PART I
January 30, 2005
"I grow old... I grow old...
I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled."
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I've written up just the first night of my trip to Tunisia and already it is long and boring. The stories in my head are great, but when I try to type it up, I can only get it down if I do it in a dry, systematic way. I've been really tired lately. My focus is gone. I hate my job. I thought Tunisia would be the perfect antedote to the restlessness that hit me right after I finished the masters. I figured I just needed a break, so I could come back to Cairo refreshed and invigorated. If anything, my trip to Tunisia has only highlighted the things that I am dissatisfied with here. I am not unhappy, really. Just...frustrated and bored. It was nice to be somewhere, with friends, and to come and go as I pleased without having to coordinate with anyone else really, or let anyone know where I was going.
Jing sometimes tells me that he gets sad when he sees that I am sounding old. I wonder if this is what he means.
(Sorry Jing! Don't worry...Peter Pan still lives strong within me!)
Anyway, here's what I have so far on my Tunisia trip. More coming soon.
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So. Tunisia.
To put it as succinctly as possible, Tunisia is beautiful, refreshing, and ultimately boring (well, at least Tunis, though I hear that the resort towns are hopping in the summer, and the south is pretty neat too). My trip, though, was fun, relaxing, and just what I needed. Or maybe not (more on that later).
So�the cast of characters: Zenith, E., their Swiss roommate Sandra, and Mu, the second most wonderful cat in the world. (BK�s Kitty is still number one.)
I arrived on the evening of Monday January 17th after a 3-hour plan ride, during which I proceeded not to understand anyone except for the young Tunisian man who hit on me , who made an effort to speak to me in Egyptian. Zenith, now bearded (I think it�s a very good look for him) met me at the airport. We did the Tunisian/French/what have you kiss-kiss greeting, and then Zenith grabbed my bag, and exclaimed, �You smell so good!� I had forgotten that smelling good was �my thing� in Philly, because in Egypt, land of people who now how to use (and overuse) perfume, I do not stand out. But my scent was oft-commented upon when stateside, and all that was brought back with Zenith�s comment (and again the next day when E. cornered me in the kitchen and said, �I think I might start getting jealous if he comments on how good you smell one more time.��all said in jest, of course.) Zenith and E. have a really great relationship, and I have to say they are one of the coolest/ best married couples I know. Yay them.
Anyway, so Zenith grabbed my bag, commented on my scent, and then proceeded to impress me as he haggled with the cab driver in French about the fair for the ride home. You can tell he is still learning, but he uses his French whenever he can, and with gusto.
My at-first-sight impressions of Tunis were that it is SO CLEAN and organized, and the air was so fresh and clean. Filled with oxygen, like. When I said as much to Zenith in the cab home, he told me that things are more crowded and �gross� during the day, but I honestly didn�t see it. I was very enthusiastic about the relative lack of pollution there. The whole feel of the place actually reminded of Kuwait a little.
Anyway, we got home to find E. and Sandra squealing because of a huge cockroach that had gotten stuck behind the dish drainer. Zenith came in to save the day, squashing the roach with his shoe, and then a debate ensued as to whether he should flush it down the toilet or throw it outside. Eventually the ladies allowed him to flush it away as long as he made sure it wouldn�t crawl back out somehow. After this exciting episode, E. and Sandra greeted me and we proceeded to bum around and catch up (in the case of me and E.) get to know each other (in the case of me and Sandra, who was gracious enough to share her room, her moisturizer, and her heavenly-smelling body wash with me while I was there.)
It was already a little late in the evening by the time I got to their place so we ended up going to sleep a while after I arrived. The bed was so squishy I at first thought it was a waterbed. I tucked in with the book light E. had lent me so I could read until I fell asleep. I have a hard enough time falling asleep, and it's only harder in unfamiliar places.
So, I read a few pages of Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume which is really entertaining and, to me, philosophically interesting, but which is also taking me forever to finish reading (it's been about two weeks, and I'm still a good 50 pages from finishing it.) Like I said, I'm getting old, losing my focus, etc. But eventally I fell asleep and dreamt some vivid dreams that I promptly forgot in the morning.
And, curtain.
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I just had to pop back in here and say that I love the Shania Twain/ Mark McGrath song "Party for Two". I like these two artists individually, but the idea of them together just doesn't seem right.
And yet, it's so wrong it's right. Like Jay-Z and Linkin Park.
Outtie.