I believe this is my fifth Independence Day outside the United States. I always miss the fireworks when I’m away. And even though I haven’t lived at home in years and years, I still remember fondly the 4th of July breakfast my church always hosted early on Independence Day morning. We would raise the flag, sing the National Anthem, listen to some inspirational speeches (they seemed kind of long when you were a kid and hadn’t had breakfast yet), and then eat pancakes! One year I came home from college for the summer and was asked to give one of those speeches.… Read more
Author: Sarah Bringhurst Familia
A Lament for Greece
Greece has been weighing heavily on my mind these days. Despite desperately passionate protests by the Greek people, this week the Greek government passed a package of austerity measures and structural reforms demanded by the EU and IMF if they are to give the beleaguered country a bailout that will prevent the government from defaulting on its debt in less than two weeks. This is in spite of the fact that the UN’s independent expert on foreign debt and human rights has said that the measures will likely violate basic human rights for the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
Much of the worldwide media has spent the past few weeks shaking a self-righteous finger at naughty Greece, which they accuse of not living within its means.… Read more
Mormons Online
My church’s website, lds.org, recently got a makeover. At first, I had a hard time finding things, but I pretty much have navigation down after a couple of months with the new site. And I must admit that it does look very nice now. Since we live in Tunisia, where there is no organized unit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), and most of our books are still in storage, I use the website quite a lot. And it occurred to me that some of the things I do there might be useful even to people who aren’t driven to lds.org… Read more
Let the Chickens Stay
Have I told you how much I love our landlord? We have lived in a lot of different places since we were married, and had some pretty interesting experiences with landlords. So I know how to appreciate a good one. Ours is a doctor, who (for us at least) does house calls. He fixed Tony up with the proper medications after an unfortunate run-in with a hammam foot fungus. He doesn’t tell us to turn off the lights or take short showers, despite the fact that our utilities are included in the rent. He doesn’t try to give me lessons in cleaning.… 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
Teaching Science to Children
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
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
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
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