Finding a decent apartment, with roommates i want to live with and in my price range is proving to be very difficult and very frustrating. We have to leave our amazing house in the next month and the search process blows. Why is there no Craig's List in Tunis?!!

And we are thankful

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Mmm just like moms..sorta

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Ari and Jihad decide they like Thanksgiving as they wait for Bryan (Isaac's cousin) to drop the chicken he is carving

Mixing the mashed potatoe packets

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Originally uploaded by gilman.alison

Thanksgiving

Thursday morning, I came to work and was depressed. It was the first time that i really felt homesick. Imagining my family baking pies, watching football and having a nice meal with our friends made it hard to be cheery at work. UNTIL... my package arrived!! Mom sent me a package with some warm clothes/shoes (because i've been freezing) and supplies to make a Thanksgiving dinner! It was a week late and I was nervous that it was gone, but there it was- like fate telling me to cheer up and that i can be with my family in spirit. Corny, but it really did feel like some sort of sign.
Okay, so day definitely perked up. I also had plans to go back home and make a 'Thanksgiving' dinner with my roomy Isaac, his Tunisian girlfriend, his visiting sister, cousin and cousin's girlfriend. On my way home, I bought 4 rotisserie chickens (no time/oven to cook a turkey) from a store on the way and made my way home very awkardly carrying chickens and a giant heavy box.
Get home and there is everyone in the kitchen and as I walk in, they simultaneously blurt out- 'The gas doesn't work.' Hmm ok. We immediately assessed the damage and what things could be made. A disheartened soul suggested doing the dinner on the weekend, but NO. We put on our thinking caps and thanked God almighty for processed American food. We had no stove or oven or microwave, but we had an electric water heater and with that managed to make gravy, mashed potatoes and stuffing. Combined with the 'carved' chicken, cranberry sauce from a can, bread and brie, wine and little apple pastries we bought, we had ourselves a full fledged tasty Thanksgiving meal. And we were all the more grateful for it given the circumstances of the preparation. All in all, it was no Gilman family Thanksgiving, but we had a wonderful time and got to enjoy most of the foods that we miss.

Long time no blog

A few people have kindly reminded me that my blog is lacking recent updates and so i apologize to the small circle that read about my silly adventures. Without internet at home, communication with the outside world has been slightly difficult. Plus work has been very hectic so personal internet time during the day is rare.
The best few weeks have been very crazy. My dear roommate and best friend here, Ceyda, sadly left 2 weeks ago to return back home to Turkey. That has not been easy on me as the house feels empty without her and I am missing one of my best confidantes. I really hope our paths cross again someday as she has been a vital part of my time here. Particularly for the first month, i would have been miserable without her. She definitely helped me to settle into Tunisia much more easily and less painfully then had I been alone with our other roommate. Additionally, she was like no one I have ever met before (for better or worse) and opened my eyes to some of my faults and insecurities. Needless to say, she will be greatly missed.
And on other news, I facilitated at my last AIESEC conference this past weekend. I was asked to apply to be an international facilitator at Tunisia's new member national conference and although i have previously said that i was done with aiesec stuff, i signed up. Went to the national staff office a few times after work last week (which was a surprise) to prepare and ended up being assigned to help with the Finance sessions. Yeah, that was funny to me too. So this past weekend, I spent in Hammamet with 150+ Tunisian AIESECers, another international faci who flew in from Turkey for the conference and another trainee from Sweden (my buddy Daniel). I was impressed with the level of enthusiasm and impressed with the conference site. Reminded me of how differently we did things in the US. It was interesting that while we always had problems at US national conferences concerning our alcohol policy, they definitely had some pretty major sexual harrassment problems involving vulgar dance stuff, some comments made to some girls, silly 'punishments' turning into soft porn, etc. There were some things that shocked me and throw in the few conservative and well, there were some shocked faces in the crowd. Definitely made an impression on me and raised some questions in my head about culture/age here- for another time. Overall, I had a good time, but i remembered how tiring @ conferences can be and how good @ers are at talking in circles during meetings. It also made me feel old (again)- that seems to be a common theme these days. I met some great people and had a great time swapping stories/commiserations with my fellow trainee and former @ member Daniel. Not to mention that the hotel was right on the beach and although it is freaking freezing here, it was still a beautiful view and made me smile.
Coming back felt good because I am quite exhausted now and unfortunately feel like i have to make up for sleep. Isaac (my other roommate) has his sister, cousin and cousin's gf staying with us so its a packed house. Unfortunately, I'm craving some quiet, but probably won't get it for a week.
Thanksgiving- my mom and my aunt sent me some stuff to make a thanksgiving dinner with and apparently i can buy a big turkey at Carrefour, but I really don't feel like doing it after work on Thursday. Actually, i think it would be pretty darn near impossible, but Isaac's family insists that they need to do thanksgiving on Thursday. So it looks like i'll be doing my own celebration another time. Plus, our oven doesn't work so well so that's another complication for that. Too bad because I could really use a good THanksgiving dinner. Guess I'll just have to convince mom to do that when I'm home!
Okay so there are the updates. Not too much else aside from being cold all the time (didnt bring the right clothes at all) and getting excited to come home in a month. Keep on living the dream..

Halloween

I know I'm a big dork, but in the spirit of sharing American culture with my Tunisian friends, I decided to bring a little Halloween lovin' to the office. I somehow found orange colored paper and Ceyda and Sarra helped me make silly signs the night before. I've been saving up the candy my mom has sent me (major willpower on that one) and had it out on my desk for everyone. It was seriously great. Although when everyone kept asking me what the origins of Halloween are and how it has become a holiday for kids to rot their teeth, i had a little trouble, but think I held my own. It was fun and i can tell my colleagues appreciate my sillyness. Although, I think a few people thought the holiday had special meaning to me since I made such an 'extravagant' celebration for it. One colleague (who speaks only the bare minimals of French) came into my office this morning with a powerpoint he made for me for Halloween. I'm gonna try to put the link here, but i doubt it'll work. Either way, it was really sweet and brought me near tears at how thoughtful people here can be. Aww fun times.

(okay, it didn't work, but it was cute and complete with the music from the Halloween movies)

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And my colleague Oussema with the candy on my desk

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Sweet signs I know.. there's also one that says 'Bush was re-elected!' with a scary face under it- Ceyda made that and everyone loved that one!

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My colleagues enjoyed Halloween

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I literally made everyone say 'trick or treat' before they could eat candy.