Friday, April 11, 2003

It's a stunningly gorgeous day in Tunis.  Just beautiful blue skies, about 70 degrees, no wind.  The water is a lovely blue-green.  Fantastic. We're here for two months.  We leave on June 13, back in the US for the summer before heading to Dubai in the UAE.  We've been in Tunisia since last August--almost eight months exactly.  It's gone fast, and a lot of things have changed in the world at large and in our home since then.  Even though two more months is really quite a bit of time, it's going to sail by, I'm sure.  I'm already beginning to think about this as the end of our time in Tunisia.  It's important not to think ahead too much, I believe; it inhibits one's ability to enjoy what's happening now.  Nevertheless, it's hard not to think about coming back to the US for a while, and then thinking about Dubai beyond that.  This will not be the last time I write about this in this space, to be certain.  For now, what I'm looking forward to most about the summer is actually the hours immediately after we get off of the plane--the feeling of returning home.  The comfort level.  The differences in perspective after living overseas for this many months.  All of that, and Mexican food. But I'm going to miss Tunisia.  It's beautiful here, the weather is great, the people are basically friendly, it's historically very rich.  The food is strangely boring, given that this country is surrounded by France, Italy, the Middle East, Spain, Greece, Morocco, etc., but there are plenty of other interesting things.  Periodically, as our time here winds down, I'll post a couple pictures of places we've been or things we've seen in Tunisia. This is Dougga--a nice set of ruins about 90 minutes southwest of Tunis.  Beautiful site, nicely preserved.  This picture is taken from the steps of the Capitol at Dougga.  It captures the green hills nicely, I think. Ruins at a different site straight south of here--Sbeitla.  The sky is wonderful here.  It's not all ruins in Tunisia, but there are some nice ones. 1:51:11 PM    Let's hear it. []