Middle East

Crime and Punishment, Bin Laden-Style

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Yesterday two friends (one Tunisian and one British) separately made a point of congratulating me on the killing of Osama bin Laden. At the time, I was so taken aback I had no response for them but a mumbled deprecation. You see, I had never before pictured what I would do if someone congratulated me on the death of another person. However, since then, and since Sunday, I have spent plenty of time giving it thought.

For my two well-meaning friends and for all of you, my response is twofold:

First, my sensibilities rebel at the idea of celebrating death. Anyone’s death.… Read more

The Evolution of Orkin

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

A strange and mysterious script has been discovered on white boards and documents throughout this house. So far, the cryptic writing has not been deciphered. However, yesterday I received a clue as to its origins. In fact, I witnessed a shadowy character actually writing in what I now have cause to believe may be a metamorphosed dialect of Orkin, my children’s invented private language. Figure 1 (see above) is my subsequent secret photograph of the writing in question.

If you have ever lived in a country covered in Arabic graffiti, you might initially come to the same conclusion I did: Orkin must be a derivative of Arabic.… Read more

Tragedy in Syria

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

It has been a month since I last wrote about Syria, but I have thought about my favorite Middle Eastern country every single day, and watched the news anxiously, hoping for some miraculous happy-ever-after. Since then, any illusions that President Bashar al-Assad might not be quite as bad as his infamous father have been washed away in rivers of blood. Over 500 civilians have died at the hands of the Syrian military during the past six weeks, with 62 killed just yesterday in protests that brought 15,000 Syrians to the streets of Damascus alone. The southern city of Daraa, where the protests began, is surrounded by a tank blockade that has cut off its citizens from water, electricity, medical support, and even milk for children.… Read more

Life without internet

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

If this post ends up sounding a little woozy and weird, it’s probably just because I’m a little high on secondhand hubbly-bubbly smoke. Our internet is still not functioning, so we make a daily pilgrimage to the “Tea House” (Tunisian/British Tourist-speak for Cafe) around the corner that advertises free wifi. Besides the smoke (an abundant mixture of both regular and hubbly-bubbly kinds), which is par for the course in Tunisia, it’s a pretty nice place. The only other weird thing is that it is full of large flat-screen televisions playing Arab music videos. But the music often doesn’t match up with the video.… Read more

How to keep strange men from following you on the beach

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I like to go out walking on the beach in the mornings, and then find a quiet place on the sand to sit and write poetry. Tony was initially a little concerned about me going by myself. And really, so was I. Fortunately, I have a guardian angel. Named Rambo. No, really. We met him when Alistair took us out for strawberry milkshakes. He works at a café that belongs to a nice little hotel around the corner from our house. It’s called Les Citronniers, and is heartily recommended by everyone (in case any of you are looking for accommodation in Hammamet and (gasp!)… Read more

Kind of a Fashion Blog

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

So I’m not a fashion blogger, but I couldn’t resist this post. Despite strong ties with/influence from Europe, Tunisia is an obviously Muslim country. The beautiful call to prayer can be heard five times a day from mosques in every neighborhood. Declining to order alcohol at a restaurant doesn’t brand you as weird and cheap. And although there is plenty of visible female hair, many women do wear the hijab (Muslim head scarf). It was actually suppressed during the administration of now-deposed President Ben Ali, so it’s now enjoying a bit of a renaissance here.

The hijab is especially in fashion among younger women, who tend to make it so deliciously stylish that I feel a little jealous.… Read more

In which we get in on the pillaging

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Yesterday Tony and I went on our first date in Tunisia. And it was wonderful. Our Irish cleaning lady happens to be great with children (and our children like her, which is no common feat), so we engaged her services for the evening in the capacity of babysitter. Then Tony and I took a long walk down the beautiful Hammamet beach. We passed the Hammamet Cultural Center, which was a mansion built by the Romanian millionaire who made it fashionable to holiday here. We passed Sinbad, the large hotel whence come all the Germans on the beach. And then we almost passed a burnt-out shell of a building, with a wide marble staircase leading up to it from the beach.… Read more

Where should we go first? Libya or Algeria?

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I do a fair amount of airing of exasperations about moving on this blog. But there are some delightful things that happen as a result of our wanderings. And one of the best of those is meeting new friends. We just moved to a different vacation rental (closer to the beach. Hurrah!), and our newest friend is a retired British gentleman who lives downstairs. Alastair (not his real name, but I assure you that his real name sounds just as British) is one of the most pleasant conversationalists I’ve ever met. He is unfailingly polite, thoughtful, interesting, and has a brilliant dry wit made all the funnier by by his proper English accent.… Read more

Return of the Pink People

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

The one thing more gloriously beautiful than Tunisia in the winter is Tunisia in the spring. A profusion of flowers covers every field and patch of earth, and cascades down from whitewashed walls. The fragrance of orange blossoms drifts in the light breeze. Today I took a morning walk out on the beach, and could not think of a place in the world I would prefer to be. The Mediterranean sparkled in a thousand touches of sunlight. The sand stretched away in a gold curve, ending at the stone-walled fort of the Medina. And the water lapped my feet like the ripples of a gigantic, placid lake.… Read more

Tunisian Food Revisited

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

photo credit

Well, perhaps I was a bit hasty in my first blush assessment of Tunisian food. I think I can partially blame it on moving here directly from Italy. Sudden withdrawal from the consistently elegant simplicity of Italian food is bound to cause some degree of culinary culture shock, no matter which cuisine replaces it. However, during the past month, my perception of Tunisian food has undergone something of a rehabilitation.

First, there’s the fish. The Roman mosaics are full of fish, whether they’re appearing in Neptune’s train or being caught in nets by down-to-earth fisherman in little boats.… Read more