We had a great time over these last several days during Collin's visit. We had more of Chesterfield's famous fruit juice with a Chinese-American friend of mine here, met up with our journalist friend again along with a whole slew of other expats here in Tunis. We also said goodbye to Ravi, my predecessor, and braced ourselves for the onset of Ramadan.
Ravi's goodbye party group shot (Taken by Collin)
During Collin's last weekend here and the last weekend before Ramadan (which started on Monday), we went with my roommate, a Chinese girl named Meg, and some Tunisian friends to Bizert. There we toured the towns bustling vegetable, fruit, meet and fish market and walked along the river that runs through town next to the old city walls. After our tour of the city, we hit the Corniche where we got sandwiches. What else do you get in Tunisia, a place that specializes in sandwiches!? Then we headed for a beach called "The Grotto", my favorite in Tunisia so far. We ate our sandwiches there, swam, sunbathed, read, laughed and enjoyed the company.
Amusing ourselves on our way to Bizert (photo credit: Collin)
Strolling through Bizerte with the old city wall on one side and the river on the other (photo credit: Collin)
Plates that Collin really liked (photo credit: Collin)
Purchasing fruit (photo credit: Collin)
Fish Market (photo credit: Collin)
Butcher's Shop (photo credit: Collin)
Grains (photo credit: Collin)
Really hilarious Cinderella carriages were abound in Bizert (photo credit: Collin)
The oldest mosque in Bizert (photo credit: Collin)
Headed to the Grotto for a swim (photo credit: Collin)
We felt like jumping! (photo credit: Collin)
Being Collin
Happiness (photo credit: Collin)
Tanner and happier, we headed back into the city center for some ice cream at Bizert's best patisserie, Zellaz. Collin thought he needed to taste a Tunisian doughnut too so we also picked up one of those during our stroll around Bizert.
Collin with his doughnut :-)
The next day, Collin and I went down to Avenue Habib Bourgiba, had some lunch, walked around the medina. We then decided it would be a good idea to purchase some food with Ramadan coming the next day. So, we stopped at Monoprix (a French supermarket chain here) and bought vegetables to make pasta salad.
Ramadan day 1, I decided to fast. I woke up before sunrise to have a drink of water and eat a yogurt with some granola. It was hard but I did it. Needless to say, I was like a vacuum at dinner that evening. Collin and I went to a place that serves a 3 course meal all for 7 TND. I ate a salad, a huge piece of grilled turkey, french fries and rice and then topped that off with melon and a cup of mint tea.
Ramadan day 2, I decided not to fully fast but because of the nature of working in a very public role surrounded by Tunisians, I have essentially fasted from breakfast to dinner each day. Collin and I went to Sidi Bou Said again but this time by evening. It was both eerie and beautiful to walk around at dusk with the call to prayer filling the air and without a soul on the streets. We eventually ran into some other tourists walking around the deserted medina.
Main Street (photo credit: Collin)
Collin in front of a mosque door
Me in front of a door with sweeping bougainvillea (photo credit: Collin)
The famous doors of Sidi Bou Said (photo credit: Collin)
Minaret of a mosque in Sidi Bou (photo credit: Collin)
Me on some pretty tile steps (photo credit: Collin)
Curious Kitty (photo credit: Collin)
After a while, we caught a cab and headed for La Marsa to a well known bar and restaurant at the Corniche. We met up there with several other American expats including our freelance journalist friend, a guy from NDI, an editor for World Affairs and a woman who works at the Carter Center here. We also made an unexpected friend in the restaurant owner, a wall street guy who also owns a hotel and lives in Manhattan. He recommended we try the sea bass. So, we had a very nice dinner of artichoke salad, sea bass served with green beans and the best fries I've had here, a fruit tart and a Tunisian date liqueur. Afterward, we met up with two young Libyan freedom fighters. One who Collin and I had met before and another. We spoke with them over fruit juice about the developing situation in Libya and their hopes and fears for what will come. Collin and I finally got home at 2:30 am. We went to bed because we knew the next day would come early.
At the funky restaurant in La Marsa
Wednesday, on Collin's last day here, he gave another presentation at the American Corner about Oregon. It was very well done and people really enjoyed seeing a part of the United States they didn't know about before.
Collin presenting for a captive audience
Afterward, we headed downtown for Collin to purchase souvenirs for family. We took a Tunisian friend with us which made bargaining a little easier. In the end Collin stimulated the tourism industry in Tunisia a little bit. Satisfied with our purchases we made our way to Avenue Habib Bourgiba where we sat on the steps to the old French theater while we waited for iftar so we could get a bite to eat. We eventually ended up eating iftar dinner at Panorama, a restaurant on the avenue that serves a Ramadan buffet. We had dates, brik, soup, grilled Turkey, etc. and plenty of water. Tired from the evening before, we headed back to the apartment for Collin to pack up. He had to leave early the next morning which meant we had to be at the airport at 5:45!
In the medina (photo credit: Collin)
Leather (photo credit: Collin)
Tiles (photo credit: Collin)
Puppets (photo credit: Collin)
Looking at perfume in front of the Zeitoun mosque (photo credit: Collin)
Another beautiful door (photo credit: Collin)
And a minaret to match! (photo credit: Collin)
Calligraphy (photo credit: Collin)
The Kasbah. No more protests here (photo credit: Collin)
Old Tiles (photo credit: Collin)
Buying sweets for iftar (photo credit: Collin)
"Freedom is a daily practice" (photo credit: Collin)
Iftar Buffet (photo credit: Collin)
I was so sad to see him go but his visit was great while it lasted. So, after saying goodbye and admittedly wiping away a few tears, I headed to work.
That evening my roommate and I had been invited to have iftar dinner with a friend of ours and his family. So, after picking up some sweets, we headed to his family's house and broke fast there. The food was fantastic. We had brik (of course), soup, couscous, tagine (Tunisian tagine is different from Moroccan), bread, grilled salad, green salad, fruit, sweets, and the most extraordinary Turkish coffee. I always had reservations about Turkish coffee until tasting the Tunisian version of it. It is laced with orange peel, cardamom, rose water and contains plenty of sugar of course. It is, however, genius and I have every intention of bringing the idea back with me to share with family and friends in the states. After dinner, we went to Sidi Bou Said to Café des Délices which was absolutely packed. We had fruit juice and our friend's sister got a harqoos tattoo (like henna but black). Then we turned in; another late night.
The table
Their cat Chanel
Couscous toppings
Bread shaped like a fish!
That tasty Turkish coffee
Sweets and Fruit
Café des Délices in Sidi Bou Said during a Ramadan evening
Vanessa (my roommate) and I with our friend Taher and his family
