Okay.. So... Yes, I skipped a few days... I'm sorry... I didn't journal at all that day and with each passing day (I didn't have internet over the past few days...) I forget a bit from each day, so instead of worrying myself going back and recalling something... I'm starting with Day five (Friday 5/28/2010). There will be a journal entry for each day from now on... Whether on the day or not... That'll be determined by the internet situation.... Inshallah we'll be good from now on!! :D
Today, I re-learned a time old lesson regarding dealing with the Arab people through an interesting occurance today... But we'll go into that more later. Today started off at 0730 just like it has in the past, and I got up and got ready, eating my typical Tunisian breakfast of bread with jam (the awesome AWESOME French kind) with cereal, and by 0830 I was out the door walking to school.
The walk I take to get to class.
To say that today was a beautiful day would be doing it a great GREAT injustice...
Another fine Tunisian day...
If it was possible to take the weather from one day and make everyday then on like it, I would seriously make every day like it was today. It was only a very slightly overcast, so the sun was still shining and there was, (for the lack of a word that expresses how awesome it truly was) a glorious breeze that cooled everything down. In short, today's weather was nothing short of perfect. God provided us with a perfect day to walk around outside and we took advantage of it. This morning's activity was a trip via the train (which I would be seeing a lot of today) to La Marsda, one of Tunisia's many suburbs... Or so I believe. We had to find a fruit market and buy one or two kilos of a certain fruit of our choice. To get there, we had to take the TGM, (pronounced in a French manner as Tey-Jey-Em).
My first impressions of the train were pretty good!! First of all, it wasn't all that crowded like I thought it would be, and the trip (3-4 stops) went by rather quickly. They all are furnished with the typical train map of stops, but ironically, just about none of the stations have signs saying what they are. What this means is that unless you've been keeping track of how many stops you've been through, you're outta luck!! Nevertheless, the stop for La Marsda was the last one and so we all just got off at the final station. My group of seven was actually pretty successful in finding the store using our Arabic. After asking a man in front of a newspaper stand who didn't understand us, we approached a pair of police men who were strolling around the beach area. They were about as ethusiastic as ethusiastic comes, and (in English) started explain to us where it was while walking in the general direction. We made sure to let them know we were okay on our own and we thanked them with a quick شكراً before heading out again. On our way to the fruit market, one of the people in my group brought up a great point to my earlier wondering of why there are so many policemen and women just chilling around across Tunisia. Tourism... BAM! For Tunisia, a good portion of any kind of profit it makes comes from the tourism (mostly European, but a few Americans here and there) that visits it. I thought it was an interesting point, and one that made a lot of sense. After following the Police's instructions, we made it to the "fruit market" and proceeded to buy two cantalopes.
Now, these weren't just cantalopes. To take a quick jump across a few hours, before our Arabic class in the afternoon, we cracked these babies open (cut them up I suppose) and tried some of our fruit. They were INCREDIBLE!!! The one we ate was probably the best cantalope I have ever had, if not at least the best I've had in a VERY long while, because I tell you what, it was good... VERY good. Anyways, after retrieving our fruit, we wandered around La Marsda before boarding the train to get back in time for the rest of our classes. We returned in time to beat the other team (whoop!!) and chilled until class started. For our lunch break, we took another trip up the notorious Sidi Bous ied SP?? hill to one of my favorite places to get food and got got a couple of chicken kebab's.
I tell you what, no matter how many times, whether they be Gulf Arab, or Tunisian, kebab's are absolutely amazing, and I enjoyed the one I ate. After debating on whether to climb to the top of the hill or returning to the school to get ready for class, a few of us decided it would be best to come back early. So get ready for some awesome pics from on top of Sidi Bousaid next week... It'll be good!! Anyways, after another successful Arabic class, (I'm not sure what it is about them, but I feel my Arabic getting better with each class...) in which we got out a bit early, about six of us decided to go into Tunisia via the train again to visit for a bit! Unfortunately for us it was kinda rush hour and the train was pretty packed by the time we made it into the "innercity" outskirts. However, I was informed that it was nothing like riding the bus at rush hour, and for a veteran of the Shanghai and Hong Kong subway systems, it really wasn't all that bad. You just need to sacrifice that American personal bubble space and get all nice and cozy with those around you... haha!! Unfortunately for us, the train ride took a little longer than expected, and we were only able to spend about 45 minutes downtown, which just for future reference, is NOT AT ALL enough time. We're planning on making a day trip down there sometime in the future.
The Theater
It's almost like you're in Paris in some parts.
Regardless, we just walked these streets for our 45 minute stint there before heading back to the trains where the ride back was slightly less crowded than before... Other than the fact there was a sort of creepy Tunisian guy hitting on the two ladies traveling with us on the train, (which caused Luis to quickly claim both of them as his sisters. When asked for his name he said Reberto... Oh yeah...) the trip was pretty neat and a great deal of fun!! Especially the... dodging... of.. cars when crossing intersections... I probably almost got flattened multiple times. I love how traffic works here where it is ALWAYS an adventure crossing the street.
It's an adventure crossing one of these suckers
My technique you ask?? Well... I believe you need to just step out there, DON'T hesitate, or the drivers will smell the fear coming off of you and drive around you. No... You need to confidently stroll across the road, and I prefer to stare the driver down hard when I cross. That way they see me as a fellow human being, and one that isn't afraid to put his leg through the windshield should they choose to try and run me over... :D Nevertheless, I've successfully made it across every street I've crossed. The day ended with a celebration of a few of our classmate's birthdays. We took a few taxis back to La Marsda where we went to a nice restaurant to eat dinner. This place supposedly was a part of a hotel, although I never really did see the hotel portion of it... hmm... Anyways, to say the least, this is where the adventure started, and I re-learnt the lesson that when dealing with many Arabs, who can be some of the most emotional people I have ever met, (which is not necessarily all that bad) it is smart in a conflict situation to play everything with a cool head. For example, slow down, talk it out, and don't DON'T raise your voice. We managed to avoid a HUGE bill due to an understanding with our waiter, (who mistook lasanga for lobster... conveniently I suppose...) and strode out there the victors. My only complaint was that it was a pretty hectic situation, and I am just glad to be back home laying here on my bed writing this... Speaking of which... It's 0000 in the morning, and I'm getting up in six and a half hours to get ready to board a bus to Sousse with my class... I'm looking forward to our first excursion... I'll take pictures!!! Y'all take care in the meantime!!
العبور الآمن
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