Tea and Chawarma

I came out to Tunisia for a lot of reasons, among them, I wanted to explore North African culture, work on my French and Arabic, and also relax a bit. Well, mission accomplished on the whole relaxing front. As stressful as it can be out here when you really need to get something done, like fix the a/c or internet at Amideast, I've definitely come to further appreciate downtime here. Essentially, when I'm not at work, I'm more or less on vacation.

For example, on Friday night, I went off with Nader and Kristian to a traditional cafe down off of Rue de Paris for mint tea, and then ate some chawarma at a good Turkish place about three blocks off of Ave. Bourguiba on Rue de Marseille. After that, Nader and I took a bus out to Les Berges du Lac and went to Cafe Biwa - which is a hip new cafe right on Lac Tunis. We sat, talked and I drank a tonic (just tonic, remember Berges was developed by the Saudis), and listened to a guitarist cover Eagle Eyed Cherry and REM.

Days more or less follow a pattern of a cafe after work, occasionally dinner out, and then an early bedtime around 10:30 - now that I'm done with season three of Lost, I need a new show. On the downside, I definitely do have less personal time than I'm used to, but I think it's essential here to profit from the local atmosphere, and that involves a lot of cafe time. Overall, I'm happy with enjoying this side of Tunisia. As I mentioned before, it can be frustrating to get certain things accomplished, but it just involves slowing down and talking to people, and normally things work out, although not necessarily at a pace I'm used to. Plus, right now, the weather has been pleasant, if still toasty. Highs are in the mid-90s lately, which is tolerable (when the a/c actually functions at work), but the nights noticeable cool off. Last night at Cafe Biwa, I was glad I was wearing a long-sleeve shirt once the sun went down in typically gorgeous North African fashion.