TUNISIA December 28, 2011: Americans in Tunisia — Day 8 (No Carpet)

December 28, 2011 – Day Eight

Greetings from Djerba (more specifically from El Erriad) — where I’m sitting in one of the many nooks within the Dar Dhiafa “lobby” where I can get Internet connection — as dusk sets in — hearing the call to prayer beckon in the background.

Dinner last night was at Dar Dhiafa which is where we are staying (and– unknown to us — is in the Erriad neighborhood within one of the two Jewish sections of Djerba.)  Jews were living in Tunisia as far back as Roman times. Apparently the Jewish population of Tunisia was as high as 110,000 in the 1940s. Then beginning in the 50s, about half moved to Israel and half emigrated to France. Now, there are less than 3,000 Jews in all of Tunisia… with about 2,000 in Tunis and the remainder living here in Djerba. There are supposed to be several synagogues here, but the only one listed anywhere is El Griba (which we visited briefly this afternoon). One other point of note, apparently after the Arab Spring, the leader of the moderate Islamist party sent a delegation to meet with the Jews living in Djerba, assuring them that they have nothing to worry about in a democratic Tunisia and he sent gifts to seniors at the Jewish nursing homes.

OK.. so now for the foodies — last night’s dinner in Dar Dhiafa did not disappoint (except for the strange cocktail that I ordered — comprised of Tunisian alcohol (a vodka type of drink) with a lot of fruits blended together.. Sort of like an alcoholic smoothie). Anyway — too rich, too sweet, and too thick for a cocktail. The dining room is small, charming, and elegant.. about 8 tables for 2-4 people at each table.  Once we studied the menu and made our selections, we learned that the side of the menu we had been reviewing (with all the Dar specialties) require one day advance notice, so we ordered from the other side and made a quick decision to eat at the Dar again tonight to be able to order from the other side of the menu (a good decision since roaming around by car when it’s dark is difficult since streets are not labelled very well.) So we had an appetizer of small sizzling shrimps cooked in olive oil with tomatoes and onions and some spices (very good.. ).. and main courses of lamb noisettes grilled with fruit and stuffed with a tiny bit of cheese… and dorade – grilled and de-boned with vegetables. And a bottle of Tunisian red wine. Tunisian wine is quite good, not very strong.

This morning just after breakfast, we headed out for the day.. starting at the Homut Souk (the oldest neighborhood in Djerba, which includes the typical shopping area or “souk”).. It’s about 7km from the area where we are staying, so we drove. As we looked for parking, and were successful, we uncovered another little scam or effort to get tourists to trust someone to show them around and be a guide (Fortunately we did not buy the story.. since we had heard the same thing in Tunis and then we heard it twice more today.)… “I work at your hotel; Oh you don’t recognize me? That’s because I’m wearing a cap, see”… and then the guy knows “great shops” for you to see, carpets to buy (from his brother).. and he can take care of us all day. We politely declined and again professed not to speak English too well, since we are Finns (to which one guy asked if Finns spoke Dutch).

Oh, another interesting incident: we got pulled over by a traffic cop somewhere between the hotel and the Homut Souk area… a bit of racial profiling… Anyway, all he wanted to see was the ownership paper for the car — which we produced (thank goodness it was in the glove compartment).. and then we were on our way. No one else was being pulled over.

Strolled the souk area; stumbled upon a small woman’s collective that weaves and sews and makes table runners and other goods. Very sweet; wish we could have communicated more deeply. And I came close to buying one of those long floor length (would have had it shortened to knee length) lambs wool brown “coats” with black trim at shoulders and edges…  the men all wear .. the ones with the pointy hoods in the back.. kachabiyya (sp?).. I tried it on, and the shop keeper was willing to do the shortening.. But it had two problems.. First I thought it opened with a zipper all the way down… But the zipper only goes a short distance from the neck.. so you need to put it on over your head… Second, they seem to come in only one size, so they are extremely wide… Mike said I looked like I was wearing a potato sack…Anyway, despite the fact that I thought this would be a good souvenir for me, I wound up declining..

After this we set out to see the coast which includes vast marsh areas, and we’re told that thousands of flamingos (we saw a few) migrate to the northern edge of Djerba in wintertime. From what we could discern they migrate to a tip of the island that is reachable only by boat. Mike was somewhat intent on seeing the flamingos, but I convinced him he can see them in Florida. So we drove on.. past an area called the Touristique section (waterfront area at the north east) where extremely large hotels have been built (including one by Radisson). These hotels are like armed compounds. From what we can figure out this coast area and these hotels draw French, German, and British tourists during the months of March through October. There’s also a casino, which I believe requires a foreign (non-Tunisian) passport for entry.

The island of Djerba is totally white stucco with blue trim.. consistent everywhere.. or 99.999% of everywhere. It’s a great image against the blue sky and the billowy white clouds. The topography is flat and low-lying; villages are all a few kilometers apart and each seems to have its own character. We drove to Midoun, walked the town, and had lunch in a tiny little cafe, where they had a terrace — actually it was their roof, which we accessed by climbing a ladder leaning against the wall. Once up on the roof, where there were three tables, the dividing line between the restaurant’s “zone” and the next building was a series of old doors lying horizontally.. not much barrier at the edge of the roof. We had some brochettes.. climbed the ladder down and found our way (miraculously) to the car.

We continued our drive across the island stopping periodically in small towns, and then made our way to Griba, the synagogue (operational)…It’s orthodox and I was forced to don a scarf for my head and Mike to wear a kippa …Two elderly guys were praying, but I have to admit that it seemed a bit posed. From what we’ve read and heard there are two Jewish neighborhoods on the island (obviously both close to the synagogue so that it is walkable on Fridays and Saturdays)… one of those neighborhoods is right where we are staying; the other is about 2 miles to the north. Not certain we’d know what these Tunisian Jews would look like as I’m sure they blend in to the larger Tunisian culture.

Got back to the hotel around 6. It’s now raining pretty hard out there, so I’m glad we avoided that. Hope it clears up by morning. We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow to Tamerza.

Ciao