Summer Weddings

    

     

Lots of food during Ramadan

   

Early Morning Bike ride

Even at 7am it was still quite hot, yet still my friend and I managed to go a little further than we made it on our last bike ride. It’s so much fun to have a bike riding buddy!

 

That’s so Tun-a-sian!

A new store opened on the other side of town called ZaiZai, direct competition for the popular store ZaZa. Both are very similar to “dollar stores” back home, but the kind where not everything is actually a dollar. I try not to frequent these stores too often because I end up buying lots of cheap stuff that I don’t actually need, and then the video called Story of Stuff pops into my head reminding me that I really don’t need to shop at these places. However, I was in search of a decorative plate stand, and ZaiZai happened to be the only place known to sell them. As to be expected, I left the store with a number of things I later realized I really don’t need. The item I was very excited about while in the store was a small wooded box, inlaid with copper pictures of dice, playing cards and the word Tunisia. Inside there’s a section for dice and another for cards. I bought three of them for gifts. It wasn’t until I got home and showed the box to my roommate that I realized that the word on the front actually says Tunasia and not Tunisia. Then I found out that the spot for the cards is about 1cm too small and a normal deck of cards doesn’t fit! Just one more thing to add to the long list of items I purchased here that don’t actually work or weren’t quite what I expected them to be. I guess that’s what’s to be expected when making a lot of my purchases at the local dollar stores.

 

Couscous from scratch

I went to my friend’s house last Sunday afternoon, as I often do, but this time I was surprised to find many relatives in the house making couscous from scratch. It looked like a couscous factory! I’d been wanting to learn how to make it so I was thrilled and excitedly went on a little tour. The first group of women in the living room mixed the semolina flour with a small amount of salt water, rolled it with their hands to form small pellets, and then sieved it through two different sized sieves making it into even smaller pellets. After that, a group of women in the courtyard steamed the mixture for 15 minutes. Then the hot mixture was put through even smaller sieves by another group of ladies in one of the bedrooms, then put out in the sun to dry on the roof. My friends started at 4am and finished around 6pm; the good news is they will now have enough couscous for the rest of the year!

Trying to fit it all in

Today I went on a Critical Mass bike ride and then quickly headed off to my paint class’s art exposition. I got to the expo a little late but was just in time for group photos!

 

Cultural Stuff

The woman sitting behind me on the louage asked the man next to me to close his window. It seemed a little strange because it was a warm day and it was even warmer inside the crowded public van than outside. But she went on to explain that she was warm from doing house chores and didn’t want the cool air blowing on her. Everyone that heard her instantly knew what she meant, she was referring to the belief that you can get sick and even die if you quickly go from being hot to being cold. The people on the other side of the van hurriedly closed their windows without even being asked, and we all suffered through a warmer than normal trip across town so that nothing bad would happen to the warm woman.

News

I don’t want to scare any of you but there was a shooting in a touristic area in the capital today and over twenty people died.

A new knitting club

I stumbled across a new yarn store in my neighborhood a few weeks ago. I’m pretty excited about it because they hold a Knitting Club there twice a week. I’ve gone a few times now and really like meeting all the members and seeing all the stuff they make. All the members are basically part of a very big extended family, it’s really interesting. They seem to know everybody who lives in our part of town.  

Valentine’s Day CMS style

Lots of bikes, a lot of noise, roses for everyone and lots of fun!

  

A trip to “Gebili”

My first language teacher got a job with the government teaching English last fall and was sent to a small town about a 6 hour drive down south. I finally was able to visit her in the region of Kebili! In the south people speak with a little different accent. The big different is that the letter “K” is pronounced as “G.”

 
After over six hours of traveling in three different public cars my friend met me in the town of Kebili. From there we took one more public car to a very small town called Blidet. Once there we ate a great lunch her roommate prepared, and then I got a tour of the town.

 
The following morning I got to help teach English!

 
Then in the afternoon we went and explored the local date orchards. (Dates grow in abundantly in the oasis outside the city and are the most important source of income for the region).
 
 

My language teacher

I was rushing home to meet my Arabic tutor when I read this text message from her…..

”I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to teach you today.

The school in Emirates asked me if it would be ok to apply for a visa again 2 weeks ago. I accepted.

I never heard from them again until yesterday to say the visa is ready. 2h ago they called to say that they booked a flight for tomorrow. Am in a total mess.

I will come though to see you and say good bye.”

So, I’m in need of a new language teacher.
It’s crazy how quickly things can change!

Assida Zgougou

In celebration of Mohammed’s birth, Tunisians make this special pudding from the seeds of Aleppo pine trees. Traditionally, Tunisians exchange bowls of decorated Assida between neighbors and family members. I got three bowls this year. I used to find it a bit strange but now I actually quite enjoy the pudding (despite the fact that it’s grey).

New Year’s Bike Ride

Christmas Sweater Challenge

     

With just thirty minutes to search for Christmas sweaters in over one hundred bins of used clothes, this is what we found. Guess who won the prize for the ugliest sweater!? (Mine won the prize for the most Christmassy).

New President!

Beji Caid Essebsi has been confirmed as the winner of Tunisia's first free presidential election. Check out the details.

Christmas Bazaar

Two American friends and I sold our jewelry at two Christmas bazaars, first at the French junior high school and then at the elementary school. I sold a bunch of stuff and I bought a lot of stuff from the other vendors as well!

A Day Trip!

I went on a day trip to the North with a few friends of mine and a bus full of strangers. We spent twelve hours on the road and just over three hours in a few beautiful small towns. We took lots of pictures, bought a lot of souvenirs, had a great picnic lunch, and laughed a lot. It might seem a little extreme to drive so much and come back on the same day, but it’s quite common. My friend is thirty and she’s never spent the night away from home. She’s been to a number of different cities in Tunisia, but she always comes back the same day.