Day 7: Mahdia, El-Jem, and the Side of the Road

I woke up early the day after my birthday in order to take advantage of the little time I had left at our hotel. A friend and I hit the beach at 7:30, desperate to get one last plunge in the Mediterranean before heading back to the US. I was surprised at how comfortable the water was—it was mid-November after all. After this I went to the buffet and had a delicious omelet and fresh crepes. I like to think that I’m pretty easy to please as far as hotels go, but I certainly didn’t mind spending the night in the lap of luxury.



We drove for about an hour to what we thought was the final stop of our trip: the Coliseum of El-Jem. The coliseum of El-Jem is the third largest of the Roman Empire. While the coliseum in Rome was meant to hold something like 46,000 people, the coliseum of El-Jem held a measly 30,000. It was pretty incredible and had excellent acoustics—something that probably holds true in Rome as well but I’ve never noticed because it’s always crawling with tourists.



About an hour outside of Tunis we got a flat tire. This was no fun, but it did allow us the opportunity to see a beautiful sunset. We waited for several hours (and several attempts to change the tired) before a second bus came to pick us up. One really remarkable thing about this flat was when we pulled to the side of the road there already happened to be a tow truck pulled to the side of the road ahead of us. I have no idea how we got that kind of luck. As fantastic as our weeklong trip to the south was, it really felt good to come back to Tunis that has come to feel like home over the past ten weeks.

For more pictures of my trip to the south, check out my flickr.

Day 6: Gabès Area, Mahdia, and 21st Birthday

The next morning we stopped by the beautiful little market of Gabès for a few hours. We indulged ourselves in many straw basket and I was finally able to bargain using those magic words “But, today is my birthday!”


We spent a little more time around Gabès meeting with some professors from the area that had once spent some time at Oregon State and visited the neighborhood of Chenini-Gabès.

After this we headed to a rug cooperative. The cooperative produces yarn that it then it gives to women to weave into rugs. Once we learned that the small rugs were only thirty dinars a piece it became a free for all. Some students came away with three or four rugs. I only bought one, but I intend on stopping by their offices in Tunis to buy a second.



We then headed north. Our hotel in Gabès had been less than fantastic. I killed three cockroaches but several others managed to get away. We were extremely happy to find that our last night of the trip would be spent in a huge glitzy five-star beach hotel. There was a spa, a game room, a bowling alley, various restaurants and cafés, a huge pool with an island, a small golf course, morning yoga classes, and two bars, amongst other amenities. It took about thirty minutes to actually reach our hotel room. The buffet was excellent. I was most pleased however that the hotel had a bar. I was a little concerned that my 21st birthday would come and go without even a sip of alcohol. My friends and I spent a few hours critiquing music videos that were playing on a jumbo screen and drinking fruity drinks. It was pretty low-key but ultimately a fantastic birthday.

Day 5: Ksar Hedada, Tataouine, Chenini

The next day we headed south to the Ksour. There are many Berber hilltop villages in the mountains of Southern Tunisian. The villages we saw are covered with houses that seem to be rock houses that edge up to the mountain and often include a cave in the mountainside. These villages include a ksar that is usually at the highest point in the village and was once used to store food and other valuables. Many of these villages are named Ksar XXXX, so when mentioning them one refers to the “Ksour”.


The first village we stopped at was Ksar Hedada. The Ksar in this town was used in one of the Star Wars movies. It was obvious that parts of it had been redone for the movie while other parts of it were quite rundown. I was told that this Ksar had once been a hotel… it seems like it would have been pretty uncomfortable. I’d have to see it to believe it.


We went to the town of Tataouine for lunch. Tataouine wasn’t very exciting, but it is the town that a planet in Star Wars in named after, making it very exciting to several kids in our group. I took my picture next to a road marker that says Tataouine on it in the next town we visited—just to prove that the town does really exist!


The next town we went to was probably my favorite town of the trip. It was Chenini, a beautiful Berber village. I couldn’t tell if it was a mountain made of houses or a bunch of houses made out of the mountain. The views were absolutely stunning. It was crazy to find that some people still live in some of these mountain homes. However, a majority of the inhabitants of Chenini seem to live at the base of the mountain.



We had been planning on going to another one of the Ksour before heading to Gabès for the night, but unfortunately there had been lots of heavy rain we were afraid that the road to Gabès, which was currently under construction, was washed out. We headed on an epic trip down back roads through the mountains of Southern Tunisia. We left at 4 pm and arrived at 10 pm in Gabès. Granted, we did stop for dinner, but this was still one of the craziest parts of our voyage. We plunged down small, unmarked roads in the fog and pounding rain and made some great friends at an unexpected rest stop.

Day 4: Matmata and the Island of Jerba

On the fourth day of our trip I woke up and went for a short walk around the area near the hotel. Matmata is known for its troglodyte dwellings, but I had no idea I would only have to walk 100 feet to find abandoned caves in the hillside. On our walk back to the hotel we also ran into more troglodyte homes that are still inhabited.


Soon we got on the road and headed to the Island of Jerba. In the Odyssey, Jerba is the island of the lotus eaters. It is supposed to be a lovely and quite tourist-filled island. However, we arrived on Jerba right after a rainstorm. The streets were flooded with muddy water and debris. Our first stop in Jerba was lunch in the main town of Houmt Souk. After lunch we rushed around and checked out the nearby shops. I was impressed with the shopping area in Houmt Souk but unfortunately many shops were closed because it was a Sunday.



Our next stop on Jerba was the El Ghriba Synagogue. Jerba is very unique in that it for the past 2000 or so years a Jewish community has lived on the island. The Jews and Muslims of Jerba live in peace and are very proud of that fact. The synagogue site is one of the oldest in the world-- the actual building was only built in the early 20th century. Despite the relative new-ness of the synagogue, the building was really gorgeous and we took many pictures. The synagogue was attacked by Al Quaeda in 2002, a gas truck ran into it and exploded, killing 15 German tourists, 1 Frenchman, and 5 or 6 Tunisians (I've found varying reports). I find it really unfortunate that outsiders would come in and attempt to destroy the peace of a community that prides itself on its history of cooperation. One last interesting fact about the synagogue: this is the first place in all of Tunisia that has required me to wear a headscarf in order to enter.



All of my pictures from my trip are now posted online.

Day 3: Chott El-Jerid, the Sahara, Matmata

The next morning of our trip we woke up to find that one of our party had fallen quite ill. In order to buy him some time at the hotel to rest we headed back in the direction of Tozeur to see the Chott El-Jerid in the daytime. The Chott El-Jerid used to be full of salt water, it is now usually completely empty, though there is apparently some water occasionally. Since we were told that there is sometimes water, we assumed that what we saw in the distance when we started walking was water... but then it moved... and then it disappeared. The Chott is also the place in Tunisia where mirages occur the most frequently. It was also featured in some of the Star Wars movies.

After the Chott it was off to the town of Douz. Douz is another oasis town like Tozeur with a very large Palmeraie. However, it is further south and edges right up upon sand dunes. We started our visit with a quick and very interesting trip to a museum that taught us about desert life and culture. I learned a little about women's facial tatoos, a little about nomadic housing, and a little about camel branding.


Next we went to the edge of the desert and got on camels. My camel was named Champagne, she was white, very sleek , and apparently a race camel. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try out her speed, our walk into the desert was at a very slow pace. Getting onto and off of a camel is one of the most awkward things I have ever done. They stand up on their back legs and then on their front legs, leading you to pitch forward and then back dangerously. In my opinion the worst part of the experience was sitting on my camel as he stood with his hind legs up and his front legs folded on the ground for an extended period of time as I dangled forward. Camels are stubborn. They are also extremely tall, you are much further from the ground than on horseback.


We walked for 15-20 minutes and dismounted our camels. At this point we were in the middle of some beautiful dunes. The dunes here weren't 40 feet tall, but they were beautiful and created a striking landscape. I took tons of pictures. The sand in the Sahara is nothing like any sand I have ever felt before. It is extremely fine and soft. It feels like silk running through your fingers. Also, when you burrow down three or four inches the sand is quite cool, contrasting sharply with the warm surface.


After the Sahara experience, we headed to Matmata. Matmata is another place where Star Wars scenes have been shot. I haven't seen Star Wars so I took a bunch of random pictures, hoping that someone will appreciate them. The scenes shot in Matmata were shot in a very run down troglodyte hotel. Matmata is also known for its troglodyte dwellings, many of which are still inhabited. While our hotel was very modern it was also nearly entirely underground!

Day 2: Gafsa and Tozeur

On our second day in the South we got on our minibus and drove to Gafsa. We saw some old Roman pools and checked out a small museum with some nice mosaics. Apparently these pools usually have water in them-- though only about 10 feet or so. Young boys hang around asking for you to throw money which they will dive into the pool to retrieve. I'm so glad these pools were empty, I can imagine how dangerous it would be for them to dive from so high to such a shallow pool.

Next we had a lunch in the Oasis of Tozeur, even further south than Gafsa. I had camel steak for lunch, it was absolutely delicious, especially with a little lime squeezed on top. After lunch we headed out to some buggies drawn by hourses. We trotted around Tozeur, checking out the unique architecture (see the pictures on my Flickr if you are curious) and then headed into the Palmeraie, the area of the oasis that is more or less a palm tree forest. Once in the palmeraie we stopped to learn about the date harvesting process. I had no idea that dates need to be manually cross polinated in order for them to yeild edible fruit. Men climb up the palm trees barefoot and create a chain down the tree to pass down dates as the man at the top chops them free.



We each took turns climbing a little ways up the tree and then headed out to a very very strange cafe/museum/playground a little down the road. Next we went to a park where the national poet of Tunisia used to play as a child. It has been turned into a playground and a memorial to him. We also stopped breifly by his tomb. After a quick jaunt in the souks of the town we got in our bus and crossed the eerie Chott El Jerib (used to be a salt water lake, now it's mostly salt flats with just a little water) to find our hotel in a small town just north of Douz.

More pictures of Tozeur and Gafsa here.

Day 1: Sbeitla

We left Tunis bright and early on Thursday, November 6th for our week long trip to the south. Our first stop was in Sbeitla. In Sbeitla we found the ruins of the Roman town of Sufetula. After the Romans, Sufetula became a Byzantine town and then a Vandal town for a period of time and was eventually sacked by the Arabs. The ruins of Sufetula stretch out across a vast plain. While I was impressed with Dougga because of the rolling hills beyond the ruins, Sufetula impressed me because it was much easier to see just how big the town had been and how the streets and buildings were laid out. There were also some remarkably complete buildings and temples.



More pictures of Sbeitla here.

Obama!

Last night I attended a huge party thrown by the embassy at the Ramada in Gammarth. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I certainly was surprised when I got there. The embassy went all out and did an excellent job. There were hundreds of people, mostly Tunisians and other Americans. It was held in a huge ballroom, there was tons of free food and drink and four big screens on the wall with either websites, movies, or CNN screening on them. A corner of the room had five computers with internet access. I spent the first hour and a half mingling and then headed over to the mock election table to volunteer. Any non-American was allowed to vote in the mock election. At 12:30 we closed the votes and tallied them up. Final results: McCain- 18, Obama 290. There were about 6 random write-ins as well. At 1ish people began leaving. By two, we had dwindled down to a solid group of about 50 people (mostly Americans, but some curious Tunisians as well).


We stayed glued to CNN all night long. Our program rented two rooms for us and some people drifted upstairs for a while to nap. The McCain supporters mysteriously vanished. I spent the entire night sitting on the floor... and then lying on the floor when we just couldn't sit up any more. I brought my laptop along with me and opened it up every hour when new states closed to check out the results on my own. I was able to talk to a bunch of my friends from home on and off all night long. It was great to be able to share the experience with them even though I am so far from Chicago. A little after 5 am the polls closed on the west coast. I actually found out from my boyfriend that Obama won right before CNN announced it here. There was screaming, jumping, many hugs. It was an extremely emotional moment for us. I grew quite jealous of my friends in Grant Park. The concession and acceptance speeches made everyone even more emotional. Americans abroad tend to be more liberal, an overwhelming majority of us support Obama. Obama winning will immediately have a direct effect on my life. Now I can be proud to be an American abroad and I can proudly say that I voted for Obama. In my time abroad I've always had to defend my country to people I meet. I'll still have to defend many things, old mistakes don't go away, but at least now I have some positive things to say.


At 7:30 am I stumbled into bed. I woke up at 2pm. I still feel sick with fatigue. I was so exhilarated after the win that I seriously considered going to school. I'm really glad I didn't now because I think I might have caused myself to become physically ill. I'm going to take it pretty easy today and go to sleep early. Tomorrow I leave on my week long trip to the South! I'm really ready to get out of Tunis and see more to this country. I'll be having my 21st birthday on the road as well. A big thanks to all my relatives who have sent me birthday cards. It really has been nice to get them.