Last night I went to the baby shower (sort of) of my host sister. In tunisia they have this part seven days after the baby is born, rather than before like in the US. Instead of bringing presents, people just put money in the baby's crib. this way there is some level of anonymity and everyone just puts in what they can afford (mostly 5 or 10 dinar). It was really overwhelming when we walked in because there were approximately 40 women (mostly in their 30's and 40's) sitting in the front room, and i didn't know any of them. Thus i spent the majority of the party in the kitchen, helping prepare the food and drinks as well as doing dishes. They served three different types of homemade juice/punch, various tunisian pastries, and a dish made specifically for baby showers called zhreer. it's a thick paste made with hazelnuts, butter, and sugar. it's absolutely delicious and is served in tiny gold cups that have no other purpose than for serving zhreer. Tunisians seem to have a thing for beautiful, small dishes. tea is always served in tiny decorative cups. After helping in the kitchen, i went into the bedroom where the mother stays through out the party. She lies in the bed with the baby next to her and everyone comes in to visit her and the baby. It was really cute to see all the little kids on the bed, completely intrigued by the baby. After most people left, and it was just family, we had a big dinner together. the whole thing was pretty exhausting but i really enjoyed witnessing that sort of tradition. i'm hoping that at some point i'll also get to see a wedding.
it's still raining, and its getting pretty old. we're all ready for some sun and warmer temperatures. then we all plan on spending a lot of time on the beach. and i think it will be a lot warmer when we go to the south. which is monday! i can't wait!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
my flickr account
For some reason my blog's slideshow application is not recognizing my flickr username, so instead you can just copy and paste this link to see my pictures. i will be adding more soon...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35394020@N06/
Also today I went to the sunday market in my town and it was a fascinating experience. It basically consists of hundreds of tables in a huge dirt lot (which was mostly mud today due to the copious amounts of rain we've received this week). The wares range from fruits and vegetables, to mounds and mounds of used clothing, to random electronic devices and household appliances. I bought a large green coat so I can stop borrowing my host sister's jacket. I don't think anyone in my group realized how cold it was going to be. Then we walked to the beach where we found a camel just hanging out. Then we ate at a delicious pizza restaurant.
I spent the rest of my day at home with my host sister and we had a really good discussion about gender relations in Tunisia, as well as about the cultural paradox that exists in Tunisian culture. By that I mean that Tunisians are fascinated by European and American pop culture, especially music, but they still cling on to some really traditional ideas about gender roles. Then when my host father came home, we talked a lot of politics and such over dinner. He even opened a bottle of wine for us to drink with dinner, which was really unexpected because I thought my family was fairly traditional. However my host mom, who is more religious, was not home and probably would not have approved had she been present. this is another of the tunisian cultural paradoxes, because alcohol is technically forbidden in islam. however, the majority of tunisians are non-practicing. it's really fascinating to experience this mix of european and arab cultures.
So overall i had a great day. i hope you enjoy perusing my pictures!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35394020@N06/
Also today I went to the sunday market in my town and it was a fascinating experience. It basically consists of hundreds of tables in a huge dirt lot (which was mostly mud today due to the copious amounts of rain we've received this week). The wares range from fruits and vegetables, to mounds and mounds of used clothing, to random electronic devices and household appliances. I bought a large green coat so I can stop borrowing my host sister's jacket. I don't think anyone in my group realized how cold it was going to be. Then we walked to the beach where we found a camel just hanging out. Then we ate at a delicious pizza restaurant.
I spent the rest of my day at home with my host sister and we had a really good discussion about gender relations in Tunisia, as well as about the cultural paradox that exists in Tunisian culture. By that I mean that Tunisians are fascinated by European and American pop culture, especially music, but they still cling on to some really traditional ideas about gender roles. Then when my host father came home, we talked a lot of politics and such over dinner. He even opened a bottle of wine for us to drink with dinner, which was really unexpected because I thought my family was fairly traditional. However my host mom, who is more religious, was not home and probably would not have approved had she been present. this is another of the tunisian cultural paradoxes, because alcohol is technically forbidden in islam. however, the majority of tunisians are non-practicing. it's really fascinating to experience this mix of european and arab cultures.
So overall i had a great day. i hope you enjoy perusing my pictures!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
a week of celebrations
This week has been a little hectic seeing as it was our first week of classes. Also, my host family's daughter (who lives a couple blocks away and is also hosting a student) gave birth to a little baby girl on wednesday! i got to go to the hospital to see her on wednesday night. since then my host mom and sister have been over at their house a lot, just helping out.
On tuesday, one of the students in my group, Bradley, celebrated his 21st birthday, and our families decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. my family and i made the cake which was chocolate with whipped cream, hazelnuts, and strawberry jam. it was literally the most fun and energetic birthday party i've ever been to. they played a lot of american hip hop music and even brad's host grandmother got up to dance with him. everyone just cheered and clapped the entire time and it was great to see how quickly everyone had bonded with their families.
On thursday we had our first oriental dance class which was really fun. it took a while to be able to not laugh at myself in the mirror, but after i got over that i really enjoyed it. our teacher is hilarious and flamboyant, and i don't think i've ever seen a man shake his hips as well as he can. the dance is basically exactly what you would think of when hearing oriental dance; there's a lot of hip shaking and arm twirling involved. at the end of the semester we will be performing a routine for all of our families
Yesterday, we had to find our way to Tunis for a lecture at CEMAT, the center for maghreb and arabic studies. i went with my friends dana and sam, and we got to tunis just fine, but then took about 30 minutes to find the place. after the lecture we had the rest of the afternoon off and were free to explore the city. the boys who are taking percussion classes had to buy darbouka drums in the medina, and the girls had to buy jingling scarves for our dance classes. the medina is so fascinating and overwhelming. it's comprised of a maze of winding stone streets filled with little touristy shops selling hookas, bags, ceramics, etc. then after a certain point you reach the part of the medina where tunisians actually shop, which features a lot of clothing and household item stores. we ate a tiny hole in the wall restaurant where i ate a chawerma sandwich. it was delicious. after that we went back to sidi bou said and hung out at our favourite cafe and sheesha place.
On tuesday, one of the students in my group, Bradley, celebrated his 21st birthday, and our families decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. my family and i made the cake which was chocolate with whipped cream, hazelnuts, and strawberry jam. it was literally the most fun and energetic birthday party i've ever been to. they played a lot of american hip hop music and even brad's host grandmother got up to dance with him. everyone just cheered and clapped the entire time and it was great to see how quickly everyone had bonded with their families.
On thursday we had our first oriental dance class which was really fun. it took a while to be able to not laugh at myself in the mirror, but after i got over that i really enjoyed it. our teacher is hilarious and flamboyant, and i don't think i've ever seen a man shake his hips as well as he can. the dance is basically exactly what you would think of when hearing oriental dance; there's a lot of hip shaking and arm twirling involved. at the end of the semester we will be performing a routine for all of our families
Yesterday, we had to find our way to Tunis for a lecture at CEMAT, the center for maghreb and arabic studies. i went with my friends dana and sam, and we got to tunis just fine, but then took about 30 minutes to find the place. after the lecture we had the rest of the afternoon off and were free to explore the city. the boys who are taking percussion classes had to buy darbouka drums in the medina, and the girls had to buy jingling scarves for our dance classes. the medina is so fascinating and overwhelming. it's comprised of a maze of winding stone streets filled with little touristy shops selling hookas, bags, ceramics, etc. then after a certain point you reach the part of the medina where tunisians actually shop, which features a lot of clothing and household item stores. we ate a tiny hole in the wall restaurant where i ate a chawerma sandwich. it was delicious. after that we went back to sidi bou said and hung out at our favourite cafe and sheesha place.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Ma Famille
Last night I moved in with my host family and they are all really sweet. They live in a townhouse consisting of two floors, and their son and his wife live in the apartment above. So far the food has been great and extremely plentiful. Tunisians eat a lot, all the time, and i am constantly encouraged to eat more. I mostly speak french with them but they've been teaching me dialect words for things like vegetables, drinks, and household items. Last night we ate something called tajneen al-marsouka, which is kind of like a quiche with cheese and chicken except the crust is flaky like filo pastry. It was served with a green salad and some jasmine rice. Tonight we ate chicken and green peas in a spicy tomato sauce with a carrot salad. For desert my host mom made a "gateau d'orange."
This morning we had our first lecture which was about the importance of the weekly market in the Tunisian culture and economy. After lecture, we were free to find our own lunch and I went to small restaurant that serves sandwiches. Apparently it is very common for Tunisians to put french fries in their sandwiches. Mine also came with tuna, onions, tomatoes, harissa, a mayonaise-like sauce, cilantro, and chopped fennel (another common Tunisian ingredient). It's served in a large round piece of bread that came out of the oven seconds before. Then we had Arabic class, but those who have already learned the alphabet got to watch a movie called "Halfouine" about a young boy growing up in Tunis. After that I didn't have any more classes for the day, so my friends Faisal, Maureen, Lee and I decided to go exploring. We took the train to La Corniche which is the beachside street in La Marsa and walked along the beach for a while. The water was cold but it was literally one of the most picturesque places i've ever seen. it was straight out of a postcard. then we found a small cafe where we got coffee and tea.
Tomorrow we start oriental dance lessons for the girls and darbouka (or percussion) lessons for the boys, so you will definitely be hearing about that!
This morning we had our first lecture which was about the importance of the weekly market in the Tunisian culture and economy. After lecture, we were free to find our own lunch and I went to small restaurant that serves sandwiches. Apparently it is very common for Tunisians to put french fries in their sandwiches. Mine also came with tuna, onions, tomatoes, harissa, a mayonaise-like sauce, cilantro, and chopped fennel (another common Tunisian ingredient). It's served in a large round piece of bread that came out of the oven seconds before. Then we had Arabic class, but those who have already learned the alphabet got to watch a movie called "Halfouine" about a young boy growing up in Tunis. After that I didn't have any more classes for the day, so my friends Faisal, Maureen, Lee and I decided to go exploring. We took the train to La Corniche which is the beachside street in La Marsa and walked along the beach for a while. The water was cold but it was literally one of the most picturesque places i've ever seen. it was straight out of a postcard. then we found a small cafe where we got coffee and tea.
Tomorrow we start oriental dance lessons for the girls and darbouka (or percussion) lessons for the boys, so you will definitely be hearing about that!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
First few days
Where to start...?
I know that i cannot adequately describe how beautiful this place is, but i will attempt. For the past few days we have been staying in a hotel in a northern suburb of Tunis called Sidi Bou Said. The hotel itself is beautiful, consisting of about twelve rooms centered around a courtyard where we ate breakfast every morning. All of the rooms are covered in vibrant blue and yellow tiles. The place where we take classes, a large apartment-type-thing rented out by SIT, is also in Sidi Bou Said, right near the train station that connects all of the suburbs to Tunis.
The first day we were here we did a bus tour through the different suburbs just to get a general sense of the layout. The next day, we visited Carthage and saw some Pheonician tombs, Roman baths, and the Roman forum. We also met a large group of Tunisian middle school students who were eager to show off their english skills, which mostly consisted of "hello" and "nice". We ate at an tiny, incredible restaurant for lunch that specializes solely in fish. I had a whole, local seabass which came with a side of french fries and a sort of vegetable stew with an egg on top. The starter for almost every Tunisian meal is bread served with olive oil, sometimes creme fraiche, and always "harissa" which is a local spice (it's amazing!!).
The third day, we visited the actual city of Tunis which is about a twenty minute train ride. We met with a tour guide who is a friend of our director's and he led us around the original medina quarter of the city. This is the historical arab city which consists of a mosque at the center and several rings of souks, or markets, surrounding it. These markets are traditionally separated by trade, which include jewelry, nuts and spices, chechia (hat making), and various others including the rather newer areas which sell what our director warmly calls "Libyan junk." This junk ranges from knock off shoes, to little plastic trinkets, to a whole array of Valentine's day paraphernalia. Then we went to a small restaurant in the medina where I ate "poulet farsi" which was chicken stuffed with rice and spices. Other options were couscous with pumpkin and fish or a half sheeps head.
Yesterday we did a "drop off" exercise where we were split up into two groups and were sent to Tunis with specific instructions, the idea being that we need to learn to navigate the transportation system and city on our own. My group had to go to the municipal market which was huge and filled with everything you can imagine. There was tons of fish, meat, cheese, bread, vegetables (a lot of squash, zucchini, etc), and fruits (mostly citrus and dates).
In between all of these excursions, we have been taking survival arabic courses in the Tunisian dialect, which is almost another language from the modern standard arabic that i have taken in school. For the most part I have been using my French much more than Arabic. When classes start tomorrow we will be split up into groups for those who want take modern standard and those who want to take dialect. I am planning on taking dialect. Our other class consists of lectures and discussions on various topics related to the effects of globalization on popular culture in Tunisia. Our final "class" is the field study seminar which is essentially just a bunch of cultural activities, including traditional dance and percussion classes as well as cooking classes.
Tonight we are moving in with our host families who we met a couple of nights ago. My family lives in a suburb called La Marsa which is a ten minute bus or train ride from Sidi Bou Said. Many other students will also be staying in the same suburb. The parents are incredibly sweet and the mother greeted me with a rose, carrying with her the letter and pictures I had sent a couple months ago. They both speak French and Arabic, and the father speaks a small amount of English. They have a twenty year old daughter who is incredibly friendly and outgoing, and she speaks English very well. I spoke to her mostly in French just to get the practice, but I told her I want her to force me to speak Arabic once I am a little farther in my classes. I am still a little nervous, but I think i will really enjoy myself in their home.
I feel like I'm writing a novel, but i decided I'd rather keep a blog than an actual journal and i don't want to leave out anything!
Just a few more things: all of the people in my group (there are 16 of us) are really awesome and we all get along very well. The director, Mounir Khalefa, is incredible and i think we are all going to become very close to him over the next few months. The Tunisian people are so hospitable and everyone we have met so far has been really friendly. The country itself is absolutely fascinating to me because it is such a mix of old Arabic traditions and modern European trends, which gives the whole metropolitan area a very unique vibe.
Well that's all I can think of to say. Now that we will have regular internet access, i promise i will not write such long posts!!
I know that i cannot adequately describe how beautiful this place is, but i will attempt. For the past few days we have been staying in a hotel in a northern suburb of Tunis called Sidi Bou Said. The hotel itself is beautiful, consisting of about twelve rooms centered around a courtyard where we ate breakfast every morning. All of the rooms are covered in vibrant blue and yellow tiles. The place where we take classes, a large apartment-type-thing rented out by SIT, is also in Sidi Bou Said, right near the train station that connects all of the suburbs to Tunis.
The first day we were here we did a bus tour through the different suburbs just to get a general sense of the layout. The next day, we visited Carthage and saw some Pheonician tombs, Roman baths, and the Roman forum. We also met a large group of Tunisian middle school students who were eager to show off their english skills, which mostly consisted of "hello" and "nice". We ate at an tiny, incredible restaurant for lunch that specializes solely in fish. I had a whole, local seabass which came with a side of french fries and a sort of vegetable stew with an egg on top. The starter for almost every Tunisian meal is bread served with olive oil, sometimes creme fraiche, and always "harissa" which is a local spice (it's amazing!!).
The third day, we visited the actual city of Tunis which is about a twenty minute train ride. We met with a tour guide who is a friend of our director's and he led us around the original medina quarter of the city. This is the historical arab city which consists of a mosque at the center and several rings of souks, or markets, surrounding it. These markets are traditionally separated by trade, which include jewelry, nuts and spices, chechia (hat making), and various others including the rather newer areas which sell what our director warmly calls "Libyan junk." This junk ranges from knock off shoes, to little plastic trinkets, to a whole array of Valentine's day paraphernalia. Then we went to a small restaurant in the medina where I ate "poulet farsi" which was chicken stuffed with rice and spices. Other options were couscous with pumpkin and fish or a half sheeps head.
Yesterday we did a "drop off" exercise where we were split up into two groups and were sent to Tunis with specific instructions, the idea being that we need to learn to navigate the transportation system and city on our own. My group had to go to the municipal market which was huge and filled with everything you can imagine. There was tons of fish, meat, cheese, bread, vegetables (a lot of squash, zucchini, etc), and fruits (mostly citrus and dates).
In between all of these excursions, we have been taking survival arabic courses in the Tunisian dialect, which is almost another language from the modern standard arabic that i have taken in school. For the most part I have been using my French much more than Arabic. When classes start tomorrow we will be split up into groups for those who want take modern standard and those who want to take dialect. I am planning on taking dialect. Our other class consists of lectures and discussions on various topics related to the effects of globalization on popular culture in Tunisia. Our final "class" is the field study seminar which is essentially just a bunch of cultural activities, including traditional dance and percussion classes as well as cooking classes.
Tonight we are moving in with our host families who we met a couple of nights ago. My family lives in a suburb called La Marsa which is a ten minute bus or train ride from Sidi Bou Said. Many other students will also be staying in the same suburb. The parents are incredibly sweet and the mother greeted me with a rose, carrying with her the letter and pictures I had sent a couple months ago. They both speak French and Arabic, and the father speaks a small amount of English. They have a twenty year old daughter who is incredibly friendly and outgoing, and she speaks English very well. I spoke to her mostly in French just to get the practice, but I told her I want her to force me to speak Arabic once I am a little farther in my classes. I am still a little nervous, but I think i will really enjoy myself in their home.
I feel like I'm writing a novel, but i decided I'd rather keep a blog than an actual journal and i don't want to leave out anything!
Just a few more things: all of the people in my group (there are 16 of us) are really awesome and we all get along very well. The director, Mounir Khalefa, is incredible and i think we are all going to become very close to him over the next few months. The Tunisian people are so hospitable and everyone we have met so far has been really friendly. The country itself is absolutely fascinating to me because it is such a mix of old Arabic traditions and modern European trends, which gives the whole metropolitan area a very unique vibe.
Well that's all I can think of to say. Now that we will have regular internet access, i promise i will not write such long posts!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)