Just another manic Sunday

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

So, I’ve noticed that whenever I make an optimistic blog post, things get worse here. Hopefully it’s not my fault. Friday 100,000 people marched through downtown Tunis in the largest demonstration yet against the transitional government. Another rally on Saturday turned violent, with three deaths, dozens of wounded, and a hundred arrests. Our taxi driver this morning told us that the violence had been caused by Ben Ali supporters who had infiltrated the crowd and incited security forces. I wonder . . .

The reason we were in a taxi in the first place was our weekly pilgrimage to visit friends in Tunis.… Read more

Ripples of Revolution

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Well, looks like we timed our visit to the south of Tunisia perfectly. I’m sure things are a bit more hectic there now, as thousands of refugees from neighboring Libya stream over the border into Tunisia. Especially heartwarming to me is the fact that the Tunisians in the area are opening their own homes to the refugees as they wait for the delivery of tents from the United Nations. Thousands of Tunisians also marched in Tunis today to express solidarity with their Libyan neighbors, as well as to continue criticisms of the interim Tunisian government. Feelings of brotherhood with the rest of the Arab world are very much in evidence here in Tunisia.… Read more

The Rip Van Winkle of Tunisia

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I haven’t yet finished telling you about my birthday trip. When we awoke the next morning, Tony tried to track down a 4WD vehicle so we could drive out to some of the more inaccessible Berber villages. The hotel employees told him he actually didn’t need one. And more to the point, they didn’t have one and couldn’t find one. So we set off slowly and carefully, to visit the village of Chenini. Even when one is not visiting an actual Star Wars site, that part of southern Tunisia looks a lot like Tatooine. The sandy brown color is exactly right, and there are all sorts of little dwellings that look like they might harbor jawas or sand people.… Read more

In Search of the Jedi

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Despite our generally-kept resolve to lay low and work on the business (for both productivity and safety reasons), Tony surprised me on Friday with a birthday trip extraordinaire. We were going down south to visit Tataouine (nope, I didn’t misspell it. George Lucas did), which Lonely Planet describes as “the spiritual home of Star Wars.” So we packed a couple of bags and a guidebook, and set off into the backwoods of Tunisia. Have I told you yet what a charming and varied country this is? Tunisia in February is already deep into the heart of spring. In between the evergreen olive groves, we passed fruit orchards in full bloom, and bright green fields covered with a sprinkling of tiny white and yellow flowers.… Read more

An Expert Perspective on Current Events in the Middle East

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

No, I’m not the expert. But I know someone who is. I graduated with a degree in Near Eastern Studies almost ten years ago, and spent my last semester of college studying Arabic in Damascus, Syria. I returned home only a few months before 9/11 changed the world and threw into devastating relief the deadly consequences of the misunderstandings and tensions between the Middle East and the West.

The professor who took my group to Syria, Kirk Belnap, is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. Not only did he find myriad ways to make studying a very difficult language accessible and enjoyable, but he never let us forget that there was a reason we were studying it.… Read more

Tourism in Tunisia? Only for the Brave

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Had we not been in the midst of such a “culture shock” moment a few days ago, Tony and I would have found this article on Tunisian tourism at the moment more than a little amusing. I guess we count as brave. And I don’t know. Would taking pictures of our kids next to a Tunisian army tank be considered voyeuristic? We did ask permission first . . .

In any case, other than the odd panic attack, we continue to feel quite safe. Unfortunately, although the situation improved dramatically between the President’s departure and our arrival, things since have taken a bit of a downturn.… Read more

Female and Foreign in the Middle East

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Today I had been planning to write a funny, lighthearted, slightly mushy late-Valentine’s Day post about my most useful accoutrement these days: my husband. I’ve been noticing lately that the difference between walking around as a single young woman in the Middle East and walking around on the arm of your husband is pretty significant. I have to say that I vastly prefer the latter. But my playful mood evaporated when Bridget’s blog alerted me to something truly stomach-churning that happened last week.

If you are female and foreign in the Middle East, regular harassment by the opposite gender is a fact of life.… Read more

Adapting to Tunisian Food

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Tunisian cuisine can be more or less described in one word: harissa. The basic ingredients of harissa are dried hot chili peppers rehydrated in oil, to which various seasonings, including garlic, cumin, salt, etc., can optionally be added. Wiktionary remarks helpfully that harissa is “used both as a condiment and an ingredient,” which pretty much says it all. Tunisians are fond of a soup that seems to consist entirely of watered-down harissa. If you don’t stop them, they will spread it liberally on any of their myriad types of sandwiches. Axa even claims to have seen someone putting it on pizza.… Read more

And the People Wanted Life

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

That’s two for freedom, democracy, and the power of the people! Looks like Tunisia was NOT a fluke, and the Egyptian people were much more powerful than the pessimists predicted. Who’s next? Well, if you ask me, a village in England is missing its ophthalmologist . . .

Since Egypt eclipsed Tunisia in the press a couple of weeks ago, some of you have asked us how things are going now in Tunisia. The short answer is, great! Nearly without exception, the Tunisians are thrilled with their newfound freedom of expression, and exuberantly optimistic about a democratic future. We’ve seen fewer police and military, although they’re still around (I wasn’t here before the dictatorship fell, though.… Read more

The Reluctant Unschooler

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

So, Term 4 somehow never happened last year. Luckily, we can always fall back on unschooling. And the copious amounts of reading that we tend to do, even when we’re at our busiest. Like most homeschooling parents (and perhaps other parents too?), sometimes I worry about whether I’m doing enough to further my children’s education. After all, when you’re trying to idealistically combine the best educational tactics of the Classical world, the Renaissance humanists, and the 19th century British, it’s pretty easy to fall a little short of the ideal. And how do you gauge their progress without grades or standardized tests?… Read more