ahhhhh, tunis.

It has been a great eventful week since I landed in Tunisia nearly one week ago. The voyage was long, with a few hours in Paris (I just had to purchase an 8 euro baguette), and finally landing in Tunis meeting Noor and Mohammad. What a grand surprise it was to step into our hostel! It was like an old palace with mosaic everywhere, tiled walls an floors, intricate artifacts decorating each wall. The main area was a foyer like the foyer of a castle. It was bright and beautiful and nested in the windy roads of the Medina. Despite getting lost over and over, the location was perfect for shopping, chilling, and drinking mint tea with some shisha.

Some interesting things about Tunisia however:

• it is cold to my dismay! gets down to like the 50s and 40s at night, and in the medina there was no heat. and i packed no sweatpants. Hence, my cold and sinus congestion right now. This will be a reminder to me for packing in the future.
• There are stray cats everywhere! and garbage. The streets are littered with it. Every couple of feet, another pile of garbage and another couple of stray cats. I think I see 100 a day. That is not an exaggeration.
• Shawarma! This delicious mysterous meat that comes in sandwiches with some mayo and sauces and the best, FRENCH FRIES in your sandwich! Schquita's Shawarma will be open soon.
• Men vs. Women. Men seem to win. With catcalls, and a sstreet full of men at almost all hours of the day, women are rather soft spoken here compared with Europe and the States. However, progress is being made and many women are branching into the workfield. Men still treat us tourist women like we're so easy though.
  
• TUNISIAN DINAR. 1,298 dinar = 1 dollar. but 1,000 dinar=1 dinar, and ,500 dinar= .5 dinar. In the end we just say three comma fivehundred for a shawarma and a fanta.

The trip so far has been eventful! Every day with Dash, our nonchalant professor, is packed with activities, and a few hours of boring class. Yesterday was a day spent in the Mediterranean Sea-side blue and white town of Sidi Bou Said, which our group has affectionately dubbed "The Bou". The shopping there is great and villas line every street. Yet every day has a few painful hours of lecturing, just a reminder of semesters gone by and previous lectures skipped. A small price to pay though, in this unique city.