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| A Tunis street |
Tunisia caught me by surprise. This confusing,
frustrating and beautiful place is taking more time to get to know than
most countries I’ve lived in. But, as I am starting to see, it is worth the effort...
For the first few weeks here, I was miserable.
To be honest, to me Tunisia was lacking the vibrant colour and warmth of
Senegal. The cold bit into me at night and as I sat working during the
day. People seemed so aggressive- pushing each other on the sidewalks,
men catcalling me every other minute, yelling from all sides, all the
time. They spoke to me in Arabic and then laughed when I couldn’t answer
back. I saw things in shades of grey- the sky, the dark clothes, my
mood when I was constantly harassed by men. I’ve been a world traveller
since I was a kid, and for the most part I don’t experience much culture
shock anymore. But this place was different. I couldn’t wrap my head
around it. I couldn’t get used to it. I would get home tired and
discouraged. I didn’t want to read, or write, or think, I just wanted
quiet from the cacophony of noise I was bombarded with each day.
One of the only things that made me smile was working at Tunisia Live.
The stories I wrote were exciting, exhausting, and fulfilling. They made
me think, and a couple times, cry.
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| Blue skies from the roof |
I got to know some of the Tunisian writers as I
edited their stories and asked for their help with my own. I made
mistakes (some of them big), and their kindness and patience in teaching
me about their country started to slowly change my view of my new home.
I went to the market at lunch time, taking in the colours and laughter
of fresh produce and the vendors who are colourful characters
themselves. One friend showed me a used bookstore across from our
office, a treasure for someone who loves to read like I do. I bought a
novel by my favourite author, Antoine de Saint Exupery, and sat reading
it in the sunshine by the open balcony, looking up at one of the first
blue skies I’d seen since arriving. Tunisia was starting to look better.
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| Fashion Week Tunis: a look from Narcisco Domingo Machiavelli |
And then Fashion Week Tunis rolled around. Being
immersed in the creativity of a country rebuilding itself was one of the
most exhilarating experiences of my life. I have aways wanted to write
about fashion and social change, but never thought that I would be able
to write about both in one story. I realized then that I am doing
exactly what I dreamed of when I signed up for journalism school.
It was
also at Fashion Week that something else occurred to me: this is part of
the Revolution too. The beauty, message, passion, joy and youth is all
vital to this new phase in Tunisia’s history. And by writing about it,
and more “serious” topics, I’m a part of all that as well. It’s a
humbling thought. As my friend Seyf said to me one day, why wouldn’t I
want to be here, crafting a country from scratch, whether it’s in
fashion, art, music, politics or journalism? There is a freedom here, a
sense of possibility that I have never experienced before.
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| Tunis in bloom |
And that’s why, a little over two months
into living in Tunisia, I can’t imagine being anywhere else. I’ve also had a chance to travel a bit outside Tunis, and the beauty of the
country has left me itching to see more. There is so much left to see,
so many things I want to know. I feel like I am contributing in some
small way, as a part of a team of people I am proud to call my friends.
Every day is its own adventure, and every day I am learning. And for me,
that’s enough to make me stick around.
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| A better view (by Rabii Kalboussi) |
