Like a Bad Tom Cruise Movie
I had a long day at work today, culminating in me finally leaving around 7pm. I got down to the metro station (which is actually a tram), and waited for the metro. And waited. After about twenty minutes, I realized that since it was so close to breaking the fast, even the metro was on hiatus. Looking down the long Mohammed V boulevard, I could've sworn I saw tumbleweeds. Finally, I decided to take a walk down to Ave. Bourguiba and get dinner down there - the other option being some bachelor's eggs back at my place.
When I made it down to Bourguiba, it was empty. Like Vanilla Sky opening sequence empty. I saw a few conspicuous white people walking around with guidebooks, and made my way up, hoping the basic but decent Cafe de Paris would be open. No such luck. However, I did find a place and sat down next to three Asian tourists and an American mother and daughter (ugly American moment - trying to pay for dinner with American dollars, in English. What made it worthwhile: I got to smile as the waiter gave them quite possibly the worst exchange rate I have ever heard of in my life).
After sending back the pasta once for bugs in the cheese, I finally dug in and enjoyed my meal, one earbud stuck in my ear, playing some old Boards of Canada. Finally, things started to liven up, and the night atmosphere that I've gotten used to during Ramadan showed itself a bit.
For the next time, I'm going to make sure to bring my camera. I don't think there's any phenomenon in Western culture that can rival Ramadan's ability to clear people off of the street. Even with something such as the Super Bowl, there's still visible life in the city. This was as if Times Square was emptied.
Another side effect of Ramadan is that the people you do see out around sunset, you question a bit. Tunisia is still, at its base, a family and community-oriented society. People who don't have anywhere to go make me a bit wary.
posted by Isaac @ 10:08 PM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
There is NO "bad Tom cruise movie."
You can say Brad Pitt or even present De Niro movie movie, then we will have a choice!
Haha, not only during Ramadan, but also when we play the worldcup (worldcup in Tunisia means of course soccer worldcup), all streets accross the country are empty (Except from thiefs maybe :))
I've never heard anyone using the expression "white" to describe difference between locals and tourists in tunisia !!!
Haha... That's so true, Emir. I was there during the last World Cup, and I now have this images replaying on the back of my mind when Tunisia was playing against Saudi Arabia. That was the only time, for me and all of my (female) housemates felt comfortable wandering alone. Good times.... Good times...
Btw, Champs Elysees on Burguiba ave. has awesome pizzas. And our favourite place to get chawarma must be the pink place next to Champs Elysees (I think it's called Place d'Orient or something).
Yeah, I totally agree with Emir. Why did you write "white" to describe tourist? Why not use the word "tourist" or Americans/Europeans? Don't you know that there are a lot of people in North Africa and the Middle East who are so-called "white".
I know that this is your blog, and you can write whatever you want, but it's really sad to see that an intellectual guy who seems to enjoy traveling and meeting new people would have such a perception on color !!!
Ouch. Well, there's nothing like being called ignorant to make a person want to respond and set the record straight. I am well aware that many people in North Africa are considered "white" in terms of skin color. I've met numerous Berbers in Morocco and Tunisia that would fit that description.
That being said, that was not the spirit, or the intention of my use of that word. As far back as my blog on Morocco in the Summer of 2005, I was jokingly talking about British pensioners and their fashion sense - I linked to a website that chronicled the phenomenon of "socks and sandals," for example (replete with plenty of documented photos - I myself tried to submit one back in the day of a particularly egregious point).
My usage was conspicuously white - I purposely used that word. I didn't mean it in terms of skin color, but matter as the idea of someone being "white," that is to say maybe a little awkward or out of place in an environment that isn't America or Europe. For example, the tourists that I was referring to were all wearing zip-off cargo pants, hiking shoes (or sandals), dri-fit T-shirts (which I will also admit to wearing), and plenty of other new gear picked up from a mountaineering/sports supply store. In short, they were clearly not from Tunisia. They were conspicuous for being foreign, and for wearing camping equipment in the middle of a modern city center.
Now, I apologize if my usage wasn't ideal, but maybe next time, take a second and give me the benefit of the doubt, as you do rather falsely at the end of your post. I don't know about you, but being accused of being backward or ignorant in my perception of color doesn't exactly give me a warm fuzzy feeling - especially when it's within what is essentially (a very small) public forum.
Haha, Isaac : When i lived in the States, i always had hard time convincing random people I meet, that i come from Africa, and that's because i'm white and they don't think i'm saying the truth :)) and that's what i call "ignorance" !!
But back to the subject, in Tunisia when we refer to tourists coming from Europe (rarely americains because as u might have noticed, there aren't many) we simply say "Touristes" and we expect blond hair and clear eyes colour (ideally blue or green) :))) But if we have to specify a skin colour : it'll be red or brownish since they start their BRONZAGE already when first step out of the plane :))
No but we don't call them whites, that's why we were surprised when we saw ur post :) But no worries, it was an interresting debate :)
Hey Isaac.
Thanks for the explanation. I didn't call you ignorant. On the contrary, I called you "an intellectual guy". That's why I was so surprised when seeing your choice of words. Anyway, let it be! I'm sure you didn't mean any harm. Peace out man :)
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