Lablebi for breakfast

I’ve gotten in the habit of doing my shopping at the local markets early Sunday mornings. This week I decided I would try to find a popular breakfast spot as well. The Lablebi stand had the most people, so I went there. I’d never had this spicy chickpea soup over bread for breakfast before but I thought I’d give it a try. Even though the cook went light on the hot sauce, it still made my nose run. It was pretty tasty though. After a few minutes a women joined me at my table, as she was also on her own.We chatted a little and talked about how the servings were too big to finish. It was a fun way to start the day!

Amazing Starfish Cactus

First Soccer Game

I finally got to go to a soccer game in the stadium right next to my house. Tunisia played against Guinea and won 2-0!

Fishing trip

 
Though I don’t have any pictures to prove it, we did catch five fish. They were really small but still big enough to keep and use for spicy fish soup!

Give me back my cat!

My roommate’s Swiss friends fell in love with a little street kitten while they were visiting. They were worried it wouldn’t survive because one of its legs didn’t work properly, so they asked a stranger if he would take it. He said yes but the next night it was on the street again. On their last night here they brought the kitten back to our house and convinced one of our local friends to take it. They were very excited that night because they had rescued a poor little kitten during their time here. Early the next morning an elderly lady from down the street knocked on our door. All she said was “my cat.” I was so embarrassed and apologized profusely as I gave her kitten back. (Luckily we hadn’t given it to our local friend yet!)

I laughed afterwards about how our visitors thought they had done a good deed, but our neighbors probably thought they were cat thieves. I’m pretty sure I have done lots of things that seemed great to me, but seemed weird, rude, or wrong to locals. This little incident reminded me that it’s so important to get advice and feedback from our local friends and neighbors.

Stuck in the rain

I planned to return to Monastir just in time for lunch, but my plans to eat before going to work were ruined by a huge thunderstorm. When it started raining around 11:00, I was sure it would only last a half hour or so. I never expected it would last for a few hours, cause my classes to get canceled, and make it nearly impossible to get home. Due to poor drainage systems, the heavy rain caused flooding all over Sousse. Lots of cars stalled while trying to make it through giant puddles, which led to traffic jams all over the city. Even after the rain had stopped most taxis and public cars were stuck in the traffic, or many seem to have decided to go home instead. I waited at the city-wide transportation station along with hundreds of others, but there were no public cars. After about an hour I decided to walk to the intercity transportation station roughly eight kilometers away. I hoped I would find a taxi or public car along the way, but I didn’t. I probably walked there in the same amount of time it would have taken in a car. Luckily, I was able to get on a public car going back to my city. I got home just after 7pm! Not quite how I imagined spending my day.

Eidkom Mabrouk

We just had a big holiday here, Eid al-Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice). I spent the night before at my friend’s house in Sousse, got up early the morning of Eid and watched her family slaughter two sheep. Everyone had a job to do. The father slaughtered the sheep, the boys skinned them and chopped them up, the girls prepared the vegetables and were in charge of barbecuing, the older women cleaned the meat, making sure nothing got wasted. Shortly after eating some barbequed lamb I went back to Monastir and got another plate of meat at our local business partner’s house. The following day my roommate and I were given a bunch of homemade lamb sausages!

  

Our future business

Our plans to open a handmade home-decor and accessory shop are coming along. We have a great local partner and a great location! It will be in the heart of downtown, just behind the train station. This location is better than anything we could have imagined!

 
Builders have been working on it for just over two months now; tearing down walls and building new ones, remodeling the bathroom and kitchen to be up to code, and putting in new plumbing and electricity. They should finish this week!
  
Once the builders are finished we’ll start painting, building shelves and tables, remodeling the garden, making all the decorations, and everything else that needs to be done. It’s hard to say when we’ll be ready to open, but hopefully sometime in the next few months.
 
Here’s some pictures of my roommate, our local partner and her family, and me.

Late night orchestra

There are so many well kept roman ruins in Tunisia, the amphitheater in El Djem being one of the most impressive. My roommate and I got to go to a late night orchestra there!

 

There’s a puppy in my garden

Early in the morning I heard a puppy whining, so I assumed that one of the neighbors had just gotten a puppy. It wasn’t until the evening that I realized the puppy was actually in my backyard! I didn’t know what to do so I asked the neighbor’s kids for advice, and they tried to convince me to keep it. I talked to a friend and she told me to feed it until she found someone who would take it. Nobody seemed to want it, so I just kept feeding it. Luckily, two weeks later when my roommate came back from her vacation, she found a very good home for him!

My friend’s wedding

My second language teacher, Aroua, got married this summer! These are the pictures from the Henna night. In this part of Tunisia, on the Henna night the bride-to-be comes out wearing two to three traditional outfits, turns around in circles while the music plays, and then comes out with the groom-to-be while wearing a very fancy dress.

    

Exploring my new city

 
The Medina.

The Great Mosque.

The Bourguiba mausoleum. (A popular hangout spot at night).


The Marina.

 
The Ribat.

The beach.

 
The local fish market and fresh produce market.

 
The view of the Mediterranean Sea; just a five minute walk from my house.

The big move

  

With help from lots of friends, I moved out of my house in Sousse……..

 

……and moved in to my new place in Monastir! (yes there is a house behind all those trees).