Give it a shot

Despite the influences of Ramadan all around, I must confess that I have not fully engaged in the practices of this holy month. Partially because I told myself that it was more important for me to be productive at work then to not eat or drink anything all day and partially because well, i get hungry at about 1. But, with 2 invitations to 'break the fast' with my friends' families this week, i'm gonna give it a shot. No food or drink until about 7 pm for the week. I think i can do it and I might as well while i'm here!

Me and Sarra with our food

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Originally uploaded by gilman.alison

Birthday Celebrations

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I was not particularly looking forward to my birthday this year- not a particularly exciting age and in a new place where i didn't want people to feel obligated to do something.
Well, it turned out to be one of my better birthdays! Coworkers (photo left to right- Bessem, Salim, Yassra, Sarra, me) took me to a very nice traditional Tunisian restaurant for a very yummy Ramadan 'break the fast' dinner. The brique was absolutely incredible and the swordfish was yummy.
After, we actually had to go back to Henkel because Sarra needed to put up posters for 'Friendship Day' (very corny i know) so we put up posters in the office for a bit and then headed to Berges du Lac to a nice cafe called Tempo where other friends joined us. It was not a crazy evening, but really nice and thoughtful.
Oh, and i swear people love me more now that i'm across a big ocean- thanks for all the facebook bday wishes and thanks for a certain email that put a smile on my face all day : )

Weekend Musings

Overall a nice weekend. Although Saturday, I went to the doctor about the lovely spots on my arms and sure enough, the dog gave me some kind of fungus which is easily treatable, but the medicine was not cheap. Fortunately, my first doctor experience here was not too bad. I had to wait an hour and a half for my appointment and I’m pretty positive the secretary was putting people ahead of me that should not have been, but the doctor himself was very nice and helpful. Even spoke English which was a welcome surprise.
Couldn’t reach Sarra for the life of me which made me realize how dependent I am on my closest girlfriend here- might need to meet more girls. Finally reached her and she picked me up to go to her house where I met her family- and what a family it is! Tunisians typically have pretty close knit families frequently with most relatives living nearby and Sarra’s was no exception to that. What was different about her family is that they are crazy. In a good way. I have been there 3 times since Saturday and there are always at least 5 people in her house, tons of cats, tons of food, Arabic lessons for me, aunts trying to get me to borrow their clothes and lots of gossip. Very liberal family and most of them don’t ‘do’ Ramadan which is amusing because they know every single restaurant/café open during Ramadan (there aren’t many!) In any case, I am happy to have a ‘family’ here and they made it very clear that I am welcome anytime which I will definitely take them up on!
Sarra and I then rushed to the only place in Tunisia (literally like the only place) that sells alcohol during Ramadan which is at the Monoprix in La Marsa- a lot of expats live in that area so it made sense. Bought a few bottles of wine and headed chez moi.
Started the night off with a bit of culture at the Medina Festival. Annual music festival held during Ramadan with traditional bands from neighboring countries. The venue itself was magical- in a courtyard surrounded by old buildings and funky colored lights in the middle of the old part of Tunis. The band itself was decent- a band called Gnawa from Morocco that played traditional music that at times was fun and lively, but at other times a bit too sedate for our moods at the time. Either way, it was very interesting to go to and I think we might hit up the Tango music coming to the festival soon.
The night was finished off by a couple coworkers coming over to play Taboo (English version this time) until 4 am. People really seem to like that game here! All in all, a nice weekend in Tunis!

Crazy few days

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Originally uploaded by gilman.alison

The past few days have seen quite a lot of action out here. Some good some bad. Too much to think about to really get into, but here are some highlights:
-Café on Monday night with coworkers for shisha and tea and French Taboo.. much more difficult than the English version!
-Offered a room in an apartment a coworker has rented starting in December. Could be an easy answer to the next living situation question
-Brought Ari (see booboo on his leg in picture) to the vet and she was quite concerned about his mange spots that have turned into more serious infections apparently. Now have to treat the areas twice a day, go see her again in a week, have to keep him inside in a ‘clean environment’ and away from the other animals (which is easier said than done), have to switch his food, and potty train him so he can live inside. I also apparently need to see a doctor for the lovely infection I got from the dog- and apparently it’s ‘not normal’ that the dog and I got these infections while the other dogs and humans did not. Great.
-Day 1 of dog inside- potty training started well then regressed and I loved him barking at 6 am until I got out of bed and played with him. That habit needs to be broken.

All in all, once again, I am feeling old. Instead of getting homesick here, I’m getting agesick. Missing the college days and less responsibilities. At the time, it seemed like everyone was busy and had very important things to do, and I guess we did, but this is quite a different sense of responsibility. Still can’t really explain it, but I do know that at the end of the day, this old woman just wants a shisha, a movie and an early bedtime. This whole ‘real world’ thing is definitely overrated.

Conference

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Originally uploaded by gilman.alison

Okay, so not the best picture, but the only. This was from the big conference i organized and am very proud of. It was at the Concorde in Berge du Lac and went perfectly with Henkel employees arriving from Saudi, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Algeria, and one from the US (although he is French). We also had our suppliers of corrugated cardboard from those countries plus Lebanon come as well- yes cardboard. And yes, it was still interesting. It was a great two days of delicious free food, me freaking out and running around to make sure everything went perfectly (which it did), learning about Henkel in the region, learning about our need for cardboard and meeting some very interesting people. It was a highlight of my time here so far.
The picture- on the left sipping coffee is my direct boss here in Tunis (Najeh). To her left is Ishtiaq from Saudi although he's originally Pakistani and across from him is Hamzeh from Iran. And then me. The token American. I loved being in such an international meeting- strengthened my resolve to work in that sort of atmosphere later on.

Crazy diseases

So we noticed this weekend that one of our puppies has a weird skin rash/hair loss thing going on on his knee and under his chin. We are actually in the process of giving away 3 out of the 4 puppies and also the two older dogs so that our house will be a little less zoo like. Well, I’ve been sort of mothering these puppies so when I asked my mom about the skin rash thing she goes, “it’s mange!” Well sure enough, after a little internet research, the pup definitely has the mange so we need to get him to the vet today.
But the greatest part of this is that mange is highly contagious- both to other animals and humans. So not only are the other puppies at risk, but guess what, those 4 weird bumps that have been on my left forearm that I though were simply mosquito bites that I scratched? No, it’s mange. I have the effing mange thanks to the deceivingly cute puppy. Good thing it just goes away, but it itches like hell and looks like I have the bubonic plague or something. Kate- thanks for giving me your uncanny ability to pick up every weird disease. No, I couldn’t come to Tunisia and get some normal disease like malaria or food poisoning, instead I get the mange. Time to scratch some more.

Ramadhan Moubarek

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Originally uploaded by gilman.alison

Ramadan began yesterday and sadly I missed festivities due to a stupid flu that kept me in bed, but I can enjoy it starting today. I will be doing the fasting while at work because lets be honest, it would be pretty rude to eat in front of coworkers who can't! Although the no water thing gets to me a little- might have to sneak some in the bathroom.
Its funny how some Tunisians were really looking forward to the holiday month while others were not. Ex- my office mate Oussema said he loves this holiday because there is a special prayer that they do at night only during Ramadan that is an hour long that he loves. On the other hand, my other coworker said he hates the month because he can't smoke so is mean to everyone and can't drink alcohol. Ah the religious verse the not as strict. Either way, I'm looking forward to celebrations and good food at sundown and concerts in the Medina.

All growns up

After coming home yesterday after being at work for 10 hours, having a stressful day and wanting nothing more than a shisha and a movie on the couch, i open the front door to find a plant knocked over with dirt all over the floor, garbage and bathroom trash cans knocked over and food from trash in various living room locations. I suddenly realized how old i felt that this was my new reality living in the real world.

A Boston christmas

Flight is booked. I will be coming back to Boston for Christmas arriving into Boston on December 20th and leaving on December 31st. Too bad I’ll be on a plane on New Year’s Eve, but I have the next day off work so it made sense to take advantage of that with an extra day or two in Boston. I’ll just have a cocktail on the plane to celebrate and cheers my neighbour.

Enjoying the new home

What a fantastic weekend. On Saturday, Ceyda, Isaac and I spent the day cleaning, shopping and preparing for our guests to arrive. We had about 15 friends over (Ceyda and I were just happy we even had 15 friends to invite) and it was a great time. Some snacks, some beer and wine and lots of photos. Even the dogs were well behaved although we had to lock up the cat because it kept trying to eat the food. I think everyone had a good time and the birthday girl was happy. Even found a delicious cheesecake birthday cake for her since it is her favorite.
But, Sunday was the best day. A few people stayed at our house the night before so we all woke up early and 5 of us made a nice big breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast and French pressed coffee. We had a nice leisurely breakfast sitting outside on our patio with Isaac’s good music playing in the background. The rest of the day was spent reading and sunbathing on our little lawn with the baby puppies playing with us. OH and I discovered that we also have a turtle!! I glanced over at one point and sure enough, there was a turtle the size of a soccer ball crawling across our yard! I was mesmerized and followed it around the yard for awhile. The day was topped off with crepes and girl talk in the cooler Tunisian evening. What a lovely and relaxing day.

Office Life

Good news- am invited today for a 'girls lunch' with most of the other ladies in my department to go to a nice lunch in Berges du Lac to celebrate one of the last lunches before Ramadan starts and no one can eat while the sun is up (starts Sept. 12th or 13th). Nice to feel included and that I am becoming 'accepted'. I actually really like some of the women in the office so yeah.

Not as exciting news: moving out of the office i share with my nice colleague Oussema and into my boss' office for next week so we can work on two projects together. I don't mind except that I enjoy my current office mate's company and my current office is closer to the water and coffee.

Other news- our big dogs and cat have recently been attempting to (what it appears) eat the puppies. Roommates and I have made a few saves, but its very odd and annoying. I am quite fond of the little puppies at this point and don't want to come home with one suddenly missing.
Having a little birthday/housewarming party this saturday to celebrate Sarra's birthday and Ceyda's and my new place. Fingers crossed that the dogs won't go completely crazy.

Times are a changing

As a new month started, the weather started to change as well. Opposed to the 100+ degree weather of only a week ago, it has pleasantly turned to a temperate 80ish with a frequent nice light breeze. I do not miss the steaming hot air blowing as if from a hair dryer. With a new apartment and new responsibilities at work, the changes are all welcome in my book.

The wedding- me with the woman I talked to for an hour and her husband who is a famous lawyer here and on TV a lot

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Originally uploaded by gilman.alison

My roommate Ceyda, myself and our dear friend and coworker Sarra

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These are the 4 puppies at our house- literally the size of my hand and SO cute!

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Tunisian Sunset!

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What a week!

Sorry for the lapse in blogging, but it has been a hectic week! Thursday and Friday was a big work conference that I organized (will elaborate in later post) and on Saturday, my favorite roommate (the turk named Ceyda) and I moved to a new place!! Its amazing! The house belongs to an American family that are away until December and although the place is huge, fully equipped with a yard, huge space, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, washer AND dryer and internet! the rent is still cheap because in exchange, we take care of the family pets. Ceyda and i moved in with Isaac, an aiesecer that I know from DC who has been here since June and will be living in this house with the 2 dogs (Ginger and Samra), adorable cat (appropriately named Jihad) and 4 baby puppies belonging to Samra. I love the place because it really feels like a home with nice furniture and paintings and a lived in feel. My room is actually the daughter's room and has a bunk bed and the room is painted bright pink with a giant princess painted on the wall. Awesome! So I am quite happy with this new arrangement.
SO. Pictures from the past 5 weeks of my time in Tunisia will be up next as soon as i can figure out how to upload them!