Spring Break 2010: Tunisia

So. Spring Break 2010: Tunisia. Where to even begin? I mean, North Africa! Let me start by saying that the ten days I spent on this school study trip comprise one of the best experiences of my life so far. Looking back on break, I can't believe I did all the things I did and experienced so much. I'm dividing spring break into two entries, because one is just too tiring to write or read or comprehend all at once.
Our story begins at the JFRC (the J-Force, the J-Frick, the Jo-FeRoCe). After an embarrassing near-emergency in which I almost embarked on a 10-day journey without my glasses or any contacts besides the pair of dailies I was wearing, I have since learned that packing takes much more time and attention than I had given it. So we 70 students piled into coach buses and headed for Fiumicino, from where we flew a direct Rome-Tunis flight in.. less than an hour? Nice. And boom, I was in Africa. My third continent before I even turned 20! So many statistics flew through our heads as we took our first steps off the plane (in Africa), had our first bus ride (in Africa), ate our first meal (in Africa), and so on. After landing in Tunis, Tunisia's capital city, the first stop on our agenda was.. the US Embassy! He's a silly (read as: nerdy) guy, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. So after that, we headed to our hotel and, after a delicious dinner buffet there, went out to a hookah bar in Sidi Bou Said, compliments of the JFRC.
The next morning everyone put on their best business casual and we sat down for a presentation by a notable Tunisian scholar, which would have been wonderful, if a painfully strong language barrier and not enough sleep were not the two overriding factors in this equation. Afterwards it was off to a luncheon with a large group of Tunisian law students, followed by another presentation on Islam and women. We young adults of the world walked through the medina a bit, and that was it for the day. Important to know, by now I had already fallen in love with Tunisia. That night I don't remember what we even did, but I'm sure it was fun, exciting, and slightly adorable.

That Sunday morning we headed out from our hotel for the Bardo Museum in Tunis, full of ancient Roman mosaics and statues and whatnot. After lunch in Le Kram, we began our rainy tour of Carthage. For the next few hours, we hopped on and off our humid buses and explored the ancient Carthaginian Empire. Stops included a child necropolis at Tophet, the Roman forum on Byrsa hill, and the Antonine baths and some other ruins along the coast. Next we visited the U.S. WWII Cemetery and Memorial of North Africa, where fallen American soldiers from the North African campaign are laid to rest. After our time in the greater Tunis area, we set out for out hotel in Sousse, another city on the Mediterranean coast.
The next morning we woke up, now in a new part of Tunisia. This Monday was a busy day! Our time in Sousse was brief, and we headed straight to El Jem. Once there, we visited the amazing Roman amphitheatre (you know, like a colosseum, except only the Colosseum should be called that). It was breathtaking, especially not yet having been inside the largest and most famous one "at home" in Rome. It was my second amphitheatre after the one in Pompei. Tunisia continued to prove itself to be a gorgeous country. Of course, we stopped at another mosaic museum before piling back into the buses and moving down to Gabès.
There, we visited a spice market where I bought cinnamon and saffron (qerfa and zafaran), and I'm excited to cook something with them when I return home. On our way to Matmata and our hotel, we stopped (semi-invasively) at the home of this old Tunisian woman. It was cool to see the place though, and afterwards we arrived at a (the?) Star Wars bar. I don't remember the films much, so I couldn't conclude that we were being misled or not when they said it was the actual set from the bar scenes. Regardless, we enjoyed ourselves immensely, and spent the night in a neat hotel with a similar cavey theme.