Author: Sarah Bringhurst Familia

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

Next Stop, Narnia

Sarah Bringhurst Familia


This is one of Dominique’s favorite shirts. He’s quite strict about when he wears it, though. He will only put it on in the morning if he knows that the day holds some form of travel. Axa shares his passion for getting from one place to another. But for her, the world is not enough. Lately she has expressed a frequent lament that Narnia is not real. She would like to travel there. In fact, the other day I found this drawing on her desk:

In case you had trouble deciphering the spelling, let me give you hint: Who could resist a direct flight to Narnia on Aslan Airlines?… Read more

Things Work Out

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Our internet has been nonexistent since Thursday night. We are told that the internet company has shut down service to protest some injustice or other. Ah, the joys of living in revolution-happy Tunisia. And Tony woke up yesterday morning with his right pinky toe swollen to double its normal size and an angry red rash all over the lower half of his body. Apparently, he picked up something nasty during his last Hammam visit. Fortunately, our landlord and next-door neighbor is a doctor. He looked at it right away, and then wrote up some prescriptions. Alistair kindly provided a lift to the Pharmacy.… 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

Closing the Golden Door

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Immigration. What does the word mean to you? If you live in the southern United States, it might conjure up an image of Mexicans crossing the border in the dead of night. If you’re Italian or otherwise European, you’re probably thinking of the 20,000+ Tunisians who have landed on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa during the past few months, and who may be landing in your neighborhood soon. On the other hand, if you come from Mexico, Tunisia, the Philippines, or sub-Saharan Africa, you might look at immigration from the other direction. The other side of the fence, as it were.… 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

Beach Combing Treasures

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

When I was a little girl, beach combing was one of my favorite vacation activities. I always came home with my pockets full of treasures. And then my parents would make me go through them and decide which ones I really loved, and which ones I would need to jettison so that I could fit all my clothes back in my suitcase. Unfortunately, I managed to attach sentimental value to just about every single shell and piece of driftwood. Even the very large ones. On one occasion, my prize find was a rock nearly the size of my head. It must have weighed at least 25 pounds, but I dragged it all the way down the long beach and up the hill to the car.… Read more

New Uniforms at Casteluzzo Academy

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

In the endless debate (at least in America) about school uniforms, I am definitely an advocate. And not just for khaki slacks and pastel polo shirts. I vote for the whole kit and kaboodle, right down to the ties, knee socks and shiny black shoes. The only thing I don’t vote for is actually sending the kids to school. Which makes the whole uniform controversy a little moot.

Still, I remain obstinately unwilling to give up on my passion for school uniforms. When we lived in Ireland last summer, I came up with my own unique uniform solution. But now that we’ve moved to Tunisia, it doesn’t work quite so well anymore.… 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