Packing for Tunisia? Take a black wig just in case!!! I am not kidding... when I was a kid I had red-blonde hair. Obviously there are not that many people with red-blond hair anyway (not talking about our Scotish friends ;))...and in Tunisia the number of people having or having seen red-blonde hair might just be near zero. All thar resulted in Tunisian people touching my head when I was passing them thinking my hair was made of gold and one man even bidding 1000 camels in trade for me...glad my parents didn't agree. Just THAT one "hairy" fact gives us [View Full Entry]

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Tunisia Arrived at Gabes, Tunisia on Saturday and had an all day free tour sponsored by American Express. Saw lots of sand and quite a few oasis with their date palm trees. Our first stop was the city of Matmata where almost all the inhabitants live in cave like dwellings that have been carved out of the hillside. We got a chance to tour one of the homes and were very impressed with the cleanliness and overall layout. We next toured the site where they filmed the first Star Wars Movie and got a chance to buy some real desert souvenirs. [View Full Entry]

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Ok, get ready, this is a long one. For Spring Break I went with about half of my school (100 kids) for 10 days to Tunisia! Talk about another world! Even going to Europe, everything is still so Western and there is a little bit of American influence everywhere, like finding 5 Starbucks in Barcelona. Tunisia was really foreign with a completely different alphabet and the influences of Islam everywhere. Their president pretends to be super liberal and democratic (they call themselves a republic) but he's pretty much a dictator. We were followed around the entire trip by a couple of [View Full Entry]

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El viaje más divertido que hemos hecho!! [View Full Entry]

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Arabic class in the morning, more strange gammer. I'm becoming addicted to cappacino. Anyway, most of the time I was fretting over cooking dinner. I'd only followed recipes before, and never cooked for more than six people, and here I am in a foreign country, not guaranteed the necessary ingredients, with different measures of quantity and temperature, cooking for 13 people, including my host family and my professor. Needless to say, I was stressed. I also ran out of minutes on my cell phone in the midst of a conversation with my mom in NJ over how to cook the main [View Full Entry]

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Today we left early for our first weekend trip. Its cramped on the bus but I survive with Asja and Samia cracking jokes and conversations with the others, whether I am actually involved or just listening. I'll need to remember my iPod for future trips, though. The scenery was amazing. Some parts of it remind me of NJ. I didn't expect Tunisia to have such vast stretches of green. We stopped to see ruins, including a theater and a temple, all extremely impressive. I was unaware of how many ruins were here. I'm surprised more people aren't aware of the sites. [View Full Entry]

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We walked out near the hotel after breakfast, around the sea. It was rough, but beautiful. The stone walkway was interrupted by huge orangey stones that jutted up out of the water. Those that ventured out on the jetty got soaked by a huge wave. I purchased some jewelry. Later we explored Bulla Reggia, which was much more expansive than it appears from the road. It was amzing to go down into the mosaic-floored basements. Purple lilacs grew around the ruins, and sheep herds could be heard from the surrouding hills. It was pretty incredible. The drive home was REALLY long. [View Full Entry]

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Today we returned to the medina, this time with our history professor. Must say I didn't absorb much, until we entered some of the buildings and old houses. Those were brilliant. Lunch was strange. I was seated with a few others right next to the kitchen, where the cooks shouted to each other and to the waiters. We felt rushed. Kittens begged us for food. After lunch we were ushered into an all male cafe, or at least that was what it seemed like. I quickly finished my tea and left with Samia and Asja. We found a small shop where [View Full Entry]

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Today we went to the American cemetery. The speaker was probably the best so far. He was very engaging. It was emotional for some of us, too. We then visited some Carthaginian sites. We saw the aquaducts, and some other ruins, and mosaics. Its a humbling experience to be in a country with thousands of years of history, coming from a country that's so young. There were tombs lined up near the museum, and it was depressing to see that visitors had thrown trash into some of them. There is a lot of trash in the countryside, too. While in the [View Full Entry]

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Today we had classes for the first time. Half of us are taking Upper Intermediate Arabic, and half are taking Art History. All of us take Contemporary North Africa, which mostly consists of the trips, reading, and the experience in general. I'm taking the Arabic course. I hope I am not too far behind the students from Delaware, they finished a chapter ahead of my class last semester. After classes, I had luch at a fantastic Lebanese restaurant, Cafe Fayrouz, with Samia and Asja. I'm getting to know them very well. I probably hang out with them more than anyone else [View Full Entry]

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