Back in Tunis

Happy New Year!

I got back into Tunis on the 3rd after two relaxing weeks at home for the holidays. I had a whirlwind weekend when I arrived in Charlottesville, including multiple cookie making parties, the Batesville holiday sing, making the gingerbread house, shooting the mistletoe, getting the tree, but on Christmas day we sat in our PJs and watched movies, so it was worth it.

Gingerbread House Theme: Ancient Egypt (in perspective)

The Christmas picture is definitely the dogs' least favorite part of Christmas, but we managed to get one more picture out of them.

Amara and I spent New Year's Eve and Day in NYC. Her friends have a perfectly placed apartment, so we got a front row view of the fireworks over Central Park. It was nice to be in NYC and see Amara's new apartment and new job, but it was too damn cold. We spent a lot of time ordering food and catching up on TV. I took the train back to C-ville on the 1st (and discovered the magic of the quiet car!) and headed back to Tunis on the 2nd. I was a little sad to leave winter behind, but missing the polar vortex changed my mind.

I came back on a Friday, so I had two days to get settled before going back to work. I was really jet lagged, so I wasn't completely sure what day/time it was until about Thursday. As soon as I was recovered from that trip, I left Tunis again. We had two Tunisian holidays next to each other this week, so we had a 4 day weekend. Monday the 13th was the Prophet's birthday and yesterday was the third anniversary of the Tunisian Revolution, marking the day that Ben Ali flew out of the country to exile in Saudi.

A group of us headed to Sousse (about 2 hours south of Tunis) on Saturday morning for the long weekend. Luckily Rebecca drives manual, so we were able to have the freedom of a car! It was a beautiful day, so the drive was very enjoyable (for those of us not driving).

We arrived in Sousse and immediately went to explore the medina. It is more laid back than Tunis and I enjoyed finally seeing another city in Tunis. There were Tunisian flags everywhere in preparation for Tuesday's holiday and it made the souq even more picturesque.

The photo to the left is from outside one of the many museums in the medina.

On Sunday we took a day trip to El Jem, a Roman ampitheater south of Sousse that is from the third century and is a UNESCO world heritage site (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/38).

The outside looks a lot like the Colosseum in Rome, but there are a lot more wandering opportunities inside the amphitheater.

It was nice to go in the off season, because we basically got the whole site to ourselves, except for a large group of kids (who came equipped with drums and recorders for some unknown reason...). We just avoided where they were and it was practically deserted.

They have excivated the tunnels under the arena, so we got to walk around the stables/staging areas. Cool, but a little creepy as well.

We also went to a museum filled with mosaics from a similar period. These were the best preserved mosaics that I have ever seen and there were rooms and rooms of them! The detail was impressive and we were the only ones in the entire museum.

The rest of the pictures are below:

View from the amphitheater

This cat climbed on my lap as I was taking the picture above

Second level

For perspective, take a look at the person in the lower right corner

If you have to deface a national monument, might as well make it classy

One room of the mosaic museum

Flag in front of our hotel

On Sunday night we ate at a place called "the Saloon" in Sousse. It is a themed Western bar and restaurant, including a terrace with what looks like a back drop of Wyoming and cacti statues scattered all over the place. It was very amusing and the food was really good!

On Monday a smaller group of us headed for Monastir, birthplace of Habib Bourguiba and the location of his mausoleum. On the way there, we passed a community project that we had to stop and look at. A large group of people, mostly young women, were painting new trashcans with slogans and pictures. It looked like a beautification project to encourage people to use the bins instead of the sidewalk for trash.

Our first stop in Monastir was Habib Bourguiba's mausoleum (left). It was beautifully done and interesting to see the level of devotion Tunisians still hold for Bourguiba.

The Monastir Ribat (fort)

It was a gorgeous day, so we spent most of the time wandering around the sleepy beach town. It looks like it would be a madhouse in the summer time, but its off season for tourists, so we had all the sites pretty much to ourselves. Sadly the fort was closed for renovations, but we still could walk around it.

Overall it was a really fun trip and I'm glad I finally got to see more of Tunisia! Next stop is hopefully the south before it gets too hot.

 Work is back in full swing though, so all my trips will have to be creatively planning on weekends.

I have spent far too much time on this blog already (there is laundry to be done, dishes to wash, and cooking to be attempted...) so I will end it here.

View from front of the Monastir Ribat

Bourguiba's Mausoleum behind the cemetary