Hello dear readers, it is I once again! In this episode of Tunisia Puns, I will detail the various sights and happenings which have occurred around , but not limited to the city of Tunis. During my stay I will unfortunately not be able to upload pictures which I have taken, because my phone is rather disturbed by the less than phenomenal internet connectivity here, but I will retroactively add them into my log, for the viewing pleasure of your delicate eyeballs.
I arrived in Tunis, having endured a 30 hour day and 11.5 hours of flying time, and now I am free to pepper you with all the glorious details of my adventures! (That is, of course, so long as the less than reliable internet permits). Nevertheless, I have arrived and, having gone through a surprisingly lax customs and security check I was promptly picked up by my group and sped off straight away to start our work, no rest for me I suppose. I am somewhat proud of myself though, since I was just barely able to keep myself from dozing off for the entire day, however long it may be.
Having finally situated ourselves yesterday, and having eaten a delicious almond-banana cake given to us for a fellow traveler's birthday, we went off to our first destination, the district of Sidi bou Said, an old part of town situated on a cliff overlooking the bay of Carthage. We toured around the district for a short while before finally coming to a rest in a cafe at the top of the hill, where we smoked hashish and drank mint tea for the rest of the evening.
The next day we began our studies at Amideast, an American cultural center within Tunis and met with a collection of Tunisian grad students who were studying American and British law systems. Afterwords, we then made our way into the Medina, the old walled city, which was filled with small shops of all sorts, most of which were selling the same tourist fodder at similar extortionate prices (as happens in shops within any capital city center). The streets themselves were rather unnavigable, especially for one with little local knowledge. At one point another student and I had to break off from the main group, who were being led by our Tunisian compatriots to collect a straggler who had been stalled buying an exceptional amount of souvenirs for his family. Unfortunately, when we had returned, the group was nowhere to be found, and us three decided to leave the Medina so that we wouldn't get lost inside it. With the fortuitous aid of a generous banker who lent us his cellphone, we were able to meet up with the group and be forever shamed as "the ones who got lost."
Once we reconvened, we spent the rest of the day in downtown Tunis without incident. We had lunch at a lovely restaurant deep within the Medina, and then afterwords we climbed up onto the roof with an absolutely stunning view of Tunis. After this, we wound our way out of the Medina, and awaited our return on the very ground of the Jasmine revolution, which was quite neat. By the end of the day, I was absolutely spent, in part due to the bright sun, but mostly due to the jet lag. We then spent a lazy night playing Mafia before we went to bed early.
However, there was little time for rest. The next day, Tuesday, we got up bright and early to make our way up north. The first stop was the ruins of Utica, a former Punic and Roman port. What was most fascinating was that there was absolutely no restrictions as to where you stood. You could walk right up into the ruins, walking where the Romans were walking 2000 years ago. You could even lay in the same tombs as the Carthaginians were buried in 3000 years ago (though that made me a bit uncomfortable. I like to have some respect for archeological artifacts).
After this we traveled to the port of Bizerte, the port of the Byzantines, Arabs, Turks and French. We got off by the old fort, which had a beautiful overlook into the town. Hence we explored the Medina, which was not a market, but rather a residential area, and we, the massive flock of obvious tourists seemed to cause quite a stir among the locals. However, the highlight of the town of Bizerte was the open air market, and the most interesting part of that was, of course, the butcher's corner, which inspired a great deal of disgust among our vegetarians and faint-of-heart, and much amusement for the rest of us.
After lunch and a brief lecture, we made our way to the final destination for the day, Cap Blanc, purported to be the northernmost tip of Africa. The cape was a high slope of sharp white stones, but was certainly no match for a native Coloradan, and I ran up to the summit, and down to the edge of the cape, scornfully heedless of these puny hills. Still, what the cape lacked in altitude, it certainly made up for with wind. A storm was coming in from the west, so the wind on the cape was strong enough that you could lean against it and not fall over. Nevertheless, we ventured as far our as the slope would permit and now that is certainly a thing that I can say to have done, so that's neat.
Well, dear readers, that is all for now. I will update again in a couple of days when I have more fresh material to thrill your imaginations. As to the pictures, I certainly will add them, but don't expect them before I return to the States.
Sincere Regards
Michael Coffey
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