Day in Mahdia

Mahdia (Arabic: المهدية‎ al-Mahdiya) is a quaint coastal town about two hours by train from Sousse. It’s known for it’s fish-processing industry and for weaving.  I had gone there roughly four years ago and really liked it, so I was excited when two of my friends from my knitting club invited me to go for a last minute trip there. The two sisters I traveled with had grown up in Mahdia and both took great joy walking through the fish market where they used to buy fish. I felt a little sick from the smell, but my friends walked through the market very slowly, marveling at how fresh and cheap the fish were. After the fish tour we walked through the old town, took lots of pictures of pretty much everything, went to a gallery where one of the girls had some artwork on display, got some tea, bought some weaved items, and sat by the sea. The sisters seemed to enjoy absolutely everything we did that day because each place and activity reminded them of their childhood. Once again, another fun day with friends!

       

A trip to the desert

I had a great trip to the desert just days after arriving here. The trip included lots of driving, lots of amazing views, a nice camel named Sab-r (patience), a night under the stars in the desert, more breathtaking scenery, some great local food, and a bit more driving. Being out in the desert feels a bit like being out in the middle of the ocean, breathtaking and intimidating at the same time. Here’s a few  of my favorite pictures from the trip.

                 

First few days back

I thought the giant cans of harissa (very spicy chilli paste) at the toll booths on the way to Sousse were a good reminder of how spicy Tunisians like their food. (And yes, almost all the canned foods here say “no conservatives”)

Lovely full moon on my first night back in Sousse.

On my first morning back I walked down to the sea and enjoyed getting cooled off by a lite sprinkling of rain.  


Back with my Knitting club friends!

Back in Sousse

After twenty-four hours of traveling I made it safe and sound to Sousse! I got a little nervous when the flight attendant in Toronto told me they didn’t have any record of me because their partner airline made a mistake. Fortunately she ran around talking to people at the partner airline and managed to print out my boarding passes, giving me thirty minutes to get through customs and get to my gate. All in all the flights were uneventful. I watched a few movies, slept for roughly two hours, and tried to study Arabic as much as possible (nothing like cramming at the last minute!). Once in Tunis I was greeted by a good friend of mine who drove me to Sousse. It felt a little strange to be back but it felt good at the same time.

Goodbye

Goodbye Sousse! I hope to be back in a few months!

Carjacking

I went walking with my friend this morning and right when we were getting back to her house we saw one of her neighbors running down the street after his car. He had stepped out of the car for a few seconds to close the gate to his driveway and someone else jumped in the car and drove off. He had tried to open the door of the car but he ended up getting dragged and fell to the ground. When we saw him his nice work shirt was ripped up, his arm bleeding, and he was in complete shock.

I felt like writing about this because crime seems to be an everyday occurrence right now. Just about ten days ago my neighbor’s house got broken into in the middle of the day. The thieves probably watched me leave the area. Then they probably watched my neighbors go out for a walk. They then hopped over the wall, fed the dogs and put them in the cellar, bashed in a hole in the heavy wooden door, crawled through it and stole two laptops. Both of the laptops happened to be broken but it’s still awful feeling when someone breaks into your home.

Then a few days later a man came up to my language teacher as she was waiting for me to open the door and stole her cell phone right out of her hands. People are telling me that crime is more common in the summertime because kids are out of school, and I believe them! In the midst of all of these robberies I’m trying to be cautious but not overly paranoid.

My Favorite Day of the Week

Every Thursday I get to volunteer at a local Autism Center. After visiting all the classrooms I found one where I fit in well and have been helping out ever since. In this classroom there are five children from ages five to eleven; they’re all very sweet and unique. One of the kids loves English, especially spelling out titles of American movies and TV shows. Sometimes the two of us can go back and forth writing out movie titles for an hour or two. It’s fun! He knows more modern American movies than I do. Sometimes he’ll add to things I write. One time I wrote out “Tom and Jerry”. He looked at it for a little bit and then added on the words “the movie.”
I’m so thankful for the opportunity to get to know these kids and to learn more about people with autism in this culture.

A First Time For Everything

I spent the night at my friend’s house the other day and was told that we were going to have couscous with fish the following day. When I woke up the next morning I was a little worried by what I saw in the kitchen. Snails! They were trying to crawl out of the pan my friend’s mom was washing them in. I suddenly felt sick. I knew this family only had snails on special occasions so I didn’t think I could get out of eating them.

As water started to boil the smell of the snails made me feel even sicker. Then my friend told me that they were preparing the snails early so they would be ready by dinnertime. I was so relieved that I wasn’t going to be there for dinner!

At lunch we had couscous with fish as planned. We all ate out of one giant bowl as is traditional to do here. It was so good! There was a small boil of snails on the table which I did my best to avoid. By the end of the meal I was persuaded to try one snail. One of the girls told me they taste like clams or muscles. She was right, it didn’t taste all that bad; but even so, I hope I don’t have to eat them again.

Making Harissa

I bought a kilo of hot chili peppers about two weeks ago to make some Mexican food. I only needed two chili peppers but a kilo was only $.38 so I ended up with about 30 green chili peppers. As the extra chilies sat in my kitchen they turned a beautiful red color, perfect for making Tunisian Harissa. So, I asked around and looked up some recipes online but I couldn’t find a recipe that used fresh red chilies. So I decided to experiment. Based on what my friends had told me I had a pretty vague idea. I knew I needed to roast the peppers, take off the skins and get rid of the seeds, and then mix the peppers with garlic and some spices. That’s what I did. However, my concoction looks like a weird glob of pink stuff instead of an intense red condiment. Not sure where I went wrong. I did manage to make an extremely spicy sauce, it just doesn’t look right or taste right. Next time I’ll make sure and have a friend show me how it’s done.Check out this link for a Harissa recipe. 
Serious heat: Homemade Harissa.