TUNISIA December 22, 2011: Americans in Tunis — Day 2 (Still no carpet)

As-salam alaykum (Greetings! …. I think)

Woke up to the morning call to prayer (6 am)… hard to miss it as it streams from all the mosques (and there are many, especially in the Medina where we are staying)… Now, for those of you into land use planning, I’m questioning if there has been an EIR to assess noise pollution in the Medina??  Actually the call to prayer happens five times each day.

First time I heard it was in Istanbul about 20 years ago.. but it is always a bit jarring when you’ve not heard it for a while. You hear it at dawn, midday, middle of the afternoon, just after sunset, and at nightfall (about two hours after sunset). Historically, The person (man) appointed to call the followers to prayer climbed the minaret of the mosque and called in all directions”Hasten to prayer”… But nowadays a loud speaker carries the message in most cities.

Breakfast at the Dar el Medina is a bit eclectic, but carried us through most of the day… and at this moment, we are beginning to think about dinner.

We heard the first American English being spoken — today – by a guy traveling solo and staying at our hotel.. chatting with another solo guest (a Brit) at breakfast.. talking about their travels to Syria, Iran, and other destinations far too tricky even for us. Haven’t spoken with them, but naturally we think they are either academics or CIA agents.

Anyway, we didn’t hear any more English (and certainly not American English) the rest of the day.

One thing I forgot to mention about dinner last night.. they had a guy playing a Tunisian string instrument… I think it was an oud… but could be something else…. Anyway, he played Tunisian and other Arab songs the whole night.. but then as we were just one of two tables still eating… he played “America the Beautiful” (which we assume was for us, since he could hear us speaking American English… and his decision was obviously not by our request).. Just think he thought of it himself and thought it would be nice (I also think maybe this is the only song he knows that is American. Only one other couple remaining at the place. And they didn’t seem to notice.)

OK — back to today. We’ve been walking the Medina which is like finding a needle in a haystack..But glorious when you can experience it first hand.

We walked up and down the winding alleys (much like the Medina in Fez and others throughout Morocco) checking out all sorts of goods… Periodically we stopped for tea (always mint tea) .. or checked out a mosque or a madrasa (Islamic school).. Didn’t really buy anything.. but everyone had many great deals for me… which they offered in French first, then Italian, then Spanish, then whatever other language that they can say “Madam, I have something for you…”

Actually they make little wooden painted puppets here in Tunisia– they are quite cute… I think they are theatrical characters from Tunisian plays… but no big antique or anything; just handmade. I stopped at one shop and asked what price I could get if I bought three of them); He haggled a while and finally said 300 dinar (about $200).. I had seen a lot of these in other shops and they were going for about 45 dinar (or 26 dollars)… All are very similar. So I said it was “tres cher” and walked away.. The guy came running after me asking what I would pay…then he said he’d charge 100 dinar.. then 50 dinar.. and finally 30 dinar!… so a reduction of 90% in about 4 minutes! I didn’t buy them from him… Bought them a few stalls away for 30 dinar.. less haggling..That second guy said that if we were Americans he would not reduce the price. I had been using Spanish… Hate to use English in these parts..So for these little episodes I can do it in Spanish… (mostly because Tunisian Spanish is about my level.. since everyone really speaks French, not Spanish)..

OK.. a few more little tidbits.. As we walked around, we stumbled on a little green park area..surrounded by government buildings including the Department of Finance. Well it seems as if (from what we can discern) this little park was a bit of a campsite for an Occupy-type protest…so now this little park — all 30,000 sq ft of it!! — is completely surrounded by triple layers of razor wire… and there is a tank inside the “park” and armed police sitting there. Guess that once the government decides they don’t want anyone in the park.. they make sure it is an impossibility.

Tunisians like desserts and they like them sweeeeet… They sell all these sweet things on the street.. sticky sweet.. and people buy them like crazy.. They are so sticky I can’t see how you can even pick them up. And when you get your mint tea — which is served everywhere (and you never have to ask for mint tea… it sort of arrives).. it’s already loaded with sugar… After every meal, they push desserts that are huge and sweet. Thus far we are ignoring them… Actually, not very appealing.

We walked down some narrow streets — away from the center and stumbled on an area where there are craftsman of all sorts… in little spaces behind other buildings. I managed to squeeze in and smile a lot and got to photograph them at work… OSHA would not be happy. The guy who cuts wood all day with a rather old electric saw sits with a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth.. stopping work just long enough to light the next one.. sawdust everywhere. No eye guards.. no protective nuthin! Seemed content and happy to work. Guys loading trucks are often barefoot; construction gear is unheard of. Need I say more. (Ellen Widess: I can see a whole new career unfolding for you).

Along the way, some guys stopped me and said that I should visit this building they were standing in front of… it’s the mausoleum of government leaders from the era when Turkey ruled Tunisia. Too embarrassed to say “no” we ventured into these chambers within chambers of marble boxes… all inside tiled wall rooms. Interesting, but could have passed it up easily. In any case, we made the guard happy — probably the only visitor all day or maybe all month.

Dinner was fair.. at a converted palatial home in the Medina (they have lots of these palatial homes turned into other uses (mostly hotels and restaurants; some shops). Nothing like last night. So now we are, immediately, making a reservation to return to last night’s fantastic restaurant.. again.. on Saturday – our last night in Tunis.

Tisbah ala-kheir (Good Bye or maybe Good night)

More tomorrow

Fern