July 31, 2011
Wow, it’s been over a month, and I cannot even begin to describe my experiences here. The idea of updating this blog on over six weeks’ worth of events in a program as intensive as this one (seriously….I was averaging 5 hours of sleep a night—less than I’ve ever gotten in my life) is too daunting at this point, so I am just going to plow on ahead from here. I guess that I can summarize the past month by saying that it was “behi barsha” (really great), and that practically every day, my love for Tunisia grew deeper.
Speaking of which….I decided to stay here indefinitely. Why? First of all, because I feel much more comfortable living in Tunisia than I have in any other Arab country that I have explored. I love the ability to walk by myself down the streets, smelling the scent of jasmine, and interacting with members of what so far has been the friendliest and most welcoming society that I have ever visited. On top of that, I am intensely proud of the Tunisians for what they accomplished in the January 14th Revolution, and I jumped at the chance to be here during the first authentic elections to ever be held in Tunisians history-- the elections that will be held at the end of October. And then there’s the added benefit/necessity of keeping up my Arabic skills after the end of the program, especially since I’m not going back to school and therefore don’t have any formal study plans lined up.
The decision to stay actually just occurred to me over night, and rather late on in the program. I had forgotten that I graduated and really have no official obligations to return to the U.S. I asked around in the program about different organizations for which I could work and places that I could live, but everything seemed to fall through until a couple of days before the end of the program. At this point, I was getting pretty nervous because I wasn’t sure if I would be boarding the plane to go home on Sunday or not. At the last minute, one of my favorite Tunisian language partners on the program, Afef, told me that she had an extra room for rent in her apartment in Tunis, the capital, and that I was welcome to live with her for as long as I wanted. I almost exploded when she told me that—the opportunity to stay here for super cheap (rent is only $100 a month to live in a three-bedroom apartment with her in the capital), to live with an awesome Tunisian who very interested in Tunisian politics and who will speak in Arabic with me, to experience my first Ramadan in the Muslim world, and to be here for the upcoming elections (one of the most momentous moments in Tunisian history) was just overwhelming.
So literally the next day, I left classes and exams early to take an emergency trip to Tunis, the capital. I started off in the airport where I was able to explain in (mostly) Arabic that I needed to delay my ticket and did so successfully, only having to pay $100. I then wandered around Tunis for about half an hour, lost, while I was looking for the AMIDEAST building, because the head of the program had suggested that I apply for an internship there. I had been in contact with one of the directors of AMIDEAST, but he hadn’t returned my phone calls, so I just decided to show up at his office and hope for the best (usually the best way to do business in the Middle East). It turned out well, we had a great interview, and he seemed really interested in me. The only issue is that he wants me to commit to working for a longer period than I feel comfortable committing to at this point (first time living by myself, in a foreign country, post-graduation…I have confidence in myself, but there’s the potential that I will get homesick and want to come home), and when I explained this to him, he said that he would get back to me about a potentially shorter-term position. So we will see. I also have an interview for an unpaid internship with the National Democratic Institute. It’s unfortunate that it would be unpaid, but honestly, I think that my cost of living here is going to be low enough that it would be okay, and the work would be insanely interesting, given the currently circumstances. So we’ll see…
Anyway, the last few days have been a whirlwind of finals, oral proficiency exams, and stressssssss from trying to figure this all out last minute. Not to mention the most difficult part—having to say goodbye to the amazing people with whom I have spent the last two months. I really could not possibly have picked out a better group of people with which to experience Tunisia, and as I sit here typing this entry right now, I miss everyone immensely. We tried to spend as much time together as possible after exams ended, spending days at the beach and nights hanging out on the roof of one of the homestays. It was a sad, sad morning today as I watched that bus pull away with everyone heading toward the airport.
Right now, I am sitting in Afef’s apartment in La Krem as she packs up her stuff to get ready to make the move to Tunis, the capital. I went back to my host house after spending the entire night staying up with people and meeting at the school at 5 am to say goodbye to everyone. I had hoped to sleep a little bit afterward, but my host mom (random, but did I ever mention that she is a Bourguiba?!? She worships that man…) woke me up at 11 am, basically telling me that I had 2 hours to leave because she had a lunch date. I was slightly annoyed, to say the least.
Anyway, I hauled all of my stuff over here, and I spent the day with Afef, two other language partners, and one of my teachers from the program, all of whom lived in the same building for the summer. Despite the fact that I was exhausted, it was a really really interesting afternoon. We talked about everything about freedom of religion, the difference between religion/religious values manifested on the outside versus on the inside, their apprehensions about the upcoming elections and the Nahda party, the hijab, and all sorts of other topics. After lunch, I took a nap, and I’ve spent the rest of the day watching the news with Afef, which has also been super interesting and great language practice. I was really impressed by the number of informational commercials explaining the election process and urging Tunisians to vote. It was a positive sign seeing these commercials, especially since I’ve heard that not nearly the amount of Tunisians required to vote have registered, and also because there is no tradition of free and fair elections here, so the average citizen doesn’t know how they work or what their role is. Afef invited me to go with her on the day of elections and I very enthusiastically accepted. I love that girl already.
Ramadan also starts tonight, and I am extremely excited to see how Tunisians celebrate it. I already have been invited to my teacher’s house to break the fast one night, as well as to another one of the language partner’s houses. It will be interesting also to compare how life here in Tunisia changes during this holy month. For one thing, all of the alcohol in stores is gone, and apparently the only way to get any is if you are a foreigner with a foreign passport (meaning not Tunisian and i.e. not assumed to be Muslim), although Afef already stocked up, and we had a beer while watching Al-Arabiya this afternoon. Just reiterating that I love her so much already…
Okay, well I think that’s enough of an update for now. Since the program has ended, I anticipate that I will have more free time, so I will try to update this more often.
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