Consumer Awakening

Yesterday, I decided that DH and I needed to find a local furniture store. I'd heard that the furniture was sturdy, locally made, cheap and fashionable enough to keep me happy for a few years. I need bookshelves. I want new bedroom furniture. So, I'd like to look around. While we still have time--before we NEED it.

We found the name of the store online and risked a site full of malware to get the address. Then we tried finding it on both Mapquest and Google maps. Contrary to popular belief, these map services are not foolproof. Even in the US. However, in countries where numbering buildings is just a pipe dream, they have even sketchier results.

Armed with our internet instructions (the same at both sites) we hopped in the rental car with the sure knowledge that DH's phone had GPS, so how lost could we get? Interestingly enough, the answer to that is VERY. We drove around for two hours. None of the exits off the road had the names given online. We finally started taking exits and traveling down their lengths looking for the store... then backtracking and trying it with the next exit.

At length, we gave up. But not before recognizing that we had driven far enough out of town on the Bizerte highway to be near another large shopping mall: Tunis City. We decided to stop there and do our weekly grocery shopping. At first, I was mesmerized by the bigness and shininess of the stores and the mall.


But the next thing that I noticed was that there was no Halloween displayed at all. And frankly, where there is Halloween, there is usually some harvest goodies for Thanksgiving, and a few Christmas decorations filling the rest of the 'seasonal aisle'.

All the stores we saw, lacked any seasonal displays at all.


It's beginning to settle in to me that the whole consumer experience is going to be completely different over here. First and foremost, places are not easy to find. There is no guaranteed numbering system for buildings or houses. There are streets all over the city that have the exact same name. And, once you get inside the stores, the things that are highlighted or celebrated are remarkably alien.

Take mosquito netting. This is not something that I have spent a lot of time thinking about, but here in Sub-Saharan Africa, it's big business. Check out these baby cribs. Guess which one was the premiere by price?

There were mosquito nets available for all Pack 'N Plays and playpens too. Something that, in the US, would somehow have been considered a choking hazard here is the hallmark of high quality.

Also, directly behind the store were sheep. Grazing in the shadow of the mall. It's just not something you see in the states.


We are getting used to the adventurous driving required to shop. I'm sure we'll begin to understand the differences in the consumer experience. But there are a few things I'm going to miss. Pumpkins. Jack o' lanterns. Skeletons and candy. We'll try the furniture store next week.

--Sandee Wagner

Too Much BBC?

Well, some of my new friends came to the hotel yesterday to have lunch with me, and hang around to visit for the afternoon. Before you underestimate what a trip like this cost them, remember their hotel is about 20 minutes away by taxi and one of them has four kids in tow. So, hard work.

It was great fun!

We walked around the corner to a restaurant that makes stone fired pizzas. That's a 'no brainer' when kids are in the mix. The other big deal at this restaurant is ice cream. Westerners are kind of used to having their choice of Baskin-Robbins, Maggie Moo's, Marble Slab, or [insert favorite local] ice cream shops at their disposal. Here, it's more of a delicacy and less of a store front operation. Don't get me wrong... every convenience store has a case with packaged products, but you just don't see hand packed or soft serve ice cream everywhere.

We had a nice relaxed lunch. The kids were so good, it was amazing. Then we walked back to my hotel and sat outside on the terrace to enjoy the glorious weather. It's gotten a little cooler here in Tunis. Yesterday the high was about 70 degrees Farenheit. So the locals were swathed in sweaters, jackets and layered up for the cold snap. I, on the other hand, lolled about in shirt sleeves and capris. We got some looks, but the Scottish family and the other gal are all from Aberdeen. Which, apparently, is plenty cold most of the year. So, these hardy Scots were all like me. Very comfortable. We DID get some looks. Especially when we ordered iced drinks instead of bracing cups of hot tea or coffee.

During our hours long chat, we shared some of our frustrations with hotel living. As women are want to do, we also summed it up in a few short words. One of the Scottish gals said, "You can only watch so much BBC, right?"

That really sums up the problem. There are exactly four English language channels and three of them are 24 hour news services. There is one English language movie channel, and one that plays English language movies sometimes--with Arabic subtitles. So, you can watch TV, but you have a very limited selection of titles.

The mother knew this in advance and came equipped with a hard drive filled with ripped kid's movies. Each kid has a hand held game player with age-appropriate games. They are able to stay occupied, between those 'electronic babysitters' and the hotel's pools, both inside and out.

As adults, we appear to be less able to set aside our whereabouts and focus on fun. All three of the adults in the conversation admitted to fretting about house hunting, the company's plans for our husbands, and the situation as it will be socially once we're all settled in. There are a lot of unknowns still tormenting us.

When you have unsettled futures, and you are worrying about every little thing, should you be watching world news non-stop? The consensus is NO. The BBC, CNBC and CNN are not our friends. It's just focusing our concerns on the world as a large ball of problems and not allowing us to concentrate on the things that we CAN control.

So, do I keep the TV on to hear some language I understand? Yes. But am I plugged into it listening to every story? No. Gotta get away. There's such a thing as too much news.

--Sandee Wagner

Proverbs

When I found out I was moving to Tunisia, I went online to Amazon and ordered a few guidebooks. I got the Lonely Planet and Rough guides to Tunisia. Both of them document where in the country you have to drive to if you want to see the movie sets for the exterior shots of Tatooine from Star Wars, which makes them worth twice the cover price... but I digress.

In one of those impulse buys ("customers who bought this also bought that!"), I also picked up Culture Smart: the essential guide to customs and culture of Tunisia.

Guidebooks are reference books. You generally look things up in them. If you want to know about museums, you flip to that section and it will have all the ones of interest listed on one page. Probably with some kind of discussion about where to park and what the hours of operation are. They also cover the public transportation and give great hints on sights not to miss.

The culture book was meant to be read by business people who will have to interact with locals. It includes taboos and specific knowledge that makes it easier to get along. So I read it. Cover to cover. In one sitting. Parts of it I even read aloud to my husband.

Interspersed throughout the narrative--which covers everything from the ancient history of the country to the current governmental issues--are Tunisian proverbs.

For some reason, many of these struck me as funny. So I read them to my DH. Here are a few of the proverbs I found interesting:

"The world is with the strong of the moment." Ummm, what?

"When someone comes to you and shows you respect, serve him your dinner and make his bed." Is that all it takes to get a roommate?

"An old person will act according to his habits, and a young person according to his education." So, that makes it okay to misbehave if you're old?

There is a very real possibility that these just don't translate well. Either that, or no one told the Tunisians that proverbs are supposed to impart wisdom.

I think the first one might have a bit of cynical insight to share, but the second one is a mystery to me. The third one seems observational. I don't know. Do these sound like good proverbs to you?

--Sandee Wagner

Shiny...

My DH made contact with the American Embassy. Once we had an address and local phone number, we were directed to contact them and register. The State Department likes to keep tabs on residents... I guess they'd evacuate us if bad things happened... but I digress.

The reason this contact is important is because of the date. It's October. And next month is the US Marine Corps birthday. And there are Marines at the Embassy. And now we are invited to the Birthday Ball.

But I haven't a thing to wear.

I've been to the shopping centers and two small malls. I know that there are evening gowns for sale in Tunis. I don't know what they will cost, or if they will stock sizes to fit my zaftig figure, but I do know that they sell them here.

I've seen dresses in the windows of stores. Oh, yes I have. But are they the dresses that my DH wants to see me in come USMC Ball time? I don't think so.

I like 'em shiny. I like glamorous, over the top dresses. It's hard to compete with a man dressed in the Marine Corps Mess Dress uniform. A lady has to compensate for sure. But some of the fashions I've seen in the local stores are "over the top". Seems the locals really like shiny.

So, for the next few weeks, I will be searching near and far for a ball gown. Something decorous and tasteful. Something unique and flowy. What DH would call 'girl clothes'. And I don't want to spend a bloody fortune on it. Because packed up in my household goods are at least three dresses I could be wearing. If only my stuff was in my hot, little hands instead of packed in a 40 foot shipping container and staged to move.

The only question to ascertain is whether I 'go native' or not. I'm thinking not.

--Sandee Wagner

What Works, What Doesn't

When we decided to make the move to Tunisia, I tried to prepare myself for how different things would be. We talked about living on the economy and getting used to foreign things. But in my naivete, I didn't consider the IP address.

I based a lot of my assumptions on the fact that things would be available to me online. As long as I have high speed Internet, I'm cool! Right? Wrong.

I tried to place an order from www.babiesrus.com last week. A friend from California is having her first baby and the group of friends we made while living there was throwing her a baby shower. I pulled up the registry, placed an order and smiled. There! Just like being there... but missing the cake.

A few minutes later, I received my crappy email from Babies R Us support. They have automatically cancelled my order because it originated from an IP address not in the United States. Really? Ya think? So, I replied back that Yes, the order was placed from Tunisia. And that's where I'll be living, so can they set it so my order will work? It can be shipped in the US to a US address. Nope. No way. They do NOT accept orders from IPs outside the US.

I emailed back and forth with support for the better part of the morning. Then I pulled up the exact same baby items on Amazon and placed the order. They don't seem to have any issues taking my money. Then I told Babies R Us that they lost my trade, that order was placed/accepted and fulfilled by Amazon. They've lost a customer.

In the hotel, all videos are blocked. I'm missing Project Runway. I can't watch Youtube clips or anything. I thought it was the bandwidth here at the hotel. Now, I'm not so sure. It may be an IP address issue. I'd like to be able to view embedded video on Facebook, or go to Youtube and watch the newest funny my family and friends send me links to...

While discussing this difficulty, one of the Scottish gals turned me on to a network where you're provided an UK or US based IP address so that you can watch TV shows and get to these websites. It's a subscription that costs $6.50 a month for a US IP address. It means I'll be able to keep up with Project Runway... so money well spent.

I've signed up and am awaiting the file download. I'll let you know how it works out. Regardless, I won't be ordering stuff from Babies R Us, their customer service sucks.

--Sandee Wagner

Carthage est delenda

Yesterday, DH and I took a sightseeing trip to see the ruins of Ancient Carthage. I thought it was a single archeological sight, and boy was I surprised!

Using the maps in a guide book is tricky. They are not updated often enough to really show detail and they never give you indications of one way streets. We reviewed the directions on the Internet, marked the pages in the guidebook and hit the trail.

It was a lovely day for schlepping about outside. The weather was about perfect. The skies were clear and blue and there was a slight breeze off the water. The first site we found was the Roman Baths, called the Antonin Baths for the Byzantine Emperor who supposedly built them for his wife. At the time, Carthage had between 300,000 and 500,000 people living there. So the baths are large, and second only to a set in Rome. If you look at the trench, which was how the water flowed from room to room, imagine it is more than 18" deep.

There are a lot of walls and chambers that are still standing on this site. The archways are intact and still holding up tons of rock. The engineering of the structure is astounding. To have lasted so long is just amazing. Throughout the site, there are columns and pillars just laying around. Huge pieces of granite or marble that was once supporting a roof. There are chunks of marble that show the amazing detailed carvings that decorated the columns and pediments.

You can't imagine how clear and perfect those inscriptions still are--and they've been weathering for hundreds of years. Most amazing to me is the cavalier way that this is treated. In the states, this stuff would be behind barriers where visitors could 'look but not touch'. Here, it's all out in the open and the tourists can climb all over it. Pretty amazing. The tourists like to climb up on the column pedestals and pose like they are the columns. All around the site are signs that warn not to climb on the ruins, showing a rock degrading below some slipping man's outline. It does not keep the folks off the rocks.

The next site we visited was called the Magnon (or Magon) Quarter. This is a block in the middle of a settled neighborhood where they've uncovered a block of subterranean dwellings. The signs that we could read indicated that they thought this was housing and shop space for artisans, builders and craftsman. I'm not sure how they determined that, but it was excavated and reinforced to show the actual height of some of the walls.

There was an exquisite model where they showed how they thought the builders managed to create such a strong underground dwelling, so close to the sea. What was really impressive was the additional buildings they have identified underneath the surrounding area (which is filled with large properties and houses that would fall into the 'mansion' label in the states. They've apparently done some scanning to determine the outline of the actual quarter--which exists below the ground. I'm guessing it will never be excavated.

The next place we visited was the Roman theater. Not to be confused with the Roman Amphitheater. One is a half moon, the other a full oval. We didn't make it there yesterday. The Roman theater shows on the maps as the classic half circle built in a hill. I was expecting the traditional ruins. Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only is this not treated as an archeological site (although it is) but it's been reinforced and is in use today for concerts.

Tunisian rappers played here last month, and this month they have an International Music festival planned for this venue. It's a fascinating use of historical sites. You can see the metal support structures over the stage area and the huge light cages. If you look at the seating, one section on the lower right side still has the original marble facing. There are rougher sections that are original stonework, and then the smooth, modern concrete and block sections.

Our final trip for the day was to the Cisterns. Way up on top of a hill overlooking Tunis are the ruins of the cistern system and the aqueduct that carried water to the city in Roman times. All I can say is that my photos do not do it justice. The park ranger, who spoke only French, gave us a little tour and went to great pains to tell us how many cubic meters of water each cistern held. The numbers were huge for today.


I took this picture from the hill above the cistern system. We are looking down at it. It's about 4 football fields across and maybe 6 football fields wide. I'm sure he gave us actual measurements in meters, but I didn't record any of the numbers. DH understood the French and kept translating for me.

Each individual cistern was enormous and some of them were still holding water. They had excavated some, showing the complete structure. Others they left alone.

If you look at the lower right and left sides of this picture, you can see that each cistern is linked to the others by these arched passages. All across the tops, there are open holes that collected the rainwater, and a series of pipes across the top that even collected the runoff that cascaded off the curved roof of each cistern.

After seeing the size of the Roman baths, I guess I understood their need for water was great, but the amount of engineering that went into this whole water collection system was breathtaking. The aqueduct that went from the top of the hill down to the cities that the water was delivered to spanned over 135 kilometers. Since the actual distance to Tunis is about 11 miles, this was somewhat confusing to me.

The parts of the aqueduct that are still standing show the runnel, which is about two feet deep. With the hill so high above the city, I think they used the zigzagging aqueduct to 'step down' the water gradually, using gravity to keep the flow constant without overflowing the actual channel.

This is a picture that DH took standing right inside the actual aqueduct. Yes, right next to a 'don't climb on the ruins' sign, he hopped up on the wall and stepped right into the channel to take the shot. I find it fascinating how much of this structure is still standing. When you consider it stuck up in the landscape and was constantly being eroded by the elements, and it's massive!

In all, our $9 Tunisian Dinar bought us entry into eleven ruins and we got to less than half of them. Ancient Carthage was a city with a population equivalent to Tulsa. It spread out over at least that much area. For some reason, I thought seeing the ruins would be a single place, but it's not. It's archeological digs that have been uncovered all over Tunis and it will take days to fully appreciate them.

--Sandee Wagner

Safety First

Those of you who know me, are aware of my predilection for back seat driving. I'm almost incapable of keeping my mouth shut and letting the driver drive. In the US, where driving laws apply, this is one thing. In a third world country where driving is a contact sport, keeping my mouth shut is damn near impossible.

I've sat in the back seat of taxis, sure that I would throw a clot, clutching a complete stranger's hand. I've winced, done deep breathing exercises, and tried to ride with my eyes closed. Nothing seems to improve the experience.

What I will say is this: I haven't seen a lot of wrecks. I've seen a few dented bumpers, but for the most part--although scary--driving here is safe enough. Most vehicles are small and underpowered. There aren't a lot of 'large cars' or even eight cylinder ones to prove threatening.

My husband brought home a report prepared by their health and safety department on this country's risks. Here's a direct quote: "The most significant safety threat a visitor to Tunisia faces is the indigenous style of driving. Local drivers rarely look before changing lanes, commonly run through red lights, use road shoulders and turning lanes to pass, drive against the flow of traffic for shortcuts, and can be generally oblivious to other vehicles on the road."

Also, pedestrians will step out in front of vehicles. I've quit calling them people and started calling them lemmings. (Hey! No one understands me when I speak anyway, so I don't have to curb the sarcasm.)

Driving here seems to revolve around the driver keeping an eye on everyone in front of him (that's HIS job) and ignoring everyone behind him (that's THEIR jobs, to watch him). That means as long as you are behind someone, it's okay for them to cross four lanes of traffic to make a squealing right turn. They were in front of you and that's their prerogative. This really equates to the "don't make direct eye contact" method of driving in use in Boston traffic. The same rules apply. Don't look, just merge.

I am going to have to trust my husband a great deal. Learning to drive like this is going to take some doing and he'll be in this traffic every single day. He's already got a couple of the habits down pat. No one here uses turn signals either... One of the Scots already said that when he goes back home, he still drives 'Tunisian style' and it's gotten him in trouble in the UK. We're going to have to watch out for that when we head back to Texas next month.

--Sandee Wagner

Never Buy Tex-Mex West of...

Yesterday was an interesting culinary experience. First, DH swept me up at lunchtime and we ran out to the store. Before shopping for more food for the hotel room, we walked a few blocks down the street looking for a cafe for lunch.

We found a Cuban themed cafe. Game to try anything, we ordered off the menu. One burrito for DH, one quesadilla for me, and an order of nachos to share. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but I know we were pleasantly surprised.

The tortillas weren't what we expected. They had taken the local flat bread and just created it flatter. So instead of soft, giving coverings wrapped around the filling, they were hard as rocks. Not steamed and softened like we're used to. The fillings were interesting but not at all cheese based or highly spiced. It tasted good, just not terribly Cuban or hispanic in any way.

Then the nachos arrived.

These were a surprise. You can see the hard shell bowl... that's actually full of 'chips' made from the bread and deep fried. Then they poured meat and cheese sauce over it and put some stuff on top. And by stuff, I mean the cheese on top is a torn up piece of American sliced cheese, right out of the plastic wrapper. There is a dollop of white creamy stuff that is neither 'creme fraiche' nor sour cream, but some Middle Eastern equivalent. The sliced up peppers are bell not hot. In fact there was very little heat in this dish at all. But they got the cheesy goodness and the yummy meat right. The nachos are worth going back for... even if the chips are questionable.

Last night, we went to a Tex-Mex buffet at a local resort hotel where some co-workers are living. I had high hopes. I meant to take pictures to show the 'make your own taco bar' and other delights, but we had a few drinks and I forgot entirely. Not eating until 8:30 pm also affects my good mood and intentions.

All I can say is that the chefs tried really hard to prepare Tex-Mex foods. Sadly, they did not come close. There was a big pot of chili con carne. Try to imagine cooking up a mess of ground beef without salting or peppering or giving it any kind of spice at all. Then dump in cans of kidney beans. Are you with me? It looks chili-like but has no chile flavor at all. Because of the total lack of chilis or spices.

They had a station making 'fajitas to order'. This is not to be missed, right? So I stepped up and asked for a fajita. "Beef or chicken?" "Beef" I responded. He nodded and pulled out a frying pan that had ground beef in a pinkish sauce cooked up with onions and nothing else. He took a tortilla looking piece of cooked dough, flung it on a flat griddle and ladeled in a big heaping spoonful of the beef in sauce concoction. Then he rolled the 'tortilla' up and grilled it on the outside, flattening it with his spatula. The chicken on was created with about the same technique. Unrecognizable liquid stewed meat filling in a not quite tortilla wrapper, grilled to crunchiness. Not fajitas. Something. Just not fajitas.

Then I went down the rest of the buffet looking for 'go withs'. There was a bowl of salsa. It didn't took too bad. It had diced up green and red and white stuff. It could have been chilis, tomatoes and onions, right? There was even a side of Spanish rice. When I looked closely, I could see the shrimp and seafood in the rice. So, not quite what I was expecting.

I sidled down to the salad bar and looked at the offerings. They had seafood salads tastefully perched on avocado quarters and several bean based salads. I skipped the seafood ones and concentrated on the two bean based salads that included avocados in the mix.

Then I took my loaded plate and settled in for the taste extravaganza. What I received was the 'vaganza' without the extras. It was filling, tasteful food. What it was not, was Tex-Mex. The flavors and spices that we associate with Hispanic cooking are chili based or earthy ingredients like cumin, cilantro and citrus. All of these were lacking in those flavors. Even the salsa, that you'd think couldn't be ruined, was less than expected. There were no jalapeños at all. All the green chunks were bell peppers. The salsa was a green pepper, a purple onion and a tomato diced up together. If you'd poured vinegar on it and called it cucumber salad, you wouldn't have been disappointed...except maybe for lack of cucumbers. My point is that it didn't include any of the heat or flavor that was evocative of the name.

It was all tasty. We ate what we picked up. It just wasn't Tex-Mex. Or fajitas. We even joked about taking some of the harrissa and putting it into the chili con carne to 'heat it up'. They DO have hot red chilis that they cook with... they just didn't bring them to any of these recipes. Now, I get it that a resort hotel can't bring fire to their cookery. I just wish I wasn't in such a mood for spicy food.

Tonight is Moroccan/Tunisian buffet at the same restaurant. What do you guess they do that much better??

--Sandee Wagner

Sweets

I have come to the realization that the North Africans LIKE their sweets. Tunisian Tea is very, very sweet. The fruit juices sold and served here would induce diabetic coma in most Americans. And the desserts are amazingly sweet. Portion control is their only saving grace--all these super sweet things come in tiny little packages or slices.

I am a self-admitted Chocoholic. Back in the early 90's, a German coworker introduced me to Nutella and Ferrero Rocher. In case you haven't seen the size of my ass, she did not do me any favors. I love chocolate and the hazelnut creme in the middle of the Ferrero Rocher candies is like the best of nuts and chocolate.

When I moved to Tunis, I entered a whole new world of French cooking. By this, I'm referring to crepes as a breakfast food. The moment I saw crepes with hazelnut spread as a breakfast option, I thought I had finally hit the gourmet lottery. In this--as in so many things--I was sadly wrong.

I ordered the crepes. DH watched as they cooked the thin pancake and rolled the hazelnut spread up in it. He sat down with his cheese filled one and we shared bites with each other. Unfortunately, there is such a thing as 'too sweet'. There is not enough coffee or tea in the world to cut through that much sweet first thing in the morning. I threw in the plastic fork. DH's cheese crepe was definitely the winner in the 'who ordered the best food?' contest.

I'm not sure if it was the amount of chocolately goodness slathered on, or the sweetness of the actual spread used, but it was way too much. Way too sweet.

When we were in the grocery store, DH pointed out the stuff that they used making that crepe. It's sold in these giant tubs.

Now, in this picture you can see a couple of the 'normal' sized Nutella jars. But check out the number of brands, and the sizes of the tubs. They must ladle this stuff onto bread, crepes and cookies. They don't have but a brand or two of peanut butter and it only comes in one or two sizes. But the chocolate and hazelnut spreads come in small to gallon sized tubs. They come in resealable plastic bowls. They come swirled with praline and other flavors. It's an amazing amount of sweet stuff.

I generally have a jar of Nutella in the cupboard. I've been known to throw it away because it goes 'off' before I use it up. Apparently, that does not happen in Tunisian households. They use this stuff in large quantities. Since breakfast crepes are off the list (due to sugar induced loss of consciousness), I've gotta figure out what they are using this spread on. Inquiring minds want to know.

--Sandee Wagner

Nothing New

Today was a pretty average day. DH went off to work. Since it was drizzling (and our raincoats are in the absent air shipment) he drove to work. That way, he goes from one parking garage to another parking garage without getting soaked.

He went off to work and I stayed in the hotel room.

I sit at the little table, curled up in the leather club chair. It allows me to stay online and still move around a bit while I write. I can look out the window obliquely and keep an eye on the weather. We had sprinkles today, not a hard rain, but a lot of little showers.

It's amazingly pleasant. I can guarantee that the door gets knocked on three times a day. Once, in the early morning, the mini bar guy comes to check the inventory and restock the little fridge. Later on, in the early afternoon, housekeeping comes to make up the bed and clean up. She's obsessively nice and is helping me with my Arabic phrases. We've got 'hello' and 'goodbye' going now. I say 'thank you' and she replies but I haven't got a hang on the 'you're welcome' portion of that exchange.

Some days I go downstairs to the bar area when they are making up the room. I take my iPad down and hook up to the wireless connection so I can update my apps, download reading material and catch up on my Words With Friends.

Most days I stick around the room. I have snack foods and soups I can make with a kettle, so I make myself lunch in the room. It's easier than going downstairs and eating alone. I guess I could order room service... but soup is easy. We went to the store yesterday so I had lots of choices and fresh fruit to go with it.

Then in the afternoon, I write. I surf the web. Sometimes I watch the news. We get CNBC, BBC News and one Fox Movie channel that are in English. Everything else is in a foreign language. There's at least one Spanish station, one German station and one Italian station. The rest are either French or Arabic. I find myself watching shows that I recognize even if they are dubbed in French or Arabic. I guess I'm working on my lip reading.

In the evening, the hotel staff sends one more guy around. He knocks and offers to turn down the bed, and provide any additional towels or linens we require. Very professional service. Well worth being pleasant and saying, "no, merci" every time.

I can't wait to get into a home. But this is a very pleasant place to hang around until my household goods arrive and I can feather my nest.

--Sandee Wagner

Carrefour And Points Beyond

Today, we had our car delivered. It's a Peugot 407 sedan diesel that was previously driven by a heavy smoker. The car is a long term rental with full and complete insurance coverage and is provided for us by a local firm called NetCarTunisie.

DH and I decided we needed to try to find two things: Carrefour and the house we may be living in soon.

We loaded up in our smokey car, put Febreeze on our shopping list and cruised out to find Carrefour. From where we are staying at Hotel Les Berge du Lac - Concorde, the Carrefour is about halfway to the house. So, Carrefour first, then try to find the house by ourselves.

One of our tasks at Carrefour was to return a small piece of equipment that we purchased that won't work in the hotel room. It was a low priced network cable splitter that would have made it so DH and I could both surf the web at once--but no joy. The plan was to return it and then do our shopping. When you don't know the French words for 'service desk' or 'return item' this could become an adventure. The retail experience was just as you would expect. We went to three different desks and stood in line behind multiple other irate shoppers before we came upon the actual service desk. Once we got it across that the item didn't work, we got sent back to the first desk, where the actual refund was processed. So, success. Hard fought, but successful.

Next we trolled through the store with our shopping list in hand. First, I wanted to show you something that I alluded to in a previous post... that is the size of tuna cans in this area.

This shot represents one third of the actual shelves with canned fish on them. There is an equal number of canned salmon, sardines and anchovies. It's the most canned fish I've ever seen in a single store. But check out the size of the tuna cans. I tried to get a few of them. They are the size of paint cans.

There was also something on the household goods aisles that I felt the need to document for you. For some reason that remains a mystery to me, they have pans that are decorated on the outside. On the side that will get burned. I've seen pans that were a solid color, but these are really decorative.

In case you didn't really get a load of this, one of the decorative patterns is faded blue jeans. With pockets. I'm not sure how I feel about pans that look like blue jeans. Are they for relaxed, laid back meals? Will you feel better preparing comfort foods in a 'broken in jeans' frying pan?

Hey, I'm all about having a color coordinated kitchen stuff. But for some reason, this just seems tacky to me. It's probably because, as a newlywed, I had a set of golden yellow pans that I burned all the paint off of. Colored paint on the outside of cheap cookware brings up special memories for me.

Once we got through Carrefour, we set out in the other direction to find our new (we hope) home. I've been there twice, and I thought I could find it again. So we took off and with only a single wrong turn, we found the house. It's still not done. I'm sure the landlord needs the lease money to complete his projects.

We have high hopes of being able to settle in before the end of the year. But for now, having wheels will make it a little easier to do our sightseeing.

--Sandee Wagner

Tourist Style

I've been told that Tunis is a great tourist destination for Europeans. During the cold, wet winter, they flock to the Mediterranean for a break from the dreary days, snow and ice. Since Tunisia has the benefit of being cheaper than Italy or Greece, it has picked up a lot of loyal followers among young travelers.

A lot of people who live in Algeria or Libya will travel to Tunisia to shop. There are goods available here that are difficult to obtain in other North African countries. There is also a more western approach to shopping in general.

As I toured around Tunis, I expected to see something that I'll label as a 'tourist area'. Some part of town where the locals over-emphasize the culture/area and sell tacky goods that somehow represent the area. When the big cruise ships lumber into port, the people have to go somewhere to find their trinkets. Right?

Yesterday, the Scottish gals and I decided to explore another neighborhood that has been suggested as an 'ex-pat community'. In this case, the relocation specialists have determined that this area has all the things/attractions that needed to sustain a western lifestyle. The local guides tell you if an area of town has night life and restaurants, or is a quieter family neighborhood.

The Scottish gals have seen the quieter neighborhood where I've picked a house, now they want to see the other areas. I'm just along for the ride. I'm enjoying the companionship. I studied my Google map, picked a destination and made this suggestion: "if we get a taxi to take us to Zephyr, we can walk down to the beach from there." At least it looked viable from the map. So that's what we did.

Zephyr is a shopping center. A small upscale mall. We walked through and admired the year round Christmas decorations. It's located in a neighborhood called LaMarsa. It's a young, hip, happening place with lots of night life available. We walked down the street and found the public beach access. THIS is the tourist part of town.

There's a wide promenade that is raised to street level. It's lined with palm trees, park benches and trash cans. Across the street are shops and cafes of all types. Towering behind are rows of apartments and flats that could be, and probably are, weekly rentals for tourists.

We wandered down the promenade, then down the hill to the beach. The public beach access has palapas and chairs for families to use, and a line of portapotties. The beach here is wide and flat. If you use your imagination, you can picture it at the peak of the season with lotion scented sunbathers as far as the eye can see. There is also one beachfront cafe that appears to serve only seasonally.

I know it's currently the off season because I kicked off my shoes and went down to the waterline to dip my toes in the Mediterranean. And the water was COLD!! There were a few hardy souls in the water and my estimation of their manliness was enhanced after I took this photo. I could not have gotten waist deep in that water to save my life!

Once again, I was struck by the fact that no one was in on the water. Regardless of temperature, a beach like this in the US would have had some surfers, wind sailors, jet skiiers or kayakers having fun in the surf. That's why they make wet suits, right? So you can get out on the water even when it's cold. But as far as the eye can see, no watercraft. No kite flyers. Although I didn't see surf that was good enough to make guys with boards travel across the globe to 'catch one', it was certainly enough wave action to keep a kid with a boogie board happy. But no one was in the water beyond the brave waders.

This area of town has it all for the tourists. There's train access if you want to get downtown. There's plenty of shops and restaurants in walking distance. And there's a gorgeous beach with views of the Mediterranean. I can only assume that this is one of the undiscovered gems that travel agents have been keeping quiet about. Even off season, there should be more people out taking advantage of this kind of beach. It was just lovely. Certainly the kind of place a local could take the family and head down to for a day of rest and relaxation.

So, save your pennies. Plan to come visit me and I'll take you there.

--Sandee Wagner

Not Just For Christmas

We call them "Christmas decorations" but here in Tunis, they apparently have year long appeal. There's an outdoor bar/restaurant in the Plaza de Corniche hotel that has Christmas lights strung between the palm trees. There are Christmas ornaments suspended all around as normal decor. The star of Bethlehem is an icon that is used a lot in lights. There are those enormous shiny balls that look like tree ornaments on steroids. There are decorated packages and even some reindeer. Sleighs and bells. Icicles. Anything that can be lit up and strung up is hung and lit all year long.

I can only assume that these things are very exotic to most Tunisians.

My DH said that he's heard Christmas carols playing on the radio all different months of the year. Here, they're just songs. Not season specific. Imagine hearing Christmas carols all year long? I think it might ruin them for me. I think since most people don't understand the words, it's just the tune and music that are compelling.

Went to a mall today near the public beach in LaMarsa. The name of the shopping center was Zephyr. We went up the escalator and tried to see all the stores to get an idea of what was available, shopping-wise.

In the middle of the atrium is this:


I took another photo, more close up. Check it out:


These decorations were not put up just for the holidays. These were put up 'for pretty' and have remained up all year.

I've seen a Santa Claus on a ladder in a Health Club window, but I haven't managed to snap a picture of it so far. He's just another smiling fat face around here, he's not relegated to only two months of the year.

Tunisians like shiny objects. Sparkly things. Over the top ornamentation. Most Christmas decor matches that description. I'm guessing that's why it's so popular around here. It's not just for Christmas anymore.

--Sandee Wagner

Quality Control Issues

My DH has been in the Middle East before and made some very interesting statements that I'm calling to mind now. He said, years ago, that the buildings and things looked beautiful from far away, but when you got up close, you could see that the seams were misfitted, or that the finishes were ragged. He stated that it was almost like they have the money to afford the fine finishes, but not the experienced craftsmen to do the installations.

As we are sightseeing around Tunis, he will point things out to me that are really finish problems of the same sort. Last weekend, we walked down a long paved pathway. It was 'sand set' brick pavers, about 20 yards wide, with two rows of trees spotted down the lane every so often. Idyllic really. Like a paved alleyway only it had shade built in. Should have been perfect, right? But right in the middle of the path, there was an 8" piece of rebar that I tripped over. It had been nailed flat, bent over so it was parallel to the ground--kind of like what a lazy person does when a nail doesn't go all the way in. Instead of pulling it out, they hammer it into the wood. This rebar was a trip hazard. We laughed about it. In the States, someone with a hack saw would have cut the thing off at or below ground level, not hammered it flat to the ground.

You see that kind of quality control issue all round this town. Case in point:

Check out these coffee mugs. These are provided in the room we are staying in at a five star hotel. The cups are plain white porcelain with the hotel crest emblazoned on the side... sort of.

On one of the cups in the room, the script BL crest is correct. On the second cup, it is a mirror image of the crest. There is only decoration on one side of the mug, the backs are blank. I've put both mugs with the handles facing the same side in this photo, so even if you can't make out the exact tracery of the crest, you can see it's reversed.

Those are the kinds of things that you just don't see in the States. If the Regency Hotel in Dallas opened up a case of coffee mugs that were imprinted incorrectly, they'd send them back for a refund. In Tunisia, you apparently just use them as is.

Quality control is something that appears to have greater strength in first world countries. Maybe third world countries can't afford it?

--Sandee Wagner

Trashy

I have enjoyed seeing the sights around Tunis. There are some lovely prospects and the views of the Mediterranean are unparalleled in my experience. I think the people of Tunisia have a rare gem in their possession.

Tunis is growing. There are roads being paved and widened all over the metro area. There are buildings being raised and houses being built. Everywhere there is progress. Compared to my most recent experiences, Tunis is more like South Tulsa than North Tulsa. It's growing and expanding.

But there is one thing about this country that is appalling: it's the trash.

I have actually had to take care to frame my pictures to exclude trash in most pictures of the landscape. There is waste and trash everywhere.

As I have walked the blocks around the hotel where I'm living, I see the same piles of refuse day after day. It's obvious that there is no regular cleanup occurring. The only trash pickup seems to be privately contracted and operated.

One Sunday morning, DH and I witnessed two green jumpsuited municipal workers with rolling trash cans walking up the street. They very carefully whisked up dropped cigarette butts and other waste in the street while ignoring trash on the sidewalk next to the curb. We actually joked about walking down the sidewalk kicking all the trash into the gutter so that it'd be picked up the next time they came by.

At one point, I asked what they did with their community service offenders? You don't see any orange jumpsuits--no prisoners--picking up trash. In fact, other than those two guys on that Sunday morning, we've never seen anyone trying to improve the common areas.

I could take more pictures of the refuse. I could document the tragedy of trash in this otherwise lovely, lively community. But I'm trying not to be negative. I'm trying to be upbeat and positive about my adopted homeland.

DH and I discussed our possible actions. I think it's likely that we'll start taking a trashbag on our walks. It can't hurt. It won't make even a tiny dent in the volume of unattractive waste laying about. But it won't hurt. We'll try to leave every place we step a little better off. That's all we can do.

--Sandee Wagner

Patience In The Kitchen, or I Can't Do That

I've been trying the local Tunisian cuisine. It's hard to find. Like other urban areas, the local restaurants tend to specialize in exotic foods. Even Tunisians want something different when they eat out.

Two of the local specialties that I have found, tried and loved are the couscous and the brik. Couscous is a grain that is steamed with meat or vegetables and is served as a base for the dish that it was steamed over. Basically, you stew the meat or vegetables and the couscous is steamed by the food cooking below it. The couscous is served like rice, with the stewed food over it. Very yummy stuff. A Brik is a flaky French pastry that is filled with a savory mixture of meat and eggs and vegetables. The standard is served as an appetizer and has minced beef and an egg yolk inside. The pastry is deep fried and presented like a little envelope of goodness while you wait for your main dish. Delicious.

Being the bibliophile that I am, I perused the book section of Carrefour on Saturday morning. I looked through all the books, even though very few were written in a language that I understood. Luckily, there were a couple of books in English. Imagine my surprise when I saw two recipe books, small paperbacks labeled: "Pastillas and Bricks" and "Couscous and pleasures of semolina". I snatched them up.

Now, I can learn to cook these specialties at home. When I get my kitchen set up, I can test and cook these recipes until I've added a couscous dish and a brik to my repertoire. Quelle surprise!

This morning, while listening to an online lecture, I flipped through the cookbooks to admire the recipes and gorgeous pictures. Then I found myself reading the fine print.

Apparently, Mediterranean cooks spend a LOT of time in the kitchen. I'm not kidding.

In order to make a really good couscous, here's the pattern that every recipe follows:
1. Pre-cook some of the ingredients to brown the 'go with' vegetables like onions/mushrooms.
2. Add the broth and allow to come to a boil.
3. Take the semolina and put it in the steamer basket, sprinkle it with oil and water. Put it over the stewing food.
4. Take out the semolina and spread it on a flat plate, rubbing it between your hands to separate the grains. Sprinkle with oil and water. Let it rest. Return to the steamer.
5. Take out the semolina and spread it on the same flap plate, rub it between your hands again to separate out the grains. Sprinkle with oil water. Let it rest. Return to the steamer.
6. Take out the semolina and spread it on the serving tray, butter it and rub it between your hands to separate out the grains. Put the stewed food on top and garnish.

Do you see the amount of handling required on this? You have to separate the grains, by hand, at least three times and let the semolina 'rest' before putting it back over the steam. It doesn't matter whether you are making a serving for one or twenty people. It requires the same amount of handling.

This amount of cooking requires patience that I do not have in the kitchen. I generally won't even make yeast breads because you have to do a lot of work, leave it set, and then come back and work it again. I want to do cooking and/or preparation and then cook it! I don't want to do something that becomes an all day marathon of cookery. Apparently, couscous falls into that category. Along with making tamales from scratch.

So, I picked up the brik cookbook and decided this is going to be more my speed. Really, layers of prepared pastry stuffed with savory food? It's got to be quick preparation... doesn't it? I'm imagining buying boxes of frozen Filo dough and keeping it on hand.

The first page of the book describes how to make the pastillas from scratch. That's right, how you make the thin dough that you use four and five layers of for each of these briks. They paint the dough onto the hot pan with a paintbrush! It's that thin. So, another all day cooking activity in order to set yourself up to make the few dishes in this paperback cookbook.

I don't think I have the patience for this. Unless this couscous and dough comes precooked in the stores, I don't think you guys are going to get my home cooked Tunisian fare. I don't have the patience for this much food preparation.

--Sandee Wagner

Truthiness In Advertising

We have been charmed by some of the signage here in Tunisia. The primary language in this country is French, the secondary language is Arabic. People who speak Arabic fluently will quickly point out that they are speaking Tunisian here. It's a different dialect of Arabic than spoken in the other middle eastern countries.

I've been joking with ex-pats that instead of 'Spanglish' (which Texans are used to), here in Tunisia they have 'Frarabic'. You'll hear someone speak a sentence and three words will be in French, three in Arabic.

Because of the preponderance of French in the spoken landscape, you see street signs and businesses who post notices in recognizable script. Many of these are actually French, but because I can read the text, I read it as English...

This actually leads to some interesting and charming miscues. But some of the translations (or English style signs) provide little to no clue as to the businesses they are advertising.

Case in point:

The Salon of The Fast Food
We waited until dinner time last night and walked the five or six blocks down to try "The Salon of The Fast Food". What we found when we arrived were two things. One was a huge family party going on in half of the facility. Some kind of birthday or anniversary. There were a lot of revelers of all ages and the usual party detritus.

We flagged down a waiter and asked where we could go to order dinner. He was very surprised and then ushered us into a small bar area. We indicated that we wanted to eat, not drink and smoke. He shook his head mournfully. There is no food service at the Salon of the Fast Food.

Those words, in English, spell 'eating establishment with a drive through' to me. In this context, not so much.

It's expecting a little too much to have 'truth in advertising' when you're reading a sign in a language that they don't even use... I'm guessing that "the" (with an accent grav) means "tea" instead of "the". Then it would have said, 'Salon of Tea, fast food'. Which might mean a cafe that serves drinks and can be rented for parties. Perhaps that makes it closer to reality.

We took our dinner business elsewhere. We just strode a few blocks East and found another restaurant to throw our money at. No problems.

Along with the signs that 'doan mean what we thin they mean' [insert Inigo Montoya's voice here], there are also signs that have meanings that are not clear to the proprietors who don't speak, or spell, in English.

Case in point:

At some point, an English speaking person had to tell this proprietor what this sounds like when spoken in our language. But maybe by that point in time, they were so invested in signage that changing was cost prohibitive? I'm going to choose to believe that's how it works. Not that this is truth in advertising.

--Sandee Wagner

A Matter of Scale

I dragged DH out to Carrefour yesterday. This appears to be close to the house we are leasing, so I'm guessing this will be our grocery/variety store for the near and foreseeable future. I wanted him to get a feel for it.

Before we went into the store to shop, we took a break in the food court and had some breakfast. I ordered a hot tea. It came in a Dixie cup. I'm not kidding.



While I might not find the scale of this drink small for a desert landscape, what was startling was the amount of sugar I was offered to use in this tiny cup. I'm not sure you can make it out in this photo, but look at the top of the teabag. It's sitting on the bottom of the cup and the top is visible above the height of the water. That should give you a good scale to compare the cup to. This tea was offered across the counter with four packets of sugar. Four. About one packet/teaspoon of sugar for every ounce of liquid. That's just too sweet. Had I put that much sugar in this little tea, it would have been tea syrup, not tea.

Once we got into the store, we wandered the aisles like yokels and marveled at the difference in products offered here versus back in the US. Some things remain the same though. No teen can be without these:

In any language, a story about forbidden love will translate. It's just fun to see books that look recognizable by the cover but read back to front. If you look closely, you can see that the spine of the book is to the right, and the pages flip open on the left. Familiar, but oddly not.

Some of the store's brands are familiar. We saw Dove soap, Pantene shampoo. It looks exactly like it does in the US except all the fine print on the bottle is in Arabic.

A lot of the store's brands are unique and local. Tunis is a seaport town and fishing is a big part of the economy. That was never more evident that when we saw the size of the cans of tuna available. Not just industrial sized... HUGE. I should have taken a picture, but I didn't.

They must use a lot of tuna because there were tuna cans of all sizes and most were locally named brands. I wonder what the quality of the fish will be like? Are these going to be treated like tuna in the US? Don't they x-ray those flat cans or something? I should have more knowledge than I do about stuff like that. Knowing me, I'll probably just buy the local stuff and see how it tastes. People have been eating raw fish for hundreds of years.

Also fascinating were some of the household items. Lamps in Tunisia have a lot more bling than we're used to. Dangly, sparkling bits. I won't say it's tacky, but it's not art either. I know the designers on HGTV insist that a room has to have some sparkle, some reflective surface to bounce light around, but I'm pretty sure this is NOT what they meant. I'm used to looking across a wide selection of chandeliers and seeing a lot of them with crystals that are way over the top. I'm not used to seeing feathers and crystals and colored glass and enameled metal and zebra print all in the same fixture. It's just a step too far, if you get my point.

What I did find a little appalling was the toy section. They do have as many kids toys as any Target or WalMart in the States. Some of them are recognizable from comics--Spiderman, the Hulk, Superman. Some of the toys have movie tie-ins that are strictly American--Toy Story, Cars, Disney Princesses. But the doll section was so strange. In a country where all the inhabitants are of Mediterranean descent--all dark haired and dark eyed with olive skin--all the baby dolls are blue eyed blondes. It was eerie. I looked at all the Barbies and doll babies and thought, "these little girls never play with dolls that look like them!" Strange. There's a time for some globalization and I think the toy department needs to have some diversity. At least a few dark haired, dark eyed baby dolls.

I think that retailers 'sell what they can get' here. I think manufacturers will sell whatever they make to whoever will buy it. Does that mean that Carrefour is not stocking things that are coveted locally, but whatever they can get from their suppliers? Or do none of the baby doll manufacturers in China or Indonesia make dolls of other ethnic looks? The US market is so large and compelling that it guides all their products?

It may be that this is what Tunisian stores have demand for, but that would surprise me. Kids like diversity, but they also like similarity. Maybe it's a matter of scale? The manufacturers make what the US wants because it's the biggest buyer. Then other countries get the remainders. Hard to say. It does make for an interesting stroll through the local stores, though.

--Sandee Wagner

No Sense of Urgency

One of the things that I have noticed about Tunisia is that no one is in a hurry. That's really not correct... people rush around in taxis and walk hurriedly down the street. There are folks who have places to be and people to see.

It's more accurate to say that waitstaff is not in a hurry.

When you sit down to have a meal at a table in a cafe in Tunis, you are allowed to loll around, visit, smoke and drink the night away. There is no expectation of you clearing out and freeing up that table for the next guest to sit in. None whatsoever. It's like they are used to only seating a table once during the evening. You're expected to really stretch dinner out for hours and take your time.

I guess I'm a little high strung for Tunisia. We sit down, eat a meal and look around, expecting the waiter to bring us the check so we can settle the bill and be on our way. That's not exactly how things work.

Here, they serve an appetizer to hold you over while your order is being prepared. No one stops by to top off your tea or water because there's no refills on any drink. They bring the main entree and bus away the appetizer plates. Then you are left on your own... for as long as it takes. If you manage to catch the waiter's eye, you might get a second round of drinks. If not, you can expect to be there a while.

There's no sense of urgency here. Everyone is very laid back. I don't think we've had a single meal where the check was placed on our table before we asked for it specifically. That is just 'not done'.

We've eaten in a few establishments where alcoholic beverages were served. When they are charging you per bottle of wine, they are very quick to refill your wine glass and offer you another bottle. That service is provided and is timely. When you're drinking water in a cafe, they leave the bottle on the table and never come back to offer you another one.

I wonder if Tunisians traveling in the US think the waiters are intrusive and hover around? I wonder if they take offense when the check is left 'oh so casually' on the table while the guests are still eating? I guess they think the Americans have somewhat frenetic behavior. We must seem like we are in a rush all the time.

I'm having to readjust my internal clock. Take a deep breath. Slow down and sit. It's been a challenge.

--Sandee Wagner

Exercising My Math Skills

When I was in junior high school, there was a huge push for the US to adopt the metric system. Lots of arguments and push back led to the Americans sticking with the current system. I spent a couple of years in school forced to learn conversion rates. I can remember wailing to one science teacher that if the US adopted the system, we wouldn't have to convert ANYTHING!

I am now in that boat.

I'm living where meters, liters and a completely different temperature scale is the norm. Do I want to convert? No. Would I like to recognize or understand what I'm hearing or pricing? Yes.

That means, when the news says it's 27 outside, I'm not going to convert to degrees Farenheit. I'm going to step outside and see if I feel hot or cold. That's my method. I don't want to convert, I want to understand the reference.

Instead of trying to convert the price of gasoline from dollars per gallon to Tunisian Dinar per liter, I just want to look at the numbers and make a note of which gas station has the lowest price. It may sound lazy, but I'm not that good at math.

In the US, I had a habit of going to the ATM every other week and getting the same amount of money out. I kept that cash and spent it. My spending money lasted me two weeks, and I could easily budget my cash purchases based on the knowledge that I generally had that much money to spend each month.

Here, I'm going to withdraw Tunisian Dinar and see how long I can carry it around. Determine how long it will last me. I don't expect my buying habits to change that much. I've always been an online shopper, and that purchasing will continue to be done electronically. The cash money I carry is for eating out and small purchases at local shops.

At some point, I'm going to "know" how much ground beef costs, how much for a jug of milk. I just have to get in the stores and do weekly shopping for those valuations to sink into my thick skull. It's all a matter of mindset. And trying to avoid exercising my math skills.

--Sandee Wagner

Discovery Gastronomique

We've been walking to local cafes, trying a different place each meal. Tonight we ate at a 'cool' place down the street from the hotel. It is frequented by young urban professionals who congregate there after work to smoke, drink coffee and visit. There's a light show that plays against a white building across the street and a projection TV that brings the local soccer games to the viewers outside on the patio. The disco ball on the terrace sends sparkling reflections through the inside of the bar and all the light fixtures have fringed shades. It's hip, it's happening.

It's my new favorite place. The chicken supreme was, indeed, super good. But what put them over the top was this:



Well, I'm currently suffering from calorie induced loss of consciousness (CILOC). DH was quite taken with the little spoon you see balanced on the top of the expresso cup. The stem of the spoon was zigged in such a way that it hooked over the edge of the mug. If I see a set of those spoons and cups, I'll have to buy some.

DH wants me to point out that only half of that dessert was as good as it looked. When we got to the bottom layer of pudding or mousse (?), there was a problem with the texture. It had a little too much elasticity to be quite right. The rest of it was up to all global gastronomique standards though.

--Sandee Wagner

From the Fixtures to the Water Supply

There are a lot of things that are unique and different to us here in Tunisia. I have to say, it took me a few minutes (go easy on me, I was jet lagged) to figure out how to flush the toilet in our hotel bathroom.

Check this out:

WHERE would you reach to flush this toilet? Well, it's that big silver rectangle on the wall. You depress a foot of gleaming stainless steel to make the toilet cycle.

The next little surprise for the ignorant American: the bidet nozzle. Instead of a separate fixture, this room has a wall mounted bidet. If you want to use it, you grab the nozzle off the hook and shoot it down into the toilet you're using.

Imagine you're a tired guy, who stumbles into the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning. If you put your hands down to brace yourself, you might hit that top handle... and if you do, water shoots up from the tiny nozzle and rains down all over the area. That's right, pressing DOWN on that lever turns on the water flow. Not pulling up.

If you look closely in my picture, you can see the discoloration on the floor where other patrons have experienced the exciting midnight rain shower. Such a foreign experience!

Another issue beyond the bathroom fixtures is the water supply. In the US, water is a freebie offered by restaurants. Here on the North African coast, you pay for every drop of water you drink. There is no such thing as 'free refills' for any libation.

I'm getting very thirsty. All the cups are dainty. There's no such thing as a 'big gulp'. None of the restaurant size drinks are satisfying to me. That's not a surprise to anyone who knows me. I drink a lot even by US standards.

We have to boil all our drinking water. We're going to wear this kettle out. I keep refilling a plastic, liter sized water bottle and schlepping it around with me. And don't get me started on the lack of ice. I'm beginning to think that ice is what distinguishes a first world country from a third world country.

--Sandee Wagner

Time Management

Living on Tunis Time has had a few unexpected results. I imagined I'd have to 'schedule' time to chat with the family via internet. I even calculated that I'd have to 'think before I call' because of the six hour time difference. What I never contemplated was the continental dinner hours.

DH and I have always been 'early to bed, early to rise' people. In later years, when his thyroid issues kicked in, keeping him awake and vertical was a challenge. We generally eat dinner when he gets home from work, watch the news or other TV for an hour or two, and then head into the bedroom. He goes right to sleep. I read for an hour or two.

In the Mediterranean, no one eats dinner at 5:30 or 6:00 pm. No one. Most restaurants don't even open for dinner until 7:00 pm. And once you get seated for dinner, you'd better not be in a hurry. They take their time over meals.

Apparently, eating early and rushing through meals is a strictly American pastime.

So, we trundle down to find dinner at 7:00 pm and our evenings are extended later than ever before. I wish that meant that we were continental and urbane, but what it really means is that we're tired. It keeps us up later. And we still get up at the same time in the morning.

I find that I can't eat a big dinner and then lay down. I still have to stay vertical long enough for my food to 'settle'. Otherwise, I'm miserable. So, we're sitting up, working on the laptops or watching TV until later than ever before. The good news--who needs a sleep aid? The bad news--early morning has never felt earlier.

I'm guessing that when we're living in our own home (and in charge of our own meals), we'll have that piece of control returned to us. Then, it's only on nights we eat out that our evenings will be extended later into the wee hours. I think I can handle that.

It would probably be hard to live with if DH was coming home at normal time. But he's been working late, so eating would be pushed back by his appearance so late anyway. There's no reason to complain.

I wonder how we got set to 'country hours' anyway? We've been on this schedule for years. I'm going to have to readjust my thinking and see if I can move us closer to the norm for this area. We need to 'blend in' where we can.

--Sandee Wagner

Promenade Along The Lake

This morning, DH and I decided to head out of the hotel to brunch and then take a walk along the lake. Our hotel fronts the lake, but you have to walk quite a ways to get access to the promenade.



The paved walkway is about 10 feet wide and has a small curb next to the water drop off. In the US, this puppy would have handrails, but here, it's just a sheer drop down to the water. It's a man-made lake and is only about 5 feet deep all the way across. They don't allow any powered boats or sailboats on the lake.



The promenade goes quite a way south, at least a mile, but we haven't walked it to the north. This is a view of our hotel from the promenade. Most of the buildings along here are either apartment/condos or office buildings. There are only a few places where you can get to the promenade from the street.



Our hotel maintains a wall and fence between the property and the promenade. You can see through to the plantings, but the diners on the terrace have privacy from walkers. The walk along the promenade is a pleasant stroll, not crowded most times of the day. I think we'll try to see how far north it goes next time we do the walk.



We had to go way past the hotel to find a cut through to the street and then backtrack to the hotel. We approached it from the Rue du Lac Turkana. It's a pretty impressive edifice.



The lobby entry is guarded by two bronze lions, which I have dubbed the "Aslans". I got a picture of DH next to one of the statues. You can see their size next to his six foot frame. Plus if you look closely, you can see how the heads are rubbed shiny from being petted by the hotel visitors and guests.



After a long walk, what could be better than a pot of Tunisian Tea in the bar? Tunisian Tea is hot, sweet tea with mint and pine nuts. It sounds strange, but it's really very good. If you look at the picture, you can see DH's "Coca Cola Light" with Arabic writing on the can label. They don't call it "Diet Coke" around here. We've found that you have to relax and take your time when ordering in bars and restaurants. Tunisians don't have a sense of urgency about dining. We are learning to take it a little slower.

--Sandee Wagner