Tunisia

Hello all!

I already wrote about many different special and unique places in Europe (Graz, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca, Helsinki, Vienna, Berlin) and the United States (New York, Rochester, the city of Niagara Falls). There’s only one day left of this Erasmusu competition, and I would like to say a couple of words about an absolutely different place than all the previously listed ones. A special destination in North Africa. The country of the ancient ruins of Karthago, Tunisia.

Some years ago I traveled to Tunisia with my family. It was the first flight for me and my brother and my father as well. We traveled first to Bucarest, and from there further on. Flying was an extreme experience. Amazingly good in one hand, but also quite terrifying, because our pilot tried to take off 3 times consecutively without success. So, imagine that we accelerated, and almost left the air highway behind us, but NO, the wheels of the plane couldn’t leave the ground, and we couldn’t get in the air. It was quite frightening, because none of the passangers knew what was going on. Whether is it a mechanical problem or just the pilot wants to do a warm-up before departing.

Finally we departed and arrived in Tunisia after a 3 hours flight. We attended an organized one-week trip with other Romanian tourists. Sousse city was supposed to be our host city for a week.

Source: this pic was taken in the city of Sidi-bou-Said, a very beautiful tourist attraction. A picturesque beauty.

But back to the journey, I can remember that from the air, from above, the whole African continent looked completely different than Europe. The mainland was a mass of yellow-orange fields and plain territories without any green environments like forests or trees, only some bushes could be seen. The buildings and the city-image from above also seemed a bit different from what I am used to. Every building was having the same colours, mostly the colour of sand, a grey-beige-white mixture. Most of the buildings were made of stone and light-coloured bricks. I remember seeing palm trees from the plane, and the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea and the beach. I couldn’t compare Tunisia with any other place I’ve visited in my life. The entire week I felt uncomfortable, I felt like a stranger and I couldn't integrate in Tunisian culture. But this thing didn’t bother me because I haven’t gone there for my entire life, only for holiday.

Some basic info about Tunisia in general: the main colours used in architecture are light-blue and yellow. There are many mosques and bazaars. The temperature is higher than 30 Celsius degrees, but humidity is not so high, thus the heat can be bearable. I won’t say it was pleasant, because hot weather can’t be enjoyable, but still it was more convenient, than for example the high humidity-rate at Rochester. Tunisia is warm, but dry. I faced an interesting fact in Tunisia. People usually drink hot coffees and teas several times a day. The hot beverages make them feel better and endure heat easier.

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In general a Tunisian street image looks like the following. First, bazaars. Arabic people in lightly-coloured linen clothes doing their daily tasks: mostly working in the field of trading and tourism. They often combine these fields, and just simply address themselves to tourists, and try to sell something to them. Tunisians speak a bit of almost every language. They are used to tourists, and try to salute them on their own language. Saying ‘Hello, how are you? ’ in Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Serbian, French is a piece of a cake for the merchandisers. People are direct, loud and persuasive. They don’t like to be rejected. They love bargaining and dealing. First, they ask a higher price for their wares, but if you pass by and don’t pay attention to their offer, they sink a bit from the initial price. I’m not a lover of Tunisian bazaars, I hadn’t buy anything except souvenirs. There are tons of objects made of camel leather, wood and sand. Tools, cutlery, vessels, even furniture and decoration objects. Traditional clothes and shoes and accesories of cotton, bones, leather, linen. Tunisian candies are way too sweet for my taste. They usually contain sugar with nuts, honey, dates and sweet syrups. They make desserts of puff pastry as well. Normally, traditional Tunisian cuisine uses mostly spices like saffron, paprika, caraway, anise and cinammon. Dishes consist of chickpeas, cous-cous, rice and stew. Consequently, I didn’t thrill at the bazaar, and didn't buy a lot of things from there. Neither did my family. Merchandisers were probably angry at us, but didn’t show this, on the surface they all show respectfulness and kindness.

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Another image of the streets: there are cobblestones on the street or just simply stones, sand or pure ground. Asphalt can be very rare seen. Cars typically emite quite much fume, and definitely not the latest German car brands dominate the streets. As I already mentioned above, streets quite look the same, architecture is simple. White and blue colours vary, and buildings are made of stone (I guess because of warm weather). There are no green areas, like parks, only rarely trees can be seen. Nevertheless, those few trees which can be seen are very special. During summer many trees are blossoming, and they have many different colours. Thus, the uniform white-blue city image is a bit confusing due to the pink, orange, white, yellow, purple coloured blossoming trees. Sadly there are less containers for waste than should be, so human waste and junk can be often seen on the pavement. Oops, and I almost forgot! The flies. Probably due to the rubbish on the streets, walking on the alleys means fighting with the flies. There are many flies at public places.

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Third aspect: the seaside and the beach. Well, definitely these two factors are Tunisia’s strong points. And of course the all inclusive hotels. Both the Mediterranean Sea and the beach are very clean. The sand is so soft, the shells are like pieces of arts, palm trees are shadowing, and everything it’s perfect on the beach. The temperature of the sea is a bit warmer than expected, and it’s not as refreshing as the cold water of the hotel pools. However, Tunisia is a water paradise. The only weird thing is when Muslims get into the water fully dressed-up, but that’s their culture, and we have to respect it. It’s just unfamiliar for European eyes.

Tunisia was a French colony, thus people don’t speak English, but French. Be aware of this if you come for a visit!

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Tunisia is strange. The whole culture, the music played at the bazaars. The smell of food, the contrast of the blossoming trees and the rubbish on the street. The smells are different, the spices as well. Tunisia is a great place for young couples who are open to new cultures and like to try new things out. But for someone who wants to remain close to European roots I would recommend European seacoasts: Italy, Greece, Croatia, France.

Well, if you still choose Tunisia, don’t forget to visit the ruins of Karthago, the ancient city. Another thing I would recommend you and I already experienced it is riding a camel. There are many organized trips with caravans. Riding a camel is not so simple, like horse-riding, but camels in general are peaceful and used to tourists. Just the risk of falling off their back is a bit higher than among horses or donkeys.

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For more information about Tunisia and for more attractions, you can visit other blogs on the internet, I just wanted to give a short description about it.

Thanks for reading. Dora.