Though I’m not a mom, most of my expat friends have young kids, so I understand how difficult it can be to take kids to restaurants and coffee shops. Thanks to my friend Nour we now know a great coffee shop that has a large play area for kids. Yes, these sorts of places do exist in my city!
A few months ago after I taught my friend Mary how to make designs using polymer clay she told me I should start selling my jewelry at her friends bi-monthly art show. Her friend owns an old house in the Medina which he has turned into a coffee shop. There’s no signs telling you it’s a coffee shop, the only way you’ll find out about it is if someone invites you there.
There was supposed to be an art sale two months ago so I started to make a few different items to sell. Unfortunately, the event got canceled because of a national strike and was scheduled for the third week of March, a weekend I was going to be out of town. I stopped by the coffee shop last Thursday to find out how the sale had gone and found out they hadn’t done it yet but that it was taking place on the coming Sunday (yesterday). I quickly tried to make a few more items to sell and made plans to hang out at the coffee shop all day Sunday.
There wasn’t a lot of publicity so there weren’t a lot of shoppers at the event, but I did sell a few bracelets to a group of Tunisian girls and a bunch of stuff to a few of my expat friends. When business was slow I had fun getting to know the other vendors and also had fun playing Uno with the coffee shop groupies.
My friend and I naively thought it would be easy to find the Expo center in the capital. We knew we had to take the metro just across the road from the train station in Tunis and we assumed we would see the large building from the metro line and just walk to it. Luckily the first person we asked for directions was a vendor at the art exhibit who offered to take us there. We would have gotten lost without her! We had to take two different trams and then a taxi to get there, not at all as simple as we’d assumed. Our new friend even let us in the back door so we didn’t have to pay to get in to the exhibit.
The exhibit was massive. There were over one thousand vendors, selling mostly hand crafted items but also factory made furniture and art supplies. There were three large rooms and it took us nearly two hours just to get through the first one.
After a quick lunch we finally found my friend Mary, the ceramic artist. Just in case I haven’t told you yet I met Mary during my first week here back in November. She owns a ceramic shop in the Medina in Sousse and through the past few months I’ve been able to teach her how to make things with polymer clay and she’s taught me how to make stuff with normal clay. She’s very patient with me as I try to speak Arabic and has become a good friend.
After a long day of being inspired by all the Tunisian art we slowly made our way home. A thirty minute taxi ride back to town, an hour wait, and a two hour train ride back to Sousse.
I had a great time with my friends in Harlesden, a suburban town in the London Borough of Brent. Their house was behind one church building and right next to another.
I got to hang out with my friends’ three lovely kids. Their oldest happens to be my one and only pen pal.
I had lunch and went shopping with a friend from college in the cute town of Wimbledon. I got some great deals on jeans there (I can’t find jeans that aren’t “skinny jeans” in Tunisia).
I explored central London in a double decker bus and on foot. I got lost a lot but did manage to find Covent Gardens, China Town, the National Gallery, and a few other fun touristy sights.
On my last night there I got traditional fish & chips from a little whole-in-the-wall restaurant. It was a giant serving sprinkled with salt & vinegar, and wrapped in brown paper to go. It was great!
Then at the airport I waited till just minutes before my flight was supposed to take off to find out which gate I was supposed to go to. The anticipation grew. I was ready get “home.”
I left Sousse 6 hours before my flight, the trip was only supposed to take 2 hours but I wanted to give myself plenty of time. Just outside my house over ten taxi drivers passed by me. One even stopped but told me he couldn’t take me to the train station; I have no idea why. I finally got a taxi and got on the train just in time. I sat next to a very nice girl who spoke perfect English. We chatted almost the entire trip, which ended up being 90 minutes longer than planned due to engine troubles. During out extended journey she told me about Tunisian poetry and theater, among many other things. Once in Tunis I struggled to get a taxi. It was Friday afternoon rush hour and every single taxi seemed to be occupied. I wondered if I should start panicking because by that time I no longer had a full two hour cushion before my flight. Luckily a nice cab driver had mercy on me and didn’t drive off when I told him where I wanted to go. He even put up with my broken Arabic and chatted with me as we slowly pushed our way through the afternoons traffic jams. At the airport I got checked in and got through customs in record time. In the waiting area I bumped into a friend of a friend; she ended up sitting right behind me on the flight. I had expected to feel quite lonely on this journey but loneliness is quite the opposite of what I experienced.
I have little to no plans for the rest of my time in London. I’m staying with some friends of mine who are also from Oregon and will hopefully see a few other friends as well. Today we went to Tesco (similar to WalMart) and I bought loads of treats to take back to Tunisia. During the rest of my time I’ll get to see more what their life is like here, do some more shopping and work to check up on emails and the like.
I’m on my way to London later today. I forgot how much I dislike traveling by myself. Trying to figure out how to get to the airport, buying train tickets online, packing, etc. stresses me out quite a bit. It wouldn’t be as bad if I could sleep the night before I travel, a skill I haven’t learned yet.
OK, sorry for complaining so much. I’ll be in London for six days and I’m happy to say that my camera is fixed so I’ll be able to take lots of pictures. Despite my travel anxiety I’m looking forward to a change of pace.
