A Few Pictures From Around Town

The alley ways of the Medina.

Any guesses what that sign stands for?

A good place to relax and reflect-- just minutes from my house.

An old fortress inside the Medina walls.

Tourist shops also inside the Medina walls.

My favorite restaurant in the Medina.

LOTS of Good Food

Shawarma plate at a hole-in-the-wall fast food joint in Monastir. (Look up shawarma on Wikipedia if you’re not sure what it is).

For roughly $2 I can get a large container of Leblebi and half a loaf of French bread to-go.  The spicy garbanzo bean soup is traditionally eaten on top of pieces of bread.

There’s nothing like traditional Tunisian couscous. It’s hard to tell in this picture but that bowl was about 14 inches in diameter. One big bowl for three people!

Marqa, a delicious slow-cooked lamb & potato stew, from my favorite restaurant in the Medina. The owner recognized me, so he gave me and my friends a free bowl of couscous! We ate it all…. everything is so good there.

It’s getting colder

As you know, I’m in Africa. You probably think the weather is quite hot here-- because it’s Africa. Though the days are quite nice and sunny, the nights are getting down right cold. Considering the fact that most people don’t have indoor heating, 40 degrees feels very cold indoors. Even when it’s 60 degrees outside in the middle of the day, the inside of the house usually stays about 15 degrees less. Sweaters, jackets, and hats are needed indoors but not outdoors, at least not yet.

Happy Thanks Giving

I hope all of you had a great Thanks Giving Day! I got together with roughly 14 other Americans who live in Sousse the Friday after the holiday. We had a great time of eating, chatting, and playing games. On the day of Thanks Giving I did manage to eat some turkey late at night. Turkey is actually very common here, but usually sold as boneless pieces of white or dark meet. Tunisia used to be the world’s largest turkey consumer per capita a few years ago. (Not sure who it is now).

A Trip to the Countryside

A few of my expat friends invited me to tag along on their afternoon trip to visit some friends in the countryside. It took just about an hour on bumpy roads and a few wrong turns before we arrived. Once there, we were greeted with many kisses and ushered in to a comfortable place to sit. I ended up wandering around the fields with the kids while the “grown-ups” were talking (Arabic speakers) and tried to take lots of pictures before the sun went down.

Fresh Fruit for Breakfast

There’s a few pomegranate trees in my garden so I’ve been enjoying fresh pomegranates in the mornings. I’ve experimented making fruit salads with them, enjoyed them by themselves, and even  made a cup of pomegranate juice this morning. It was very sweet. Thanks to Wikipedia I just learned how to get the seeds out rather quickly!

 

Nice visit with an old friend

It was so nice to greeted with laughter and kisses (four kisses for good friends) when my friend from three years ago came to pick me up. She was still in her pajamas and so was her 3 year old son who was standing on front passenger seat – and wasn’t about to let me sit there. At her house we watched American TV shows with Arabic subtitles (Grey’s Anatomy and DR. Oz), she gave me Tunisian mint tea with pine nuts in it, some really good cake, and some juice. Her mom was a little disappointed that I didn’t speak better Arabic than three years ago but we had a few good laughs together anyways.

After a few hours my friend asked me if I wanted to go get fast food. By fast food, I thought she meant street vendor food, but she meant an American-looking restaurant called Planet Food that serves hamburgers. (The ambiance is kind of like Planet Hollywood). We hung out there with her friend and her oldest son for a few hours. I mostly just tried to soak in a bit of the Arabic being spoken around me, and wasn’t too worried about getting everything translated. At the end of the night my friend insisted on paying for everyone, I guess that’s pretty customary around here.

Walking Around Town

I haven’t taken a lot of pictures yet but here are a few.

The Medina walls. There’s lots of shops, restaurants, homes, and people inside those walls. It’s one of my favorite places to hang-out.

Just down the street from my house.

My first Shawarma. This one has chicken meat, vegetables, French fries and hot sauce in it. It was great!

The view from the train station. Lots of white buildings and an old Catholic church.

Any Changes?

Someone asked me today if I noticed any differences here since my last visit in 2009. If you haven’t heard, there was a revolution in 2010 and the president was forced to leave the country, and yes there are some differences I’ve already observed. Mostly I’ve notice that more women are wearing the hijab (head covering) and more people are talking about politics. Before the revolution women weren’t allowed to wear the head covering in government places but now they can, so they are. Before the revolution people could get arrested for complaining about the government or appearing like extremists, so people didn’t say much. Now politics seem to come up regularly. 

Just yesterday, as I was looking for scarves at the tourist market, I met a girl who offered to help me with Arabic and help me understand the culture here. We shopped together and chatted for nearly an hour. She openly told me about her views about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, about her religion, and about how things are better now that the government allows women to follow the Quran by wearing the hijab. Women are not allowed to wear the complete body/face covering at universities yet (Burqa or Niqab), but she hopes that one day they will. 

I’ve only been here a few days but I'm sure I have many more conversations like that one.

Safe Arrival

I’ve finally arrived in Sousse. I first stopped in Boston where I met up with old friends, went to all the tourist sights, ate Boston cream pie and New England clam chowder, and saw Aerosmith live in front of the building where they made their first record. Then I spent one night in London with a friend from college and her Oregonian husband. Then I flew to Tunis. I got to my house at nearly 11pm (just 2pm Oregon time); I was greeted by my Norwegian neighbors and their two Labrador puppies. Though I was pretty groggy from my travels and bit jet-lagged, I unpacked all my bags and started to get settled into my new home.
Thanks for thinking of me as I traveled and for all your encouraging words. I made it safe and sound!

The puppies (Rex & Rosita).

Ten facts about Tunisia

I did a quick search online to find some facts about Tunisia to share with all of you. Here’s a few. Let me know if you find any fun ones.
10 Facts about Tunisia

Fact 1: The currency of Tunisia is Tunisian Dinar.

Fact 2: The life expectancy in Tunisia is around 75 years.

Fact 3: 98 percent of the population are Muslims.

Fact 4:  The highest point in Tunisia is Jebelech Chambi with its 1544 meters.

Fact 5: The official language of Tunisia is Arabic, but French is also widely spoken there.

Fact 6: More than a quarter of Tunisia's population live in the capital Tunis.

Fact 7:  The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis; a city and capital of modern-day Tunisia.

Fact 8: The Tunisian oasis at Kebili has been found to be containing evidence of Stone Age settlements.

Fact 9: The city Kairouan is the fourth most important city in the Islamic world after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.

Fact 10: The city Hammamet is Tunisia's largest tourist resort and has been attracting holidaymakers from all over Europe since the 1960s.

I also found another site that gives interesting facts about the different cities in Tunisia. There’s so many interesting places to visit! Check it out.
http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Geography/Tunisia-20381.html

My Favorite Photos

I hope you enjoy these photos my friends and I took!