View from our hotel (You should be able to see the Mediterranean in the pic)
View near our hotel
View from our hotel deck
Golden Tulip swimming pool (pacine)
ACST Room 2C
Reading nook Room 2C
Ms. Vaughn in Room 2C
Tunisia! We have been in country for over two days now. The flights over were pretty uneventful until our final approach into Tunis. As our wheels were about to touch ground the pilot punched the accelerator and pulled up in to steep ascent completely aborting the landing. A wild ride and a few minutes later we were informed that the plane had encountered an unexpected tail wind that threatened a stall. After a looping tour of Tunis we made a second approach and touched down as if nothing ever happened.
We were greeted at the airport by Allen and Julie Bredy and their son Gabe...along with all of our luggage! After about an hour in the airport and a lot of broken French we had two new cell phones. From the airport we went to check in at our hotel (The Golden Tulip Hotel) a beautiful five star hotel overlooking the Mediterranean. (Who would have thought teaching could be so rewarding?) For the next ten days this resort is our home. From the hotel we were given a tour of our future home in Gammarth. The town home they found for us is a bit more than we were expecting. Three bed, two and half bath, small private front and back yard, protected carport (just enough room for a pet tortoise or two, the Bredys have three!). Leaving the apartment we were taken to ACST (American Cooperative School of Tunis) so that Kaylee (I mean Ms. Vaughn) could get a glimpse of what she has in store. It's a beautiful, well equipped campus in the traditional Tunisian white and blue. Ms. Vaughn's room is a "small room" by ACST standards, but perfect for her 13 students and Teaching Assistant. After playing in the room a bit we caught our first Taxi back to the Tulip. We explored the hotel vicinity, making it until 8pm before we passed out (having slept about 5 out of the last 50 hours).
Yesterday's highlights included more time setting up the class room and a wonderful Indian food dinner with a group of ACST staff. The Tunisians know how to cook! We really enjoyed the evening getting to know some of the staff and all of their previous international experiences. We enjoyed the great company accompanied by some great Tunisian red wine.
Today we were introduced to Carrefour (the Tunisian, and ultimately French, equivalent of Walmart) by the Bredys who were kind enough to give us a ride and show us around. It is by far the largest shopping establishment that we have ever encountered outside of the states. We were able to find a number of items that Kaylee was still lacking in her classroom. From there we were invited to see the Bredys' house. They have an incredible house in an incredible location. Check out the Punic Ports of Carthage on Google maps. Their house will be a block and a half of both the ports and the Mediterranean! After a quick tour it was back to ACST for a few more hours of organization. A couple hours by the pool, a great Italian meal at the hotel, and here we are now headed for bed.
Random thoughts:
-This is going to be great!
-We both desperately want and need to learn French, (I know my goal was, and may still be, Arabic) So far French seems to be the primary everyday language although the locals definitely know and use Arabic as well. On that note anyone have access to a copy of French Rosetta Stone, not that we would know exactly how to get it here yet?
- There are too many stray cats! *Kaylee
- Very excited to get to the beaches, they look amazing...tomorrow.
More to come...
