Cruise Day 4: Tunisia----PART 1

(Ok...so I'm at another little wifi spot for a brief time this afternoon....this time in Villefranche (near Monaco)...so I have time to post a little bit before running to get on the ship)

Well Day 4 of our Mediterranean Cruise took us to, arguably, our most exotic port of call: Tunis in Tunisia...a country in Northern Africa.  Jason was particularly proud of this day's magnet....and it ended up being very appropriate because we got to ride camels...AND, without even realizing the connection, our ties at dinner were Aladdin/Genie ties! LOL   But I'm jumping too far ahead....so....

Now, let me say this right of the gate---I know this port was a controversial one for many people.  Lots of people were excited about it because of how unique and exotic was....lots of people ended up not liking it because they had a bad experience (I have heard rumors that the area of Tunis to which Disney Cruise Line sent most guests was overcrowded and crazy and not as much fun as many had hoped)....and I know that there were more than a few people, both on the ship and back home, who had misgivings about visiting Tunisia because it is a primarily Muslim country and it was, ironically September 11th the day we arrived in Tunis. 

All that said, however, Tunisia was both a unique and enjoyable port for us----due in no small part to having made the trip with Adventures by Disney (chalk up another day made special with some Disney pixie dust, experienced guides and good planning!! LOL) 

First, I want to go on record saying that we did not share any of the misgivings about being in a Muslim country as an American on September 11th.  We certainly understood going in that there is a very big difference between "Muslim" and "anti-american terrorist" (even though the two sadly used interchangeably far too often these days *frown*)....nor did I suspect that there was any chance that Disney would take us to a port where, as westerners, we would be unwelcome and/or unsafe.  I have to be honest, however, that I did have a few jitters about being a gay person in a Muslim country since many Muslim nations are notoriously homophobic....but I decided to have "faith, trust and pixie dust" (you frequent Disney Cruise Line guests will understand that reference!! LOL) and to make the best of the day (although there are some funny stories later about how Jason and I clearly didn't fit into all the activities of the day.....hehehehe)

Our day in Tunis, after a short bus ride, was really broken up into two main portions.  The first was a visit to an old beach-side fort that was surrounded by a "medina," or street shopping area----not at all dissimilar from the street bazaar in the opening sequence of Aladdin.  (I had to fight the urge several times to start breaking out in song! LOL).  Shopping in these little street shops involved the tradition of bartering for the price(s) of what you buy.  I have to say that I do NOT like this cultural nuance.  I hate having to negotiate the price of a car or house when shopping in the USA...so dickering back and forth for  the price on a magnet or a few silver braclets was not my favorite experience.  Thankfully, our guide Tina was much more skilled and did the dirty work for us! LOL  At the recommendation of Tina and Robyn, Jason and I decided not only to buy a magnet, but also to buy some silver bracelets onto which the vendor used a small hammer and tool to etch in our names spelled out phonetically in Arabic.  Here is a picture of the bracelets and of Jason with the vendor while they were being made for us:

Following our visit to the fort and the shopping, we were off to an authentic Berber Village run by a local man and his extended family where we would have the chance to experience an authentic glimpse into traditional Tunisian culture----including belly dancing, the arabic language, food, henna tattoos, etc.   Before I go into more detail about the history/culture, experiences and sights/scenery of our visit to Tunis, I'll just say that we went in not really sure what to expect, but hoping for the best----and our hopes were largely both met and exceeded.  We had fun, learned some things, had an opportunity to connect with our fellow adventurers....and certainly experienced something we would NEVER have had a chance to without this trip, this cruise and, more importantly, Adventures by Disney!!

So...here goes....

History/Culture:
We had a guide who met us at the port and spoke to us on the bus as we drove to our destinations.  He talked a great deal about the history of Tunis and of the areas we were going to experience.  He was really friendly and very knowledgeable----but unfortunately my addled brain cannot remember much of what he told us!! LOL  The most significant cultural lessons we learned were from the Berber village....which was also our main experience(s) of the day....so I'll switch directly to talking about our...

Experience
The Berber village was a unique and fun way to experience the traditional Tunisian culture. As we arrived at the village on our bus, we were greeted by traditional drummers and one of the older women of the village/family dancing.  Here are a few images----one of the entrance gate/sign into the village and one of the drummers and dancer:

Once we were in the village, they gave all the men turban head coverings and the women belly dancing belts/scarves to put us in the spirit of things.  Then we were broken up into a few smaller groups to experience the various offerings of the village:  Arabic language class, henna tattoos, tasting some Tunisian foods (traditional breads, olive oil, hot pepper spread, olives, etc.), belly dancing and baking bread.  The Arabic language class was very brief, cut cool, as the brother of the man in charge of the family/village taught us some common phrases and then wrote our names in Arabic (which was nice because the name he wrote was the same as what was written on our bracelets...confirming we'd gotten our names written correctly by the jeweler.....a question which had been the genesis of quite a few jokes aboard the bus! LOL).  Here are some images of the Arabic class:

We were also given a belly dancing demonstration and the women (and especially the little girls in the group) were encouraged to try out belly dancing.  It was very fun to watch and the little girls in the group were having a GREAT time!  Here are some images of the belly dancer who showed us her moves:

There was also a nice little selection of foods for us to taste.  Here's what that spread looked like:

After having a taste of these snacks (and they were delicious!), Jason and I decided to go and get some temporary henna tattoos.  There was a woman from the village who was able to do traditional henna art there and was offering small patterns to members of our group (although it was not "real" henna because they didn't want people to have to keep the tattoos for weeks...but the idea behind it was still fun).  Jason and I both got some artwork on our right bicep (there's a funny story about why we "chose" that area...but I'll tell that in a bit).  Here's another image:

The final experience before we had lunch was the baking of traditional berber bread.  This was very cool to see and do.  The bread, which starts with a ball of dough pressed out into what looks like a very thick pancake, gets pushed up against the side of a clay or stone pit oven with a very hot fire in the bottom of it.  Sticking to the side of the stone there, the bread bakes for eating.  Here are some images for your enjoyment:

Tunisian woman from Berber village demonstrating the baking of the bread.

The stone oven with some bread already baking on the right side and some freshly placed dough on the left.

Jason putting some dough into the oven to bake.

OK...now before I write about lunch (and, honestly, my time is quickly running out, so I strongly suspect that I will have to close in a minute and have Hadley post a "Part 2" of Tunisia for me later this evening or tomorrow morning)...I have to tell you some funny stories about our experience in the Berber village.  As I mentioned earlier in this blog, we were a little concerned about how we would be received as a gay couple in Tunis...but at the same time, those of you who know me know that I'm also not one to necessarily go out of my way to hide who I am (as if I could anyway, right?! LOL).  Well I'm not sure that the family in this village really knew what to make of Jason and I.  It first started with the henna tattoos.  The artist was putting henna on the fingers of all the adventurers who went to her----but they were all women (Jason and I were the only men who opted to get henna).  So I sat down and asked for it on my hand and she was ADAMANT that she would not do that.  So I asked for my forearm. No. My ankle? No.  The only place she would do it was my bicep---which I really didn't want----and I suspect it was a gender thing....that hands are only for women to have henna.  Then, when we were doing the bread baking...they asked if anyone wanted to put bread into the oven themselves.  Several of the women did and then Jason stepped up to do it while Robyn (our guide) and I took pictures.  As soon as he stepped up, they were like "No he's a man!!"...Jason kind of froze but Robyn insisted it was OK and Jason did get to put the bread into the oven (as you can see from the pic above)....but they did inform us that men aren't really supposed to do that because bread baking is women's work in their culture.  (oops...but oh well...leave it to me and Jason to challenge gender boundaries around the world, right?! LOL)  Later when we were doing more belly dancing, our guide Tina asked me if Jason and I would like belly dancing scarves------I declined (even though they were very pretty and fancy)-----I think that had we put on the scarves, with all their jingly gold coins, the poor Berber villagers would have been just beside themselves!! LOL  (perhaps that story isn't that funny to read....but it still makes me and Jason giggle to think about! LOL)

....ok....time to run back to the ship and get aboard.....I will have to post about our lunch....about RIDING CAMELS...and about our dinner at Palo and our ties and towel animal a little later...so look for Part 2 of Tunisia!!