A night of Parties

Once a student, always a student! Right? Seems like it to me. This morning I did my finals for the 8th course in the masters program I have been working on for the last 2 years. 16 more credit hours to go Yippee!……… So after a stressful 2 months I really needed to release some of the steam I had accumulated from working fulltime and trying to get this course, which was more difficult that I had anticipated, done! Lucky for me, a couple of parties had been scheduled for tonight. A Brazilian Party organized by the HASH and a farewell party organized by the African Development Bank community for our good friend Tseli who is leaving for Mozambique. Exactly what I needed. We all had a fantastic night…and Suzie before you send me an e-mail pointing to the fact that I did it again and you know exactly what I am talking about…. Yes it has happened again…what can I say I just never learn. We did however notice your were missing from all the action last night!

Furaha, Romelle, Mose, Tseli and Me!

Dancing to African Music

Dancing to Brazilian music

Jim, Ellen, Christine & Lisa

Christine, Lisa & me

Wine & Cheese at Christine Kucera's

This was Jeff & Tamara's last wine & Cheese night. They leave in three days

Jeff, Tamara & me

Me, Tamara & Christine

In Memory of Simba

Alan helped us with our dog Simba. We got Simba as a puppy in Ouagadougou about 3 years ago, and unfortunately he grew up to be unacceptably aggressive. We kept pretty close control over him, but he has still managed to bite several people (not badly – but enough to draw blood) including Jim's Dad when he visited us, and one of our maids. So while Alan, who is a veterinarian, was here, we......, um, we ahh..... gave him to the police. Yeah, that’s it, ......to the police. To, um, be a police dog. Yeah, that’s the ticket. So Simba is a police dog now and doesn’t live with us anymore. OK? A police dog!

Aunt Anna's last day

Front row: Me, Zaria, Wadi & Anna
Back row: Jim and Allan

Anna helping the kids with their reading

Alan, Anna & Jim

Dougga

Today they drove on to Dougga, another old Roman town. We had visited Dougga once before, but it was on a cold, windy day in December, and we hadn’t seen much. This time, they hired a guide and really got a good look at the town. The Roman Ruins of Dougga had been buried over the years, and until the 1950s, a small Tunisian village had been built on the site. Their guide was 70 years old, and had actually been born in this village, and lived there until his 30s, when the government relocated the village to begin excavations on the site. Dougga is located on top of a tall hill, and the new village is at its base. Before Dougga was excavated, it had been almost entirely buried, with only the roof of the capital protruding from the ground. Now, a largish city is exposed after excavating only about a third of the site.

El Kef

After Bulla Regia, they drove on to El Kef, an inland town near the Algerian border. El Kef doesn’t get a lot of tourism, and they had a little trouble finding their way there as all the signs were in Arabic. The hotel there was also a bit on the Spartan side, but perfectly serviceable. In Kef, they walked around the town, visiting the castle on the top of the hill, and other sights.

Bulla Regia

Today they drove to El Kef by way of Bulla Regia. The road from Tabarka to Bulla Regia was the most scenic country in Tunisia according to Jim. It climbs up a beautiful valley overlooking the Mediterranean through cork forests, and is quite spectacular.
Bulla Regia is one of the best-preserved archaeological sights in Tunisia, and has examples of some unique Roman architecture. The town was originally founded by a Berber tribe called the Numidians. It was a “royal” town under the Numidians, which is why the Romans gave it “regia” title. During the Roman era, it was an important Roman town, and latter was occupied by the Byzants. One distinguishing characteristic of the town was its’ underground houses, which were apparently designed for avoiding the heat during the summer. The underground portions of the houses are very well preserved. Most Roman ruins you see in other places are just a foundation, or a couple feet of wall, but these ruins are full size and roofed over, so they really give a sense of scale. Bulla Regia also has quite a few mosaics still remaining in situ, which is unusual – most mosaics are sent off to museums for preservation.

Trip to Tabarka

Jim's sister Anna, and her husband Alan came to visit us in Tunis after spending about 3 weeks touring Italy. They were only here for a week. Jim drove them to Tabarka, the North Easterly most town in Tunisia. Tabarka is on the Mediterranean Sea coast just a couple kilometers from the Algerian Border. The area is known for it’s scenic beauty, its cork oak forests and the coral found in the sea nearby. Unfortunately their visit was “off season”, so the hotel they stayed at, while fairly nice, wasn’t operating fully yet, so there were no activities. They were only staying one night, though, so that worked out OK!
They walked along the beach to town, and crossed a causeway to a castle situated on a small island offshore. Apparently the castle was built by a Genoese family who aquired the island during the Ottoman (Turkish) occupation of Tunisia. One of their principle sources of income was said to be a commission earned from brokering the ransom of Christian slaves captured at sea or shipwrecked in the area. In the end, they apparently needed to be ransomed when the Turk’s eventually over-ran the castle and captured them. The castle was quite scenic, but they didn’t get inside for a tour.

Brunch in honor of the Tappers

The 'beauty' of the foreign service. People come and people go. Tamara and Jeffrey Tapper will be leaving Tunisia for North Carolina. Since she and I have become close this past few months, Jim agreed for us to have a farewell brunch in their honor and as usual he had a fantastic spread for us all to enjoy!

Tamara, me and Jeff

Me and Soufian. I still have to bribe him in this case with a muffin for him to let me take him from his mom.

Christine K, her mom, Christine M, Tamara, me, and Aicha

Enjoying Jim's spread

Jeff, Tamara, Christine K's dad and mom, Christine

Kids Pictures courtesy of the Paparazzi

So who says the ‘paparazzi’ only target celebrities? It seems like everywhere we go they seem to be waiting to take pictures of the kids. The last time we went to Aldiana resort, they took lots of picture of the kids, which we ended up buying coz they looked just too cute! Today, Wadi’s class went on a school trip to the Friguia Park and again ‘paparazzi’ was there taking pictures. This is the first time he has gone for a field trip without me. Normally I volunteer to chaperone mostly because I am just paranoid by nature and like being there at every moment if they are in an environment in which I am not sure is safe. We gave him some money to buy a drink but when he saw this picture of him taken by the ‘paparazzi’ he thought of me he says and selflessly gave up his drink to get the picture for me. I got home and he goes “mom I got you a present. Something you will love. A picture of me”. Then he gives me this picture of him looking all mature, obviously observing something with his backpack on his back and a clip board and pen on hand. Oh! I just melted! My baby is growing up too fast!

Wadi at the Frigua Park

Zaria at the Aldiana Resort (she lost both her front teeth)