It's like a sleepover at the UN!

I am very frustrated with Tunisia right now. Well with Tunis, mostly. The rural areas were a bit better though still not nearly as engaging as Egypt. I really hate to write off a whole nation based on the actions of a few individuals (and ultimately I won't) but I am having a very rough time with the self-centered, lying, and utterly annoying actions of the "Let's be friends for money" crowd.

But I hate to start a post with only complaints so let me take a moment to describe a good experience. I left my hotel this morning and, per usual, took a new and random direction out the door. Once a certain distance from my hotel I elected to follow my nose (the seasoned explorer's best tool) and it led me to find a frenetic and cacophanous fish market. A pervasive fish odor that clings to you - on your clothing sure, but also in your nose and maybe in your brain. A constant barage of arabic - the enthusiasm is addictive regardless of my incomprehension of the language. People are feeling the fish and examining the goods for any defect, there are scales flying, knives being sharpened and then flash! a fillet is made. Chop! chop! and there are thick steaks lying on the board. About fifty stands selling mainly the usual fare: saba, squid, tuna, rockfish, roughy, something resembling perch. But also swordfish and these little conch shell mollusks. Are shellfish halal? I'd assumed they weren't because they aren't kosher. Actually, are squid kosher?

I don't know but i do know squid are delicious! At this moment i wanted a kitchen so badly. But alas i only plan to be in Tunis another day so any investment in a portable kitchen seems silly; thus i move on.

The next room is more useful to me: cheese! And sausage. I taste some crumbly, herbed slice and indicate 'about two dinar sîl vous plait'. I recieve my juicy, baseball-sized hunk and walk away salivating.

Room three is a rainbow of color. Bright oranges, apples, pears, dilectable dates, strawberries dripping crimson, pale green lettuce, squash the color of an autumn sunset.

And finally bread. I gather a round loaf of maybe olive and garlic and a flat loaf resembling polenta. And walk out smiling into the day with my treasures in hand.

So back to my frustration: here in the city, i have had the following conversation about five times a day:
I am walking along observing the cafe culture and someone appears beside me. I am usually hyper-aware of people matching my pace so I must give credit where due, these guys are good! It is an almost magical appearance.
They start the interaction thus, "[something unintelligible in French]"
I respond in one of three ways: "eh?", "Pardon, je parle frances tres mal." or "non". It really doesn't matter what I say, today I tried responding with silence and once with "nyet" and once with "oh not another one". But I am just a canvas for their art and my response is truly unimportant.
"Oh, You speak english? I SPEAK ENGLISH TOO!!"
"Oh...wonderful, how do you do"
"Is it your first time in Tunisia?"
"Yes it is, it's a beautiful country"
"Welcome, we are glad to have you here, what's your name?"
"I'm Joshua. And you are?"
[gives name] Hands shake. "what hotel are you at?"
Lately I'm answering with cheaper and cheaper dives to give the impression that I am really unable to afford even a light in my room let alone a toilet.
This banter continues as long as my patience. Sometimes they offer to help me find something, Sometimes "have you seen the medina", "have you had tunisien beer yet" "oh you were in Douz!! Camels and the desert", "You haven't been to Carthage yet? Oh you must go"
The first three times I really thought wow, the Tunisians really are gregarious. They seem to like meeting people and talking and I'm glad to get to know anyone here.
Occasionally it will turn to "Here come have a coffee with me?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I am just on my way to run an errand, I can't, but it's been lovely to talk to you"
"Oh, ... say can you help me out with some money for my [car, sandwich, sending a letter to my girlfriend in America who lives in whatever town you are from] "
Ummmmmmmmmmm, no.
I swear that in a fifteen minute walk up and down Ave Habib Burguiba, I had no fewer than five people come up with the exact same smile and story and can I have some money since I talked to you. It is so frustrating.

Why do I still play into it? Optimism, friendliness, the desire for company.

I am not walking around like a rich, self-posessed, holier than thou, step out of my way peasant, sort of attitude, either. I am dressed poorer than the people accosting me. Yes, by comparison to some I am likely very wealthy (as are all of you reading this - check here) and I am obviously able to take six months off work and fly around the world and fly around the continent and stay in hotels and everything else. Yes, I understand that this sort of mentality in the locals is caused by the tourists. It is caused by the existance of so many "I'm on vacation so you should serve me and fulfill my every command" tourists. It is caused by positive reinforcement of gratuitous amounts of money being available from wealthy tourists both flaunting and using their money for subservience; but I am so utterly sick of it. I have not met one person in Tunisia who is honestly, sincerely wanting to just talk for a bit without some alterior motive. Ok except for one cab driver who was extremely helpful, making sure I understood where the ticket office was and oh, the fare for the 2km was just a small bit so whatever you'd like to pay is fine.

I am ready to move on. It is with some melancholy that I leave the country without a single good acquaintance, but I am resigned to that inevitability.

Today i fly to Doha, Qatar, have a twelve hour layover and then to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Anyone have any good places to kill a few hours in Doha? It'll be the middle of the night so i may not leave the airport but who knows; it would be fun to add Qatar to my "layover countries": Countries i have been in for fewer than 24 hours and can't say i've really visited but have at least left the airport (currently france and the netherlands).

So I realize suddenly that it has been one month since I left home so i feel i should recap some things. Mostly lessons learned and things about which I find i was wrong.

First, being in a country where English is so rarely spoken I take back everything I said about the subjunctive. I have grown to appreciate my native tongue just because I am so poor at other languages. I'm sure my teachers would point out that I am quite imperfect at this one as well: "Really another paranthetical, and another subordinate clause, and dear god not another hyphen!". Subjunctive, I am sorry. Or, I would be sorry, if you were able to understand sorrow and not just a tense. Is that even what you are? A tense?

Second, Never trust a guidebook to be accurate. I find it a comforting security blanket to have but the second i rely on the information in my guidebook, i am in for a rude awakening. Very little has been truly accurate. And a number of things are just downright ludicrous. Including the US Embassy not being 2km away but something closer to 8...

Third, I miss a few things dearly: Julie, my kitties, a bathtub, knowing where to buy simple things like butter, a fast internet connection, my pillow, frisbee, a Rainier in the backyard chatting with the neighbors.

Fourth, some things I am glad to be without: my mobile phone, that sneaking feeling that i should really be out mowing the grass or pulling weeds or cleaning the bathroom or some other chore. And I am able to survive with very few things. I have one bag (Emmeline, the same bag i brought to New Orleans that you thought was amazingly small for 5 days...) and could honestly have left a few things behind.

I really like a few things I've seen and hope to incorporate them in my life back home.
1. The arabic headscarf. Useful, fasionable, versitile. Except on domestic flights...
2. The double or quadruple cheek kiss. Expect that one to come out after a few drinks.
3. Halvah. I was so obsessed with this stuff back when I was vegan and I've rediscovered it. This is a thick, sweet tahini (sesame seed) based dessert(?) often with pistachios or almonds. SOO GOOD!
4. Crepes. 'nuff said.
5. Driving maneuvers. Ok, i won't actually bring this back with me but it is an art the way the taxis manage to navigate between people, animals, vehicles at nearly full speed and with surprisingly few collisions.

So as I finish this post I have travelled to Doha International Airport in Qatar. It is amazing to spend the night here - much like a sleepover party at the UN! There are people here from Everywhere. Qatari Airlines is lovely; friendly, good planes, I watched "3:10 to Yuma" and "Across the Universe" on the flight over Egypt and Saudi Arabia. There are sleeping rooms and a huge prayer room and really at least one representative from everywhere it seems. Oh and the wi-fi is free though the french fries will cost you 12 riyal, payable in most currancies - OH i should see if they accept my Egyptian Pounds (though maybe I'll go back sometime as I've recently heard of a lovely Beduin camp in the Sinai).

But for now I am focussed on my next steps. Please send me some good thoughts - I feel that I could use them.

Love and gratitude, josh