Adventures in Domesticity

Right now, I have a dog nipping at my heels, a very small kitten meowing on my lap, the sounds of my new roommate's exasperation at not being able to light the stove, and a washing machine in the background that won't stop going on spin cycle. Welcome to... Tunisia?

On Sunday, I moved into a house in Ariana, a suburb just North of Tunis. An American couple and their three kids who live in Tunis are on vacation in the States for two months, and they're letting Jeremy and I rent the place from them. To be honest, it's a great deal. We get to live in a modest one-level house with a full kitchen, two baths, three bedroos, and a nice living room - along with a patio and a bbq.

Along with the family house come the family responsibilities. We're responsible for the two family dogs - Ginger and Samra - along with the unnamed little kitten (who was hopping around a bit today - major improvement). We just got back from a rather... embarassing round of shopping at the local Monoprix. We comparison-shopped for trash bags, picked up some good dry goods, and finally held up the whole checkout line for about 15 minutes. At one point, we asked a Tunisian family where the shaving cream was, and he told us and then asked, " are you American?" We gave him a nod, and he said "ca se voit" - that's obvious.

Also, Ariana is a very Tunisian neighborhood. It's a nice solidly middle class neighborhood, but very much for the locals. The good part is that even though we're living in a pretty Americanized house and watch Entourage at night, we get to go out and do the Tunisian groceries and drink mint tea in the cafes like everyone else.