There is...

Free wifi in Tunis airport! And one power outlet at my gate. Get there early if you want to take advantage of it...

I am about to head home - Tunis to Frankfurt to Chicago to Minneapolis. Luckily, the layovers are mercifully quick, and I'm hoping for a smooth ride.

This whole 4AM flight thing is pretty awful, though. Just early enough that it's basically impossible to go to sleep. Thank you Lufthansa. And another thing to thank Lufthansa for: I have a 12 hour layover in Frankfurt coming back. And since it's United to Frankfurt, and then Lufthansa to Tunis, I don't get any hotel voucher - I'm hoping United will be more amenable to the idea. They're "Come fly the friendly skies" right? Plus, it's all a part of the same alliance. We'll see.

Packing up

I'm out of here Monday for ten days, so I've been taking care of some things at work and around Tunis before I head out. I have an interim head at the American Corner, Laurie Pessemier (I should pick up one of her paintings before I head out). I'm going out on Saturday night to a concert in Menzah 6 by an American group called Universes. They're out here on a State Dept grant, and it looks like it'll be an interesting show. After, I'm hoping to head out to Chez Slah - probably the best place for fish (and excellent meat and french fries) in central Tunis.

One of the best things about going back is that I can take stuff back - my goal here has always been to be as unencumbered as possible with things. They mostly just get in the way, and I try to keep it to clothes I wear at least every two weeks and books I'm reading, plus the obvious camera, laptop and DVDs. Also a quick shout-out: I am so glad I have a Leatherman here with me. I use it every day - from opening bottles of Tunisian wine to fixing the stove to tightening up screws around the house.

One of the things I'm most excited to take back is another part of my book collection. If you're visiting Tunis and you speak French, you should check out the local publishing house, Ceres Editions. They do some very cool Tunisian/North African-themed reprints at very reasonable prices (significantly less than Folio, J'ai Lu, etc). They have a special edition on Chateaubriand in Tunis, plus histories of North Africa, Flaubert's Salammbo, La Carthaginoise, books on Hannibal and also some photography books. The bookstore in the Medina, right past Zeitouna mosque and to the right when you're coming from the Porte de France has a good collection. You can also find them at better magazine stores, and bookstores such as Librairie al-Kitab on Avenue Bourguiba.

My goal is to take nothing back to Tunis besides a new pair of jeans and some food - especially some more Soy Vay Teriyaki Sauce and some Daddy Sam's BBQ Sauce (might just be a Minnesota thing?). I did just check out this clothing company(their winter collection is very cool) I found via the Sartorialist, but I'm not sure if they have stores in Minneapolis (if anywhere, probably at Intoto), and I'd imagine the prices are pretty steep.