Work

Well, it happened. I guess it was inevitable. Retirement has ended as abruptly as it began. Starting Monday I will be interning (aka volunteering) in the Finance department at ACST. Although my actually position remains a bit nebulous, it sounds as though I will be assisting the previous Finance Director reconcile the master fixed assets account to begin with. From there I will be floating between the sub departments (HR, Accounting, Finance, and Acquisitions) learning a bit about how everything works and melds together and assisting where I can. The Finance Director's predecessor has been contracted to reconcile the fixed assets account because he spent the previous 5 years with ACST and hopefully has a general grasp on what has been purchased over the last few years. So far that has required him to bar-code and photograph every piece of equipment and furniture on campus. Having just finished that, I will begin helping him swim through the last ten years of purchase orders to determine each item's origin and purchase price. It sounds like it might be a bit of paper work at the beginning, and it is going to be hard to beat the vacation I have been living at the Tulip, but it will be nice to have a constructive focus (I mean other than the French and Arabic that I have been spending 4+ hours a day on).

This is now our tenth day in Tunis (and the Tulip). If I recall correctly, on our first day here we were told that our town house would be ready for us in ten days. As far as we can tell our new home will now be ready for us in... ten days. I'm not complaining, the Tulip is great, especially not ever having to cook or clean, but living out of eight unorganized duffel bags is becoming less than convenient. I took my suit out of one of the bags last night (actually out of multiple, rarely can we find what we are looking for in just one) and hung it up hoping that at least the major creases would smooth out with the help of gravity. No such luck. Hey, at least I was able to find it. Come to think of it, at least it made it here and isn't still kicking around in the back baggage room of Lufthansa somewhere in Europe.

Kaylee is really enjoying her class so far (I am sure she can elaborate with a post of her own soon). She has 13 students... 14 as of today. I am not sure where the newest student is from, but the first 13 represented 12 different countries, none of which were the U.S.. Although none of them speak English as their primary language, the vast majority speak well enough to contribute and benefit from Kaylee's instruction.

Yesterday, while Kaylee was working I joined the Bredy brothers for a trip to the Medina in downtown Tunis. The Medina was once an original walled city, from which all walled "Medinas" derive their name. It is now a bit of a tourist trap where you can purchase (or more likely grossly overpay for) all sorts of souvenirs and other "authentic Tunisian" items. It is very reminiscent of our time in the Kanakalili (spelling?) in Cairo. Gabe ended up buying a traditional Bedouin head scarf as well as a Libyan flag of the new design. Surprisingly, as multilingual as most of the shop owners are, our broken Spanish was more valuable in haggling than English. The Medina (and the rest of downtown Tunis) is located about 30-45 minutes away by commuter train. Getting on at the northern most stop in La Marsa we spent 900 milliems each to ride it to the southern most stop on the line, roughly $0.65. Not bad for 40 minute train ride.

La Medina is the bottom left market.

Random Thoughts:

- The water is pretty good. Definitely drinkable. The Tunisian water treatment leaves the water very soft. Possibly the softest water I have ever had. It tastes like...actually it has no taste whatsoever. It makes you realize how much flavor our northwest water (even the city water) has. When you drink it, especially when cold, it isn't bad and it quenches your thirst but it is absolutely flavor neutral, which makes for an interesting baseline when pared with all of the flavor rich food we have had so far.

- Tunisian driving is different. A bit more chaotic (and aggressive at times) than home, it is still quite safe which is supported by the general lack of traffic in our area. We hear that there are specific traffic laws and traffic police that will enforce them, but we haven't seen much evidence of it. They do, for the most part, obey stop lights and stop signs, but conventions like being in a specific lane to turn a specific direction are just not commonly observed. They also have a bit of intersection infrastructure that is unlike any that we have seen else where (I will try to find an aerial picture online and post it). In many places it is necessary to exit to the right in order to make a looping left across the original road. This actually works fairly well, because it prevents traffic from waiting for someone to take a left turn (and I am sure that here it prevents a lot of minor fender-benders). Seat belts in Taxis are hit and miss here. For the most part the passenger seat has an operable seat belt, but the rear seats have shoulder straps that don't have anywhere to plug them into. This questionable set up is somewhat off set by the generally slower pace with which traffic moves. It has been rare to approach speeds that we would on a day to day basis in the states. Overall, it is a bit of an experience every time you get in a taxi. Whether it is trying to convey your destination to the driver; smiling, while convincing them that we can in fact do math and that no, if I owe you three dinar and give you ten I should not receive 6 in return; or clenching just a bit as you enter a blind intersection, it's all mostly fun. Also, the key that seems to make it work (as is the case with many other countries we have been in) is a level of attentiveness by the driver that is not often found at home.

Tunisian intersection. (My artistic skills at work.)

- The French have made their language intentionally difficult to pronounce. The spelling rarely directly conveys the sound of the word. I would hate to think how difficult English would be to learn from an outsider's perspective. We are picking phrases up slowly and can now count somewhat confidently, which makes haggling that much easier and entertaining. I now have a copy of French Rosetta Stone which I have been dedicating much of my free time towards. Our goal is to know enough to be worthy tour guides when you all come to visit.