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!