here, finally...

after an overnight flight, an 11 hour layover in Frankfurt, and another late night flight, we arrived in Tunis at around 1 am this morning . The program director and the two homestay coordinators met us at the airport, and we loaded into their cars and set off for our hotel. On our drive there, my car got bad directions and ended up on the road to the presidential palace. There was a beautiful view, but the guards looked a little annoyed at us. We left pretty quickly. Our hotel is in Sidi Bou Said, which is a suburb of Tunis. Its beautiful, and they have a rule that everyone has to paint their houses blue and white. its is really pretty, but it makes it hard to find things. Also, no cars are allowed after a certain point, so we had to walk uphill with our suitcases at 2 am. Our rooms surround a middle courtyard, where we had breakfast, which was bread and fruit and nutella and tea. there are tons of palm trees all around, which i wasnt expecting.
the center where we have classes is also in Sidi Bou Said, and when we move in with our homestay families, I think I'll be living in La Marsa, which is a few stops away on the TGM, the train.
Right now, its Ramadan, so most people are a little grouchy and the stores close by 2 pm. After sunset, though, everyone goes out to cafes to eat and drink. The streets are filled with people, mostly guys. Tomorrow, we're going to Tunis and the Medina, and hopefully I can buy notebooks and sunglasses, since mine broke on the plane.
There are so many beautiful things to take pictures of, so I'm hoping to post some weekly.

bisalma min tunis