Rades, Tunisia

- November 02, 2015

This city is our home for now. It's located 9 km (around 6 miles) from the capital Tunis. It's not far, but since we don't have a car, we didn't go to Tunis yet.

I was in Tunisia for my vacation two years ago. I was in the tourist area, and I didn't go far from our hotel so I couldn't get the real picture of this country.

What makes one place good or bad, pretty or ugly, are not the buildings, streets, stores, but people who live there. What makes you fall in love or hate one town, mostly are people who you get in touch with and the way they treat you. To get a real feeling of one country is to get involved with its culture.

This is Africa. We didn't know what to expect from this place. We have been to five continents already, so we have seen a lot of different cultures. We are easy to adapt. Sometimes it's easier (when we just blend in from the beginning ), and sometimes it's harder (when we need some time to get used to everything).

When you think of Africa, the first thing that comes to your mind is the desert Sahara. That there is nothing except dunes and cactuses. But, it's quite different. Tunisia is not the most developed country, but they do have a solid infrastructure.

The civilization started in Africa 5000 years ago. When you think, that human was here that long ago and had 5000 years to develop, all you can think of is that the space shuttle would be your ride to work. :) Well, it's not like that.

I must say this is a poor country. The level of poverty is visible on ordinary people: the way they dress, the cars they drive, the things they buy in stores. But, one and surely sign of poverty are the faces of the people. Just looking at them, you can tell they are straggling and life wasn't easy for them.

Even though they are not wealthy, they are nice people. Sometimes too nice. You know when someone is so nice to you, you get confused? You don't know if the person is nice just because or they expect something from you in return. It's like that here.

There is a big difference between being a man or woman. As a man, one has all rights. He can do whatever he wants. But, as a woman not so much. At night, you are not going to see a lot of women, but full cafes of men. They are still stuck in the time when man was only one providing for his family, and woman stayed at home taking care of the house and the kids. They are not allowed to have too much fun. Even the dress code for the women is strict. They are allowed to wear whatever they want, but most of them wear abayas or head scarf. The religion plays huge part in this, and I'm not going to argue it.

My main dislike and the biggest problem for this country is the dirt. It's so dirty in here. People would throw trash out of car window, on the streets. There are trash containers, but the trash is everywhere but in the containers. So many cats around these containers, and they are dirty too. When I see them, all I can think of is what kind of disease I could get from them.

As you can see, this is not the prettiest place on the planet. We are still trying to get used to everything. As long as we are together, we are ok.

If you ever have a chance to visit Tunisia, do it. They have beautiful hotels on the see side, and city of Tunis is probably little different.

I could never live here, but I'm glad we came. Another experience that made us richer.