http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Tunisia en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:02:57 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:02:57 UTC Woke up around 9am I had not done any of my packing and my room was in an utter mess. I also had to go to the bank because I have been busy working double shifts to payback days my colleagues have been working for me.I had a cup of green tea which I had drunk a few days ago and the cup was still beside my bed and the green tea leaves were still there with mold growing inside.After having breakfas http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-351010.html Driving in Tunisia is ... fun probably similar to racing but with a lot of moving targets We enjoyed Tunisia from the palmery of Tozer date havest time to the lost city of Tataouine where we got to live a few days with a familly who were busy picking up olives.Lessons learnt in Tunisia1. When driving in the middle of the night think twice before taking the dirt road it could become a sand d http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/blog-350206.html For Jane http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Hammamet/blog-339962.html So by this point in our two months of traveling David and I have started to consider ourselves travel experts. We can efficiently and confidently navigate many a foreign subway systems order meals in the local language and even find our way using only our newly developed keen sense of directionhellip we may have even started to get a little arrogant about all of this if it hadnrsquot been http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Hammamet/blog-320985.html It is officially the last day of my foolhardy North African adventure volume I.It has been packed. Did I actually say that I would be able to relax in Tunis I vaguely remember using the words 'chill out'.Today I went to my first and second legit museums of my entire 6 week trip. I am so le cultured.I visited mostly all the old Carthaginian ruins near Tunis in the 35 degree humid weather. A http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-315069.html Louage n a six or eight person taxi a ubiquitous form of transportation in Tunisia. Also Stacey's place of residence during most of her sejour.Since Tozeur I have continued my whirlwind trip of the south.I've driven across the Chott el Jerid a dried up salt lake... where Luke contemplated the two moons on his home planet in A New Hope. Yup I'm still geeking out.I've sprinted through Sa http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/The-east-of-Tunisia/blog-313623.html What a difference a day makes... 24 little hoursFor those of you who haven't seen Run Lola Run do it.AnywayReasons I was Tired Yesterday1. lack of sleep2. that freaking call to prayer at 430am3. its hot4. did i mention its hot5. two long bus trips back to back6. giant backpack7. lack of sleepAnyway I was really ready to call it quits yesterday. Thankfully my sarcastically mentione http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tozeur/blog-312511.html Im tired.Its hot.Im tiredIt sucks Im in TUNISIA on the verge of going to see both the desert and Star Wars yes I'm a geek sites and all I can think about is doing absolutely nothing.Going back to Cairo and going to sleep.ArghIn dire need of kind words of encouragement please.Either that or a very good night's sleep. Which as my choice of budget 'this might be an interesting experience http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tozeur/blog-312148.html So long wait but Ive finally made it to Africa. And the Sahara is beautiful in an oh so desolate sort of way. I havent been able to go very far into it yet I hope to spend longer when I explore the Western Desert in Egypt but the splendid desolation of searingly hot dunes and terrain so flat and endless that it plays tricks on your eyes is something to see. Also I have descided that Bedoui http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-311763.html Due to a sheer apathy I have not posted in the last couple of days. As in I was waay to lazy to leave the little oasis I found on Cap Bon.But I get ahead of myself.One only has to read my journal entries of the day and the night from the 9th to the 10th of August. To say the least I was a wee bit cranky at my captivity in the Doukhane household in Annaba and of my 3am scheduled departure tim http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-311760.html ...never again will I complain about the Greek alphabetFirst of all apologies for the long silence. I am alive in Africa specifically in Tunis and just starting to recover from the biggest bout of culture shock ever.I am functionally only semiliterate. Tunisia is a francophone country so in theory although arabic is an incredibly difficult language and I have only a few phrases and cant rea http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-311755.html Packing for Tunisia Take a black wig just in caseI am not kidding... when I was a kid I had redblonde hair. Obviously there are not that many people with redblond hair anyway not talking about our Scotish friends ...and in Tunisia the number of people having or having seen redblonde hair might just be near zero. All thar resulted in Tunisian people touching my head when I was passing t http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-300912.html Beach Holiday in TunesiaOur first holiday together. We went to Sousse for a relaxing holiday at the Tunesian coast.We stayed 2 weeks in hotel Tej Marhaba.From there we made some trips around the country. The rest of our time we relaxed at the beach or the pool. We also did a boat trip along the coast of Sousse and Port El Kantaoui.Port El Kantaoui is a nice beach resort near Sousse. It an http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Sousse/blog-295898.html 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 cleanli http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/blog-277607.html Tunesien Hammamet http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Hammamet/blog-259165.html 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 everywhe http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/blog-255389.html El viaje ms divertido que hemos hecho http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tozeur/blog-255033.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/blog-248631.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/blog-248628.html 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 t http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-248624.html 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 f http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-248622.html Today we had class again nothing new. We had a lecture by Dr. Dhaouedi about his theory of the other underdevelopment. While the article was interesting I found the leture lacked substane and the speaker repetitive. It was like he didn't think we spoke English. I felt like most of the time he did nothing but talk about his professional accomplishments and talk down to us. Maybe that one s http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-244525.html Today we had classes for the second time. It was difficult and I don't think everyone understood the grammatical concepts he was trying to teach us. Or at least I hope I wasn't the only one.We had lunch at Cafe Fayrouz again excellent again. When Samia tries to speak Arabic to some locals a lot of the time they only respond in French. Her parents are Lebanese but she never learned French s http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Sidi-Bou-Said/blog-244523.html 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 cl http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-244519.html 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 th http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tunis/blog-244514.html the Jedi Mindtricks of SoberOne KenobiSo I Believe I left off with us stranded helplessly in the Sahara sick with infections and horny camels... Oh wait Did I not mention that last little fun fact Well before I get started that has to be addressed. Yes ladies and gentlemen it is breeding season for Tunisian camels this winter. That means the womenfolk of the camelkind are either pregna http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tataouine/blog-243090.html the amazing typing skills of the nowfreckled RobinWell it's the sandy post you've all been waiting for and I do believe my keyboard is hopelessly broken so bear with me here. I'm having spacebar issues on top of the normal 'm' and 'a' changes. Crazy countryJAN 19th the adventure beginsWe ended today in the town of Kairouen. Known for it's famous cookies of condensed baklavalike dou http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tunisia/Tataouine/blog-241344.html