Month: June 2011

Underground Luxury at Bulla Regia

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

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

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

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

Teaching Science to Children

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Sorry I’ve been missing in action. We’ve been working hard on the business, and it finally launched! I’ll tell you all about it next week. Meanwhile, homeschool planning continues, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. I’m now tackling the harder subjects. Like science. I wouldn’t really consider myself a scientific-type person. I like to write poetry, play the piano, study languages, read Victorian novels, and study philosophy. So when my daughter asks me why countries need rulers, I can initiate a conversation that ranges from current Middle Eastern politics to Plato’s Republic to debates over monarchies and judicial governments in the Bible and Book of Mormon.… Read more

Flags and Amor Patriae

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

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

Four Birthdays, Four Different Countries

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Four years ago today, my little man was born.

Here he is, newly born in Vancouver, Washington. Fortunately for me, four years later he’s still as snuggly as a newborn. He also still enjoys twirling my hair in his fingers, which he used to do when he was nursing (I’m told that my little brother Jesse did this until he was seven). I guess I still think of him as my baby, since he’s the closest thing I’ve got. But I’m forced to admit that at four years old, he is growing up. These past few years have been quite adventurous for our family.… Read more

Even Laundry is Better in Tunisia

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I am not the most awesome housekeeper in the world. (Just ask my cleaning lady.) But I have laundry down. My mother taught me when I was six years old.

It is true that at college I disregarded her advice about color sorting on occasion, and ended up with grey clothes like Claudia and Jamie when they ran away to the Metropolitan Museum in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I was always chronically behind, which I am sorry to say continued (and even multiplied) after I was married. Then I decided to use cloth diapers when Axa was born.… Read more

So, I’m a Really Nerdy Homeschooling Mom

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Back in the good old days when homeschoolers were viewed mostly as illiterate, unsocialized weirdos, curriculum shopping was an endeavor requiring both ingenuity and luck. Fortunately, my mother had a a sort of psychic knack for finding out about used book sales. Some of our favorites were the mammoth sales in which the California school system jettisoned old, “outdated” (read: not trendy, dumbed down, or politically correct enough) curricula.

On one occasion, we got over a dozen beautiful hardcover books of folk songs from around the world, which fueled her children’s choir for several years. On another, I became the proud owner of Livestock and Poultry Production, an unbelievably dry high school (or possibly college) text on farming, which I nevertheless devoured, producing several poster-sized adaptations of diagrams from the book on such fascinating topics as “Common Unsoundnesses of a Horse” or “Choosing Laying Hens.”… Read more

When I lived at IKEA

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

No, sadly, no. There is no IKEA in Tunisia. Kuwait, yes. Saudia Arabia, yes. United Arab Emirates, yes. Tunisia, no. In fact, there is no IKEA on this entire continent. So today I had to make my own Swedish meatballs. They were pretty tasty, if I say so myself, although there is no lingonberry jam in Tunisia either. Of course, at least I was able to substitute creme fraiche for the sour cream in the recipe, and I think that almost made up for it.

When we lived in San Diego, IKEA was our home away from home. It was one of our favorite “safe” places to go when we were stressed out about running our business, and needed a place to talk, where our children could happily entertain themselves.… Read more

Propaganda, Pathos and Power

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

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

What’s for Dinner?

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

When Tony and I were first married, we were happy to find that as fellow Californians exiled in Utah, we shared a passion for Mexican food. What we also shared was a fairly small cooking repertoire. So we ate a lot of burritos. In fact, I think if it had been up to him, we would still be eating burritos every night. After a few weeks of marriage, when I suggested we have something else for dinner, he looked up and said with bewildered dismay, “But I thought you liked burritos.”

Well, I still do like burritos. But I also like variety.… Read more