If things tend to be closed during Ramadan and things tend to be closed Sundays, what happens when you put the two together?If things tend to be closed during Ramadan and things tend to be closed Sundays, what happens when you put the two together? We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel and then walked to the beach. On the path we spotted a snake which Geoff was very excited about - only the second one he's ever seen "in the wild". Unfortunately, despite his looking for it every subsequent time we went out there, we never did see one again. On the beach, there were camel, horseback and 4-wheel drive rides, but no water sports.
After loafing around for the day, we decided to head into the big city of Tunis despite the fact that we didn't expect anything to be open. The taxi cost us only nine dinars - half as much for twice the distance of the airport. The centre touristique of the city had modern buildings - many of them clearly French inspired. We took a table at the only open café and had some tea. Served piping hot in tiny glass shot glasses, the traditional tea was thickly sweetened and topped with fresh mint leaves.
After that we decided to brave the Medina, a narrow maze of streets from the original walled city. Some of the handicrafts in the souks, or shops, have been made in the same location for over 1,000 years. But as we walked through, the few open stalls sold junk - knickknacks, tacky purses, loose underwear and socks, bland shoes, and piles of jeans. Looked pretty much like Chinatown in NY which is one of my least favorite places. Inevitably someone sneezes on me there and someone I'm with ends up overpaying for some piece of junk. I'll never forget the time our 10-year-old nephew Cameron bought a faux gold chain scorpion for $5. I'm pretty sure the actual value was in the negative numbers - it predictably broke a few hours later.
Anyway, we made our way all the way across by 5:30 pm and figured we should walk back to the tourist section before it got dark. But what we found on our way back was one of my favorite moments. The sun had officially set, marked by the evening prayers sung out over the megaphone atop the Medina's mosque. As we walked back through the Medina, we now found groups of mostly 3-4 men spread around makeshift tables eating, presumably their first meal since the day's fasting began at sunrise. Most of them greeted us as we passed and one group even invited us to join which we kindly declined. It clearly wasn't a good time to shop, but it was my favorite moment in the Medina. To see the men hunched over steaming bowls of soup silently eating in unison through the city was fascinating.
After that we wound up checking out the train station hoping to pick up a schedule for Douz where we hoped to go later in the week. Since all the signs and schedules were in Arabic, we didn't get far. An opportunistic taxi driver found us there and asked us where we wanted to go which started an amusing conversation in French. He wanted to know where we were from and started guessing - Spanish? Italian? We would find that this was the same pattern with everyone we met guessing our nationality. Not once did anyone ever guess American. Geoff was hesitant to admit it, but throughout Tunisia I would be compelled to admit to anyone who asked that I was an American. It seemed wrong to lie - both because I thought it was terrible to have to lie about where you were from and also because I thought we had some responsibility in some small way maybe change the impression of Americans. This driver reacted the way everyone would - he said that we were welcome and that all people were the same. Of course, he probably would have charged us 40 dinars to drive home, but that's another story.
We decided to have dinner in the tourist area but unfortunately most of the places were closed so we found a local hangout and had a decent, dirt cheap dinner. By the time we left, the streets were brimming with locals. Hundreds of people filled the streets, stores and cafés.
The men walk arm-in-arm and sometimes hold hands. They also kiss four times cheek to cheek when they meet. Many of the women dress with robes and full headscarves so that only their faces and hands show. Apparently this prevents temptation by the men. I thought about how in US suburbs women often inflict this amorphous look on themselves by wearing tee shirts and baggy sweats. The Tunisian women all have similar features - dark hair, dark eyes. It's a striking sight to spot a blond among the crowds. I once saw a Tunisian man run up and kiss a little blond girl walking with her parents. The little girl wiped off his kiss and the mother just smiled. It didn't seem he meant any harm by it, he just couldn't resist.
We decided to walk back through the Medina now that there was a chance things were open. Turns out more was open, but it was more of the same crap. There were so many people you had to push your way through. Then someone in the crowds took the opportunity to grab my ass, of course it was impossible to determine who. I now hated this place. Geoff seemed convinced that there must still be treasures to find so we made one last effort and found the jewelry souks, saw some rugs and found one of the shops listed in the book. As I browsed around I had a very persistent sales guy following me, showing me a picture of his new baby, and babbling about the features of the products. Meanwhile, Geoff spent some time with the men in the shop who were sitting around what looked like a giant bong, although they were very clear that it was filled with tobacco not hashish. One of them men there could speak English so Geoff talked to him about the U.S. and politics. We then selected some things to buy. For some reason Geoff was in charge of the haggling, a cultural necessity in the souks. When the man told him ten dinars Geoff actually said "Are you sure? That's all?" I couldn't believe my ears, he actually sounded like he was trying to talk them up in price.
Leave a comment