A Tunisian Tale- La pays du Soleil
It's summertime in Tunisia; the season of going to the beaches, parties, open air clubs but most importantly, weddings. Tunisia retains every bit of its French colonial charm; streets are laid out according the French plans and the atmosphere sprinkled with nostalgia of the colonial days. I couldn't believe I was going to travel across 2 continents to attend a dear friend's wedding in Sousse; the heart of North Africa, just a couple of hours drive from the fabled Sahara where Scenes of George Lucas' Star Wars desert were filmed. I didn’t know what to expect, but I took on multiple jobs and 16 hour waitressing shifts to save up for the occasion- a 5 day traditional Tunisian wedding, followed by a drive round the gorgeous country, spending 4 days in tents in the desert and an oasis.
I arrived at Tunis-Carthage airport after a 3-hour flight delay without my baggage. Familiar with losing my luggage and delays, I walked out of the airport into the 40ºc oven heat, clutching my backpack and an official notice of my missing baggage. As I had arrived 3 hours late, I had missed my transport arranged to take me on a 2-hour drive to Sousse. I was pre-warned with horror stories of cab drivers that charge exorbitant fees for tourists and it would be impossible for me to pay the price. I took my chances and hitched a ride a short walk outside the airport’s car park and 2 very kind gentlemen offered to take me since they were also heading to Sousse with their niece and nephew who arrived in Tunis on the same flight as I from Rome. We communicated effectively; they spoke Arabic and Italian, while I spoke French. I had a taste of the warm spirit and hospitality of the Arabic community, the gentlemen took me to their home in the countryside and I had tea with their extended family, meeting the great grandmother and young children.
Travelling requires a completely open mind and heart. I couldn't believe the hospitality and kindness that the family offered me. With the given hitchhike scenario, the possibilities were endless; I could have been robbed, raped and murdered in a foreign land, but I was taken into a warm home and offered food and drinks. So, my journey across 2 continents allowed me to meet villagers in the countryside of Tunisia as well as to be privileged enough to attend a wedding. A true adventure for me as the car swerved off the highway into a beaten path, where we arrived outside flat roofed houses with a donkey stationed outside.
As there were no phone lines in their home, we walked 20 minutes to the nearest kiosk where I tried to call my friend again. I was to take the bus to the city centre and her cousins arranged to pick me up. The kind gentleman, Lazal took me to the bus station and brought me to the city centre. There, Ramzi and Walid found me up as I stood out like a sore thumb amidst the beautiful Tunisians, with gorgeous curls and long curly eyelashes. We met for the first time and there I was, arriving at the Bride’s residence, where all the women of her family were fussing over her, just before her big day.
The night began with a feast, and then we sat around a circle in the huge courtyard and played drums. My first experience with belly dancing, the African beats and an amazing atmosphere of excitement! I retired at midnight, after the long journey and was prepared to wake up early the next morning for the much-anticipated Hammam with the bride and all womenfolk!
On the first day, all the women trooped to the Hammam with the bride in many cars. There, we were all scrubbed squeaky clean while the bride received a full package of facials, scrubs and massages. Next the women hollered like birds to announce the 'polished' bride’s arrival back home. I poked around the kitchen, only to find the little lamb I was patting the night before, slaughtered and lying in a plastic tub by the sink, a gift from the Groom to the bride’s family. So, we had the lamb for dinner and lunch the next day with couscous, lots of spicy sour vegetables and rich gravy. It was discomforting to be eating an animal that I fed the night before, but I ate it out of politeness as they countered my discomfort with ‘Tu n'aime pas le mutton? Ça est! C'est normal, c'est pas grave. Regarde! C'est bon!' Well, as the saying goes, "When in Rome do what the Romans do." I ate the lamb and much as I hate to admit it, it was delicious. I had to truly partake in this cultural immersion and I am glad I was a good sport. For 10 days, I belly danced non-stop, barefoot, in heels, halfway between meals. Any time there was any sort of beat, everyone got up to dance, regardless of situation! The evening was spent with the Bride's immediate family, dining, chatting and enjoying the evening's cool breeze in the courtyard. A few doors down, there was a castle. Tunisians are ingenious craftsmen, and architecture hangs on to the nostalgia of the Roman times. Corinthian, Doric Columns are sold in the markets for building. Many build their own houses; Nadia's home was built by her dad, painted solely White and Blue, to remind them of the town they used to live in, Sidi bou Said where all houses are exactly the same in colour and architectural style.
I spent the 2nd day at the glorious beach, a scene rivaled only by the Discovery Channel beach programmes. My first time in the Mediterranean, besides swimming, I went on parasailing adventures to get a panoramic view of this beautiful city. The 2nd night was traditional night as the guests ate a spread of couscous together with the whole family followed by an oriental orchestral recital from Sousse in the courtyard and a whole evening worth of belly dancing! For refreshments, we had mint tea and sweet fruit snacks. Later in the night, the women gathered together to do henna tattoos. I passed on the opportunity as I gathered around the excitement of everything else that was taking place in the house, the kitchen, and mingled with the other guests.
On the 3rd day, we went to the Medina to discover the authentic crafts of the artisans and to shop for traditional dresses and items. I was overwhelmed by the smells and charms of the Souks. This traditional marketplace has been left virtually untouched since the 6th century; the Medina had a style of its own, being the oldest section of an Arab city in North Africa. The chatoyant colours and myriad of spices that line the narrow streets places one in an amazing environment; a true feast for the senses.
By evening, it was time to prepare for another energy filled evening in the Bride's home. A feast was laid out for the guests where we tasted a variety of Tunisian food; like the local women, we all had a "mechmoum" of Jasmine behind our ears and devoured the diversity of Tunisian food whilst enjoying oriental music. To cap off the night, we all started belly dancing upon hearing the first drum beats.
On the 4th and most important day of the wedding, the bride was to be given away to the Groom by her mother. I went with Nadia's cousin to the costume rentals to pick up the dresses which weighted, literally a good 30-40kg. Decked in a cheong sam, my traditional costume, we got ready for the elaborate ceremonies that would take place. This would involve various costume changes on the Bride's part, to show off her beauty to the Groom and his family.
The opulence of the ceremonies and display were extraordinary. Nadia was to make 4 costume changes; two of which weighed 30kg, a gold plated armour dress of sorts where she would dance and turn elegantly in circles with closed eyes, a roman tradition that remained in Tunisian custom. This costume symbolized the prosperous roman trade with North Africa centuries ago. The bride was seen to represent a boat, sailing a bountiful load of happiness, wealth and health into the Groom's family. It was a highly emotional ceremony as the womenfolk of the family cried as they 'gave away' the bride's hand in marriage. The womenfolk lined up to adorned the bride with jewellery, a truly emotionally charged moment.
On the final evening, the bride and groom headed to the municipal hall for the formal wedding ceremony. The men were dressed to the nines, and the women adorned with the biggest, most colourful jewels for this event! It was literally a jewellery parade of the most sparkling. The efforts and preparations that went into this grand evening were no short of elaborate. In the day, while the men went to the Hammam to divulge their male secrets, we made our way to the beauty salon to prepare ourselves for the evening. I did my hair for a small fee. A gorgeous Tunisian hairdo that involved about 70 hairclips that was a rather arduous task removing at the end of the night! The bride was in hiding, doing her make-up, nails, massage and facial. The hairdressers were pleasantly surprised and curious about my soft straight hair. Being the only South East Asian they'd met, everyone was fawning over my short (long by chinese standards!) straight eyelashes. It was an afternoon of giggles, curious examination of each other. The excitement built up while we preened ourselves for the final leg of the wedding- the last night with the chosen theme of the new Tunisian King and Queen. A throne was set up for the newly weds and everyone offered their best wishes before belly dancing began all over again. Our rendezvous began at the Bride's residence where the groom picked up his fair bride and a throng of cars headed to the municiple building, horning all the way there, to inform the village that someone was getting married! Incidentally, another wedding was taking place and throngs of horning Peugeots lined the roads as traffic made way for the bride’s entourage! That evening the newly weds spend a luxurious evening at a grand hotel where friends and relatives waved the bride off in tears.
The festive events culminated to a fabulous end where the newly weds invited the international guests that hailed from all over, to the fabled Lido Restaurant at the front of the port. We arrived by a yellow Renault taxi van and indulge in copious amounts of champagne by the beach before we made our way to the restaurant. Beware though, the language barrier might cause some misunderstandings when ordering alcohol, a friend ordered vodka lemonade at the bar, but was given a lethal concoction of vodka and limoncello which knocked someone out for the evening.
Boats were moored alongside and the port was buzzing with activities on a Saturday evening. Some guests parted the next morning, but the youthful and charming were to embark on a 4-day 4WD tour to comb the entire state of Tunisia and the northern tip of the Sahara desert! Needless to say, we all arrived back home very drunk and woke up at 0600hrs the next morning to depart on our desert tour. A few of us went back to our studio apartment in the bride’s residence to chat, whilst the more adventurous ones went club prowling at Bora-Bora, a vast open-air club. I wasn't prepared for more dancing in a packed crowd after standing in my heels the entire evening belly dancing away!
The next morning, we all stumbled out of bed glassy eyed, slapped on our SPF and got ready for our journey into the desert. On the itinerary, we were to discover, cascades, ravines, palm groves, fragrant gardens and the Salt, Sand and Rock Desert in the Sahara. Only in Tunisia, these three different types of desert exist on the same plane. I was slightly disappointed as I was hoping to meet some nomads along the way. Nonetheless, it was an incredible journey and fables from biblical times came alive in my head as we drove through the vast planes of golden brown sand. Kudos to the bride's friendly persona, her wedding plans for the guests, we all had a good discount for the 5-day trip, paying about US$200 per person for the desert adventures!
We departed from Sousse to El Jem to visit the famous Roman Colosseum that was a miniature replica of the one in Rome. In the scorching 40º degrees heat at 10 in the morning, we took a guided tour through the Colosseum discovering the grounds of gladiators centuries ago, the prisons and the cages where the lions entered the ring. Next, we proceeded to Gabes and Sfax by 4WD to visit the oldest Tunisian market. We had breakfast at Hotel oasis before continuing to the island of Djerba to have dinner and spent a night at the EL Mouradi Djerba Hotel. One will always be overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of this beautiful country. It is common sight to see camel legs hanging at the butchers swaying in the wind like wind chimes, their heads on display with a giant meat hook. Butchers display the heads of cows and camels alike on a hook that hang above their store. In the narrow streets of the souks, a butcher pushes a wooden cart with 10-12 cow and camel heads. The smell of raw meat and animal blood linger in the air. Two men line themselves up and swiftly toss the heads to the store, very much like a Nike football commercial, just that this time, it's not football, but an animal’s head.
We got up before sunrise the next morning to get ready for our desert tour on camelback before it got too hot. There we passed the on site location where Star Wars was made and visited a ruined monument in the middle of the desert. We returned to the hotel to continue on our journey to Tataouine and discovered the market places during our stop for lunch break. Moving on to Ksar, we spent the night at Paradis hotel where we dined in the middle of the desert, typical Arabic style. After dinner, some of us proceeded to a little hut behind the hotel to have mint tea and smoke shisha before retiring to bed.
On our third day, we visited a typical Troglodyte house in Matmata, an exquisite dessert village and state. This breathtaking area is made up of a barren moonlike rocky landscape in which people have cut their houses. These berber houses are also known as Troglodyte Houses and are cut below ground level - usually 5 to 10 meters deep. This offered protection against the heat and the threat of invasion in the ancient times. Scenes of George Lukas' Star Wars were filmed in this very location, where the founding Berbers hid from equally dangerous threats.
Next, we were herded back into our 4WD and headed for the marvelous Tozeur via two original small towns. We spent some time in this quaint town and explored the Oasis in the small mountains of Chebica. We returned to an Oasis resort at Tozeur and stayed in air-conditioned tents! For the evening, we were taken to a belly dancing restaurant and a gypsie circus show, where men and women performed wonderful tricks jumping on and off horsebacks. A little on the commercial slant, there were berber tents set up showcasing each of their crafts like weaving and pottery. Unless you were in for touristy tours, I would not recommend it. Instead of a cultural immersion of learning, it ridged a divide between the foreigners and locals, that made the event look more like a commercial transaction rather than cultural enrichment.
On the last day of our desert tour, we left to take the "Red Lizard" train of El Bey near Metlaoui early that morning to avoid traveling in the scorching mid day heat. There, we went through natural mountains and mud valleys to soak in the atmosphere of the vast landscape. We later had lunch in a quaint little restaurant in Kairouan, traditional Tunisian cuisine of couscous, meat dishes in delicious gravy and fresh vegetable salad prepared in a typical Tunisian manner.
Through Gafsa and Kairouan, our vehicles made their way back to Sousse. I was scheduled to leave the following morning, back home to Singapore. Saying goodbye is never easy, especially after the eventful 10 days I spent soaking up the true spirits of being Tunisian. Their big heartedness have left an indelible mark in my heart, and their warm cheerfulness that lights up any party with excessive amounts of belly dancing. I had an experience of a lifetime, which will be rivaled by no other.
With the stranger's family, the man whom i hitched a ride from.
