Day Three January 6th

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Today we had a decent lecture at the hotel, however it is difficult to really focus on a lecture knowing there is a whole county to see outside. We went to a soccer game where there were less spectators than I expected. We had nice seats, but, as we're 20 American tourists siting in one row, surrounded by police, I felt like I was on display. The men smoked way too much and it was difficult to sit there through the first half. During halftime we were ushered into a wood paneled room where men in suits milled around and we stood there and felt awkward. Still not really sure what we were doing there, but I suppose it was some sort of reception. It was disappointing that Tunisia lost the game to Zambia, but it was still interesting. After the soccer game, we went back to the Dar Shebab in Al Marsa (like a youth center, there's one in every town), we nervously waited for our Tunisian families to come pick us up. I was very anxious. Our mother (mine and Jennifer's) came and told us right away to call her mama. I liked her immediately. At the house, which was gorgeous, we met our host sister Basma, her boyfriend, our host sister Amel, and our host sister Ines. The family was so welcoming and friendly. I suspect one of them gave up their room for us. They are so generous. They prepared a huge dinner for us and the other sister, Farrah, her husband, Waleed, our classmates Adam and Stephan, Khalil (our director), and Marion (another director) all came to dinner. Everything was delicious, and they kept refilling our plates. I felt awkward using my limited Modern Standard Arabic, nervous that I would sound bad, but the family was encouraging. We slept well that night, though I woke up to the sound of the muezzin reciting the call to prayer.

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