Sarkozy's in Town

Sarkozy (and Carla Bruni) is wrapping up a 3-day state visit today. He's been around since Monday and traffic and transport in general has been ground to a halt more than once. On Monday they shut down the entire downtown Avenue Bourguiba so that he could walk around - you could only get through at the extreme ends. That meant that the metro and bus services were stopped as well. It added two hours to a friend's commute.

The thing that really bothers me is that I went to school for four years in Washington, DC. We get a lot of state visits. I know it's not the same situation, but I've never experienced this level of security across the board. I mean, I got to get within five feet of Pervez Musharraf in DC without going through thirty cops.

Anyways, ranting aside, things have been good here lately. I literally just finished up a conversation with the Tunisian "Spielberg," otherwise known as Ferid Boughedir. His most famous movies are A Summer in La Goulette and Halfaouine. What's interesting is that I was showing him that his movies were available on Amazon.com and it turns out that the American version of A Summer in La Goulette being sold doesn't... well, actually have the rights to be selling it. He also agreed with me that $26 is a ridiculous price to pay for Halfaouine, so he's bringing me a French collection in Region Zero (i.e.: playable on all DVD players) for a "reasonable" price. Let's hope that works out. It was nice to finally meet him since my roommate Alison has known him for quite a while.

Also, my old roommate, Ben is coming in tonight to Tunis! This makes the fourth visit by friends/family from the States. Not bad. Tomorrow is Labor Day in Tunisia (and by my understanding, everywhere in the world except the USA?) so we're going to an American BBQ put on by the Tunisian American Chamber of Commerce so that I can network for that still-elusive job here. After we'll wander around Sidi Bou Said and probably have dinner at Le Carre Blanc on Marsa Plage - nothing beats exceptional steak and seafood.

Friday I reserved a table at Lodge, which is a very nice new lounge/restaurant right next to AMIDEAST, then we're going to see a Cuban singer who is in residency at La Maison Blanche - the hotel on Ave. Mohamed V. Saturday it's off to Bizerte, exploring the port and the Medina, plus the market. We'll probably eat at Le Petit Mousse, which has excellent food (including wild boar, of which there are plenty in Northern Tunisia - but rarely eaten by locals). Sunday we'll probably do the rest of Carthage, etc.