La Tunisie

Not knowing the date or time, I arrived in Tunisia yesterday, (or maybe it was two days ago...I really can't distinguish between them), and have been in awe. The scenery and excitement have managed to fight the jet lag for me, and I have been loving every second of my time here so far. In the past day (or two) we have been so busy, and have had so many great experiences already! In this post, I will just provide a little update of the trip and will describe my experience of the country so far. 

Fresh off the plane - fresh being used very loosely in this circumstance - I was greeted by my host sister Zeineb. She is a high school student and is probably smarter than most American college students as she speaks Arabic, Tunisian Arabic (yes they are quite different), French, English, Spanish and more! She and her family were extremely hospitable and cooked me a traditional Tunisian couscous and brique (sp?) meal, followed by Tunisian tea. After this delicious meal, Zeineb and I went to Sidi Bou Said, which is a beautiful cafe that overlooks the Mediterranean sea, and met up with some of the other students to get to know each other better.  I know, what a tough trip. This is where the picture-taking began, and being proud of some of them, I think I will use them to help tell my experience so far. 

To begin, here is the view from the cafe. Oh, and, close your mouth; you're catching flies.

And here is a picture of my hair :)

Clearly, some of us were very tired...zzzzz...zzzz...

But, I managed to stay awake because Zeineb is an absolute joy to talk to.

Catherine, this one is for you! It captures perfectly the culture of Tunisia: French coffee culture mixed with Mediterranean/coastal living. Take the smell of coffee and mint tea, add a touch of sunlight and 70 degree weather, multiply the effect with the value of the beach front property, and note the gasp of a view and you have the formula for a perfect afternoon in Tunis. 

With a beautiful country and the recent triumph of a peaceful, ground-breaking revolution, it is no wonder the Tunisians are proud. This is not a rare sight in Tunis: 

Tunisians are also great dancers! As kind as they are, they frequently take pity on sad cases - such as the girl on the right in this picture - and offer free dance lessons at parties they throw for their American friends. 

After a long day of debating, our Tunisian friends took us a to a karaoke cafe. They usually know more of the words of our American songs than we do, but for this song "la la la's" sufficed!

After the first day, the goal of USA Youth Debates has already materialized. As Director John Tredway said, "friendship triumphed."

More debates tomorrow! If they are going to be anything like today's then I think I need to get some rest! :)