My Final Tunisia Blog!

Hello everyone! I cannot believe that I am writing my final blog! I want to thank everyone for reading and leaving comments. I hope you’ve had as much fun reading them as I have writing them. There are so many stories I want to share with everyone, I want to write more about my host family, Tunisian stalkers and hundreds of fascinating cultural differences. I don’t have time however and instead I will share advice as a survivor of my Tunisia program.
First of all everyone must spend some time living abroad, it is essential in becoming a well-rounded person. Also it only “counts” if you live in a non-western, developing nation (México, China, India, Africa, etc…). If I had chosen to study for eleven weeks in London, I would have never learned a quarter of what I have in Tunisia. I have become stronger as a person, both in my beliefs and in my ability to adapt (but not in my physical strength. Damn Ramadan food.). I also highly recommend living with a host family. Its much more difficult then living with other students and honestly you might have less fun. For example I went to a café once in the entire trip whereas my friends went at least twice a week. Yet I am now a new member of my Tunisian family. So what if I stayed at home, that’s what the Tunisians do and for eleven weeks, I was Tunisian. I had a mother, father and sisters. I have played shuba at nanas house, sang along to folklore with my host father and got traditional henna on my hands (don’t worry it only lasts three weeks). Living in a non-western world with a host family stripped my life of everything familiar and made day-to-day life into the largest challenge I have ever faced and I wouldn’t exchange it for the world.

I will be home on December 11th and I can’t wait to see everyone and share my stories. As for tomorrow I am off to Germany! Maybe if I’ll have time I’ll write an update about my adventures, although I doubt the can hold a candle to my experiences in Tunisia.
<3 Katie

P.s- How wants to come back with me next summer? I love my host family far to much to never see them again.

A Day In My Life

Hello everyone! Its hard to believe that I only have one week left of the program. The time has gone by relatively fast, with the exception of Ramadan, which seemed to slow time down to a crawl. For one of my last blog entries (which I’m glad everyone is enjoying by the way!) I am going to write about a average day of mine.

I wake up at seven and eat my breakfast of coffee, sick pre-made toast and more coffee. (I think I may be a new official member of “the club”). Then my host dad drives me to school so I can arrive by 830. Now if my daily commute doesn’t sound like it would be too inserting then obviously you are not acquainted with the Tunisian freeway system. First of all Tunisians find the idea of “lanes” quite optional, technically the highways have two but its common to have three and crazy taxis drivers often make four. While my life is flashing between my eyes my host father is smoking between four to six cigarettes and singing loudly to whatever arab song is on the radio, if the song is in English (which it is about half of the time) he drums on the steering wheel. After around 20 minutes of this I arrive at ISLT/Borgiba School/ Institute 7th November at Cartridge (its been ten weeks and i’m still not quite sure what the name of my school is).
There are two language schools in Tunis with the name Borguba School. One is a posh private school in downtown Tunis and the other is dilapidated, overcrowded and in a sketchy suburb by the train tracks. Guess which one I go to. Hint-the school has holes in the roof and one the rare occasion that it rains I have to slog through puddles to get to class. Today I took my camera to school in a poor attempt to document the building. The “highlight’ is the bathrooms and I took a picture which I will spare all of you because it literally makes me gag a little. Why? Well none of the toilets flush (and I have tried many in various locations…not that you really need to know) so by the time I took my picture at 11:30…they where full. This happens everyday! Who has to clean them at night I wonder? Ok, now that I have scarred you all for life I will continue with my day.
I have Arabic class from 8:30 to 11:30….in a perfect world. During Ramadan I had school from 8:30 to 2. My teacher is a wonderful man who is under the impression that if I don’t understand its because A- my handwriting is poor or B- he needs speak louder. After my 2 to 6 hours of class I eat lunch with my friends at “Pizza Mimosa” (sadly they do not serve mimosas) where I spend 2 dinar for my “salad various ” which lives up to its name by being different everyday.
After lunch I go to culture or literature class if its Monday or Tuesday (riveting I know). After my riveting day of class I hail a cab and take it home. I know its silly but I feel a little like a bad ass when I take a cab home by myself, speak to the driver in Arabic and sing along to the blasting arab music. My Arabic is far from fluent (or even conversational) but I am able to have simple conversations with my cab drivers. Usually the conversations sound something like this-

Me- Park Enaily please.
Driver-(Speaks French to me and then sees my blank look)Do you speak French?
Me- No
Driver -You speak Arabic?
Me- A little. I am a student of Arabic at Borgiba school.
Driver- Are you British?
Me- Yes/ No I am Canadian/American
Driver- How old are you?
Me- I have been in Tunisia for three months.
Driver- How old are you?
Me- September, October, November
Driver- How old are you?
Me- OH! 20.
Driver- Are you married?
Me- No (or if don’t feel like this conversation AGAIN-Yes. To a strong arab man)
Driver-Why not? You are so beautiful.
Me- (please drive faster..) Thanks….
Driver- Why are you not married?
Me- I am too young/ I hate men/ I’m engaged/ drop me off here.
Driver- Will you marry me?
Me- Ha ha ha ha, No thank you.
Driver- I love you!
Me- Uh….Stop here. Thank you!

After I arrive home more or less single. I do homework until dinnertime and then…do more homework…Wow. I can’t wait to come back to OSU where I have a social life again.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a huge dinner together as a group. I asked my host mom if she could help me make a small bowl of Tunisian salad which Selwa turned into a HUGE bowl of salad, 35 briqs, silverware, 30 oranges and a platter full of pound cake. It was without a doubt one of the most memorable thanksgivings but I missed my family.
One more week!
-Katie

Days 3-8 In the South

Day 4
Today we went to the University of Gabes for a guest lecture on the nationalist heroes of Tunisia. We then ate lunch in Gabes and continued to Matamata.
The local saying in Matmata is that it’s “the only place where the living live beneath the dead.” While due to recent development this is no longer true, many of the local Berber people live in the world famous troglodyte homes. Our first stop in the city was the Hotel Sidi Driss, it was here that Luke Skywalker ate breakfast with his uncle and aunt and the bar is where he met the first love of my life, Han Solo. While this place was without a doubt a tourist trap, I really didn’t care. Around half of my classmates stayed on the bus and talked down about people who would come to Tunisia to see Star Wars sites, once again…I didn’t care. I ran around the hotel in all of my middle school glory and unleashed my nerdhood for all to see.

After taking around a million pictures we walked behind the hotel to see a tiny museum that was a restored troglodyte home. Our guide to the museum was the cutest little old woman I have ever seen and upon presenting her with a tip, Kareem discovered that she only makes one dinar (around 70 cents) a day. (Upon my travels I have been told that Americans and Germans tip the best while the French are famous for giving nothing.) This is just a friendly reminder stressing the importance of tipping in your travels to developing nations.
After our day in Matmata we continued to the small village of Tamezret. I can’t imagine many tourists ever making here and without Kareem’s expertise I would have never known it existed. The village is perched on top of a hill with a spectacular view of Nefzaoua plains. We wandered around the village where I met a local girl who offered to take my picture and a group of boys who I attempted to play soccer with. After this we drank tea and watched the sun set from a local café.


Day Five
Today we drove through the town of Tataouine despite the name the town isn’t really that special. Our first stop in the area was the Cliffside village of Chenini. The village was founded in the 12 AD and is a crowded tourist destination. The effect that this has had on the villagers is evident in the crowds of children asking for euros and the brash young men grabbing at the female tourists. Other than this the view from the top of the village is quite lovely.

The next stop was quite possibly the highlight of my trip to the south. We traveled to the abandoned village of Douiret, the homes are like that of Chenini except the site is basically unknown to tourists and we got to explore the ruins at our pleasure. The ruins are a budding archeologists heaven and although the homes are ancient the residents left quite recently (The town was abandoned in the 1960’s due to flooding) leaving behind trash turned treasure. The abandoned village also houses a hotel and restaurant run by a NGO dedicated to historical preservation. To anyone traveling to Tunisia I highly recommend visiting Douiret and spending the night. The NGO offers guided hikes around the area and you will feel like you are living on mars with the desolate red landscape. If I had one more free weekend (and magical transportation) to spend in Tunisia I would return here.
After we visited Douiret we went to Tatouine for lunch and had time for one more moment of Star Wars nerd heaven in the city of Ksar Haddada. This city is the home to the distinctive orb-like Berber architecture. This was used as the slave dwellings in episode one and they are very remarkable in their own right. After yet another long day we returned to Gafsa hotel where I was reunited with my new friend Carl the Cockroach.

Day Six
Today we traveled on the short ferry ride to the island of Jerba. The island is famous for its pristine beaches but seeing as we visited in November (although the weather has still been in the 70’s) we didn’t go swimming. The majority of the trip was dedicated to shopping. I hate bartering and the shopkeepers where extra tricky with ripping tourist off, nevertheless I still managed to purchase some Christmas presents without the usual shopkeeper groping that some of my friends experienced.
The highlight of the trip to Jerba was the El-Ghriba Synagogue, as the oldest synagogue in north Africa, its name means ‘The Stranger’. The site was founded in 586 BC although the building we saw was built in the 19 century. The building is decorated with a wonderful mix of traditional Tunisian and Jewish styles. (For example the raised sanctuary for the torah is decorated with the hand of Fatima and the evil eye.) The Jewish community in Jerba is one of the oldest outside of Israel but was greatly lessened by the creation of the state of Israel and pressure to leave for France after Tunisia’s intemperance. Now the population is only a few hundred.

In 2002 there was a terrorist attack on the Synagogue where terrorists drove a gas truck through the barrier killing a total of 19, a tour group Germans and a few Tunisians. The building remained unharmed and it is for this reason that we had to pass through a metal detector on our way into the Synagogue. It was the tightest security I have encountered in the country so far and it proved to be an unnerving experience.

Day Seven
We began our day with a trip to a carpet co-op that makes a thin style of carpets called “maaguum”. Kareem let us go crazy in the carpet showroom and the madness that ensued was somewhat similar to the day after Thanksgiving. However, we all spent a lot of money so I doubt the owner was upset. After our purchasing spree, we where given a tour of the factory. The machinery looked like it was out the film “Modern Times’ and to be truthful it gave me the creeps. We didn’t get to see the women actually weaving the carpets but we did see the processes of dying and carding the wool.
After this we traveled back to the university of Gafsa in order to have a conversation with the students of English there (the conversations that I can have in Arabic are quite limited, are usually with taxi drivers and nearly always end with a marriage proposal). This conversation was a real learning experience and merits a blog entry of its own.
We left the university stressed and ranting therefore it was a real treat to be dined at the “Hamdy Estates”.
I’m not exactly sure of the details but Kareem’s brother owns the oasis that his family grew up on. We had a modest picnic that consisted of a huge tray of roasted vegetables, pomegranates that we picked ourselves, tea, pistachios, the only cheese I have ever liked, some incredible flat bread that we dipped in olive oil and honey and a ENTIRE lamb. After we had stuffed ourselves to the point of pain we rolled to the home where Kareem was born and I have to say (sorry dad) that being born in a cave in an oasis is infinitely more cool than in a house in Chicago.

What a wonderful way to end our last full day in the south!

Day Eight
The majority of this day was driving with the exception that we stopped at one of Tunisia’s eight world heritage sites, El-Jem.
There is no way I could possibly describe the feelings that rushed trough my veins upon being dwarfed by the massive coliseum. As I walked under the symmetrical arches and into the sun I could hear the roar of the crowd and the silence of the vastness of space. The coliseum was the third largest in the roman world and is now the best preserved (the movie gladiator was filmed here) and would even better preserved if not it being the site of revolutions in the 1800’s. Built between 230-238 AD the coliseum could hold 30,000 people, which was more than the population of the town. You can explore from the top deck of the upper seating to the creepy pitch-black catacombs underneath. This place took my breath away and I could have easily spent over two hours here just soaking it all in however, we had to make it back to Tunis sometime.


My trip to the south was an experience I will always remember. I encourage anyone visiting Tunisia to spend as much time in this region as possible!

-Katie

P.s I can’t believe it but I will be done with the program in exactly two weeks! Wow! Time has flown.

Days 1-3 In the South

Hello everyone! Sorry its been so long since my last update but that was because I just returned from my trip to the South of Tunisia on Sunday. The south is the land of mountainous steppes, oasis and the grand erg oriental. There is no doubt in my mind that it is one of the most bleakly beautiful places in the world and if you visit Tunisia I suggest you spend as much time in the south as possible.
My trip was eight days and I will attempt to sum up each day and post as many pictures as the internet allows.

Day One
We returned to the holy city of Kairouan where we saw the courtyard of the great mosque. Built in 670 AD the mosque is the oldest in north Africa. The city of Kairouan is one of the seven holiest cities in Islam and all it takes is a quick glance at the towering minarets to figure out why, at one time it was the most powerful Islamic city in the Maghreb. We had all ready been to the city but we dropped by quickly to visit the mosque because the doors where closed to us the first time (it was time for prayer). The massive courtyard was magnificent and the doors to the prayer room where propped open so non-Muslims could look inside. During my tour around the mosque I met my three new boyfriends, I smiled at them and then they followed me and stole shy glances my way for the rest of the trip. Sure they were eight but I’m sure it was love at first sight. Once I was torn away from my new loves we continued traveling south to the ancient roman city of Sufetula. I thrive on these visits, I prefer to explore the ruins alone and I am always filled with a sense of awe for where I am and ancient everything is. The city of Sufetula was especially interesting because it was an important center of Christianly in the 4th century. It was a regional capital of the Byzantines and I was filled with wonder and humility when I stumbled upon the baptistery of the Basilica of St. Vaitalis in a hidden corner of the site. After a successful day of driving and ruin-hopping we drove to Gafsa where we spent the night in out five star hotel.

Day Two
We started of the day with a chat with students from the university of Gafsa. I felt like nothing much was discussed due to the language barrier and overbearing English teacher who was only interested in her opinions.
After we left the hotel we traveled to the cities of Chebika, Tamerza and Mides. The town of Mides is only one km from the Algerian border and home to the “grand canyon” of Tunisia. While that might just be a massive stretch of the imagination, the canyon is nevertheless picturesque and has been used in The English Patient. (Which I have never seen and I am a little ashamed about because I have seen just about ever site where it was filmed.)

At the end of the day we traveled to Tamerza where we hiked up a steep hill (and I discovered how out of shape I now am. Thanks to eating fatty Ramadan foods and never leaving the house) and watched the sunset. The view from the top of the mountain was magical and although I took plenty of pictures I couldn’t capture the feeling of watching the sunset over the abandoned village in the mountain oasis. That night we returned to Gafsa.

Day Three
On this jam-packed day we went to the desert oasis of Tozeur. When we first arrived we hired house drawn carriages that took up around the town. The first visit was at the tomb of the national poet of Tunisia. This stop inspired me to follow in is footsteps and ask to be buried in a huge boulder with my face tastefully craved into the sides. Afterward we where taken to the second largest palmeraie in the country. It is here that the highest quality of fates are harvested, the “Finger of Light” because they are almost transparent. The dates are harvested by farmers who miraculously climb the palms (with no shoes of course unless you want to be called a girly man by the other farmers) and then they pass down the date branches so the dates never touch the ground. This I highly doubt, it seems like a good thing to tell the tourists but not a good idea for general profit. However its done the dates were beyond delicious! (Minus the one I ate that was infested with worms. Luckily for me I am dating a world famous parasiteologist who was able to determine that I will be all right.)
After I said goodbye to my overly flirtatious carriage driver we got back in van and travels across the Chott El-Jerid. The Chott El-Jerid is a surreal salt lake that stretches across 5000 sq km. With great drifts of salt on the side of the road we where lucky enough to drive across when the lake had some water (although the majority was still dry). It can cause some mirage like effects and if you are huge nerd (which I am not) you will recognize it from the scene where Luke watches the two moons rise (<3!!!!).
Finally when I thought the day couldn’t get any better, we…went….CAMEL RIDING!

It was at sunset and we rode out into the Sahara from the town of Douz. We rode at sunset for around one hour and that was all it took for me to fall in love with the endless dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental. When I return in Tunisia in (?) years it is here that I wish to spend more time in. The actual camel riding was a blast with graceful mullet to its lurching up and down. At the end of a memorable day we drove to our knew and not so memorable hotel in Gabes.

Ok…I’m beat. I’ll continue this travel log tomorrow.
-Katie

p.s- I’ll be done with the program in 15 days!

My Trip to the Tunis Medina/ The day Katie was spoiled beyond all reason

This morning I woke up early because I was told my host sister and her husband were going to take me to a mosque. I was very excited and thought that I would be attending a prayer service with them. Instead it was the start of an individual tour through a world heritage site, the Tunis Medina.
The first place I was taken was to the Sidiki School. The almamater of my host brother-in-law, the university was built in the 1700’s. The school is the classical style of an old Arab home and is based around a center courtyard. I would have been given a tour but the classes were in session. After I left the university we walked through the government place where all the magistrates are held. Next week is a national holiday so all of the buildings where decked out in red, white and of course, pictures of the president.

Both my host sister and her husband Sofen work toward preserving historical houses in the medina, for this reason they have free rein of all the historical sites in the city. Sofen was born in the Medina and knows the ins and outs of the labyrinth of souks. For this reason I was given the precious opportunity to be shown by a expert historian who not only knew the meanings behind each product but he seemed to know each shopkeeper by name and brought me treats and gifts (read the title). I have entered the medina before but each time from the main tourist gate that faces avenue Bourguiba. Once I enter I usually get overwhelmed by the pushy shopkeepers who have absolutely no concept of personal space. This time however, I was traveling with Tunisians and I felt safe and was unaccosted even in the “dicey” parts of town where the leather tanners work (now I think this is because Sofen looks like a shorter version of Andre the giant but that could just be me).

The old Arab cities seem to be senseless maze to western outsiders but in reality everything has a reason. The high winding walls keep the heat out in the summer and in during the winter however the major reason for these walls is for defense. The medina is in a strict layout based around the central mosque with the “superior” trades like in the grand souk of the chechias (the small red hat worn by respected men) and gold to the souks of leather and blacksmiths. Sofen took me around all of these souks teaching me about each one, I learned about how the Souk of gold was originally a Jewish souk and in the souk of perfumes I learned that musk is the basis for all traditional perfumes. For my breakfast we found this tiny hole in the wall that sells delicious breakfast sandwiches make of butter, dates and honey in soft sweet bread. After the adventure in the souks we went to Sofens work, which just happens to be in the place of the Bey (king) in the 1500’s before they moved to Bardo. There was no one else in the massive house and I was given a private tour of the courtyard, parlors and individual apartments (once again see title).
After all this I imagined that I was being spoiled enough for one day by we had to drop by Emna’s work. If I thought that this would be dull I was sorely mistaken, Emna also works in a old mansion about 300 years old. I was given free rein to explore while she took care of her work. As you may imagine I went a little crazy running up and down old stairways but I didn’t stray to long because her desk was set up in the mens salon, which is the most ornate part of the house. During this time I met some of Emnas co-workers and they suggested that she take me to a few more museums (heartbreaking I know). I then was given a whirlwind tour of the center for popular arts and traditions which has recreated 19th century life be using hilariously fake dummies. After that we went to the tomb of the Bey, which was four central rooms filled with tombs (women separated of course). The tombs are bizarre with the bays chosen headwear on top the tomb but no mention of the name. As we where all heading home (after I ate my delicious cactus fruit and washed it down with Turkish coffee) Emna tried to smuggle me into a mosque. She knew how disappointed I was that I didn’t get to see the interior of the Zitouna Mosque and was determined to so me the interior of another. We covered our heads with scarves she brought for the occasion and she took my hand. We were quickly ushered into a small side door by the groups of men standing outside of the mosque. This was the room for the women that was surrounded by walls made of something like straw. These walls allowed in sound from the main room but didn’t allow anyone to see out or in. Emna was not happy about this because she wanted to me to see the main room. We left and then she lead me to the main door of the Mosque where I looked into the main room. It was quite beautiful with mats covering the entire floor and marble columns. Emna then told me to take a picture, I asked her if that was rude. She told me no, prayer was not going on now and the mosques where for all people. The moment I took my camera out of my bag, men started yelling at me and grabbed my arm. Emna then got into a argument with them and I put my camera back not wanting to make things worse. We where then forcibly escorted from the courtyard. Emna was very angry and told me that those men “where not the guardian of the mosque’ and that it should have been fine to take a picture from the doorway. She is a very religious person (for example I asked her about how she felt about the small women’s room and she said “at peace”) yet she was very shook up by how we where treated.
After all of this it was time to go home except….I had told them when I first came that I had worked at a zoo. So they took me to the Tunis zoo! It was a little zoo with outdated cages and exotic animals like raccoons and mallard ducks. Still I had a great time and it was a great way to end one of my favorite days in Tunis.

Ok this is my 4th time trying to post this....So i'm not even going to try adding on pictures. I promise to add picture when I return to the south in a week. Thats right im going to the land of palms, dates, sand and STAR WARS. I AM SO EXCITED!

anyway I promise to add many many pictures when I return. I won't be able to get online for a week but I will have my cell on me if you need to contact me.
I really miss everyone and will be home in five weeks!

<3
Katie

My Vacation!

I pity anyone who goes to Hammamet and then leaves thinking they have seen the real Tunisia. Its like going to Cancun and saying you know Mexico. With rows and rows of hotels and flat beaches, the town even has its own theme park (we didn’t go in, but I’m sure its up to enchanted forest standards). However for me the cheesy resort town was a wonderful break from the real world, where I had no Arabic class and I could walk around the street with out being stared at.
Nine friends and I stayed at “Hotel Excel” which was quite nice despite its gaudy interior. We stayed for three nights and mostly just lazed around at the beach. The beach was heavenly by Oregon standards but quite dull compared to the ones my host family took me too. I can’t really complain, I was swimming in the Mediterranean sea in late October! It was the off season so the beaches and streets where moderately empty. The place is completely full all summer long. Tunisia is a vacation spot for Europeans although we met Russians, Brits, Germans, Dutch (Danes?) and many many French, we never found a single American.

It was my first time at a European style beach and I can say they have absolutely no problems with body image in Europe. Being overweight or old is absolutely no reason to cover up. As you can see by my picture, I was trying to be culturally sensitive but ended up just wearing more fabric than anyone else on the beach, man or woman….
(The lucky guy is Raphael our new friend from Quebec who basically saved our lives by serving as our French translator.)


One of the days we took a side trip to the city of Nabeul. The city is world famous for its pottery a fact that it likes to advertise by this extremely tasteful huge fruit bowl in front of the medina (or old city). Everything is handmade with beautiful traditional designs. I am the biggest nerd ever and bought myself a cereal bowl and I’m really stoked to eat out of it!

The day we went to Nabeul was the day after eid (or the holiday at the end of Ramadan where everyone eats sweet and children get new clothes and pocket money). So all the children had they day off of school and this was the first day they could spend their pocket money. Little stand where set up all over the medina and the children where running wild. Or maybe I should say the little boys where running wild because I never saw a single little girl. Amongst the boys the most popular toys where plastic (yet realistic) AK-47s and firecrackers. A group of boys where playing “lets make Katie pee her pants by throwing firecrackers at her while she is trying to eat” game. As you might guess…I was not a fan.


Lots of beaches, sun, crazy children, people trying to sell me things, naked Europeans, neat pottery and most importantly a break from my host family, that basically sums up my trip to Hammamet!



And because I know you all where holding your breath in anticipation, Croatia is the world champion of handball. It was another game decided on penalties and I think my host Dad went through an entire pack of cigarettes while we where watching it. I’m pretty much heartbroken…….

Handball World Cup

I’m going to make the safe bet that you haven’t been keeping tabs on the world cup of handball. I on the other hand have been watching around two hours of this sport a day. Tunisia is dominating at the games. Only eight countries play in this off the wall sport and they get eliminated after playing in brackets like the football world cup. Right now is the semi-final bracket with Sweden, Croatia, Denmark and Tunisia who is so far undefeated.

For all of you so called sports fans who have not been enlightened about the mystical sport of handball let me help you. Its not all 5000 dollar contracts and Swedish cheerleaders, it’s a serious sport that begins with training at childhood. The players use all of their doge ball skills and need to be well versed in the arts of running, jumping and throwing. The ball is the size of a mini-soccer ball and is gripped by the players who can take three steps without dribbling and pass in powerful throws reminiscent of your most scaring childhood monkey in the middle games. There is something resembling a three-point line around the goal and the opposing teams members cannot take a step inside of this line and must take leaps in the air to make attempts on goal.
My personal favorite part of the sport is the penalty shots, it is here that the game shines in all of its elementary school glory. The goalie tries to make himself as big as possible while the player taking the shot tries to fake him out multiple times (and I mean multiple like six or seven, its pretty hilarious), then once he finally makes the shot the goalie jumps in the air and throws out a random leg in a half split and tries to knock out the ball, surprisingly they are often successfully.

So if anyone happens to be around Sweden metropolitan area tomorrow I highly recommend attending the finals of the world cup of Handball it will be Croatia v. Tunisia and I’m sure the players would enjoying seeing someone other than their mothers in the stands.*


Speaking of mothers (poor transition I know) but here is a picture of my host Mom and her two sisters making the traditional treats for the end of Ramadan.
P.S- I promise my weekend holiday update will come soon, I just had to share my handball stories today instead.

*I make fun of the game but too bad I was yelling at the T.V in broken Arabic today during the Tunisia, Denmark game(Lay, Lay! Montaz!). It was pretty intense, the game ended in pretty much the most amazing event of the sporting world- the handball shoot out.

Boring Rant About Tunisian Higher Education

Ten million people, twenty-five percent off which are under the age of fourteen, populate the country of Tunisia. The median age is twenty-eight, this places a huge strain on the education system. The county can’t seem to build enough schools and universitys are being hit the hardest with a average class size of fifty. The language institute was built for 2,000 people but right now its enrollment is around 6,000. The university’s of Tunisia are very different then the colleges of America. A single campus is spread out all over the city. For example the school I attend at the language institute is one small part of the University of the 7th of November. Which is one of thirteen public universities in Tunisia. If a student gains admittance into one of these schools their tuition is completely covered. Admittance completely depends on a single test called the baccalaureate. Each test covers all of the subjects covered in secondary school including math, philosophy, foreign languages, science (if you chose to study it in secondary school) and geography. These tests take place after the forth level of secondary school (its much more common for students to fail a grade in Tunisia then the States) and the entire nation holds their breath as students take exams.
When the results of these exams return the students pick which fields they would like to study based on their scores. For example you need the highest scores to pursue the medical fields or engineering so if a student gets their results and sees that they didn’t make a certain bracket they wont even list certain occupations. Then in order of scores the students are gone through and placed in their first choice until it is full and so on until all of the schools are full. The first five choices Tunisian students placed in are; business and management, computer science, engineering, arts and humanities and then languages. They say that it is a mistake that so many students end up in arts and humanities and those schools are usually used as places to throw the leftover students. These numbers don’t reflect the vast amount of students who attend the 24 Institutes of Technological studies like my host cousin.
Education at the standard state schools is extremely difficult. Of all the university students in Tunisia only 14% reach graduation. You must pass difficult exams to move from one year to the next and the average time to gain a four-year degree is six years. The government is on the verge of changing all the programs to three-years and therefore making it so more students can graduate and that it will lighten the financial load on the country. The government has also decided on the laughable decree of adding 1000 new opinions for students to major in so more students will get their first or second choice.
Upon hearing our guest speaker talk about Tunisian higher education I am even more thankful that I was born and educated in America. My SAT scores where fair but less than stellar. As you know have major problems with spelling and handwriting, a trait that would hamper my writing scores. Most of all I enjoy freedom, the freedom to go to a university and major in liberal arts. The freedom to take classes like Arabic which in no way relate to my future career and the freedom to chose my own direction in life. If I had taken the baccalaureate the person grading my test would take one look at my handwriting and stick me in business. There would be no chance to climb my own mountains, and to major in something more difficult for me but something that I truly love. I think the country of Tunisia is only hurting its self by separating its population from its passions.

Weekend Update

This weekend was the end of Ramadan and we had a five day weekend to celebrate. A group of nine of us went to the resort town of Hammermet. It was a great break from my family and school. Tomorrow I have my first Arabic exam and then after that I promise to make a big update with pictures, until then I just wanted to check in with everyone. I'm safe and I had a crazy time this weekend.Also I am officially half way done with the program!
I miss everyone and thanks for reading my blog!

Dogs, Cats and Rams...oh my?

There is a wolf pack living on my street.
Ok, It’s more like four homeless dogs that live in the three half built houses that surround mine. In Tunisia the idea of pets is pretty strange, only the rich own a dog and having a cat for a pet is laughable. I personal have a entire family(who I’ve named) who lives underneath my window.
As for the idea of animal control, Tunisians don’t have anything like a pound. When I asked my host cousin what they did with the all the extra dogs the answer was one of the most darkly comic things I have ever heard.
In the summer months men driving a large van roam up and down the streets. When these men find a dog they jump out of they van and shoot it. They shoot the dog with a handgun in the street! They don’t take the dog into the van and then kill it, they shoot it in the street. Amira was telling me that they don’t always hit the dog the first time and will run after it on foot, shooting at the animal! I hope you understand what I mean by darkly comic.
Another common animal practice is ram fighting. Its just like cock fighting except with rams. It’s legal and very regulated with many different leagues. I walked past one of these rams training the other day and I wish I could have taken a picture because the rams are painted with patterns and bright colors. This one I saw had orange stripes all over him.
Us in America have such a different image of animals and their rights. In a country with great poverty the idea of spending government money on wild cats and dogs is out of place. I obviously disagree with this awful treatment of animals but when my host cousin heard that I knew many families that chose to have Dogs instead of children, she was disgusted. She said that it was the most selfish thing that she had ever heard. “If you are blessed enough to be in love and can afford to have children then it is a great disservice to God if you don’t have them.” While I don’t know if I agree with this either, I am fascinated by the difference in Tunisian and American values.

This picture is of the happiest puppy I have ever seen. He lived behind a restaurant near Douga and would wag his tail so hard that he would fall over <3!

One month down...

Well I have survived my first month. I can’t believe that I have only seven weeks to go!

I haven’t been going on too many adventures, Its still Ramadan and people are constantly exhausted. I was planning on going to a football game but it was rained out.
And by rain- I mean monsoon. The past two days it was been monsooning at night. Sheets of rain with endless thunder for around five hours each night. Today we lost power but regained it in less than an hour. Tunisian streets are not adapted for such high quantities of rain and flooding is a major problem. Last night we drove to Grandmas house ON THE MEDIAN…yes. The median of the freeway, the actual street had around two feet of water covering it and objects where floating by us as we drove.

Magically most of it was gone this morning so I could go to Saturday class. Our teacher has been killing me with class lately the past three days I have had six straight hours of Arabic. Six… is too much. I really can’t handle one more second of class or studying. Which is perfect timing because we have an exam next week (I think, Tunisian schools aren’t organized like they are in the west. The only rule about exams is you have to tell your students at least a day before. Other than that its all free game.)

The largest difference between Tunisian and American schools is the lack of choice. When each student is 15 they make a choice whether they wish to study sciences or languages (although everyone learns English, French and Arabic). At the age of 18 they take the baccalaureate exams. This single test determines what schools they can attend and what feilds they can study. My host cousin wanted more than anything to be a doctor however she didn’t place high enough in her philosophy exams and that brought down her total score. She is now attending the school of telecommunications. I think this is system only hold the country down. Students work harder in subjects they truly care about. If I would have taken such tests I doubt I would even attend college due to my problems with handwriting and spelling. By placing such weight on the single exam Tunisia is missing out on many bright students and forcing others into careers without passion which can only bring them limited success.


The picture is the view from my widow. From which I sing songs and watch the crazy men make e-brake turns in the roundabout everyday at 7.

To anyone who wishes to Write me..

I'm not going to give away my address on this blog but simply email me if you need it. If you have already tried to send me a letter I will not get it. In Tunisia the Post Office will only give letters to the people who are registered to live at the house.
DO NOT PUT MY NAME ANYWHERE ON THE LETTER.
Instead address the letter to my host father.
I'm sorry for all the confusion and If you ask me for the correct address and name of my host father I will email it to you.

Thanks!

Edit- I've received Grandmas letter but no one else's. I really have no idea how the system works....

Katie Update

Hello everyone! Sorry its been so long since I last updated, it seems like some weeks I can use the internet every day and others like it doesn’t even exist.

Lately it seems all I have been doing is going to school and sitting around at home. School is…fine. We are supposed to have Arabic for a hour and a half each day but our teacher decided we need help and upped our hours to four each day. It pretty much makes me die a little. Believe it or not I can get overdosed on Arabic. I guess I forgot how much I hated learning the language in the states and thought it would be better over here. Wrong! Oh well, when I am done with these next seven weeks I never have to take Arabic ever again (OSU doesn’t offer a 3rd year).

Other than class I have been doing nothing with my host family. This can be very boring but I usually have enough homework to eat up the time. I’ve made it halfway through Ramadan and I believe if I can make it through the next two weeks, we will start going on field trips again and life will speed up a little. As for this weekend Friday night I went to the American Embassy for Happy Hour (Yeah I had no idea they offered that ether) and last night I went ‘out’ to a café with my host sisters. Tonight we are all going over to Grandmothers house because a Uncle who lives in Canada surprised everyone by flying down and we are going to have a feast in his honor (more food? What a surprise…).
I miss everyone so much! As I said before I can’t wait for the end of Ramadan because I’m sure the trips will cut down on the boredom factor. Until then my friend is loaning me Mitchners “Hawaii” which will give me something to do other than watch Deal or no deal (which I caught a video of by they way!).

<3

Katie

Dating and Living with a Conservative Tunisian Family

Before I type a single word I want to say all that I have learned has come from interactions with my host family. This paper reflects only one Tunisian family and is by no means an attempt to generalize.

My host cousin is just about the kindest person you could ever hope to meet. She has a great gift for languages, memorizing any English spelling I tell her instantly. Last night we were speaking about how we where both a little bored and the fact slipped out that she hadn't gone out with her friends in over two years. I was completely shocked and inquired why this was so. She told me that her mother hasn't allowed her out of the house without her brother for many years, this includes everything from meeting a group at the café's to walking to the store at night. These rules are the same for all female members of her extended family. Every night she stays at home and watches her brothers go out. She is denied the independence that Americans associate with adolescence. None of the younger women (age 19-23) I have spoken too can drive whereas all the young men can. Part of the reason for this is high price of a license (500 d) but the greater reason is separate world of young men and women.
In the west a child slowly moves out from under their parents control with age. They either go to a university or move out and begin a job. In Tunisia adulthood is pushed back until after marriage. The children will live at home until then and when they live under their parent's roof they are held to strict rules. At the age of 19 and 20 women cant leave the house and they often have “secret boyfriends”. These boyfriends would be described as simply friends by western standards. They meet with their boyfriends about once a week in a public place. The Tunisian women I have spoken too have dated their boyfriends for over a year and they have never experienced a long kiss. This is something that should be saved for marriage. Last night my host sister, her two cousins and I went out to a café. During our stay she noticed some of her friends from school walk in the door. She went over to the group and talked to them a while and when she returned she was grilled by her male cousin aka chaperone. This grilling was killing me, it took all of my self control not to yell at him that is was none of his business if his cousin spoke to a boy, she was 19 and had to start making her own choices. This was our chaperone whom wouldn't even let us three girls get coffee alone. I sat in silence for a while and let my American values sulk for the moment, watching the other Tunisian young women (some around 14-16) smoke and chat with men, I discovered that my culture shock was made much worse by living with such a conservative family.
When my host Grandmother was married she never saw her husband until after the wedding. This was in the 1950's the same time my grandparents would go out for drinks and dancing (something that my host sister and cousin have never done). Its only natural that the nature of physical relationships “progressed” more slowly than those in the west.
Living with a family in nonwestern culture has shattered my mental conceptions of the world over and over again. Living with no other Americans is very difficult for travel and often very lonely but I am thankful for it, not for the language aspect but for the fact that I truly am living a new life instead of taking a vacation.

Me: I've always thought that I was conservative when it comes to relationships but I guess I'm kinda a tramp.
Cousin: (laughs) Welcome to the family.

Culture Shock- Bathrooms

(Warning this update may be more than anyone wants to know.)
I have a dirty confession to make. I haven’t showered in two weeks.

My host family doesn’t have a shower just a deep bathtub. I haven’t taken a bath in around 12 years and it took me a while to get used to bathing again. Now I’ve grown to love my baths, they supply a wonderful escapism. My family only has one full bathroom and another small toilet in a cleaning closet of the side of the balcony. This smaller bathroom intimidates me and I try to avoid it.

Going to the bathroom when traveling is often part of the adventure, maybe too much of an adventure in Tunisia. What is considered a clean bathroom is nothing like the states. For example, last night I went to a concert in the nations finest opera house. While the architecture (French) was stunning, the restroom was tiny with no soap and broken toilets.

All of this pales in the face of my mortal enemy….the hose.
Tunisian’s do not use toilet paper. Instead each toilet is equipped with a hose. I know I am not alone in thinking that wet does not equal clean and well…maybe I should just leave this topic here all I have to say is Mom, that Charmin to-go has been a lifesaver.

School Days

Today is the last day of the first full week of school. Our teacher is a nice guy but class is challenging. I guess I forgot how hard Arabic is. Thankfully most of the class is at about the same level except my spelling is way behind everyone else (what a surprise). I also find it exhausting to study Arabic due to the fact that I get overloaded with the language every second.

Tonight I will be going to a cultural Tunisian music concert. Its part of the many Ramadan festivals and should be a great show.

The picture shows my school. Its the Language institute of the University. In Tunisian colleges every major has its own building for example music or telecommunications. These mini-schools are scattered all over the city. I've meet a lot of amazing Tunisian students so far. Today we met a great group of people who told met over and over how much they love America and how it is their dream to visit their. We Americans don't realize how blessed we are. So many of us hate America but we have never traveled beyond the western world. My friend was trying to tell the students why she hates America and they asked her where she would rather live. She replied with she hates America but enjoys living there. The Tunisian students told her that they could not understand the difference between the two. Tunisia is not a democracy, they don't have many of the freedoms that we abuse.
America is by no means perfect but we need to respect what we have and peacefully work to let others enjoy those freedoms.

Ramadan Culture Shock

As you may or may not know Sunday was the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. It is a lunar month measured from crescent moon to crescent moon. During the daylight all Muslims fast from food, water, tobacco and sex. The reason behind the fast is to feel as the poor feel. I think this is a wonderful idea and I am in awe that the entire nation unites under Ramadan. All the restaurants are closed during the day and the superettes open at four to give people time to shop. Everyone one gets off of work at two, at which they rush home and sleep. Its scary to be stuck in the crazy traffic, all the workers rushing home to sleep. After a certain point in the day the streets are deserted. Then at around 7:30 everyone breaks the fast. The entire family comes together every night. We usually go to my host Grandmothers house. She doesn’t speak a word of English but I’m pretty much in love with her. She points at me and says “Binty Binty” (daughter, daughter) and then kisses me and holds my hand (Tunisians great by kissing each other on both cheeks. I have just now gotten the hang of this). We eat in her lovely home, which is about 15 minutes away. The food is traditional Ramadan fare. For example today we had eggplant with meat and cheese. Tunisian meals consist of many courses and during Ramadan they always have Briq as one of the courses. It’s a egg fried in a pastry shell, the yolk remains runny and you suck it out. Sounds gross but its pretty much my new favorite food, although I try to only eat half of mine cause I’m pretty sure its 100% fat. After the meal the family watches some TV and plays cards. I learned a new game called “Scurba”. Slim got a little frustrated teaching me cause I’m so bad but its fun anyway. Then everyone heads home and goes to bed around one or two, ready to wake up at five and have a huge breakfast before starting the day.
I was going to try to join the fast but my family won’t let me. They tell me its too hot not to drink water. I’m pretty sure Selwa’s main goal is to get me so fat I need to by two tickets back on the plane. But don’t worry too much I’ve figured out a system. I eat breakfast in the morning (Coffee, Juice, dates and weird toast with Nutella) and then I don’t eat until night but I tell Selwa I ate at school. She’s wise to me however and sulks whenever I turn down food. I feel bad but it must be done or to quote my host cousin Slim “your family wont recognize you when you come back.”

Picture V 2.0

Dougga = Love. This is the temple of Jupiter.


And the second picture is my first view of Tunisia. The busy streets of Tunis from my hotel room.

Thank you everyone for commenting. I like to know who reads this. If anyone has any questions please ask me and I will do my best to answer them.

Picture time!

I dont have much time but I will try to post some pictures.
The frist is my Host family (Donia, Selwa and Meki). The second one is me being a huge nerd.

I can only post a few du to slow internet.




Oh and Olivia guess what I watched today? The Tunisian version of Deal or No Deal. Pretty much it was the best thing ever. They chose random members of the audience to open the shoe-boxes which contain the dollar amounts. Mixed in with the amounts of money are animals you can win (for example the man today won a rabbit). When you knock off a small number music will play and everyone dances. If you knock off a large number the evil laugh from triller plays and if you lose everything taps plays. SO FUNNY. I can't even explain how much fun I was having watching that with my host family.

And final Mamok Ramadan everyone! Today was the first day of Ramadan, more on that later

Culture Shock- weddings

I am going to try to write mini culture essays every once and a while so you at home (or in Scotland or Italy) can understand a little more about this country where I will live the next three months.


In Tunisia weddings* take 6 days. Three of which are just for the henna. The actual day of the wedding begins with the immediate family walking the couple up to a pair of solid silver chairs where they will sit for the majority of the wedding. The whole family comes women wearing long dress and men wearing modern suits. The women stand in circles and dance, men will not dance (Rather like Americans). The bride wears an enormous white dress. It is embroidered by hand and takes a full year to make. For this reason the dress is rented for a price of 30000 dinear (2500 do. The dress comes in two pieces a full skirt and a bra like top that shows a little of the stomach. The brides hair has jewels and a tiara with veil. The hair costs around 700 to style. The groom wears a western black suit. They exchange rings at this reception. It looks like a great deal of fun and my host mother says if im lucky i will go to one before I leave.

* All this information was taken from a home movie of my host brothers wedding.