i'm becoming increasingly bad about updating this, but my schedule has been a little hectic since my last post. A couple SIT directors and several study abroad advisers from various schools have been visiting all week. on sunday two of them came to my house for lunch which was really fun. one of them was the cutest little old man who teaches food anthropology at Spelman University. and it turns out he lives in the suburb of atlanta that my host family's oldest daughter and her husband live in. her husband is a portrait artist and my family gave this man the address of the studio so he can visit and be like "hey! i met your entire tunisian family!" small world.
on saturday i cooked my family a mexican (a la tunisian) meal. I made guacamole with some harissa (delicious!) and fajitas with chicken, peppers, and corn. There was a lot of improvising because you can't find tortillas or tortilla chips here. so instead we used big pitas for the fajitas, and cut them up into strips and baked them to make chips for the guacamole. i was pretty impressed with myself considering i've never really cooked a whole mexican meal for six people before. i thought it tasted pretty good, and my family seemed to like it, especially the guacamole. although they have a really hard time pronouncing it. that night my host brother took me, my host sister, and his wife to hammamet which is a really touristy town about an hour from here. it was pretty empty because it was cold and dark. there are tons of massive hotels with various themes (like one that looked like a legit sand castle). Then there is also a fake medina with a bunch of tourist shops and a hotel on top. this is situated next to a theme park called Carthage Land. it was really strange and so fake, but my host siblings couldn't understand why i thought so. then they took me to hammamet nord which is just a normal town but they kept saying that it was boring and that they like hammamet sud better. then on the drive home we had a mini-discotheque in the car with my host brother flashing the lights like a strobe.
the weather this week has finally gotten warmer. it's sooooo beautiful! i think its been around 65 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze. today after class i walked around in the sidi bou said park for a while and just listened to music. i also read a french cosmopolitan magazine which was interesting, but not nearly as racy as the american one.
i can't really think of anything else exciting that's happened in the last week. i think on friday mounir's son is going to take us out to a bar/restaurant/club called boeuf sur la toile (which literally features a giant cow sculpture sipping a martini on the roof). apparently they have live music which should be fun. i think that's all...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
I know it's been a while since my last post, but i just got back from an amazing week touring the south of tunisia. i will attempt to summarize, but please excuse the length of this post.
monday- We left sidi bou said early in the morning and headed to kairouan which is the fourth holiest city in islam, and site of the first mosque built in africa. we saw some ancient water cisterns, the shrine of an important islamic saint, and obviously the great mosque of kairouan. non-muslims are only allowed to enter the courtyard of the mosque, but not the inside of the prayer chamber. we also got to eat a tunisian pastry called makroud which is a sesame dough stuffed with date paste, fried, and covered in honey. kairouan is supposed to have the best makroud in the country...i would agree. from there we went to sbeitla where we saw the ruins of a roman village, featuring a temple, an amphitheatre, several churches, and lots of houses. We spent the night in Gafsa which is a fairly large city, but we didn't really have time to explore the city. we did however enjoy a rousing game of charades in the hotel.
tuesday- from gafsa we headed to tozeur, but on the way stopped in a small town (whose name i don't remember) to take a ride on the red lizard train. this is an old train used by miners to access the phosphorous mines. now it is a tourist destination. the views were really beautiful, and our assignment while on the train was to observe the other tourists. all of us commented on how we somehow wanted to set ourselves apart from them, because we feel like we are really "experiencing" tunisia, while they are just seeing it. When we got to Tozeur in the afternoon, we were split into two groups. my group was instructed to go to a museum called Chak Wak, which was constructed by a man in Tozeur with entirely too much money. it is literally the most bizarre place i have ever experienced. it is kind of like a theme park, but the theme changes halfway through from evolution to creationism. in the first part you walk into a cave with statues and pictures representing the evolution of man. then you walk on a path with lots of big dinosaurs. then you go to a petting zoo. then you go through a museum of all major religions. then you walk through the story of creation, noah's ark, and the family tree of all the prophets. then there is a large section on islam. not only did the whole place look and feel weird, they never attempted to explain how it all fit together, because most muslims do not find a conflict between science and religion. to get back to the hotel we were told to find a horse drawn cart (which we literally saw 20 of on the way to chakwak). however when we left the museum, we could not find one anywhere and ended up catching a ride with a random farmer who took all the grass/hay off his cart and took us back to the hotel. it was a little sketch but mostly really funny.
wednesday- in the morning we visited several oases near tozeur. they were neat but so infested with tourists that it wasn't all that fun. in the afternoon we went to visit the ong jemel star wards set whiich is out in the dunes. to get there, we rode in these jeeps that drove over the dunes, making the trip more or less like a roller coaster. the driver told us that this is really just to amuse tourists, and that you can easily drive through the area without going over the dunes. but i enjoyed it. the star wars set itself was small and not all that interesting, but it was neat to see how george lucas would have found the area convincing as another planet. the landscape is really other-worldly. we watched the sunset from atop a large sand dune.
thursday- in the morning we left tozeur to go to douz, another major southern city. there we were given a couple hours to explore the market. it was very touristy. but i ran into my friends dana and lindsay who had been off in search of a special southern tunisian pizza called mutugba. they asked a man at a restaurant who told them they would not find a restaurant that sold it, but that he could take them to a lady who sold them out of her home to her neighbours and friends. so they went and she told them to give her thirty minutes to make them. at which point i ran into them and joined them. when we returned to her house she sat us down in her living room and we ate the pizzas with the lady, her two daughters, and the baby of one of the daughters. she even invited us to come back for dinner but we were leaving douz in a couple of hours. it was such a cool experience and the pizza was delicious. it was basically chewy round bread stuffed with harissa, onions, and parsley. after that we set off to the desert where we went on an hour long camel ride to reach our sahara camp. my camel was not very happy because he was wearing a muzzle and therefore made weird groaning noises the entire time. the camp looks completely remote when you come in by camel, but we discovered when exploring the dunes that it was actually right next to a town of about 20,000. the camp consisted of a groups of large tents with beds and heaters, so it was not exactly what we had been expecting when we were told we'd be "camping in the sahara." but i didn't really mind, because nights in the desert are incredibly cold.
friday- in the morning we left the camp (on horse drawn carts) and then got back on the tour bus to go to djerba. along the way we stopped to see a troglodyte house which is a house built into the side of a hill. in this specific region of tunisia there is no rock or wood to build a house, so they dug cave-like houses. mounir knew a woman who has opened her private house to tourists to make a little extra money. she fed us homemade bread with honey and olive oil, and dressed up courtney in a traditional bride's outfit. when we got to djerba it was fairly late and we all were happy to have a hot shower and eat dinner.
saturday- we had all of saturday free to explore djerba on our own. we were staying in houmt-souk which is in the north of the island. we visited the marina, wandered around the city, and then caught a bus to a berber village in the south called gaulalla. everyone in the village was incredibly friendly and we wandered down some neighbourhood roads to find the beach. all of the kids in the street were completely amused to see a group of five americans walking down their street. a lot of the women in this village were dressed in traditional outfits which consisted of long white draped sheets with accents of orange, red, and maroon. they also wore straw hats. it was really nice to have a day just to explore without a structured schedule, and also to visit a place that wasn't so filled with tourists and things directed towards tourists. overall i loved the island because life was just so much slower paced there than in the city of tunis.
sunday- in the morning we got up early to make a stop at the ghriba synagogue which supposedly houses a stone from either the first or second jewish temple. djerba has a really high concentration of jews compared to the rest of tunisia, most of whom came from spain during the inquisition. about 10,000 jews come each spring on pilgrimage to visit this synagogue. it was incredibly ornate on the interior and very different from american temples. we were allowed to go in as long as the women wore scarves and the men wore kepas. then we drove to the ferry and headed back towards tunis. on the way we stopped at el-jem which is the second best preserved and third largest roman coliseum. it was really neat to see and also to explore, because we were given free reign. according to those in my group who have seen the coliseum in rome, you aren't allowed to access most of it. in this one we could climb on the ruins and even go underground to where they kept the gladiators, prisoners, and lions.
all in all it was a very fun but very exhausting trip. i think that's enough for one post...
monday- We left sidi bou said early in the morning and headed to kairouan which is the fourth holiest city in islam, and site of the first mosque built in africa. we saw some ancient water cisterns, the shrine of an important islamic saint, and obviously the great mosque of kairouan. non-muslims are only allowed to enter the courtyard of the mosque, but not the inside of the prayer chamber. we also got to eat a tunisian pastry called makroud which is a sesame dough stuffed with date paste, fried, and covered in honey. kairouan is supposed to have the best makroud in the country...i would agree. from there we went to sbeitla where we saw the ruins of a roman village, featuring a temple, an amphitheatre, several churches, and lots of houses. We spent the night in Gafsa which is a fairly large city, but we didn't really have time to explore the city. we did however enjoy a rousing game of charades in the hotel.
tuesday- from gafsa we headed to tozeur, but on the way stopped in a small town (whose name i don't remember) to take a ride on the red lizard train. this is an old train used by miners to access the phosphorous mines. now it is a tourist destination. the views were really beautiful, and our assignment while on the train was to observe the other tourists. all of us commented on how we somehow wanted to set ourselves apart from them, because we feel like we are really "experiencing" tunisia, while they are just seeing it. When we got to Tozeur in the afternoon, we were split into two groups. my group was instructed to go to a museum called Chak Wak, which was constructed by a man in Tozeur with entirely too much money. it is literally the most bizarre place i have ever experienced. it is kind of like a theme park, but the theme changes halfway through from evolution to creationism. in the first part you walk into a cave with statues and pictures representing the evolution of man. then you walk on a path with lots of big dinosaurs. then you go to a petting zoo. then you go through a museum of all major religions. then you walk through the story of creation, noah's ark, and the family tree of all the prophets. then there is a large section on islam. not only did the whole place look and feel weird, they never attempted to explain how it all fit together, because most muslims do not find a conflict between science and religion. to get back to the hotel we were told to find a horse drawn cart (which we literally saw 20 of on the way to chakwak). however when we left the museum, we could not find one anywhere and ended up catching a ride with a random farmer who took all the grass/hay off his cart and took us back to the hotel. it was a little sketch but mostly really funny.
wednesday- in the morning we visited several oases near tozeur. they were neat but so infested with tourists that it wasn't all that fun. in the afternoon we went to visit the ong jemel star wards set whiich is out in the dunes. to get there, we rode in these jeeps that drove over the dunes, making the trip more or less like a roller coaster. the driver told us that this is really just to amuse tourists, and that you can easily drive through the area without going over the dunes. but i enjoyed it. the star wars set itself was small and not all that interesting, but it was neat to see how george lucas would have found the area convincing as another planet. the landscape is really other-worldly. we watched the sunset from atop a large sand dune.
thursday- in the morning we left tozeur to go to douz, another major southern city. there we were given a couple hours to explore the market. it was very touristy. but i ran into my friends dana and lindsay who had been off in search of a special southern tunisian pizza called mutugba. they asked a man at a restaurant who told them they would not find a restaurant that sold it, but that he could take them to a lady who sold them out of her home to her neighbours and friends. so they went and she told them to give her thirty minutes to make them. at which point i ran into them and joined them. when we returned to her house she sat us down in her living room and we ate the pizzas with the lady, her two daughters, and the baby of one of the daughters. she even invited us to come back for dinner but we were leaving douz in a couple of hours. it was such a cool experience and the pizza was delicious. it was basically chewy round bread stuffed with harissa, onions, and parsley. after that we set off to the desert where we went on an hour long camel ride to reach our sahara camp. my camel was not very happy because he was wearing a muzzle and therefore made weird groaning noises the entire time. the camp looks completely remote when you come in by camel, but we discovered when exploring the dunes that it was actually right next to a town of about 20,000. the camp consisted of a groups of large tents with beds and heaters, so it was not exactly what we had been expecting when we were told we'd be "camping in the sahara." but i didn't really mind, because nights in the desert are incredibly cold.
friday- in the morning we left the camp (on horse drawn carts) and then got back on the tour bus to go to djerba. along the way we stopped to see a troglodyte house which is a house built into the side of a hill. in this specific region of tunisia there is no rock or wood to build a house, so they dug cave-like houses. mounir knew a woman who has opened her private house to tourists to make a little extra money. she fed us homemade bread with honey and olive oil, and dressed up courtney in a traditional bride's outfit. when we got to djerba it was fairly late and we all were happy to have a hot shower and eat dinner.
saturday- we had all of saturday free to explore djerba on our own. we were staying in houmt-souk which is in the north of the island. we visited the marina, wandered around the city, and then caught a bus to a berber village in the south called gaulalla. everyone in the village was incredibly friendly and we wandered down some neighbourhood roads to find the beach. all of the kids in the street were completely amused to see a group of five americans walking down their street. a lot of the women in this village were dressed in traditional outfits which consisted of long white draped sheets with accents of orange, red, and maroon. they also wore straw hats. it was really nice to have a day just to explore without a structured schedule, and also to visit a place that wasn't so filled with tourists and things directed towards tourists. overall i loved the island because life was just so much slower paced there than in the city of tunis.
sunday- in the morning we got up early to make a stop at the ghriba synagogue which supposedly houses a stone from either the first or second jewish temple. djerba has a really high concentration of jews compared to the rest of tunisia, most of whom came from spain during the inquisition. about 10,000 jews come each spring on pilgrimage to visit this synagogue. it was incredibly ornate on the interior and very different from american temples. we were allowed to go in as long as the women wore scarves and the men wore kepas. then we drove to the ferry and headed back towards tunis. on the way we stopped at el-jem which is the second best preserved and third largest roman coliseum. it was really neat to see and also to explore, because we were given free reign. according to those in my group who have seen the coliseum in rome, you aren't allowed to access most of it. in this one we could climb on the ruins and even go underground to where they kept the gladiators, prisoners, and lions.
all in all it was a very fun but very exhausting trip. i think that's enough for one post...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
baby shower!
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!
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!
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!!
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