately, our stay in Köln will be rather short. We were supposed to arrive by about one yesterday. FYI: don't travel on Friday the 13th - it's bad luck. Every train we tried to take yesterday was delayed or cancelled. Oh well... c'est la vie!

Today, we are headed back to France - Tours particularly. Our plans have suddenly seemed to change drastically. Currently, we are planning Tours, Bordeaux, Biarritz, Madrid, then back to Paris. This is kind of funny considering we weren't even planning to go to Spain. Funny how travel plans change!

Backpacking begins....

It has been a crazy couple of days and since i only have a few minutes to use the funny fnrech keyboard on the computer ill do a quick breakdown.

saturday july 7 - nice to milan

sunday july 8 - milan to interlaken to wengen, switzerland

monday july 9 - wengen to geneva to lausanne

tuesday july 10 - lausanne to dijon, france

wednesday july && - dijon to bruxelles, belgium

unfortunately it is rather cold and rainy, so jessie and i are forced to wear the only sweatshirts we brought, which happen to be the matching mcdermott ones. we also awkwardly managed to also wear almost the exact same outfits on monday, which made for a funny picture.

Happy 4th of July!

To celebrate (and since I know how much the Europeans love Americans) I brought pastries to class. There are no Americans in my class of 14. Countries represented include Scotland (well... Great Britain), Germany, Syria, Kazakhstan, Spain, Mexico, Poland, Italy, Brazil, and Japan. This is my favorite part about being here. Although I have indeed learned quite a bit of French, most importantly I have learned so much about different cultures and met so many interesting people. It was really hard for me at first because I was in a strange city on a new continent where I didn't speak the language and didn't know anyone and there were no Americans. I was forced to make new friends. Now, I plan to meet people I know in Milan, Amsterdam, Koln, and Lyon when Jessie and I travel (not to mention Alejandro in Paris and Sherry in Prague). Also, Americans have it easy (no wonder we have a reputation for being a bit lazy) because everyone in Europe speaks English. Some of my friends told me that their English improved more than their French because English was the only language they really had in common with their friends at Alliance Française. One of my German friends who came in not knowing French talked to her French host mom in English at first because that was the only language they both spoke!

After class I walked to the Musée Chegal. I enjoyed it. I decided not to go to the Musée Matisse because it is pretty small, and I am going to see quite a few Matisse pieces in Paris, I think.

Interesting fact: there is big Texas Instruments business in the valley right outside of Nice. I have met several people who work for Texas Instruments (no Americans). What a small world!