Welcome to Tozeur!!!!

We have now traveled South to the Sahara Desert to the town of Tozeur. It is much warmer here of course since we are in the desert. The road to this town has a wonderful scenery of olive trees, fig trees, and cacti that has the fruit of the king growing off it. There are camels walking the roads and we are warned of this with camel crossing signs. It is weird because you see all of these goats and camels, etc. walking around and then you see dead ones being hung up for dinner. We have visited the ancient ruins of this city which are more beautiful than Carthage. I thought that nothing could be more beautiful until I was walking through these ruins in Tozeur, which has many exotic plants around it.

The hotel we are staying at has better plumbing and hot water. I feel refreshed since I've been here and I have more space to breath and relax after a long day of going to the zoo, museum, and old Tozeur medina, where I bartered for the first time in my life! At first, this guy was trying to get me to buy this bracelet for 200 denar which is close to 150 in American dollars. I had to assert myself and say no. I ended up buying a bracelet with a ring attached to it, which is something that I have been trying to find for a long time. The man said 40 denar, I said 20, he said 25, and I said I only have 22. I could have gotten him to go lower, but you do not want to insult them. Since I have been in Tozeur, our tour guide, whose name is also Hammadi, has taken care of us. He is full of great information of the history of Tozeur that has many links to its culture. It makes me realize that we are all connected and that we always look at the differences in each culture, but in reality we are all the same. We are staying a few more days in Tozeur as well as traveling to other cities. I think I am going to like the desert even if I have bad allergies.

So far, I have loved getting my head wrapped with a turban, eating food that gets spicier the further South you go, and meeting local people who are as fascinated with us as we are with them. I also liked seeing camels, peacocks, vultures, monkies, lions, and snakes at the zoo. The zoo also had a botanical garden that was so exotic. I also look forward to taking ceramics 2 when I get back because the group and I got to see how brick was made and how a true Tunisian throws on the wheel!!!!

Before we left for Tozeur, we had a going away party in Tunis. We met Hella's family and friends and had listened to an authentic Iraqi band while belly dancing. It was hard to leave all of the new friends I had met since they really made me feel like I was part of their family. One of the Tunisian students named Aymen gave me a special gift to show how glad he was to have met me. He gave me a bracelet and a box to hold it in. I almost cried because I had never had anyone give me a gift like that after only 3 days of meeting them. Nabiha, the Tunisian professor, also gave us Tunisian pastries and Arabic music to bring home to our families. I cannot wait to share it with them all!!

I have many videos that I have filmed that will show the party in Tunis as well as clay working of Tunisian people, and the great cities of Tunisia. Unfortunately, I cannot upload these videos right now but when I can, I will. They are so fascinating and capture the true essence of this wonderful country.

I think the next time you hear from me I will have already ridden a camel! I can't wait to share that experience with you!!


Love and miss everyone,

Erin

Basleema!