Atishoo! Atishoo! We all fall down!

Bear with me, comrades. I'm struggling!

Ah well, it was bound to happen. After a whole winter with not a sniffle, suddenly I have a horrible cold and my tonsils are all massive. In addition, I'm under a great deal of pressure at work, which, to be honest I did know was coming, but doesn't make it any more fun. So the long, long, hours, with the half-marathon training, the french cramming and all the everything else and something was bound to crack.

I still trained today though, but I only managed 6km before my whole body gave up. If you can walk, you can run, right? Except that I can hardly breathe.

Anyhow, so I'm taking a step back, have postponed French test until June, having a weekend off running, but do plan to get back to it once I am better - I'm up to a solid 13km now, and I really think I can do this.

You miss me? here I am with Jasmin and jasmine.

P.S. Yeah there's no Prime Minister - what do you want me to do about it? Tunisia... ! x

Hometown Visitation, Cape Malay Temptation, Assassination and Co-habitation

Oh my, oh my... just when life had started to get boring, everything happens all at once and before I knew it there is a tonne to update you on. Let us begin:

Hometown Visitation

If you're a lucky one, you just saw me when I came home. If you're less lucky, then I'm sorry, and we'll schedule it for next time, m'kay? It really was a flying visit to scoot home for my nephew's birthday last weekend. He gets more and more adorable everytime I see him, and I can't help but fall in love with him over and over again.
He had elected to have a fancy dress party, which we all thought would be lots of fun, but has recently developed a wild adoration for Captain America, a Marvel character not typically marketed for UK consumers and so sourcing of a costume and gifts was a little tricky for his poor Mummy. It's not clear where he even found about about Captain America... all he seems to know is that he has a shield. Naturally, I can place my full support behind a defensive, rather than an offensive character.

When asked who he wants to be for his birthday party:

Otherwise the trip home was wonderful. I managed to bring back all the things that I had forgotten over Christmas and to finally take Cleo for a good walk.

Being expatriated is sometimes hard for friends and family to understand. Some people consider it as a temporary arrangement or a rejection of your home culture, when for me it's neither of those things. My close family have stopped asking "So, when are you coming home for good?" and accept that this is no short term arrangement, but I am starting to feel detached now even when home, and sometimes miss social intricacies and popular culture jokes. I worry sometimes about becoming one of those people who don't really feel 'at home' anywhere. But the novelty of this life is still fresh, and so for now, I'm not about to become island-bound again yet.

Cape Malay Temptation


Returning back after such a fun weekend is always hard. You try to placate the pain by buying yourself lots of home luxuries to get yourself through those few few rough hours and days. Good quality chocolate, tea bags, pork products, celery and Greek yogurt are my staples. However, this time, the homecoming was made easier my my friend Jasmin hosting a beautiful Cape Malay supper. She had literally spent all day cooking, and her laden table and smiley face made the return so much easier.

Cape Malay is a ethnic group in Jasmin's home country of South Africa, to which she belongs. The food, like most South African food, is heavy and meaty.
For main course we had Bobotie, which is a heavy, spicy meatloaf topped with a savory egg custard. It looks a bit like Shepherd's pie, but the spices made it very fragrant and the texture was much stodgier.

It was served with a yellow rice cooked with raisins. So deliciously sweet, so perfectly homely. For dessert, she had made some Malay Koesisters, which are little cinnamon doughnuts covered in dessicated coconut.

And we drank lots of South African wine. I'm so glad that she's my friend.

Assassination

I have a conundrum here, because our lives have been centred around the assassination of the leader of the opposition, Chokri Belaid since it happened on Wednesday morning, the desolation of government on Thursday and the huge state funeral and subsequent protests on Friday. But although I am affected in fairly minor ways - changes to working hours, avoiding certain parts of the city, aeroport and shop closures - I am no political commentary and to offer any kind of judgement on the event or the fallout would be insulting to a nation where every citizen takes such an interest on the state, reputation and accountability of its political system.

However, from talking to my Tunisian friends and colleagues, it is clear that most Tunisians feel that their glorious revolution, and the real opportunity for reform and change has been stolen from them by small pockets of religious fanatics. 

Our hearts break and all our love goes out to the family of Chokri Belaid.

Co-Habitation

Oh Lordy Kids. It happened. I got up in the night on Thursday... and there he was. After 14 months of living in my lovely apartment with not a sniff of trouble... Bam!

There were screams. I reached for the spray, and I destroyed him. I can't understand it. I am usually so brave, snakes, spiders, bees, wasps... no trouble... but cockroaches - I hate them.

I would love to tell you that it's an isolated incident, but I met his wife and children last night. I feel quite traumatised, but hope that this problem will only last the rainy season (another two weeks).

My nerves couldn't take much longer.


Peace x

The Eight Week Challenge.

Oh crikey!

It's a bit under eight weeks until my birthday. I had planned to go to Egypt but I already have too many nice trips planned this year, and Egypt is a little bit too crazy at the moment. So she will wait... instead we have some other targets to hit.

1. Diplôme d'études en langue française (DELF) Exam B1

This is being held the week of my birthday. Having been originally wanting to sit this in January, I was disappointed when it was held before I arrived back in Tunis. So, this time I cannot miss it. This needs to happen. My teacher thinks I will pass, but every day is full of french victories and defeats and it's the defeats that I tend to remember. Today's victory: getting a replacement LED bulb for a light in my bathroom from a hardware store. Today's defeat: disjointed conversation with taxi-driver about beards and Islam.

I have a book of exercises, I have some determination and I have eight weeks.

2. La Marsa Half-Marathon

Even though I didn't want to do a half Marathon before the Big Daddy in September (as I wanted to be able to tell myself, during the run, that afterwards I would never have to run again) I think this is a must. 

A half marathon will allow me to practice race conditions, routine and most importantly, running nutrition. It's on 24th March. I have eight weeks.

I ran 10km this morning, hungover, for the first time this year. It really hurt. I have a blister on my toe. I think I'm gonna need a charity or something... I'm gonna need some external motivation.

So there it is. Two massive goals. And the big reward is that a week after the exam and the race, my Mummy and Daddy are coming to Tunisia, with a suitcase of Easter Eggs, all for me.

Oh, this looks so sad with no pictures, here are some unrelated ones, from the shopping centre near my house, that I took today.

Yep, still got the Christmas Decorations up... tsk tsk!

Maouled and Asida Zgougou

Today in Tunisia is (another!) Public Holiday. They always seem to come thick and fast at the beginning of the year, and then we are left to work the long hot summer with no respite.

Today is Maouled, the day on which the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed is celebrated. There is some debate in Tunisia this year about whether the holiday should be celebrated, as the marking of this day is an innovation developed since the Prophet's death, and does not appear in the holy texts. None the less, we all got a day off.

Now, this year, I have been trying to develop more of a rapport with my landlord as a means to further my cultural understanding and hopefully get an invitation to break-fast during Ramadan in July. He lives next-door to, and above, me with his big family and I have made a big effort to up the niceties, learn some more Arabic greetings and shower them with British chocolate (Terry's Chocolate Oranges in fact) at Christmas. Today was a big payoff. This morning my landlord's mother knocked on the door and I opened it with my bed-hair and in a onesie. She presented me with a giant bowl of Asida Zgougou.

Asida Zgougou is a Tunisian dessert made only at Maouled. It is layered like a trifle, but the way it is made is quite different.

"Zgougou" is the Tunisian word for the native Pine Nut tree. The bottom layer of the desert, which is dark, brown like chocolate, is made from the sieved paste of ground pine nuts mixed with water and cooked on a stove with flour and sugar. Above this is spread an orange-cream layer which is made from condensed milk and orange oil (which is used heavily here, to sweeten coffee and desserts) and on top, a decoration of ground and whole nuts. Here we have almonds, pistachios, pine nuts and a walnut.

 

And the taste test? The texture is like pudding and you get knocked sideways by the nuttiness. It's also really creamy, I suppose from the nut fats, and so reminds me a bit of a nut-flavoured ice cream, like pistachio, for example. I can't completely decide if I like it, so I'm finding that the best solution is to have another spoonful... just to make sure... 

 

Bon appetit et bonne fête!

The Revolution's 2nd Birthday

My sincerest apologies, I had an essay to write and I spent weeks, literally doing EVERYTHING but write it, until it was the very last moment, then I had a little freak-out. I never learn and ever nothing changes. I actually think that I quite enjoy the intense pressure.

Anyways kiddos, not too much to report from this end. Last Monday was the two year anniversary of the overthrowing of the government. Revolution Day! 

 

Naturally, we had a public holiday (any excuse, Tunisia, eh?). Rather than knuckle down with the essay, my friend Jasmin and I headed on over to the Roman Bath ruins, to celebrate quite a different period of oppression in Tunisia.

The Antoine Baths are in Carthage, about 15 minutes from Tunis and 10 from my house. Given that it was a public holiday, all of the historical sites were free - not that this incentive drew in the crowds or anything. Tunisia national heritage sites are the saddest things in the world. Incredible Roman ruins from the second century stand unseen and unappreciated, while direct flights fly from the UK and Germany straight into the all-inclusive resorts in Hammamet and Sousse. You can't blame the tourists, sight-seeing in Tunisia is a labour-intensive exercise, You need to come with your own books and your internet print-outs. There are no leaflets, no tour guides, audio tours, and the only plaques that have been put up are in French and the writing has washed off them anyway. I told Jasmin about the Somerset town of Bath, and how the remains their are about a tenth of the size and you pay a tenner (update: just looked it up £13.25!) to get herded around like sheep, whereas in Carthage, we didn't see another soul.

So while we rocked it out in the third largest bath complex in the Roman world and walked in the footsteps of civilisation as we know it, there was a little party on Habib Bourguiba, and they covered the clocktower with the Tunisian flag.

 

National celebrations were happy and peaceful, with most people choosing to stay at home and celebrate with their families. I'm no political commentator, but disenchantment remains in New Tunisia. People believe that the Government is still not working hard enough to increase employment, improve trade links and facilitate the economic growth that this country feels she deserves. And evidence of this frustration is everywhere...

The Christmas Knitwear Parade

Happy New Year, Ladies and Gentlemen. 

Did you miss me? Of course not! Because you were either too busy enjoying your own yuletide, or I was with you, live and direct, you lucky swines.

I had a brilliant Christmas, thanks to my beautiful family, fabulous friends and the odd strangers here and there, who helped me carry suitcases up and down stairs at tube stations and let me read their newspapers over their shoulders.

Did you think I hadn't been knitting? Ahh, silly, I tricked you. I was knitting up a storm of glorious Christmas gifts, and here they are:

Brooches for my Homegirls:

 Gloves for Nanny

 Tea Cosys for the Aunties

Slippers for Mama:

I predict that this will be a big knitting year. I'm at "that age" and so this year is already due to feature lots and lots of pregnant friends, whose offspring will be crying out for an Auntie Shell Original.

Wishing you all strength, love and kindness for 2013 xxx

Princess Dinners

The world over, the close of the Gregorian calendar brings an array of end-of-year parties, annual lunches and farewell dinners, and things are no different here in Tunis. In addition, I have recently moved teams at work and so I have had the added excitement of a leaving-lunch in my honour, which I had yesterday, and which will be the main content of today's story. But, before that, I must tell you about a few other restaurants which I've been lucky enough to visit in the last week:

1. Dar el Jeld

I had heard about this restaurant almost on arrival to Tunis and ever since then I have been hoping to pay a visit. Set in a renovated traditional Tunisian Villa right in the heart of the Tunis Medina, this restaurant boasts the highest quality Tunisian food (and the highest prices to match).

With a former classmate in town, my friend Jung set about getting a table with military-endurance and saint-like patience, and it certainly paid off. The restaurant is full to capacity every night and those tables are like gold dust.

With an enthusiastic music team and candles reflecting off of the floor to ceiling tiles, this place had ambience by the bucket load. Our waiter proudly gave us a tour of the house before dinner, which was a bit weird, as people were eating in the other rooms, but you couldn't blame him for wanting to show the place off. It was truly beautiful.

 Banging Decor

I had Couscous et Poisson (Sea Bass) which was completely divine, and was served with roasted apple (but controversial - perhaps Heston Blumenthal had paid them a visit?). Really beautiful food.

 Couscous et Poisson

For dessert, I had Crème Tunisienne, which was delicious.

2. Le Cap

Our Young Professional Christmas dinner was at Le Cap this year. Le Cap is a group of Restaurants and Bars in Gammarth which serve French/Lebanese/Libyan Fusion food. I had an incredible steak, but everything is superb there, even the little olive croissants that they serve with the starters.

I had been having wild chocolate cravings all day so I sated myself with a big fat Moelleux au Chocolat for puds... incroyable!

 The fruit was nothing to do with me

3. Circolo Italiano

My new team's Christmas lunch was held at the Italian Club, which is a strange little building close to the zoo, where, once you step inside, you are in Italy. The waiters only speak Italian, they serve real pork (be still my heart) and the TVs are somehow all showing Italian football. The food was exquisite, as always. I had Ravioli, as always. And they had darling Christmas Tree in the foyer, covered in gingerbread men and dried oranges.

Which brings me to yesterday's Princess Dinner:

4. Restaurant El Walima

So yesterday for lunch, my former team surprised me with lunch at Restaurant El Walima. Amazing. Let's take a break from all this food, for a history lesson:

When Tunisia was part of the Ottoman Empire in 1705, a royal family was installed, who ruled under the title of "Bey". The title was hereditary and was passed along the male line through the generations, even after Tunisia became a protectorate of France.

 

At the independence of Tunisia on 20th March (my birthday!) 1956, the Bey at that time, Muhammad VIII al-Amin, became King of Tunisia. A year later, the Prime Minister, Habib Bourguiba, declared Tunisia a Republic and the Bey dynasty came to an end. His daughter, the princess, opened a restaurant in downtown Tunis and now wears a traditional royal gown to serve diners a delicious Tunisian feast, Monday to Saturday

.

Little display for the Dey Dynasty on the wall - no, that is not the princess!

So while I didn't take a picture of the princess, here is the traditional Tunisian fare that we were served:

Starters: Clockwise from top left, 1. Lablabi, a spicy (with harissa) tomato soup with chickpeas, 2. Mloukhia, a bay leaf stew with okra and beef, 3. Noicer Pasta, which is little squares of pasta made from semolina, cooked in cinnamon  4. Mechouia Salad, salad made with boiled egg, tuna, sweet peppers and oil. And this, naturally was served with hot French bread.

Inbetweenies: Brik - which you have seen before, so I won't show you here.

Entree: There was lots of choice, but I had the prawns, which came with some mixed shell fish, salads and some chippies

Dessert: A fruit salad, which I won't show you here, because everyone knows what a fruit salad looks like - this one had lots of pineapple in.

Tea: The tea course was a mint tea with pinenuts and a Pistachio Tunisian Creme.

Afterwards I went back to my office and promptly fell into a coma.

Other things that are happening:

• I paid off my credit card bill, so my finances are finally looking healthy and lovely for the first time since buying my house. Promptly afterwards I sent a friend a long email about how we should go to Toulouse in January... so it seems that I may not have learnt my lesson...
• I ran 10km this morning. Very exciting - it was probably all that Princess Fuel. In less than an hour too, 59:05mins. Not all good though, as I did forget to bring my bra in my change of clothes - so I'm going to have to wear my sweaty sports bra all day... mmm...
• Anna Karenina... not happening....yet.