Access at the Embassy

Today's big event was a special event at the US Embassy for the Access Program. The Access Program is a group of 84 young Tunisian students who receive government-subsidized English lessons at Amideast. They come from one of the poorest neighborhoods in Tunis - Sidi Hassine. Despite that, as you'll be able to see in the photos I'll be posting, there's a difference between many of them and the lower-income students I taught in Rabat back in 2005.

The simplest explanation is that Tunisia is more of a middle class society than Morocco, and the rest of North Africa. If you look to the East and West, you'll see Libya and Algeria - two countries with their fair share of problems (see Battle of Algiers and read A Savage War of Peace by Alistair Horne and Wretched of the Earth/Black Skin, White Masks, by Frantz Fanon to get an idea about Algeria). The reasons are complicated, and they're something I'll talk about a bit later, but suffice to say, Tunisia has had two leaders since Independence. Both have been progressive and modernizing.

Anyways, back to the BBQ at the Embassy. All of the Access students were bussed in today to the Embassy, and we divided up into classes and made team posters, played a few games (such as the egg/spoon race), had a talent show, and ate burgers and hot dogs. It was a great opportunity to just hang out with the kids - I've been filling in on a few classes lately at Amideast, and my favorite has been an Access class.

Other than the BBQ, I've been keeping very busy. Friday I was at work 7:40am to 6:00 pm. I filled in on some English classes in the morning for a sick teacher, and then helped out in the Library and took part in one of my favorite new activities at Amideast - Friday conversation at the library. We advertise a weekly two-hour free English conversation group, and we've been getting great attendance the last two weeks. Most of the people who show up are older - in their thirties - and have a decent grasp of English, so we have some great candid conversations. Very little is taboo, so there's real discussion, which is very refreshing. Yesterday, we talked about cultural relativism, Tunisian and World Cinema, agriculture and marriage. Many of the people I talk to are somewhat secular. They embrace the combination of secular and religious laws that govern the country. Tunisia, for instance, has given women the right to vote since around 1956 - the year of independence. In addition, it is in the company of nations such as France and Turkey in banning the headscarf in public buildings.

It's also been great to see some of the same faces coming back on Fridays. I'm looking forward to the next one.