The Fall

• The First Days: I leave America and arrive in Tunisia, a taste of Avenue Bourguiba, and starting classes.
• Our First Field Trip: Carthage, the American war cemetery, and Sidi Bou Said.
  • Carthage in Words: A write-up of my impressions of the ruins of Carthage.
  • The American War Cemetery in Words: A write-up of my impressions of the American war cemetery in Carthage.
• Our Second Field Trip: The Roman city of Dougga.
  • The Bus Ride to Dougga: Before we could see Dougga, we had to get there.  Our mini-bus was snarled in traffic trying to get out of Tunis and onto the open road.  We encountered lorries full of chickens, camera-shy fellow bus-mates, and even got lost once before arriving at our destination.
  • The Ruins of Dougga: Long a stronghold of commerce, agriculture, and trade in this quadrant of Tunisia, Dougga far pre-dates the Romans.  Evidence of Phoenician and Numidian settlement and occupation abounds.  Rather than the normal flat grid alignment of most Roman settlements, Dougga’s roads twist and curve up and around the hills it is built upon.
  • Dougga in Words: I wrote a short piece for one of my classes about visiting Dougga.
• Our Third Field Trip:
  • The Tunis Aqueduct – Measuring in at 132 kilometers in length, one of the longest aqueducts in the Roman world, the aqueduct that connected Tunis and Carthage to the springs around Zaghouan was commissioned by the emperor Hadrian.  Abandoned for three centuries, it was partially reconstructed in the 19th century only to be abandoned once more.  It now stands as testament to Roman engineering on the road between Zaghouan and Tunis.
  • The Water Temple at Zaghouan – The Nymphaeum at Zaghouan was the primary source of drinking water for Carthage and, later, Tunis.  Much remains of the original structure.  Recently, the spring water has been re-tapped and placed back into the Tunisian national water system both through the water pipes and into bottled water.  The nymphs have long been employed with quenching the thirst of the capital city.
  • A Berber Hilltop Village – The village of Takrouna commands an imposing view over the surrounding countryside.  This place has long been a stronghold of local peoples fighting off invading hordes, and a stronghold of the occasional invading horde being driven out.  In modern times, a World War II battle between New Zealand forces and entrenched German troops led to heavy losses for the kiwis.
  • On the Bus and at Lunch – The long bus ride caused us to do many odd things.  At lunch, we spotted a Disco supply store and a truck piled high with chili peppers.
  • Kairouan – Tunisia’s oldest Arab city and the fourth holiest site in Isalm, as judged by the number of pilgrims who call on the doorsteps of the many Mosques of the old medina.  It now also serves as a large tourist stopover on the route between the coastal tourist cities near Tunis and the sands of the Sahara in the south.
  • Third Field Trip Write-Up:  A writeup of the third field trip.
• Jeff’s Haircut: Jeff becomes the first of us brave enough to go to the barber.
• La Marsa in the Afternoon and Sidi Bou Said at Night: An excursion to the beaches and cafés north of Tunis.
• Our Fourth Fieldtrip:
  • Utica: Once a port town and perhaps the first settlement of Phoenicians on the shores of Tunisia, the ruins of Utica, also sometimes spelled Utique, now lies far inland. The river whose mouth once provided a natural harbor for ships of commerce also brought with it silt. Where once ships docked, now farmers grow grain.
  • Bizerte: Home to various navies over the centuries, from Phoenician to Arab to corsair pirates to Tsarist Russian boats and all the way through the French, Bizerte is a lovely seaside town. The old harbor still beckons small wooden fishing vessels home while a modern canal allows ships of commerce and war to pass into the modern harbor set farther inland.
  • Lac Ichekul: This national park not only encompasses one of the semi-saline lakes of Tunisia but a few mountains as well. Due to commercial photography and videography production outfits coming through, photographing, and leaving without paying the commercial royalty fees, photography has been banned outright for everyone at the park. Therefore, I can produce no pictures of my time in the park. Needless to say, it is a beautiful place.
  • Bizerte and Lac Ichekul in words: Writing on the two places for one of my classes.

• A Nature Hike at Jebel Rassas and Dinner at Hammam Lif: Our group explores the hills south of Tunis and feasts at the house of a professor.
  • Jebel Rassas: On one find Sunday, we went for a hike on Jebel Rassas in the Boukarnine National Park just south of Tunis. Two of the professors that we had interactions with in class supplied us with their children as guides.
  • Hammam Lif: After our hike, we retired to the Halila residence in Hammam Lif where we made merry and ate fine Tunisian cooking.
• Visiting Some of the Institutions of Tunis: CEMAT, AMEN Bank, and CITET.
  • CITET in words: A write-up of the visit to CITET.
  • CEMAT and AMEN Bank in words: A write-up of visiting CEMAT and AMEN Bank.
• Miscellaneous Photos: Things that don’t fit anywhere else.
• The Bardo Museum: We came, we sought, we saw Roman and Phoenician antiquities.
• Dr. Pete Nelson’s Presentation: A professor from OSU presents at the universities in Tunis.
  • Dr. Nelson’s Presentation in Words: A write-up of the presentations.
• Hammamet Weekend: Anne, Heather, Giovanna, and I went on a weekend outing to Hammamet. It was lots of fun and a bit surrealistic going to such a touristy spot after having spent over a month in country living with the locals in Tunis. We experienced the same effect as a kid from a slum in LA going to Disneyland for the first time.
  • Day One: Giovanna and I arrive in Hammamet, experience an interesting taxi ride, find Heather and Anne, and settle into our seaside hotel.
  • Day Two: We wander around the old Hammamet Medina, a tiny little walled village that operates as one huge tourist trap.

• Shopping with Giovanna: We strike out into the heart of the Tunis medina in search of Chechias.
• Halloween: Our group throws a Halloween party with a Tunisian twist.
• Election Night: The US embassy throws a gala ball for the 2004 presidential elections.  The night ends with the rank and file crying in their couscous.
• A Long Weekend: Giovanna, Heather, and I took a trip to the northwest of Tunisia. We had a long weekend on account of the 7th of November holiday celebrating both Tunisia’s independence and the November 7, 1987 change of power from President Bourgiuba to the current (as of when this was written) President Ben Ali. This was an extra special 7th of November as elections for president were to be held a few weeks later.  We spent a total of three days and two nights away from Tunis. Our itinerary included Tabarka, Ain Draham, Bulla Regia, and Le Kef. We did it all by louage, the ubiquitous form of shared long-distance transport in Tunisia. The drivers are crazy but the fare is cheap, you’re assured of a seat and its the fastest way to travel.
  • Tabarka – We review the seaside fort and find some interesting people.
  • Ain Draham – The bombing boars and a carpet shop await.
    
  • Bulla Regia – Underground living never looked so good until the Romans did it.
    
  • Le Kef – A maelstrom of men in black descends on us at night.
    

• The South Trip: Our group goes on an extended trip to southern Tunisia.  We visit the isle of Djerba, meet some lotus eaters, feast on a whole goat at Karim’s oasis, find the home of Luke Skywalker’s aunt and uncle in Matmata, visit Tataouine, climb the ruins of Chebika, ride camels in Douz, explore the oasis of Touzeur, find a mountain retreat, meet Lucas’s old friends in Sbeitla, and explore all points in between.  I missed out on El Jem and Gabes the first time around as I was on a plane back from the USA where i went to a robotics competition in Los Angeles. I was in the USA for about 60 hours total. I did, however, get to both Gabes and El Jem later on during my stay in Tunisia.
  • The Isle of Djerba – We explore the Land of the Lotus Eaters, visit one of the oldest Jewish Synagogue sites in the world, find an underground pottery factory, and watch a camel on its day off.
  • Tataouine – The town and Governorate of Tataouine is the namesake for the Star Wars planet of Tatooine, home to Luke and Anakin Skywalker. By Tunisian standards, it’s a pretty new place with a bit of a frontier feeling. We steered clear of the town and headed out toward the only decent hotel in the area for a quick rest stop.
  • Chenini – A picturesque Berber village set high in the mountains, Chenini was made all the more gorgeous on our visit from the flaming sunset that engulfed the hills.
  • Matmata – The home of the Troglodytes, so many Star Wars memories, and several underground hotels served as our stopping point for the night. Sleeping in caverns is surprisingly more warm than one would initially expect and waking up in Luke Skywalker’s boyhood home is a truly unique experience.
  • Tamezret – Only a garish roadside restaurant and the whitewashed mosque give away the position of this Berber village. It was one of the last places in Tunisia to come under the subjugation of the French.
  • Gabes – We visit the old stomping grounds of Karim. His family’s patch of oasis in the nearby village of Chenini (not to be confused with the more southerly ksar of the same name) provides fruit, vegetables, and an entire lamb for a feast of magnificent proportions.
  • Kebilli – On the roads between Douz, Gabes, and Tozeur, the oasis and town of Kebilli provides for a good stopping point to get out and stretch. We stopped at a local carpet cooperative in one of the satellite towns near Kebilli to do a little shopping and see how wool is processed into yarn in Tunisia.
  • Douz – One of the many claimed “gateways to the Sahara” in Tunisia, Douz is home to a large camel fleet available for rental by intrepid tourists.
  • Chott Jerid – The former Sea of Triton now stands as the guardian to the south of Tunisia.  We crossed the emptiness of the chott under the cover of night on a voyage to Tozeur.
  • Tozeur – One of Tunisia’s prettiest desert oases. We took a horse-drawn carriage ride through the palmeraie, watched men pick dates from a date palm, and saw the mausoleum of Tunisia’s greatest poet.
  • To Chebika – Between Tozeur and Chebika we had to cross yet another chott. There were some interesting sites along the way.
  • Chebika – Chebika is the first of a series of mountain oases near the border with Algeria. Chebika used to be one of the most isolated places in all of Tunisia until a road was built there in the last ten or twenty years.
  • To Tamerza – From Chebika we took the only road up into the mountains toward Tamerza.
  • Tamerza – Tamerza is nestled in the mountains of southwest Tunisia. We stopped off near sunset to see the waterfall in the middle of the oasis.
  • To Sbeitla – We drove into the night to reach our hotel at the outskirts of the ruins of the Roman city of Sbeitla. Along the way we happened to skirt the border with Algeria.
  • Sbeitla – An old Roman town with one of the best preserved forum complexes in the world.  We wandered around the city for several hours taking in the sights.
  • Kairouan – We first visited Kairouan back before Ramadan. We didn’t have enough time during our last visit to check out the grand mosque. As we happened to be driving through, we decided to stop and take a peak.
  • Journal from the South: A journal of my adventures in the south of Tunisia.
• Home Visit: The program comes calling.  Lucas and I are visited at our apartment.
• Sousse: We take a small trip to Sousse.
• Thanksgiving: It might be nearly impossible to find cranberries in Tunisia, but we try anyway.
• El Jem: Giovanna and I sneak away to visit the Roman Colosseum of El Jem.
• Woman’s Resource Center: Our group visits a resource center for women.
• Amid East: We visit the American English language school in Tunis.
• University Meeting: When the heads of the university come out to play, it can only mean sugary-sweet fruit juice for everyone.
• Arabic Class: The main academic subject we are trying to study.
• Final Dinner: Wherein we learn that everyone graduates from the program.
• The Disco: After the dinner, some of us head to the disco in La Marsa.
• Final Party: A small party is held at the Hamdy offices in Tunis.
• A Tunisian Wedding: Giovanna’s host parents’ son gets hitched.
• Candid Shots: On the Metro and around town.
• Other Photos: Things that don’t fit anywhere else.
• Miscellaneous Writings
  • Behind Closed Doors: A book review.
  • Eberhardt, the Word Whore: A review of Eberhardt’s writings.
  • Family Structure and Interactions: My observations on the structure of Tunisian families.
  • Dreams of Trespass Essay #1: An essay on the first half of Dreams of Trespass.
  • Dreams of Trespass Essay #2: An essay on other parts of Dreams of Trespass.
  • Waiting for Death: A response to a short story of a Moroccan woman.
  • Bitter Academic: A response to Lazreg’s essays on feminism.
  • Water Resources: A write-up describing a guest lecture on Tunisian water resources.
  • Hammamet: Something I wrote about visiting Hammamet but that is not currently available.
  • Oasis Water Systems: A discussion on the water systems keeping the oases of Tunisia alive.
  • Desert Agriculture: A review of agricultural practices in the Tunisian deserts.
  • Sand Encroachment: Ruminations on the ever encroaching sand of the desert.
  • The Chotts: Some thoughts on the great salt pans of Tunisia.
  • The Tunisian Phosphate Industry: A term paper on the state of the Tunisian phosphate industry.
  • First Letter Home: After a month in Tunisia I finally write a letter home.

And with that, the Oregon State study abroad program ended.  The professors and students went back to America leaving me alone in Tunis.