Under the Tunisian Sun

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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 time for Tunis. Exhaustion hit me like a hammer in the middle of the day, and it got to the point that I was physically nauseous at the thought of heading back to the activity of the household. The problem with that family was certainly not their energy or generosity- it was the fact that despite my constant polite hints and statements, they simply didn't listen to me. In one ear, and out the other. My saviour came in the form of Youcef (the son- and my appointed permanent guardian during my stay there)'s friend/cab driver, who finally managed to convey that all I wanted was a little bit of youthful freedom, and I got a sweet couple of hours with the guys I met on the bus (but, clearly, with Youcef as my chaperone. sigh)

Anyway, the border crossing was une biotch. It's summer vacation here too- and all the Algerians are heading to Tunisia for a summer beachy getaway. A normal four hour trip took twice that time.

The hostel in Tunis was really really awesome- I chilled out and met a bunch of other travelers, and generally recovered from my exhausting escape from my gilded cage. A bunch of them told me that they thought it was courageous of me to travel alone, especially in Algeria-- the thing is, Algeria was so safe for me on the whole, that it struck me as odd that they found it Algeria especially noteworthy. I consider it like I would Morocco.

I also came to this conclusion- it's not courage if you don't have the foresight to even be aware of danger. Kind of like being blindfolded (of your own accord) and walking along a precipice with jagged rocks at the bottom.

Oblivion, Ignorance, and Folly thrown into the mix-- THAT'S the key to travel. haha.

Anyway, I also quickly discovered my sheer disdain for all things commercially touristy. As in Tunis. In general. I was just looking forward to finding my own little spot to chill out at the beach, so despite the fact that the staff were encouraging me to hitch along with some of the other people I met, I headed off for this little town called El Haouaria on the tip of the Cap Bon region.

It. Was. Perfect. A sleepy little town with absolutely nothing in it. Seriously, the road to my hotel had chickens and sheep roaming the countryside beside it. Not like it mattered- I basically holed myself up in the oasis that was La Pension Les Grottes, and spent a whole day and a half lying by the pool, slow-roasting myself, and devouring "Wuthering Heights." I would have stayed longer, but they didn't have any vacancies. I'm not sure if that was true-- I think the owner disliked me; if not for the sole reason that I was such a bizarre oddity: that girl who talks to no one, and does nothing but lie by the pool.

Anyway, I was kicked out and it was probably for the best- I was really becoming apathetic. I have since decided to venture down south. Sheer stupidity on my part for keeping it this late- but the Sahara is calling me. I would have been well to do it when the weather was at least slightly better in Morocco (helped also by the fact that I was tight with these Tuareg- desert nomad- in Essaouira that invited me home with them). But no. I insisted that it was too hot. Well, I spent the entire morning melting in various buses and louages (8 person taxis), finally getting to the halfway point of Kairouane. I took a siesta like most North Africans, thinking that 4pm was a decent time to reemerge.

Holy crap. I would not be surprised to see one of the millions of stray cats ubiquitous in this area of the world to explode.

I wish I remember how to say the Algerian expression 'it's so hot the flies explode' that they taught me Oran.

At least I'm consoled by the fact that it is dry heat. I've spent my time entirely on the coast, so working my way inwards and southward might not be such a stupid idea...?

Next I head off to Tozeur, and then Douz, and then Matmata. Basically to 1) see the Sahara and 2) totally geek out and visit all the Star Wars sets they have to offer.

Finally, I realized that since I'm writing mostly for you guys... is there anything you'd like to know? I don't know.... the various whats whos and wherefores of my trip thus far. Comment or send me an email and I'll get them answered in the following posts!

May the Force be with you,
Stacey

UPDATE:

I just checked the weather report.

It is currently FOURTY TWO FREAKING DEGREES outside.

Sweet jebus.

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