This will be our first Ramadan in the Middle East. For those who don’t know, Ramadan is the month of fasting in Islam, and begins on August 1st this year. I have mixed feelings about spending Ramadan here. On the one hand, it will be interesting to get a closer look at one of the five pillars of the Muslim faith. As a Mormon, I fast for one Sunday each month. Almost every month as I am preparing to break my fast, I think of my Muslim friends and acquaintances, and how impressed I am that they fast every single day for an entire month (and this month it’s the month of August too!).… Read more
Middle East
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Captain Khobza!
It’s been awhile since I gave you an update on the political and security situation here in Tunisia. Things are getting a bit exciting here again. I just hope they don’t get TOO exciting in the wrong way.
Six months after the revolution, the economy is (understandably) worse than ever. Unemployment is projected to reach 20 percent this year, compared to an already depressing 13 percent last year, pre-revolution. Beji Caid Essebsi, the current Prime Minister, blames the state of the economy on continued strikes and sit-ins, both on the street and at major firms and manufacturing plants.
There’s no doubt that the demonstrations, both in January and since, have affected the economy.… Read more
Discovering our Tunisian roof
One of the first things I noticed when we moved to Tunisia was that the houses don’t have roofs! Or at least they look like they don’t.
This was a bit startling after having lived in Ireland, where the most obvious feature on a typical house might be its tall, peaked roof, designed to let the copious rain roll off easily.
Even in Italy, where the rain is less abundant and the roof angles are correspondingly less acute, at least all the houses obviously have them.
Here in Tunisia, there are a few places like Luke Skywalker’s house, which really are roofless.… Read more
The Dangerous Art of Diplomacy
The Water-wheels in Hama, Syria
The foreign service usually seems like a somewhat safer place than the military. But U.S. pilots flying NATO missions in Libya might be safer than Ambassador Robert Ford in Syria at the moment. Last Thursday, he and his French counterpart, Eric Chevallier, made a symbolic visit to Hama, site of the infamous 1982 Syrian massacre, and recent target of a crackdown by the Syrian government. They stayed into Friday, traditionally the most active day for protests. Demonstrators greeted them with smiles and roses, and they spent the day shaking hands and visiting hospitals in an expression of solidarity with the Syrian uprising.… Read more
Underground Luxury at Bulla Regia
Less than an hour north of Dougga is Bulla Regia. Signs at the site informed us that “Regia” means royal, which we could already divine from our acquaintance with Romance languages. What we’d really like to know is what “Bulla” means. Maybe someone can enlighten me.
Although it lacks the sheer size and impressiveness of Dougga, Bulla Regia has its own attractions. For instance, on the way to the theater we caught sight of another headless emperor. It was too obvious of a photo op to not take advantage. Here is Axa posing as a Roman empress.
Bulla Regia also had its share of wildlife.… Read more
The Best Roman Ruin in Tunisia – Dougga
So, when we went to el-Djem for my birthday, I thought that MUST be the best. What could be better than a gigantic, nearly perfectly-preserved amphitheater smack dab in the middle of a tiny little Tunisian country town? Well, how about this:
We have been really stressed out with work lately, so we gave ourselves a little break yesterday and drove a couple of hours to visit an incredible UNESCO World Heritage Site. Just because we live in Tunisia, and we can. Dougga is billed as the best preserved Roman ruin in North Africa.
Although our landlord recommended that we take the main road up to Tunis and then back down to Dougga, we decided we’d strike off on our own straight across.… Read more
Flags and Amor Patriae
Tony and I were in Yasmine Hammamet on our date last Friday when I saw a gorgeous fringed scarf in the colors of the new Libyan flag. My romantic husband bought it for me on the spot, along with a matching tie tack for himself. Five minutes later we were in the grocery store, and were stopped by a couple who saw our regalia. They were Libyans who had fled to Tunisia twelve days before. We were happy to be able to express to them our sincere wishes for a speedy and felicitous ending to the conflict now raging in their country.… Read more
Propaganda, Pathos and Power
Yesterday the Syrian ambassador to France defected in protest of the government’s violence against civilians. Oh, wait, actually she didn’t. The truth is, nobody really knows what did or did not happen. Yesterday France 24, a French television network, broadcast a telephone interview in which Lamia Shakkour, the ambassador in question, announced her resignation. Little more than an hour later, Syria state television broadcast a different telephone interview in which Ms. Shakkour denied resigning. She later actually appeared on television (not by telephone this time) in front of the Paris Syrian Embassy, confirming that she had not resigned, and threatening to sue France 24.… Read more
Tears for Syria
Yesterday Tony and I went on a really lovely date. It was one of those beautiful, still, early-summer nights, where sunset fades gently into a blue velvet canopy of stars spread out brightly over a calm sea. We were sitting beside a fountain just outside the walls of the 15th-century Hammamet Medina. The antique streetlights cast a warm glow over the walls and falling water. It felt like a picture out of the Arabian Nights. I couldn’t help but think back to Syria, and my first experiences in the magical world of mosques, minarets, and medinas. It’s a world rocked now by the winds of change, punctuated sharply by the iron-clad pounding fists of despots.… Read more
Get Me to the Church on Time
When Tony and I lived on BYU campus as newlyweds, we pretty much walked straight out our front door into the Mormon chapel, which was also on campus. Forgot an extra diaper? No problem (please tell me I’m not the only mother who’s ever done this). There was no hassle if one of us needed to be at Church early. And home/visiting teaching was a piece of cake. Tony still loves to tell about his Elder’s Quorum President, who stood up in opening exercises one morning to recount a conversation in which his father (also Elder’s Quorum President in his own ward) begged to know his secret for achieving 100% home teaching.… Read more