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!
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Dear Colleen,
ReplyDeleteI knew you were going to Tunisia, and then I forgot, and then all of a sudden you're there. In Tunisia. And you used 'picturesque' and spelled it correctly, and I missed you.