Come on fly with me, let's take off in the blue!

Well, then. Where to begin?

We're in Tunisia! The trip started in the North Terminal of DTW. It's new, but it's ugly. There are almost no windows and few shops. It's basically just a long, drab hallway. McNamera Terminal is much better... plenty of windows, shops, and a fountain. So anyway, we went through security with no problem and then set out to find somewhere showing the soccer game (Uruguay vs. Ghana). There were two sports bars/restaurants with the game and so we chose one that we could watch without going in and buying food. After watching the first half of the game, one of the bartenders felt sorry for us and gave us waters and a place to stand that was not in the hallway. During overtime, a crowd gathered around us, and Nidhal made the acquaintance of a German who ended up being near us on the flight to Frankfurt.

The flight was uneventful. Two Tunisian guys from Dearborn were seated near us on the plane. Nidhal had met one of them before. I watched Invictus and Valentine's Day. Neither was as good as I'd hoped. Nidhal watched a German movie called Friendship. It looked pretty good...

In Frankfurt, we had to go through security again before we could go to our next flight. Stupid. And then they told us that the flight was overbooked. Nice. But we got on the plane with no problems. This flight was more annoying than the transatlantic one because I was exhausted, there was a screaming child, and there was no TV telling us where we were. But they gave us really good food: pasta, bread and butter, bottled water, and a Toblerone chocolate bar. I was surprised we got so much for a two hour flight. My first glimpse of Tunisia was from the air. Tunis is huge. On the ground, Nidhal and I got through customs just fine, and after picking up our luggage, we met his dad and one of his brothers (Ridha) in the waiting area. I had seen so many pictures of them, but they looked different in person.

And then there was the drive to the house. Tunisia was what I expected but not what I expected. A lot of the roads didn't have lines on them, and so traffic was every man for himself. Nidhal was surprised by this too. Apparently Tunisia is doing well right now and so there is a lot of construction which somehow caused the lines on the road to be gone...? Also because of this construction, there are piles of what appears to be rubble (actually building materials) everywhere. But it's not a sign of decay, it's a sign of prosperity, which I find interesting. Tunisia is definitely an Arab/Mediterranean country. No question. But there's a bit of Europe in it, too.

Severely jet lagged, we arrived at the house and were greeted by most of his immediate family. I couldn't understand a word, unfortunately. The communication has since gotten better though. I'm slowing picking up on more Arabic words, and his father and siblings make an effort to speak to me in English. Sometimes French is used to get the message across, sometimes hand motions, and once, Google Translator. Nidhal's family is extremely nice to me. His dad and sister took me to a Meijer-like store the second night I was here and told me to put whatever I wanted in the cart. The two oldest brothers have been very friendly and have offered to get me pop or ice cream multiple times. His mom has also been very very nice. He has a great family.

Yesterday, Nidhal took me to the Medina (old city) and the Souk (marketplace). I thoroughly enjoyed it all, especially the Souk. We didn't buy anything this time, but Nidhal assures me that we will go back multiple times.

And it's hot. Mid-day is rough and everyone ends up taking naps. But as soon as evening comes, the change in temperature is incredible. It's so cool and fresh in the evenings.

So that's all for now. Bislema!