Friday, June 06, 2003

One week. That's all that's left in Tunisia. We've been here since August 12, 2002, and we leave next Friday. One week to go. I'm ready. Majorly ready. Now that the movers have taken most of our things away, I feel mentally checked out of this place. It's all logistics and hassle from here on out, and then a terrifying plane ride with the girls. It is simply my hope that Mercedes will not cause the plane to crash. We're going to read a lot of Curious George, all the way across the Atlantic. Then I will throw the book into the ocean. Of course, this is the point at which one starts to be reflective about a place where we've lived for a year. Tunisia has its issues, but it will always stand out as the first place I lived overseas, and, more notably, the place where Reeve was born. We won't likely forget it, since her middle name is Tunisia. I mean that literally, not in the sense of exaggerative effect, though she should be able to use that later in life when Tunisia comes up. REEVE: You're talking about Tunisia? OTHER PERSON: Yeah--do you know anything about it? REEVE: Know anything? Hell, my middle NAME is Tunisia! The five things I will miss most about Tunisia are probably: 1. Some friends we made here, especially Paul and Barbara and John and Sally 2. The climate--even with a longer than average rainy season this year, the weather is fantastic 3. The ocean view from our back windows 4. The sandwiches 5. The Roman ruins here--we've had some great trips The five things I will miss least--that is to say, good fucking riddance: 1. Our stupid kitchen, which is in the basement 2. The stupid drivers and their refusal to stay in one lane 3. The food, other than the sandwiches. It's just boring. 4. Carrefour--the local big French chain grocery store, where one has to shop to find many things, but where it is impossible to not be in a state of perpetual annoyance 5. Our electricity. This seems trivial. But the house electricity is calibrated in some way so that I can't touch any applicance without receiving a sometimes-significant electric shock, unless I have shoes on. Bizarrely, this seems to affect no one in the house except me. Unless I'm turning into Magneto, this sucks. We're not gone yet, but I'm mentally a large way there. One week. 2:29:49 PM    Let's hear it. []