Last night I was musing aloud on how much I would miss the call to prayer if we moved away from Tunisia. Axa remarked in reply, “Which do you prefer, Christmas or the call to prayer?” Tony immediately protested that the two things were too different to compare. I know what she was driving at, though, and she quite impressed me with her six-year-old insight. In a predominantly Muslim country like Tunisia, she knows without having even experienced it yet that Christmas as we knew it in the States or in Italy just won’t be the same. We won’t answer the door to find carolers, or cruise around the neighborhood to see the lights, or visit a gigantic creche display in an ancient church.… Read more
Middle East
A Plea for Help
The sun finally came out this morning, and it was beautiful. It’s been rainy and cold (for Tunisia) all week. I lie awake at night listening to the rain and thinking about the tens of thousands of refugees from Libya stranded at the Tunisian border. Many have been sleeping out in the cold for days. The Tunisian army, the Red Crescent, and many Tunisian volunteers have been doing all they can to help, but food and supplies are short, and the flow of refugees comes in at over ten thousand per day. Many of the refugees (who are mostly Egyptian, Tunisian, Chinese, and Southeast Asian) have witnessed terrible scenes of violence, been personally assaulted, and traveled for days without food.… Read more
Just another manic Sunday
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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