Some things never change

Well as you guessed, I arrived safely in Tunis and a little sleep deprived.

After a shot of espresso, though, it was quite a different story.

….

I left the US having narrowly escaped the swine flu at Georgia Tech.

I was living out of my car for three weeks, sleeping on beds, couches and hardwood floors.

It was time for me to leave. I could feel it even though I didn’t want to.

I flew out of Atlanta in cold, rainy weather and arrived in Newark two hours later, only to find one of my co-travelers, Max, on his way over.

We didn’t plan this, it just happened.

Viola!

Might I mention, he’s one of three in my whole group.

A small, tight-knit group I imagine we will be.

Relieved, we ventured onto Rome only to bump into another SIT student, Geri, appropriately wearing cowboy boots.

We became the three musketeers and flew off across the Mediterranean to Tunis.

Only to arrive with our luggage elsewhere.

Probably still vacationing in Rome.

This moment reminded me of last summer in Peru, landing in a cold, dry place with a little carryon and no luggage.

We got into Tunis smoothly, several hours before we were to meet the academic director in the café.

From there, the fourth and complete member, Alex, found us. She has been in Tunisia for the past month.

She enlightened us on her experience.

We decided that between us, Max is our husband and Alex, Geri and I are his three wives.

I am wife number one, if you were wondering. We met first.

Tunisia is not polygamist though.

Only a man’s fantasy now.

Although Tunisia is 99% Muslim, I would consider this country more liberal than most of the Arab world.

…

We finally met our academic director several hours later.

After espresso, a major awakening.

He found us and walked us to his car.

To A Mercedes Benz.

Alhamdulillah!

Everything was going to be okay.

…

Our academic director, Dr Khelifa, a native Tunisian, went to Yale on Fulbright in English Literature.

This program though, is far from English literature. We will be learning and studying mass media and emerging identities in the Arab world. We are looking at Tunisians and how they are represented throughout the Arab world.

Up until the beginning of November we will be attending lectures, seminars and language classes, which will help us understand the Tunisian culture from before till present day.

For the month after that, well, we are all on our own, traveling to any place to do our final independent study project.

My independent study project is, insha’Allah, about the job market in Tunisia, looking at gender specifically.

Globalization has provided different jobs that conflict with the traditional Arab culture.

An example is that women are now offered the opportunity to waitress at cafes in Tunisia. Traditionally women are not meant to be servers in restaurants.

How has globalization affected who can get a job with what skills?

After being unemployed for the summer, I am sure to enjoy this research on a different level.

…

I really do enjoy what I have seen so far of Tunis.

It is extremely beautiful in the medina and the northern suburbs of Sidi Bu Said, Carthage and La Marsa.

The suburbs directly out of Tunis, though, look like the streets of any developing country.

But I guess suburbs in any city, even in a developed country could look somewhat impoverished.

There is a common theme in suburbs such as this: they were not planned by the government.

People just came in and built places to live with the gradual rise in population.

Then the government noticed this, found it unpreventable and surrendered by giving these areas electricity.

This seems to happen in a lot of cities around the world.

This is no new phenomenon.

…

As for the language…

I am slowly but surely making progress.

Throughout the months I will be taught Arabic and French.

Oh, and Tunsie.

So three languages really.

My mind is about to explode.

Arabic is their national language but I find it interesting that between Tunisians, French is used to describe anything with emotion, politics, fashion, etc.

So what is Arabic used for?

And Tunsie, don’t even get me started with it’s mixture of languages.

Walking on the streets I could talk in Tunsie, Arabic or French but in the home I will speak in French.

On any day, I can speak according to my mood.

I have options, I guess.

I really wish I knew at least a little of one language.

But again this is how one learns the quickest.

By putting themselves out there, out of comfort.

Also, by not putting any expectations as to how fast one can learn the language.

Never think one can become fluent in a language after being in the new place for a month.

For everyone it takes a different amount of time.

Never be hard on yourself as well.

Period.

…

Since our arrival, Dr Khelifa has taken us all around the city to meet with different people who all have something different to tell us.

On Thursday we were given a tour of ancient Carthage to see what this place once looked like as a ship port.

We were introduced to their old houses, bathing areas and cemeteries.

Fascinating.

Unfortunately everything now seems dusty and dry, unlike the hot and humid weather (110 F degrees on average).

On Friday, we visited two NGO’s, one, TAAMS, that is focused on improving the state of the impoverished suburbs. Their program focuses on empowering the locals through education and other such things as micro-loans.

The other NGO is AMIDEAST, which is more internationally known, as it is an organization geared to create positive relations between the US and the Arab world.

Later, we also visited the US embassy to be lectured about the safety in Tunisia.

By five middle-aged, white men.

They were a bit dry.

I would blame it on the jetlag, but they almost put me to sleep.

My dreams in working for the US government’s secret service dwindled after that visit.

I am bound to be a diplomat or a CIA agent no more.

What I did learn through that session was that Tunisia, at whole, is safer than any US city.

Small crime happens but for every cop one sees dressed, there are three who are not wearing their uniform.

Which means it is highly patrolled.

….

As for my host family, I live with the Dhaou family in the area of Carthage.

This place has some history.

I’m sure if you dig down several feet into the ground, an ancient discovery can be made instantly.

The president is my neighbor.

My mom, always well dressed and incredibly intelligent, is a biologist who studies infectious diseases in downtown Tunis.

I have a 13 year-old-sister, Mimi, who is still has summer to celebrate up until the ending of Ramadan at the end of September.

Conveniently, the weather will be cooler by the ending of Ramadan, which makes it easier for the kids to study in.

You can’t blame the school’s ventilation when it’s several hundreds of years old.

These two lovely ladies are who I live with on top of my grandparent’s blue and white house.

My mom and sister both speak a little English, enough English to get me by as we slowly exchange understanding between languages.

I think we will all be a great fit.

Adoption at its best.

…

For now I am here with my host family.

Sitting on my bed before I fall asleep.

I am living in Mimi’s room.

I have not successfully escaped Hannah Montana no matter where I go in the world.

We live right next to the railway, so trains pass by frequently.

Sunday marks the end of orientation.

Jetlag has settled but I do enjoy naps on occasion.

I still have not changed my watch or computer so I always know what time it is back in the US.

I just add five hours and I get the current Tunisian time.

…

Maybe culture shock is still coming, but I feel like this is the best place for me in this stage of my life right now.

We’ll see, insha’Allah.

A crumpled up, soggy piece of paper

Well it’s that time again.

(I know that’s a completely unoriginal way to start a post)

It’s that time where I begin packing up my clothes and other necessary items for the somewhat long journey ahead of me.

Four dresses, two pants, five shirts, flashlight, etc...etc.

I feel like I am going to camp once again.

Where am I going you ask?

Well, read on and you’ll find out.
___
The ending of my spring semester at Agnes Scott left me feeling hopeless, as I had been, once again, rejected from another national scholarship to fund me in study abroad.

The study abroad program (SIT) I was hoping to go through is expensive (what educational program isn’t?) and without one of the national scholarships I had little hope to study through that program.

For three months I believed that, after all the work I put into applying to the program and various scholarships, that it really was for nothing.

It made me feel crummy.

Then I moved into a Christian Fraternity at Georgia Tech.

I know, I know. It speaks for itself.

I had two amazing jobs lined up for me.

Then those two fell through.

“The economy is in a recession.”

That also made me feel crummy.

I lost a lot of confidence in myself as I realized that I am not as financially independent as much as I wish I was. I wanted to be independent and prove that I could take care of myself.

To build myself back up, I attempted to intern/volunteer again at the International Rescue Committee but I felt like I received less attention (more interns) and was given simple tasks.

I was attempting to find jobs for refugees when I, myself lacked one.

So I decided that the more economic thing would be to save gas and come back in the winter.

Meanwhile, I would try to find something to do back at Georgia Tech.

But, there was nothing to do.

There were no jobs that I could find.

I was not taking any classes.

I didn’t know the area or the people on campus.

I was just wandering around, wondering how I could pass the time.

For four months….

And as time carried on, so did I.

My days lacked structure.

I became nocturnal.



And I met many, many people.

But through that time, I feel like I have never personally grown so much.

I had more time to think about how situations were changing me.

And why certain things kept reappearing while other things disappeared.

I was able to reflect and be honest with myself.

I was able to draw and read and do all the things that I complained that I NEVER had time for during the academic year.

But during one of these days when I was frustrated from various things, an amazing thing happened that made me believe that once again, life was willing to pick me up.

I received my financial scholarship from SIT.

It unfortunately wasn’t enough.

So I wrote to SIT explaining that I would be withdrawing from the study-abroad program for financial reasons.

Immediately I received a response from a very friendly man in the office who asked what my financial situation was.

I wrote to him what I could afford and he wrote back offering me much, much more in financial aid.

I was happy.

That’s when I realized that I was meant to study abroad in Tunisia.

It was fate!

So, September 1st I will head off to Tunisia.

“Tanzania?”

“No, Tunisia.”

“New Zealand?”

“It’s below Italy and next to Algeria.”

“Trinidad?”

I think most people think I am heading off to a different continent.

That’s okay though.

They just know I’m somewhere new, learning how to, once again, live outside my comfort zone.

I don’t know Arabic or French, but I’m sure that through the months I will slowly learn them.

Learning languages takes time and dedication and a lot of practice.

After my experience when living with an infant (in my host family) in Ecuador, learning a language comes in stages.

First you learn to listen, then you learn to speak.

Patience and a lot of it.

I don’t know the culture that well either.

It’s a hodgepodge of cultures, an infusion.

It was once an ancient ship route.

It’s the wealthiest country in Africa and the second wealthiest country throughout the Middle East.

I also don’t know anyone there.

But from my experience people are always interested in meeting you and introducing you to their culture.

Once you step off the plane into a foreign city, the streets and building all seem to be foreign and overwhelming.

But what truly makes you attached to a city is the local people you meet.

Once you leave, the only comfort is saying that you will return one day.

Maybe you will, maybe you will not.
___

So here I am again, wondering what this new stage in my life may be.

I have been trying my hardest to live in the moment, so that I will not create some sort of mental image of where I will be going and what events I will encounter.

As we all know, our imaginations are far from reality.

It’ll be a mystery.

Through the four months, I may change a lot.

I may change a little.

I guess we’ll just have to see.

Until then,

Ma' Alsalam

Au revior