Travels in Tunisia… AND BEYOND!!
Sunday, August 24th, 2008[Sorry Facebookers, but Facebook is off-line in Tunisia.]
After a rainy, sun-deprived week in Ireland, I set sail, er, flew to Tunisia for the International Geographical Union meeting held in a suburb of Tunis known as Le Kram (pronounced “le crumb”). Le Kram Exhibition center is a large multi-purpose shell that could easily hold your livestock show as well as an international congress. In fact, a livestock show would have somehow been more fitting.
The President of Tunisia, Mr. Ben Ali, is everywhere. Large photos of him looking thoughtfully on semi-smile at you on the highway, from the shops, and in our exhibition space. The congress is noisy, but not because we’re a loud proffession - the rooms have no ceiling, so all of the noise bounces off the high ceiling and reflects back down. The program is not organized by day but by subject, so thumbing through multiple pages at a time to find where you’re supposed to be is necessary. Some people are listed twice… some not at all. Most names are wrong, and many countries are listed incorrectly. Being an international conference, this is rather important.
A mix of English, French, and Arabic waft through the noisy space. No one has any information that’s remotely helpful - but everyone is polite. I’ve been places like this before. It’s a consequence of extreme hierarchy - no one wants to give any information lest they make a mistake and get fired. Only one person, the person in charge, has any say or power whatsoever.
Despite the conference procedings, or because of them, I meet a group of thoughtful professors and we commiserate together. It’s hot outside — 100 F — but we take a taxi to Sidi Bou Said, a little seaside village for the weathy of Tunis. We eat at an old restaurant, La Pirat, where the food is great. The food generally is, with the exception of downtown Tunis, where imitation fast food places and pizza joints mean questionable meals.
The third day is the most interesting, with a series of political geography talks discussing a wide range of topics. We risk a cab to the medina and eat in an old classic restaurant, Dar El Jeld, an old aristocratic household turned into fine dining. It takes two hours to reach the restaurant, and after the meal, my goal is only to make it back to my seaside hotel and rest. The hotel is expensive and the complaints are many from my fellow guests, but my only complaint is that the air conditioner doesn’t work. At least my room faces the sea (and a den of camels), so I keep the windows open all night and enjoy the breeze.
Friday is a short day, with only a few sessions on international sex exploitation, and then Saturday is the start of a five day trip through the Sahara to Oases, Wadis, towns, and the like with a bus full of geographers. Geographers are a varied lot. On our bus are Slovenes, Russians, Bangladeshis, French, Germans, Americans, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, an Iranian, an Italian, an Austrian and Romanians.
Our guides are Tunisians, two professors and one professional guide, who squabble and can’t seem to agree on the order or procedure. All we really want to know is where we’re going and for how long. It’s frustrating because we’ll stop somewhere in the middle of the hot desert sun for hours without a word on when we’re leaving or even what we’re doing. Personally, I can handle looking at dirt and wadis and what not, but not for hours and not fo days and the frustration builds up and I let them know it. Not my finest moment, but the guides are a lot more thoughtful after that. They let us know how long we’ll be somewhere…. Tunisian time, that is, so double their estimate.
Still, I’ll remember the good things (the old Star Wars set crumbling faithfully in a dry salt lake, the beautiful oases, the warm welcome we recieved from the elders of the town of Kebilli, the wedding we saw in Douz, the camels, the thoughtful cave owner Fatima in Matmata) and likely forget the bad.
The last few days have been enjoyably unproductive as I’ve lounged in Tunis before going to London later today. My best to everyone! Pictures will be up soon.
