On March 5th about 70 of the JFRC students went to Tunisia from Rome via plane (not boat, contrary to what my parents may have told you). As soon as we got into Tunis, Tunisia we drove over to the American embassy to listen to the U.S. ambassador lecture about the politics in Tunisia and the United States' relations with the nation. Being the political science nerd that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Did you know that the U.S. ambassador and other scholars we spoke to (from Tunisia) say that Tunisia is part of the Middle East? Last time I checked Tunisia was in North Africa. It turns out that there is no clear definition for what the Middle East is. Since Tunisia is a Muslim country and its population consists of people with generally lighter skin than most Africans, they are considered to be culturally Middle Eastern. Of course, when we asked the Tunisian students we lunched with the next day, they said that Tunisia was not the Middle East, it's North Africa...duh.
Our first night in Tunisia, they took us out to a 300-year-old shisha (hookah) cafe in the Tunis suburb of Hammamet. We smoked on the traditional mats with the most gorgeous view of the Mediterranean Sea. The evening could not be complete without our tour bus bumping into a few cars on the way to our fabulous hotel. The next day we ate with the Tunisian English students and then forced them to babysit us in the Medina (downtown/market). I have never been so intimidated in my life! There were so many shops, each selling the exact same things, but each shop keeper came up with his own original compliments. It was in Hammamet that my friend Katherine was called "Snow White" and Matt was called "George Bush" (they seemed to think that was a compliment...we were confused to say the least). Even though I was terrified I was going to get robbed and I just couldn't bring myself to haggle, I had a great time. I fell in love with all the colors right away, and I'm a sucker for the smell of leather - camel leather, very good. It really helped that the Tunisian student I was following made sure not to let anything happen to us.
On the 7th, we made our way south, stopping at the famous Bardo museum to see a fraction of the world's largest Roman floor mosaics. The mosaics were impressive, but I really loved the hand-carved ceilings and the hand-painted tiles. I know how I'll be decorating my house! We had lunch on the water at Carthage and then visited the Sanctuary of the Tophet (the sacrificial site of the Carthaginian Empire), Byrsa Hill (the spiritual center of the Carthaginian Empire), and the only American military cemetery in Africa. Unfortunately, it rained a lot this day so we were all pretty cold, but it didn't dampen our spirits too much. Who knew that it rains in Africa?
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