Three Months...

I've officially hit three months here in Tunis. While this is far from a gigantic milestone, it's a chunk of time that merits looking back on. While the weather in Tunis remains rather hot, I'm slowly witnessing the imperceptible change into a new season. People are coming back to Tunis from vacations in Hammamet, tan and resistant to their entry back into the workweek. This is especially palpable at Amideast, where I am teaching a 2-week intensive English session to 16-18 year olds. Getting these kids motivated to study grammar points is a herculean task best accomplished with the carrot and not the stick - I've made sure to include plenty of games, and a showing of Little Miss Sunshine.

My personal time here has been all over the place. I started off with an understandable bout of homesickness that cleared up within the first two weeks. However, it still manifests itself every now and then - sometimes I can't resist thinking about walking around the lake by my house in Minneapolis, the good local food at Lucia's, my family, and our own zoo (which has been somewhat replaced by the new zoo here - six dogs, a cat, and a turtle). I content myself with the knowledge that this is a natural part of any experience, especially when you push yourself out of the country right after college graduation.

I've created my own new social network here, which has been the number one reason that I'm still around. Without people, any place is alienating. I've made friends with some local guys from the neighborhood, and we get tea about 3-4 times a week. They're good guys, and honestly, at the end of the day, guy culture is guy culture. We make bad jokes, talk about women problems, politics, and anything else that comes up. While it's not a substitute for the great guy friends I left in the States, it's what I prefer to classify as an addition to my life. Everyone else is still there, if a few thousand miles away. Amideast has become my little expat family. The director, Lee, has been a great help, as have some of the older teachers and plenty of people around my age. While the workplace is always fraught with social land mines, so far I've managed to sidestep most of them.

In terms of work, I'm content. Teaching is a great skill to cultivate, because its base offers you many opportunities. I've taught some adults, and to go in as a 23 year old, and handle 14 people who can be as old as 55-60, helps me be more socially versatile, and hopefully professionally as well. My internship is great - while I do make the occasional photocopy, I've been able to convince enough people that I'm important. That means I've been able to dictate more and more what I work on - having a flexible schedule has kept it fresh.

Tunisia itself is a mixed bag. I do like it here. I live well, I go to cafes, I eat out, I meet interesting people, and I'm 100% comfortable going out and doing things on my own. On the other hand, it's been difficult to pursue some of my interests as much as I would like to. The food here is fine, but not great. That singular issue has caused me a lot of grief. There's plenty of decent food here, but not a lot of variety, and its hard to get good traditional food out and about - I wish I had a Tunisian to cook home meals for me.

To sum it up, I'm happy here. It's a hard-won happiness in some ways, and there are always the little battles that get doled out by life, but by and large, it's good. Without being overly parental about my experience, it's building character... In many ways, I chose this because I knew it would be something challenging and different - and ideally, these types of experiences build people, help them more fully understand who they are, and also give a greater appreciation to the complex and constantly surprising world that we all share.