Elections

I don't know how it could possibly be 17 days already since our last post. I guess it goes to show how busy we have been. I'll summarize with a short highlight real because there is no way that I have the stamina to detail the last two and a half weeks.

- I got a job! Well, more precisely I have always had a job. Last Wednesday I was told that since I was performing a necessary function that I should be getting paid for it. I couldn't disagree with that. The "internship" had not been quite as enlightening as I had hoped. Since about the third day I have been focusing all of my time assisting with the asset/purchase order matching process, which for a day or two can be interesting, but it quickly becomes a bit monotonous. Getting paid doesn't really make the work any more exciting, but it does make it feel like a more constructive use of my time. They also surprised me by giving me back pay for the previous month, which was an appreciated bonus. It's not great pay by American standards, but at the same it's not the 2 Dinar an hour (about a $1.40) that I could be making at a local wage.

- Kaylee and I joined the Hash group last Saturday. They bill themselves as a drinking group with a running problem. Members take turns each week setting out a running course. Last week's was about 8k in one of the hilliest parts of Tunis. The drinking part comes in after the run, when everyone has a beer or two of Tunisia's finest (which is really more or less water) to rehydrate. In pre-revolution days the group used to alternate weekends between Tunis and more adventurous runs out-side of the city. It should be a good way to see new areas and meet new people since its membership is drawn from the school, bank, embassy, and other local organizations.

- We are still playing soccer every Wednesday and the turn-out is typically good, somewhere between 12 and 18 usually. Yesterday, the campus security crew (plus Kaylee, their ringer) challenged the rest of the staff, myself included. After taking a 4-0 lead the security forces began to lose their way and we were able to come back for 8-6 victory! It is a lot of fun to have a consistent group of competitive players to play with.

- Low Light - Permanent, land-line based internet for our house came within sight at the beginning of this week. We picked up our modem/router from the school so all we have to do is wait for the go-ahead to hook it up... Unfortunately, we also learned to our dismay that the internet infrastructure in our area is at capacity. In other words, we now have to wait indefinitely for Tunisia Telecome to upgrade the capacity in our area. It has been suggested that it could be done as quickly as 1-2 weeks, but in all honesty (do to the general speed at which things move in Tunisia) I will be very excited if we have a connection before we head home for winter break. Tunisia Telecom's generous response to the situation is that we do not have to pay for internet service until the line becomes available. Quite generous when you consider that fact that in order to determine if there was capacity for us we were first required to pay a 100+ dinar initiation fee and sign an irrevocable one year contract. Oh well, at least the school has decided to provide us with another 3g internet key which they will be paying for until our actual service comes online.

-Low Light- Our car is consistently a piece of garbage. We are taking it to the shop, for the second time since its purchase less than a month ago, in less than an hour. After running the Hash this weekend it would barely start and then not run at more than 500 rpm without stalling. We were in the process of calling (more like arranging with help from people at school) a tow truck when after 15 minutes of worthlessness it decided to return to its typical semi-worthless state. When ever it sits for more than a few hours it takes multiple tries to get it running. We took it to a new mechanic Monday (the same one it is going back to today) so they could get an idea of what they would be working on tomorrow. They found a few broken electrical components in the engine as well as "mal compression" in cylinder one, which unmistakable must mean bad/no compression in one of our four cylinders. The mechanic told us this was "big problem." (No kidding, bad compression at home equals blown head gasket equals engine rebuild equals big dollar sign) He thinks it will cost around TND 250, about $175, maybe not such a big problem here after all. I'll believe it when I see it and when the car is still running well a week from now.

-High Light- We planted a garden. Four bags of sheep sh- manure, a few bags of seeds, water, and a week later this morning we saw the first of our lettuce sprouting. We are growing basil, two kinds of lettuce (which is difficult to find in any kind of quality at the stores and markets), a couple kinds of peppers, and some cucumbers. We will take pictures when ever we find our upload cord. We also have grass seed spread on the front and back "yards" which should be fully grown in just in time for the summer heat to kill it.

- Coming Up- Tomorrow we are going to our second poker night which promises to be a good time. Saturday, we are playing ultimate Frisbee in the morning and then pretty much have the rest of the weekend unplanned. I think that Sunday at some point there is also going to be a rugby world cup final party / Tunisian Election party that we may be attending.

- Elections-

On Sunday the 23rd Tunisia is holding elections to select a body of representatives to rewrite their constitution and attempt to create a functioning democracy where a dictatorship has stood for the last 5 decades. There are something like 100 candidates that are on the ballot, which I believe fall mostly into two major political groups: the moderates and the conservative Islamic party. We don't really have much access to political news which makes most of this a guessing game for me. Some of the locals and taxi drivers will mention things occasionally, but there isn't one all-informative source to learn from (at least in English and from an outsider's perspective). What we have heard seems to tend towards the positive. There is a strong push for the elections to be open and credible and to have a strong voter turnout. The military/security forces are also said to be much more prepared to maintain the peace than during the revolution and have greatly increased their numbers recently. The few political gatherings that have taken place recently have remained peaceful which is a good sign as well. The other side of the story is told by the stores and markets. Yesterday was the first time in two weeks that we have been able to find milk at the store and both milk and bottled water have been on a loose ration for most of the month. Clearly many of the locals are preparing for a potential negative outcome. To prepare for Sunday, new security procedures, drills, and communication methods have been implemented and tested on campus this week, but all signs still point to things proceeding smoothly next week. The real fallout (good or bad) from the elections probably won't be seen immediately. More likely it will be in the weeks and months to come as the elected set about recreating this country.

We will try and post again Sunday (assuming that internet is functioning and available). Hope that all is well at home.

- Off to the mechanic, yay. Oh, and it just started pouring rain and lighting, delightful.