Sunday September 5th
Apparently all over southeast asia there is a cock roach problem. We found that one out quite quickly. Bjorn told us we would get used to it. We went with Nadia to meet 2 of her friends, Grace and Julia. After some tea and crumpets we went to a Chinese temple in downtown Jakarta. It was an interesting place with extreme amounts of inscence burning. We then took a cab to the Dutch square. We saw some weird act of crazy Indonesian men. The head guy had put 2 others into a trance and they were being whipped with loud ropes, and the 2 boys were paraded around the circle eating glass for money. After it ended we went to Café Batavia, the supposed best café in Jakarta. We saw some of Graces friends who had just come back from drinking Cobra blood. They even had the video of the head being chopped off. Supposedly it was good for hangovers.
We sat around drinking tea for a few hours then headed back to Grace’s apartment in Kemang to have pizza. We also watched Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona. What an interesting and odd movie. After the movie we went to catch a cab. Once back we watched some British FX channel show called Peep show and went to bed.
Monday September 6th
James woke up early to go take advantage of the Gym Nadia had at her apartment. Mark tried to sleep in. We experience our first tropical downpour and holy crap did it rain. You can watch the rain move in and then the visibility drops to almost nothing. Streets flood easily, and traffic slows down. Tried to upload our photos to blogger again, but the website still did not work. Nadia made a lunch of pasta and meat sauce, we ate and watched Toy Story 2. We packed up our things and caught a cab to Ries’ house in Cinere. This ride should take only 35-40 minutes but with Jakarta traffic it took us 3.5 hours to get there. Mark watched a movie on his Ipod he was so bored. The cab total after 3.5 hours was only 170,000RP (about $18). If you sat in a cab in New York City for that long you would go bankrupt. Upon arrival we met Steve Woodhouse, Ries’ husband. He is a very funny man. We had dinner, and met some of Ries’ family who lives and works for the family. Ended the night talking about our future plans and concluded the night watching a few episodes of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This was Nadia’s first time and now she’s hooked. Goodnight.
Tuesday September 7th
Woke up late morning, had breakfast, which is prepared every morning for us. We then chatted with Ries about our next few months in Indonesia. Checked out some books on Indonesia, then went to lunch at a Thai restaurant in the mall near the house. In the mall’s here they actually have good food courts. Once back we talked about British and American slang curse words. Then Ries took us to the mall to do some food shopping. Walked around the mall for a little. When we entered the market we noticed a horrendous smell. It was the fruit, Durian. A fruit that smells horrible but supposedly tastes good. After we sat down for some fresh fruit drinks, where James tried avocado juice for the first time. It was delicious.
Wednesday September 8th
We woke up and took showers. Not a regular shower though. You fill a bucket with water from the bathtub faucet then take a smaller bucket and dump water over yourself. It is quite interesting. One good thing is when you get out of the shower, you dry off in no time. We unpacked and settled in. We then went to go check out the National Monument in downtown Jakarta with Nadia. The entrance was underground. The history of Indonesia was expressed through little exhibits that showed the reenactment of important events in history. Nadia said that they were made to make it seem as peaceful as possible when in reality there was much war. We then took an elevator up to the top where there were 360 degree views of the city. After we took a cab to a restaurant in the most upscale mall in Jakarta called Social house, where we met Nadias friends Maeve and Andrew. Maeve is from Australia and Andrew from Philly. Good food, and awesome ice tea’s. We went to try to go get massages but the place was closed for Idul Fitri, the end of Ramadan.
We ended up taking a cab to a bar called Caz Bar, where we played pool and drank some Bintang (Indonesia’s Beer). The bar filled up with greasy old expats and younger Indonesian women. A few of Nadia’s friends joined us and we drank some more, had some food and played lots of card games. It was pool tournament night so the place filled up, with people and cigarette smoke. It is still legal to smoke indoors at many places, straight up disgusting. Cigarettes are dirt-cheap here as well, about 3 dollars a pack. Bar tab ended up being about 3 Million Rupiah, oops. We finally left after about 8 hours. Stopped by Nadia’s apartment to pick up some things then went back to Cinere. No traffic at 1am at night, only took us about 40 minutes. Got home, grubbed some food, watched more Sunny and went to bed.
Thursday September 9th
Woke up and checked out a world atlas with ries while Steve made us his famous scrambled eggs. Internet is horrible here so we can’t finish our blog yet again. Headed back to Nadia’s for the day. Headed down to the pool, Mark forgot his board shorts so had to borrow her friends pair which were purple with numbers and letters on them, sort of like sesame street. We went to the gym to run before the pool. Never made it to the pool because it started to pour. James suggested we take the stairs back up to Nadias. 16 flights. Not the smartest of ideas we both almost threw up, but it was a good workout. We ordered lunch and watched a show on Sumo wrestling.
Once night fell, Ramadan finally came to a close. Fireworks were seen all across the city, and everyone was very loud. Took a cab back to Cinere. Ate some dinner, we are addicted to rice now. Goodnight
Friday September 10th
It was a rough nights sleep as the celebrations of the end of fasting, lasted all night. We both felt homesick for the first time today. Excited to start our travels here and then get back to the states. Met Ries’ cousins Aan’s and took a ride to his sisters house, where we met more family and had some traditional food. We also drank an orange drink which tasted quite similar to TANG. Left to head back to meet guests coming to Ries’ house for dinner. Her family started to arrive, we met many family members and chatted a bit. Steve set up a talent show, and Mark and I were judges. We were each given 100,000 RP to distribute amongst the best performances. After we played world trivia. Ate dinner after everyone left. Tried to blog again, but it still would not work. Both excited for thanksgiving already. Booked a plane and planned our trip to Yogyakarta. Watched Sunny and went to bed. Goodnight.
Saturday September 11th
9 years since September 11th. Time flies. Steve left in the early morning on a business trip until October 16th. We packed out bag for Nadia’s and went to pick up her friend Will who was just near Mount Merapi a volcano that was actively erupting. We went for lunch at social house and met up with some more of Nadia’s friends. Had breakfast then shopped around for a bit. Once back at Nadia’s we watched Jurassic park, then headed down to the pool. After we watched Australia verse New Zealand rugby match, it was brutal. Went over to graces for a pot luck dinner. A bunch of friends showed up, we played some games, ate some food and had some fun. Took a cab to this bar, where we spent about 2 minutes and walked right back out, it was not exciting. Goodnight.
Sunday September 12th
Woke up went to brunch at a restaurant called 99, much better than the crappy 99 in the states. Tried to go get a massage again, but the place was closed still. Went back to the apartment and hung out for a bit at the pool. James made an appointment at the 4 seasons Jakarta for a massage and body treatment. James had a 2-hour traditional Lulur treatment and massage, consisting of traditional herbs, a lemon honey body wrap, rose pedal bath and 45 minute massage. While James was on cloud 9 mark and Nadia ate pizza and watched the Jersey Shore. When James got back, we found the Yankee Ranger game on ESPN. We explained the game of baseball to Nadia. Then we researched tours to Mt. Krakatoa, They were way too expensive. Mark ended up finding the Giants Panthers football game. He stayed up until 3am, immersed in it. Goodnight.
Monday September 13th
Woke up and went to one of the biggest second hand markets in Jakarta. We lost each other numerous times because it was so large. The owners were all yelling for people to by there items. We found a material shop away from the market and found wool to buy so we can make suits for cheap. 25 dollars for 3.5 meters of material. After we headed to a restaurant called the Apartment. It was a restaurant where each different section was a different part of the house.; bathroom, lounge, kitchen, library (where we sat), living room. The food was very good. After we headed to a hair salon where we got hair crème baths. They washed your hair, massaged cream in then stabbing your pressure points with their meaty hands. All and all it was an interesting experience. We thought head massages would feel good but it was the opposite, that shit hurt. The boys waited for the girls to get pedicures and for their damn hair to dry. When we paid we saw on the bill that they charged us an extra $3 dollars to blow-dry our hair. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
After we met Nadia’s friend Andrew for coffee we walked back in a light drizzle to the apartment. We ordered food into the apartment. After our failed attempts to go to Krakatoa and the jungle, we planned a trip to a little beach town called Pangandaran. This place supposedly was the best place to learn how to surf. Took a cab back to Ries’s, Skyped a few family members and went to bed.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Hello Sweden!
Tuesday, August 24th
We got off the plane in frankfurt around 7am am. We breezed through customs with our United States passports, then watched as Russian and ukranian men were asked to step aside and searched. Thanks Obama. We then boarded a plane to Copenhagen, Denmark. Once in Copenhagen we hopped on the train to Malmo, Sweden. The train was a normal commuter train, but because Sweden’s railway system is much better than ours it felt first class. The seats were comfy and the train reached speeds of about 75-80 miles per hour. The acela fast train from Boston to Washington barely averages those speeds.
We arrived in malmo around 10am. We took a taxi cab to bjorns apartment to drop off our things. We headed to a small café near the apartment for a welcoming breakfast/lunch, then got settled in and took a nap. Bjorns mother arrived that afternoon, we all went to the center of Malmo and walked around the Malmo Festival, the biggest festival of the year. We walked around for a bit, checked out some of the sights, many different ethnic foods (ate smoked moose), lots of candy and some of the women. It really is true, tall, blonde and beautiful. We started getting hungry so we hopped in Bjorns mom’s car and drove to his cousins house. After some conversation, we went to a small restaurant on the water and had a good meal. Salmon and soft serve ice cream with hazelnuts. After, we went to the candy/movie store and headed back to the apartment. Instead of a movie we watched one episode of fawlty towers, “the germans”. (Don’t mention the war, I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it). Classic.
Wednesday August 25th
Today we had our first “real breakfast” of the past month. It was delicious. After we wrote a few e-mails to some organizations, we headed to the festival again, shopped around in some stores, picked up some new threads, and watched Brazilian samba dancers do what they do best. Bjorn then picked up his work car, and we drove around a bit then went to grab a bite at the best burger place in town. This was also delicious. James got in the habit of eating as much food as possible at each meal because he was deprived in Tunisia. After dinner we digested with a ride through the ghetto of Malmo, then headed home for the night. Goodnight.
Thursday August 26th
Around 12pm, while bjorn was at work, and the weather was nice we decided to head to Copenhagen. We took the train, and went to the main shopping strip. After lots of browsing we stopped to get some lunch. We ate at a famous smorrebrod restaurant. A typical Danish restaurant, fat men bursting from their button down shirts, and lots of beer. After we went to get some ice cream, and walk around the harbor, and visited some other sites. Headed back to Malmo around 6pm, Bjorn picked us up and we headed to dinner at Napoli’s Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed bruschetta, and pizzas.
Once home we decided to watch the men who stare at goats. For any Ewan Mcgregor, george Clooney, and Jeff Bridges fans, we caution you from seeing this movie, it was crap.
Friday August 27th
Made breakfast at the apartment, and tried to upload pictures to our blog but it did not work. Lora headed out to get her haircut. When she came back, she was a different person, eastern European, Svetlana. She cut her hair short and dyed it black. We were all quite surprised. Bjorn took a half day, and we took the train and headed to his Mothers apartment and summer place in a town 1.5 hours north called Bastad (pronounced “bostad” not bastard). Arrived at the apartment complex, where we had a nice pool and ocean view. We settled in, changed up and went to the beach to jump in the frigid water. It was cold! For dinner we ate traditional Swedish meatballs. We played some cards to pass the rest of the night. Gin rummy, 500 rummy and Hi Lo Jack. The boys headed out on the town, except since it was already fall in Bastad everything was closed by 11pm. Goodnight.
Saturday August 28th
Woke up, went to a small café where its traditional to sit outside under blankets. The café was on a large hill over looking the ocean and the city of bastad. The food was good and we had lots of company, bees. Took a drive across town, went to the spot where Bjorn and friends would cliff jump in the summer. We snapped some pictures, and lora tried to befriend a cow with some grass. It did not like eastern Europeans so it almost charged at her. On the way back we drove past old Swedish gun turrets, erected to watch for the Germans who never ended up attacking.
We went back to the apartment, met Bjorns little cousin oscar, played some American football and met the rest of Bjorns family. After showering we met up with the family had some snacks and went inside to celebrate our first crayfish party. You eat mass quantities of crayfish, sing Swedish songs and take shots after every song. James was unaware you were not supposed to take a whole shot, and ended up taking full shots after the first few songs. Good thing he was stopped. After everyone started leaving, Bjorns uncle started playing piano, he was able to freehandedly play some of “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, it was very good.
Around 11 we headed to Pepes the main bar in Bastad. It was closing night so it was crowded. We had a drink and hung out and eventually made our way to the dance floor. We danced with some cute women and heard some good saxophone. A transvestite also took interest in stalking us. After it got a bit too crowded for our liking we decided to head back home. Goodnight.
Sunday August 29th
After breakfast we were entertained by spike tv’s most extreme challenge. For those who haven’t seen it, I suggest you check it out. James, Mark and Oscar decided to go play some golf at a little par 3. They got through 10 holes before it started to pour. Bjorn and lora picked us up and we drove home via the beach. Yes, that is correct, on the beach next to the ocean for a few miles. Apparently it’s perfectly legal to do so. We made reservations at a pizza restaurant, and had some more good food. Per usual, we had our after dinner ice cream then watched some tv and went to bed. Goodnight.
Monday August 30th
Bjorn woke up early to head back to work for some important meetings. Lora, James, Anita, and Mark headed to have some breakfast in Torkov, a small, posh, port town. It was empty, so we went to the only place open. While we were sitting outside we were stalked by more things. This time it was a scene out of Alfred Hitchocks the birds. We had probably about 25 birds perched above us waiting to eat our food from our hands, not to mention the slew of bees that were happily buzzing on our sweet Danish’s. We took the remainder to go, and headed to the train back to Malmo. We scavenged for change as we did not have enough money for the train, luckily the train was late so it allowed us to pick some from the wishing fountain in the train station (just kidding). Got back to Malmo, stopped in to the grocery store to pick up some dinner supplies, and then Lora cooked us a meal of lemon chicken and assorted side dishes. Who knew she could cook??
Tuesday August 31st
Woke up and tried to publish our blog pictures, again blogger would not allow it. We wrote some more e-mails in hopes wed have something set up for Indonesia. After, James and Mark headed out to the mall by themselves. Shopped around and then walked around a bit. Lora and Bjorn were having a date night, and we realized we didn’t have a key to the apartment. We rushed back, thankfully Bjorn is a smart man, he left us a key and the door open. We headed back out and tried to look for Best buy to get Mark, or should I say Grizzly Adams a beard trimmer. Apparently James was seeing things when he saw it on the map because no Best Buy existed.
We then headed out for some dinner. We went to the main square in Malmo and looked around for a suitable restaurant. We ran into the happy couple on their way to eat at a restaurant called bastard(prounounced as it looks). After some chit chat we parted ways and we ate a the MooseHead restaurant. We had some good moose burgers. The heated patios were blasting on a 65 degree night, so we were sweating during our meal. Went to look for ice cream for our post dinner treat. It took us over an hour to find one. After ice cream we finished our blog (the Tunisian one) and went to bed.
Wednesday September 1st
Mark woke up and 4 months after beginning the book 3 Cups of Tea he finally finished it (great read for anyone looking for a good book). Got a response from Ashoka, and we replied, also sent in an application form for the International Humanity Foundation. Met Bjorn for lunch at a great restaurant called atmosphere. Bjorns cousin did the interior design. They had really great food. Walked around town for a bit, did a little shopping. Went to the mall again, browsed around and scoped out some chicas. Ordered some pizza for dinner, nothing like sal’s. Too lazy to go out to the bars so we hung around the apartment. Goodnight.
Thursday September 2nd
Had to wake up at 7am to do laundry. Went back to bed. Lora went to meet Bjorn for lunch. We went back to atmosphere and had the exact same lunch we had the day before, that’s how good it was. We then walked up town to Sicilias Gelateria, supposedly the best gelato in Malmo. Hung around in the square while we ate, saw a beautiful business woman (top 10 all time in James’ book) and fell in love. I’d be happy to be the stay at home dad so after proposing marriage…I mean, After finishing ice cream, we enjoyed our last walk through malmo. We walked back along the canal and headed back to Bjorns apartment. Headed out to take a dip in the frigid ocean. Mark, Bjorn and Lora went swimming while James played paparazzi. The platform was about 8 feet above the water, and the waves were big. It was a funny site watching Mark and Bjorn run off the platform holding hands all the way into the water. After a shower mark shaved his beard completely for the first time in months. He looks more like Rich everyday.
We then headed out to a sushi restaurant for our last supper in Sweden. Ate lots of sushi, had some good desserts and enjoyed good company. Went home, packed our bags and went to sleep.
Friday September 3rd/4th
Lora woke us up at 7am to say goodbye she had an early flight. Went back to sleep. We woke up to e-mail Ries and Nadia to make sure everything was all set for us in Indonesia. We ate left overs for lunch, made sure we were packed. We met Bjorn at the train station, as we were on the same flight from Copenhagen to Frankfurt. On the flight to Frankfurt, somehow we were put into economy extra, which is similar to business class. We got a meal and had tea. The flight was not full so Bjorn tried to come sit next to us but the stewardess kicked him out of the section, back into economy. We arrived in Frankfurt and said goodbye to him as our journey with him came to an end. We anxiously awaited our flight. 9pm came around and we finally boarded our flight. We asked the steward how much it was to upgrade to first class and he told us 9000 dollars. We headed to our assigned seats. James ended up sitting next to 2 Polish embassy workers, and mark 2 younger Asian girls. We got to watch the new karate kid and ate some wonderfully fresh and delicious airline food. Around the middle of the flight, mark heard a lady near him start vomiting constantly. She kept throwing up and one of the men sitting next to her was escorted somewhere else on the plane.
The girls sitting next to Mark, had asked for a glass of wine during the meal. They were clearly underage. They sat nursing the wine for nearly 12 hours and coughed and giggled after each sip. It reminded mark of when he was a child. Behind mark, an elderly lady fell while trying to go the bathroom. Marks instincts kicked in and he immediately jumped to the rescue and helped her to her feet. We had breakfast about an hour outside of Singapore. Arrived in Singapore(hellllo asia) and boarded our final flight to Indonesia. We arrived in Jakarta around 630pm where we were met outside by Nadia. It was hot and humid, but we were finally here. Took a cab to Nadias and had about 20 years of catching up to do. After talking with Nadia and her Australian roommate kerri we went to bed.
We got off the plane in frankfurt around 7am am. We breezed through customs with our United States passports, then watched as Russian and ukranian men were asked to step aside and searched. Thanks Obama. We then boarded a plane to Copenhagen, Denmark. Once in Copenhagen we hopped on the train to Malmo, Sweden. The train was a normal commuter train, but because Sweden’s railway system is much better than ours it felt first class. The seats were comfy and the train reached speeds of about 75-80 miles per hour. The acela fast train from Boston to Washington barely averages those speeds.
We arrived in malmo around 10am. We took a taxi cab to bjorns apartment to drop off our things. We headed to a small café near the apartment for a welcoming breakfast/lunch, then got settled in and took a nap. Bjorns mother arrived that afternoon, we all went to the center of Malmo and walked around the Malmo Festival, the biggest festival of the year. We walked around for a bit, checked out some of the sights, many different ethnic foods (ate smoked moose), lots of candy and some of the women. It really is true, tall, blonde and beautiful. We started getting hungry so we hopped in Bjorns mom’s car and drove to his cousins house. After some conversation, we went to a small restaurant on the water and had a good meal. Salmon and soft serve ice cream with hazelnuts. After, we went to the candy/movie store and headed back to the apartment. Instead of a movie we watched one episode of fawlty towers, “the germans”. (Don’t mention the war, I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it). Classic.
Wednesday August 25th
Today we had our first “real breakfast” of the past month. It was delicious. After we wrote a few e-mails to some organizations, we headed to the festival again, shopped around in some stores, picked up some new threads, and watched Brazilian samba dancers do what they do best. Bjorn then picked up his work car, and we drove around a bit then went to grab a bite at the best burger place in town. This was also delicious. James got in the habit of eating as much food as possible at each meal because he was deprived in Tunisia. After dinner we digested with a ride through the ghetto of Malmo, then headed home for the night. Goodnight.
Thursday August 26th
Around 12pm, while bjorn was at work, and the weather was nice we decided to head to Copenhagen. We took the train, and went to the main shopping strip. After lots of browsing we stopped to get some lunch. We ate at a famous smorrebrod restaurant. A typical Danish restaurant, fat men bursting from their button down shirts, and lots of beer. After we went to get some ice cream, and walk around the harbor, and visited some other sites. Headed back to Malmo around 6pm, Bjorn picked us up and we headed to dinner at Napoli’s Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed bruschetta, and pizzas.
Once home we decided to watch the men who stare at goats. For any Ewan Mcgregor, george Clooney, and Jeff Bridges fans, we caution you from seeing this movie, it was crap.
Friday August 27th
Made breakfast at the apartment, and tried to upload pictures to our blog but it did not work. Lora headed out to get her haircut. When she came back, she was a different person, eastern European, Svetlana. She cut her hair short and dyed it black. We were all quite surprised. Bjorn took a half day, and we took the train and headed to his Mothers apartment and summer place in a town 1.5 hours north called Bastad (pronounced “bostad” not bastard). Arrived at the apartment complex, where we had a nice pool and ocean view. We settled in, changed up and went to the beach to jump in the frigid water. It was cold! For dinner we ate traditional Swedish meatballs. We played some cards to pass the rest of the night. Gin rummy, 500 rummy and Hi Lo Jack. The boys headed out on the town, except since it was already fall in Bastad everything was closed by 11pm. Goodnight.
Saturday August 28th
Woke up, went to a small café where its traditional to sit outside under blankets. The café was on a large hill over looking the ocean and the city of bastad. The food was good and we had lots of company, bees. Took a drive across town, went to the spot where Bjorn and friends would cliff jump in the summer. We snapped some pictures, and lora tried to befriend a cow with some grass. It did not like eastern Europeans so it almost charged at her. On the way back we drove past old Swedish gun turrets, erected to watch for the Germans who never ended up attacking.
We went back to the apartment, met Bjorns little cousin oscar, played some American football and met the rest of Bjorns family. After showering we met up with the family had some snacks and went inside to celebrate our first crayfish party. You eat mass quantities of crayfish, sing Swedish songs and take shots after every song. James was unaware you were not supposed to take a whole shot, and ended up taking full shots after the first few songs. Good thing he was stopped. After everyone started leaving, Bjorns uncle started playing piano, he was able to freehandedly play some of “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, it was very good.
Around 11 we headed to Pepes the main bar in Bastad. It was closing night so it was crowded. We had a drink and hung out and eventually made our way to the dance floor. We danced with some cute women and heard some good saxophone. A transvestite also took interest in stalking us. After it got a bit too crowded for our liking we decided to head back home. Goodnight.
Sunday August 29th
After breakfast we were entertained by spike tv’s most extreme challenge. For those who haven’t seen it, I suggest you check it out. James, Mark and Oscar decided to go play some golf at a little par 3. They got through 10 holes before it started to pour. Bjorn and lora picked us up and we drove home via the beach. Yes, that is correct, on the beach next to the ocean for a few miles. Apparently it’s perfectly legal to do so. We made reservations at a pizza restaurant, and had some more good food. Per usual, we had our after dinner ice cream then watched some tv and went to bed. Goodnight.
Monday August 30th
Bjorn woke up early to head back to work for some important meetings. Lora, James, Anita, and Mark headed to have some breakfast in Torkov, a small, posh, port town. It was empty, so we went to the only place open. While we were sitting outside we were stalked by more things. This time it was a scene out of Alfred Hitchocks the birds. We had probably about 25 birds perched above us waiting to eat our food from our hands, not to mention the slew of bees that were happily buzzing on our sweet Danish’s. We took the remainder to go, and headed to the train back to Malmo. We scavenged for change as we did not have enough money for the train, luckily the train was late so it allowed us to pick some from the wishing fountain in the train station (just kidding). Got back to Malmo, stopped in to the grocery store to pick up some dinner supplies, and then Lora cooked us a meal of lemon chicken and assorted side dishes. Who knew she could cook??
Tuesday August 31st
Woke up and tried to publish our blog pictures, again blogger would not allow it. We wrote some more e-mails in hopes wed have something set up for Indonesia. After, James and Mark headed out to the mall by themselves. Shopped around and then walked around a bit. Lora and Bjorn were having a date night, and we realized we didn’t have a key to the apartment. We rushed back, thankfully Bjorn is a smart man, he left us a key and the door open. We headed back out and tried to look for Best buy to get Mark, or should I say Grizzly Adams a beard trimmer. Apparently James was seeing things when he saw it on the map because no Best Buy existed.
We then headed out for some dinner. We went to the main square in Malmo and looked around for a suitable restaurant. We ran into the happy couple on their way to eat at a restaurant called bastard(prounounced as it looks). After some chit chat we parted ways and we ate a the MooseHead restaurant. We had some good moose burgers. The heated patios were blasting on a 65 degree night, so we were sweating during our meal. Went to look for ice cream for our post dinner treat. It took us over an hour to find one. After ice cream we finished our blog (the Tunisian one) and went to bed.
Wednesday September 1st
Mark woke up and 4 months after beginning the book 3 Cups of Tea he finally finished it (great read for anyone looking for a good book). Got a response from Ashoka, and we replied, also sent in an application form for the International Humanity Foundation. Met Bjorn for lunch at a great restaurant called atmosphere. Bjorns cousin did the interior design. They had really great food. Walked around town for a bit, did a little shopping. Went to the mall again, browsed around and scoped out some chicas. Ordered some pizza for dinner, nothing like sal’s. Too lazy to go out to the bars so we hung around the apartment. Goodnight.
Thursday September 2nd
Had to wake up at 7am to do laundry. Went back to bed. Lora went to meet Bjorn for lunch. We went back to atmosphere and had the exact same lunch we had the day before, that’s how good it was. We then walked up town to Sicilias Gelateria, supposedly the best gelato in Malmo. Hung around in the square while we ate, saw a beautiful business woman (top 10 all time in James’ book) and fell in love. I’d be happy to be the stay at home dad so after proposing marriage…I mean, After finishing ice cream, we enjoyed our last walk through malmo. We walked back along the canal and headed back to Bjorns apartment. Headed out to take a dip in the frigid ocean. Mark, Bjorn and Lora went swimming while James played paparazzi. The platform was about 8 feet above the water, and the waves were big. It was a funny site watching Mark and Bjorn run off the platform holding hands all the way into the water. After a shower mark shaved his beard completely for the first time in months. He looks more like Rich everyday.
We then headed out to a sushi restaurant for our last supper in Sweden. Ate lots of sushi, had some good desserts and enjoyed good company. Went home, packed our bags and went to sleep.
Friday September 3rd/4th
Lora woke us up at 7am to say goodbye she had an early flight. Went back to sleep. We woke up to e-mail Ries and Nadia to make sure everything was all set for us in Indonesia. We ate left overs for lunch, made sure we were packed. We met Bjorn at the train station, as we were on the same flight from Copenhagen to Frankfurt. On the flight to Frankfurt, somehow we were put into economy extra, which is similar to business class. We got a meal and had tea. The flight was not full so Bjorn tried to come sit next to us but the stewardess kicked him out of the section, back into economy. We arrived in Frankfurt and said goodbye to him as our journey with him came to an end. We anxiously awaited our flight. 9pm came around and we finally boarded our flight. We asked the steward how much it was to upgrade to first class and he told us 9000 dollars. We headed to our assigned seats. James ended up sitting next to 2 Polish embassy workers, and mark 2 younger Asian girls. We got to watch the new karate kid and ate some wonderfully fresh and delicious airline food. Around the middle of the flight, mark heard a lady near him start vomiting constantly. She kept throwing up and one of the men sitting next to her was escorted somewhere else on the plane.
The girls sitting next to Mark, had asked for a glass of wine during the meal. They were clearly underage. They sat nursing the wine for nearly 12 hours and coughed and giggled after each sip. It reminded mark of when he was a child. Behind mark, an elderly lady fell while trying to go the bathroom. Marks instincts kicked in and he immediately jumped to the rescue and helped her to her feet. We had breakfast about an hour outside of Singapore. Arrived in Singapore(hellllo asia) and boarded our final flight to Indonesia. We arrived in Jakarta around 630pm where we were met outside by Nadia. It was hot and humid, but we were finally here. Took a cab to Nadias and had about 20 years of catching up to do. After talking with Nadia and her Australian roommate kerri we went to bed.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Quicksand
Finally a new blog. Our sincerest apologies for our lack of blogging over the past week or so. With the lack of internet in the Sahara desert in Tunisia, and traveling to Sweden, we haven't had much time to sit down and blog. We have some free time right now as we wait for lora (it has been the theme of our trip). We will recap the Desert trip in this blog.
Because it has been an issue uploading pictures to the blog we will be including a link to a site, Picasa Web Albums, where we will separate the pictures from each blog for your viewing pleasures. This site will also allow us to upload many more photos than possible if we were to do so on blogger. Ok enough chit chat, lets get down to it.
Sunday, August 15th 2010
We woke around 7am, amongst groans from marks still upset stomach, and baggy eyelids. We cleaned the house then hopped into our Renault Symbol, a small french car with a whopping 65 horsepower engine. We headed towards Kairouan. We visited the 4th holiest mosque in the Muslim world, which was said to have underground connections to mecca. The town is known for its carpet making. We read in our guide book that a specific process occurred when bargaining/buying a rug. We wandered around the narrow streets, and stumbled into the old governors house, which was turned into a tourist carpet factory. No one was interested in buying a carpet, but Lora's wandering eye focused on a carpet she liked. As carpets were rolled out, the bargaining began. Just as mentioned in the guidebook, we were given a 25% discount because we did not come to this place with a guide. Lora offered 50 Dinars for a 500 Dinar carpet. The man was instantly offended and started rolling the carpets up and told her not to "vex" him. This as described in the guide book was also part of the show. As we slowly tried to drag Lora out of the store, the price continued to drop as we walked towards the door. We finally left and as we walked down the alley, Lora complained how she wanted the rug, as the words barely left her mouth, the manager of the store came out and offered his "final price" of 210 Dinars. Lora countered with 180 but they could not come to a price. It was an interesting and fun experience for all involved.
Next stop for the day was the city of El Jem. Here we toured the Roman empires 3rd largest and best preserved Amphitheater. It held an estimated 30,000 people at capacity. For shows, gladiator fights, and whatever else the funky romans did. The site was incredible. We took many photos, and really enjoyed the architecture.
The next stop was in Mahdia, about an hour and a half drive to the east on the coast. After Lora's failed navigation in finding our hotel, we eventually stumbled upon it, and checked in to the Hotel La Mahdia. It was a nice place tucked into a quaint alley. We ended up having the only 2 rooms on the rooftop. As we decided our plans for the next day, we headed out to find a bite to eat. Ramadan creates an environment where its hard to find any open restaurants. We found a little restaruant where we had the joy of sitting next to a large italian tourist group. It was the highlight of our night....NOT (in Borat voice). On the way back from dinner Lora and Bjorn were verbally abused in Arabic, because they were walking hand in hand and wouldnt buy an anything from a a little street vendor. Long ass day=in bed by 10pm. Goodnight.
Monday, August 16th 2010
James woke up with swollen glands, and then a swollen blood pressure when breakfast was bread and Jam. We packed our bags, and walked around the Medina quickly. Lora, the scarf connoisseur that she is, found a scarf store, naturally. We waited for her to pick and choose what she wanted only for her to be ripped off by the scarf lady. She told us the scarves were 25 Dinar a piece, yet after a friendly smile she ended up charging 35 a piece. Scarves show no mercy, nor do the Tunisians. She bought them none the less and we left a little angry.
We then went to the beach to relax before a 5 hour drive to our next destination, Metlaoui. The beach consisted of many germans, men in speedos (some with half their ass hanging out), big beer guts flowing proudly, and some topless women. We had a nice lunch at a beach stand, then went to go shower off the salt. We couldnt find a shower, but we were lead to a bathroom. The bathroom was out of order and infested with cock roaches, and there were no showers. In Tunisia they use butt washers (like bidets). So we decided to use those to wash off. 3 Americans and a Swede spraying each other with a butt washer. It was an interesting sight.
We left Mahdia and started our 5 hour drive to Metlaoui. Along the way, Mark had to use the head. We pulled over and he peed near a field of cacti. Lora was intruiged by the fruit the cactus produced. We had eaten the fruit earlier in the week, its called a barbary pear. She decided that picking a few of them to enjoy on the ride would be a good idea. When we got back in the car she noticed she had hundreds of little prickers in her fingers. Bjorn came to the rescue and tried to pull them out, but in doing so he ended up transferring some of them into his own hands. Soon the prickers had caught onto us all. Everyone held a grudge with Lora for the next few days as the prickers lingered. Especially Mark.
We arrived in Metlaoui, a phosphate mining town, there was not much to see or do. Our hotel was the only one in this very poor town. It stunk of cigarettes, at least the rooms were somewhat decent, we couldn't complain for 25 dinars a piece, yet... Soon after settling in, James started to feel sick. Tunisia has not been kind to either of us, as one gets better the other gets sick.
For dinner we were sent across the street to an outdoor cafe/amusment park. They only served 4 saison(meat) pizza. We were the first ones there. Soon after, the Tunisian men flocked to their coffee and shisha posts for the remainder of the evening. We were the only foreigners in the town, as it is not a tourist location. Some kids took a quiet interest in us, soon after they began to badger us for dinars while we ate. Once back in the room we tried to brush our teeth, but our bathroom was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Cockroach and their kids. We were forced to brush our teeth in Lora and Bjorns bathroom. It did not have cockroaches but it smelled like rotten doodie. It was almost unbearable. Goodnight.
Tuesday August 17th 2010
After James woke up feeling slightly better, we headed to the Lezard Rouge. A scenic train, which brought you through valleys and canyons, ending at a phosphate mine. When leaving town, the local kids ran along side the train as the tourists on board tossed them coins. The ride was very scenic. On the way back, James felt feverish again and almost passed out. We headed to the pharmacy and picked up a few drugs to help James get better. We then drove to Tozeur, a town known for its brick architecture. We arrived mid afternoon, checked into a very nice hotel, where James went right to bed. The rest of the gang decided to take a tour to a town called Nafta, Palmaires, salt lakes and a fully intact Star Wars set from the first filming in the 1970's. Then they took a 4X4 Toyota off-roading, over rough terrain which lead to a mountain in the shape of a camel neck. Lora, Bjorn and Mark were accompanied by a Japanese tourist whose name no one could pronounce, so he told them to call him Fanta. For the first time in the tour guides life, he had witnessed a person fall asleep through the roller coaster of a ride, none other than our new asian friend Fanta. After returning, James felt up to getting a bite to eat. We found a very nice restaurant where we sampled typical tunisian cuisine, Cous Cous and Camel. Goodnight.
Wednesday, August 18th 2010
James needed more rest. While he slept, Lora Mark and Bjorn woke up at 6am to tour 3 old towns; Chebika, Tamerza and Mides. In Chebika they saw an oasis (an isolated area of vegetation in the desert, fed by a water source) and a river. It was a very cool river but the ambience was ruined by the amount of tourists and vendors at the location. In Tamerza they visited 2 waterfalls. The first one Mark and Bjorn stood under for a brief moment. On the way to Mides we passed Algerian border guards and the Grand Canyon of Mides. After Mides we went searching for the second waterfall back in Tozeur. Upon arrival Mark spotted a dressed up camel with a sombrero on. He knew he needed a picture. During mid shot, the camels owner ran screaming for him to pay 1 Dinar for a photo. Lora and Bjorn told Mark to hop on the camel for a photo op. When Mark hopped on, the owner made the camel get up, walked the camel in a circle then tried to charge 5 Dinars. Lora put up a fight, and slapped 1 dinar in his hand. He slapped the Dinar back in Marks hand who then threw it back at the owner. At the second waterfall, we all swam. Some of the people were taken out by the force of the water when they stood under it. When we got back to the hotel James was feeling better, the Tunisian drugs worked. We ate lunch at the same place we had dinner, again it was delicious.
After lunch we started our drive into the desert. Lora was behind the wheel so tensions were high. We drove through a massive salt flat on the way. Mirages were abundant. On our approach we noticed no cars were going the same way as us, all were leaving...interesting. When we entered Ksar Ghilane the paved road ended. We looked for signs to lead us to the camps, but none were of any help. We spotted a 4x4 tour group coming down the road and asked to follow them to the camps. The entrance to the road was a deep sand pit. The Italians we talked to, told us we could make it through. Bjorn gave it the old college try. He got about 1/4 of the way, then came to an abrupt stop. The Italians jumped into action, while the Tunisian national guard tried to help as well, but soon were bored and left. The Italians grabbed a tow rope and shackle and attached it to the chasis of our car. They pulled us through the sand for the next 2 Kilometers until we reached packed ground and one of the camp sites. Dinner was included in our stay. We ate dinner and booked an ATV trip for the following morning at 6am. We went to bed early as we needed to get up at 445am to watch the sunrise the next morning. During the night, James awoke the gang to admire the millions of stars visible on a clear night in the Sahara Desert. Many constellations were visible, it was the most stars we have ever seen. Goodmorning.
Thursday August 19th 2010
We awoke at 445am. Got dressed and took a walk to a dune where we could watch the sunrise over the Sahara. It was supposed to be spectacular but the morning was cloudy so we did not get to see it at its best. In no time the flies were at our exposed body parts so we headed back to the tent to get ready for the ATV trip. The 4 wheeled ATV's look so simple at first glance, but we or should we say James found out the hard way, that they were much more dangerous than they appeared. We started off climbing up and down the dunes, it was very fun. A little while after, James thought it would be wise to do a donut. (A word to the wise, do not attempt to do a donut with an ATV on a hard surface) As he mashed the control to the left the ATV went up on 2 wheels and James flew off horizontally through the air. He landed hard on his knee and wrist, snapping his watch band and cutting his knee up. He was lucky to come away from the accident with the injuries he sustained.
After surveying the damage, we hopped back on the atv's and continued to what was thought to be an old roman prison, about a 25 minute ride into the Sahara. From the prison you looked back on the Oasis, it was the only sign of vegetation as far as the eye could see. We walked around for a bit, James hobbled. We got back on the Atv's and headed back to camp. James received some first aid then we ate breakfast. After eating we packed our things and contemplated how the hell we were going to get back out, because we did not have anyone to tow us. The man at the front desk offered to drive our car out (he said he knew how) and hed have a friend come get him on an atv. He told us to drive as far as we could then he'd take over. Bjorn, having driven in the alps when living in Switzerland was prepared for the battle. He shifted the car in to gear and blasted through the sand, one deep spot at a time. Before we knew it the symbol (our car) made it through. The only problem on the way out was that the fine Sahara sand now covered us, the inside of the car and the engine, but at least we were not trapped. On our drive out (in paved road) mark spotted a beat up old car sitting on the side of the road and decided to take a few pictures. Look out for them in the album.
From Ksar Ghilanee we headed out to Matmata, a town with houses built into the hills as a means to self air condition and keep cool, and a previous site where Luke Sykwalker ate dinner with his aunt and uncle, in one of the early star wars movies. It was not as exciting as it sounds. We all bottle fed a baby camel, and lora got molested by the berber owner. We then drove to a town on the coast call gabes, which was supposed to be a nice place. When we arrived the town was disgusting. The people were gross, and nothing was open for lunch. We found an open bakery and we picked up a bunch of croissants and ate those and junk food for our lunch.
On the way to Le Kef, a 7 hour drive from gabes, ( We went from the far south to the northernmost part of the country) we played the guess who I am game for about 4 of those hours. We also played I am going on a picnic and we brought many things that will not be named on this blog. For those of you who do not know these games, the first is simple. A person picks someone and the others have to ask yes or no questions to eventually figure out who it may be. The second is simple as well. One person starts, they say I am going on a picnic and I'm bringing blah, and the next person says what the first one said and adds to it.. and so on.
We arrived in Le Kef at the hotel residence venus, it looked like a dump outside, but once we entered, we were greeted by 2 canaries and jasmine plants, and satalite tv. We checked in, and since no restaurants were open the owner offered to cook us up dinner. Typical tunisian fare but it was good none the less. We had his wife's own lemonade and fresh baked bread. We went back upstairs and went to sleep at around 9pm amongst smells of doodie from the sewage pipe running by our window. Goodnight.
Friday, August 20th 2010
Bjorn Mark and Lora woke up around 7am and went for a walk around the town, James decided to rest his swollen knee some more. They visited a fort which overlooked the entire city. It was closed but a guard opened each room for us to freely walk around in. In the main square, concerts are held almost every night.
We ate breakfast and headed to the city of Dougga. One of the largest roman ruin sites in Tunisia. It was starting to get hot, probably around 38 Celsius, about 100 degrees. We walked around the ruins, saw temples, a brothel(the ruins of it, mark and james were upset) and the capital. We got back in the car and headed to Bulla Regia, another town with roman ruins. On the way we stopped at a hotel and had lunch. We were only charged for 3 meals, so after we paid the bill we left quickly. When we got to Bulla Regia it was about 50 degrees Celsius, somewhere around 120 degrees. We decided to tough out the heat and walk around. We saw underground roman houses, also built to stay cool. We also saw a treasure house, mosaics (one of venus and one of Aphrodite and cupid which were almost in perfect condition). On the way back to the car mark decided to take a bit of the ancient marble. It was so hot that the sun tan lotion we had on would not even soak into the skin, it was bleeding out of it. Lora and Mark got some ice cream at the gift shop and we hopped back into the car and drove to our next destination, a hillside village named Ain Drahem.
The town is about 3000 feet about sea level. We arrived at the hotel Rihanna and checked out the rooms, they were ok but apparently there swimming pool was closed and it was expensive. We decided to check out a different hotel. When we arrived inside, we knew this was the place to stay. We were treated like royalty (it was only us and another family staying there). We were served a refreshing fruit drink then headed to our rooms to change into bathing suits to go swimming in their pool. After the pool we showered off and headed downstairs to the restaurant for dinner. We were served a 5 course meal. We had a spotless mountain view room with cold A/C, dinner and breakfast included for 60 dinars per night per person ($40). After dinner we lounged out and went to bed. Goodnight
Saturday August 21st 2010
Woke up and had some breakfast. We then headed to Tabarka a coastal town about 30 kilometers to the north. On the drive there, James was pulled over by the police. The police mistook James for a Tunisian and when approaching the car started to speak arabic to him. He was baffled that they could mistake his beautiful American face for that of a Tunisian. The rest of the stop went without incident. We drove around looking for a good spot to lay on the beach. The first one we chose was filled with tourists and a beached whale. Not literally, but an extremely large women who was walking around topless. Just Imagine a deflated hot air balloon draped over a person. Not a pretty picture. We drove down the beach a little ways and found a nice spot to camp out. We sunbathed for the afternoon then went to find a place to eat. After a lunch of fresh fish and a wannabe ray charles on the piano, we headed back to the hotel in Ain Drahem. Where we enjoyed another 5 course meal and a good nights sleep.
Sunday, August 22nd 2010
We woke up around 7am and went for a hike through the cork forest to a fort. Ain Drahem is known for there cork forests, and they produce alot of the worlds wine corks and other cork products. We learned that the cork may one day be in danger if the wine makers keep buying synthetic corks. They are cheaper and easier to make. Lets hope real cork is not phased out. At the beginning of our walk were were joined by 2 others. 2 dogs, brother and sister most likely. They followed us diligently for our entire walk. It took about 35 minutes to reach the fort, it wasn't quite hot out yet, but it was very foggy. After checking it out, we walked back to the hotel and had breakfast. Then while Bjorn and Lora got ready James took mark to the car to teach him how to drive manual. We putted around the parking lot for about 20 minutes. After a few stalls mark had the hang of it. James let him practice on a steeper hill and then let him drive about a half mile back to the hotel. We then headed off to the last stop on our journey, Cap Serrat.
Cap Serrat is a very small secluded beach town 30 kilometers off the main road. Some of the road was not paved so the driving was a bit hairy at times. The bumps were worth it. We were welcomed by clear blue waters and a fairly empty beach. We enjoyed the day in the sun, had some lunch at the only restaurant on the beach and headed back on the scenic route, to Lora's apartment in Tunis. The family who rented the apartment to lora brought us a Tunisian pasta dish and we had dinner, then relaxed before hitting the sack. Goodnight
Monday, August 23rd 2010
James woke up at 7am (he thought it was 8am) and walked to the bakery and market to try and pick up breakfast for everyone. After one unsuccessful attempt he tried again around 930. This time the bakery was open and he picked up some croissants for everyone. Once back Mark and James went to the market to pick up some veggies to make a pasta and zucchini lunch. James took a nap while the other 3 went to a glass museum and to return the rental car. Around 730pm we went out for our last supper. We met a few of Lora's friends and had a nice dinner. Before we were to leave for the airport Lora got roped into talking to the family before we left. Mark was then approached by the cousin and asked to exchange numbers and facebook information. Lora was still talking with the family as it approached 11:30. So we sent Mark down to get her out of there. Bad Idea, now 2 du Moulins were caught chit chatting. After about 15 minutes, Bjorn sent James in to do the dirty work. He went downstairs and told them we needed to go, he almost got roped in to the conversation as well but knew we had to leave. We said our goodbyes and hopped in 2 taxis to go to the airport around 12:30. We played cards while we waited for our 240am flight to germany, where we would take a connecting flight to copenhagen, Denmark then a train to Malmo, Sweden. We had a sigh of relief once we were on the plane and on the way out of the country.
Tunisia overall was a good cultural experience. The language barrier was difficult and it was hard to get used to as were the customs. The food was below expectations, and the breakfasts will not be missed. Sunny skies every day were nice, but at times it was too hot. We made the best of the situation though. Will we be back? James- "Absolutely not" Mark - "No". That about sums it up. As you already know we are in Sweden. Its almost midnight here so we will be getting some shut eye before posting pictures with this blog. Tomorrow we will post pictures and blog about our adventures in Sweden to this point.
We hope all is well in the states, and that Category 4 Hurricane Earl steers safely away from the Northeast.
Love,
James and Mark
Because it has been an issue uploading pictures to the blog we will be including a link to a site, Picasa Web Albums, where we will separate the pictures from each blog for your viewing pleasures. This site will also allow us to upload many more photos than possible if we were to do so on blogger. Ok enough chit chat, lets get down to it.
Sunday, August 15th 2010
We woke around 7am, amongst groans from marks still upset stomach, and baggy eyelids. We cleaned the house then hopped into our Renault Symbol, a small french car with a whopping 65 horsepower engine. We headed towards Kairouan. We visited the 4th holiest mosque in the Muslim world, which was said to have underground connections to mecca. The town is known for its carpet making. We read in our guide book that a specific process occurred when bargaining/buying a rug. We wandered around the narrow streets, and stumbled into the old governors house, which was turned into a tourist carpet factory. No one was interested in buying a carpet, but Lora's wandering eye focused on a carpet she liked. As carpets were rolled out, the bargaining began. Just as mentioned in the guidebook, we were given a 25% discount because we did not come to this place with a guide. Lora offered 50 Dinars for a 500 Dinar carpet. The man was instantly offended and started rolling the carpets up and told her not to "vex" him. This as described in the guide book was also part of the show. As we slowly tried to drag Lora out of the store, the price continued to drop as we walked towards the door. We finally left and as we walked down the alley, Lora complained how she wanted the rug, as the words barely left her mouth, the manager of the store came out and offered his "final price" of 210 Dinars. Lora countered with 180 but they could not come to a price. It was an interesting and fun experience for all involved.
Next stop for the day was the city of El Jem. Here we toured the Roman empires 3rd largest and best preserved Amphitheater. It held an estimated 30,000 people at capacity. For shows, gladiator fights, and whatever else the funky romans did. The site was incredible. We took many photos, and really enjoyed the architecture.
The next stop was in Mahdia, about an hour and a half drive to the east on the coast. After Lora's failed navigation in finding our hotel, we eventually stumbled upon it, and checked in to the Hotel La Mahdia. It was a nice place tucked into a quaint alley. We ended up having the only 2 rooms on the rooftop. As we decided our plans for the next day, we headed out to find a bite to eat. Ramadan creates an environment where its hard to find any open restaurants. We found a little restaruant where we had the joy of sitting next to a large italian tourist group. It was the highlight of our night....NOT (in Borat voice). On the way back from dinner Lora and Bjorn were verbally abused in Arabic, because they were walking hand in hand and wouldnt buy an anything from a a little street vendor. Long ass day=in bed by 10pm. Goodnight.
Monday, August 16th 2010
James woke up with swollen glands, and then a swollen blood pressure when breakfast was bread and Jam. We packed our bags, and walked around the Medina quickly. Lora, the scarf connoisseur that she is, found a scarf store, naturally. We waited for her to pick and choose what she wanted only for her to be ripped off by the scarf lady. She told us the scarves were 25 Dinar a piece, yet after a friendly smile she ended up charging 35 a piece. Scarves show no mercy, nor do the Tunisians. She bought them none the less and we left a little angry.
We then went to the beach to relax before a 5 hour drive to our next destination, Metlaoui. The beach consisted of many germans, men in speedos (some with half their ass hanging out), big beer guts flowing proudly, and some topless women. We had a nice lunch at a beach stand, then went to go shower off the salt. We couldnt find a shower, but we were lead to a bathroom. The bathroom was out of order and infested with cock roaches, and there were no showers. In Tunisia they use butt washers (like bidets). So we decided to use those to wash off. 3 Americans and a Swede spraying each other with a butt washer. It was an interesting sight.
We left Mahdia and started our 5 hour drive to Metlaoui. Along the way, Mark had to use the head. We pulled over and he peed near a field of cacti. Lora was intruiged by the fruit the cactus produced. We had eaten the fruit earlier in the week, its called a barbary pear. She decided that picking a few of them to enjoy on the ride would be a good idea. When we got back in the car she noticed she had hundreds of little prickers in her fingers. Bjorn came to the rescue and tried to pull them out, but in doing so he ended up transferring some of them into his own hands. Soon the prickers had caught onto us all. Everyone held a grudge with Lora for the next few days as the prickers lingered. Especially Mark.
We arrived in Metlaoui, a phosphate mining town, there was not much to see or do. Our hotel was the only one in this very poor town. It stunk of cigarettes, at least the rooms were somewhat decent, we couldn't complain for 25 dinars a piece, yet... Soon after settling in, James started to feel sick. Tunisia has not been kind to either of us, as one gets better the other gets sick.
For dinner we were sent across the street to an outdoor cafe/amusment park. They only served 4 saison(meat) pizza. We were the first ones there. Soon after, the Tunisian men flocked to their coffee and shisha posts for the remainder of the evening. We were the only foreigners in the town, as it is not a tourist location. Some kids took a quiet interest in us, soon after they began to badger us for dinars while we ate. Once back in the room we tried to brush our teeth, but our bathroom was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Cockroach and their kids. We were forced to brush our teeth in Lora and Bjorns bathroom. It did not have cockroaches but it smelled like rotten doodie. It was almost unbearable. Goodnight.
Tuesday August 17th 2010
After James woke up feeling slightly better, we headed to the Lezard Rouge. A scenic train, which brought you through valleys and canyons, ending at a phosphate mine. When leaving town, the local kids ran along side the train as the tourists on board tossed them coins. The ride was very scenic. On the way back, James felt feverish again and almost passed out. We headed to the pharmacy and picked up a few drugs to help James get better. We then drove to Tozeur, a town known for its brick architecture. We arrived mid afternoon, checked into a very nice hotel, where James went right to bed. The rest of the gang decided to take a tour to a town called Nafta, Palmaires, salt lakes and a fully intact Star Wars set from the first filming in the 1970's. Then they took a 4X4 Toyota off-roading, over rough terrain which lead to a mountain in the shape of a camel neck. Lora, Bjorn and Mark were accompanied by a Japanese tourist whose name no one could pronounce, so he told them to call him Fanta. For the first time in the tour guides life, he had witnessed a person fall asleep through the roller coaster of a ride, none other than our new asian friend Fanta. After returning, James felt up to getting a bite to eat. We found a very nice restaurant where we sampled typical tunisian cuisine, Cous Cous and Camel. Goodnight.
Wednesday, August 18th 2010
James needed more rest. While he slept, Lora Mark and Bjorn woke up at 6am to tour 3 old towns; Chebika, Tamerza and Mides. In Chebika they saw an oasis (an isolated area of vegetation in the desert, fed by a water source) and a river. It was a very cool river but the ambience was ruined by the amount of tourists and vendors at the location. In Tamerza they visited 2 waterfalls. The first one Mark and Bjorn stood under for a brief moment. On the way to Mides we passed Algerian border guards and the Grand Canyon of Mides. After Mides we went searching for the second waterfall back in Tozeur. Upon arrival Mark spotted a dressed up camel with a sombrero on. He knew he needed a picture. During mid shot, the camels owner ran screaming for him to pay 1 Dinar for a photo. Lora and Bjorn told Mark to hop on the camel for a photo op. When Mark hopped on, the owner made the camel get up, walked the camel in a circle then tried to charge 5 Dinars. Lora put up a fight, and slapped 1 dinar in his hand. He slapped the Dinar back in Marks hand who then threw it back at the owner. At the second waterfall, we all swam. Some of the people were taken out by the force of the water when they stood under it. When we got back to the hotel James was feeling better, the Tunisian drugs worked. We ate lunch at the same place we had dinner, again it was delicious.
After lunch we started our drive into the desert. Lora was behind the wheel so tensions were high. We drove through a massive salt flat on the way. Mirages were abundant. On our approach we noticed no cars were going the same way as us, all were leaving...interesting. When we entered Ksar Ghilane the paved road ended. We looked for signs to lead us to the camps, but none were of any help. We spotted a 4x4 tour group coming down the road and asked to follow them to the camps. The entrance to the road was a deep sand pit. The Italians we talked to, told us we could make it through. Bjorn gave it the old college try. He got about 1/4 of the way, then came to an abrupt stop. The Italians jumped into action, while the Tunisian national guard tried to help as well, but soon were bored and left. The Italians grabbed a tow rope and shackle and attached it to the chasis of our car. They pulled us through the sand for the next 2 Kilometers until we reached packed ground and one of the camp sites. Dinner was included in our stay. We ate dinner and booked an ATV trip for the following morning at 6am. We went to bed early as we needed to get up at 445am to watch the sunrise the next morning. During the night, James awoke the gang to admire the millions of stars visible on a clear night in the Sahara Desert. Many constellations were visible, it was the most stars we have ever seen. Goodmorning.
Thursday August 19th 2010
We awoke at 445am. Got dressed and took a walk to a dune where we could watch the sunrise over the Sahara. It was supposed to be spectacular but the morning was cloudy so we did not get to see it at its best. In no time the flies were at our exposed body parts so we headed back to the tent to get ready for the ATV trip. The 4 wheeled ATV's look so simple at first glance, but we or should we say James found out the hard way, that they were much more dangerous than they appeared. We started off climbing up and down the dunes, it was very fun. A little while after, James thought it would be wise to do a donut. (A word to the wise, do not attempt to do a donut with an ATV on a hard surface) As he mashed the control to the left the ATV went up on 2 wheels and James flew off horizontally through the air. He landed hard on his knee and wrist, snapping his watch band and cutting his knee up. He was lucky to come away from the accident with the injuries he sustained.
After surveying the damage, we hopped back on the atv's and continued to what was thought to be an old roman prison, about a 25 minute ride into the Sahara. From the prison you looked back on the Oasis, it was the only sign of vegetation as far as the eye could see. We walked around for a bit, James hobbled. We got back on the Atv's and headed back to camp. James received some first aid then we ate breakfast. After eating we packed our things and contemplated how the hell we were going to get back out, because we did not have anyone to tow us. The man at the front desk offered to drive our car out (he said he knew how) and hed have a friend come get him on an atv. He told us to drive as far as we could then he'd take over. Bjorn, having driven in the alps when living in Switzerland was prepared for the battle. He shifted the car in to gear and blasted through the sand, one deep spot at a time. Before we knew it the symbol (our car) made it through. The only problem on the way out was that the fine Sahara sand now covered us, the inside of the car and the engine, but at least we were not trapped. On our drive out (in paved road) mark spotted a beat up old car sitting on the side of the road and decided to take a few pictures. Look out for them in the album.
From Ksar Ghilanee we headed out to Matmata, a town with houses built into the hills as a means to self air condition and keep cool, and a previous site where Luke Sykwalker ate dinner with his aunt and uncle, in one of the early star wars movies. It was not as exciting as it sounds. We all bottle fed a baby camel, and lora got molested by the berber owner. We then drove to a town on the coast call gabes, which was supposed to be a nice place. When we arrived the town was disgusting. The people were gross, and nothing was open for lunch. We found an open bakery and we picked up a bunch of croissants and ate those and junk food for our lunch.
On the way to Le Kef, a 7 hour drive from gabes, ( We went from the far south to the northernmost part of the country) we played the guess who I am game for about 4 of those hours. We also played I am going on a picnic and we brought many things that will not be named on this blog. For those of you who do not know these games, the first is simple. A person picks someone and the others have to ask yes or no questions to eventually figure out who it may be. The second is simple as well. One person starts, they say I am going on a picnic and I'm bringing blah, and the next person says what the first one said and adds to it.. and so on.
We arrived in Le Kef at the hotel residence venus, it looked like a dump outside, but once we entered, we were greeted by 2 canaries and jasmine plants, and satalite tv. We checked in, and since no restaurants were open the owner offered to cook us up dinner. Typical tunisian fare but it was good none the less. We had his wife's own lemonade and fresh baked bread. We went back upstairs and went to sleep at around 9pm amongst smells of doodie from the sewage pipe running by our window. Goodnight.
Friday, August 20th 2010
Bjorn Mark and Lora woke up around 7am and went for a walk around the town, James decided to rest his swollen knee some more. They visited a fort which overlooked the entire city. It was closed but a guard opened each room for us to freely walk around in. In the main square, concerts are held almost every night.
We ate breakfast and headed to the city of Dougga. One of the largest roman ruin sites in Tunisia. It was starting to get hot, probably around 38 Celsius, about 100 degrees. We walked around the ruins, saw temples, a brothel(the ruins of it, mark and james were upset) and the capital. We got back in the car and headed to Bulla Regia, another town with roman ruins. On the way we stopped at a hotel and had lunch. We were only charged for 3 meals, so after we paid the bill we left quickly. When we got to Bulla Regia it was about 50 degrees Celsius, somewhere around 120 degrees. We decided to tough out the heat and walk around. We saw underground roman houses, also built to stay cool. We also saw a treasure house, mosaics (one of venus and one of Aphrodite and cupid which were almost in perfect condition). On the way back to the car mark decided to take a bit of the ancient marble. It was so hot that the sun tan lotion we had on would not even soak into the skin, it was bleeding out of it. Lora and Mark got some ice cream at the gift shop and we hopped back into the car and drove to our next destination, a hillside village named Ain Drahem.
The town is about 3000 feet about sea level. We arrived at the hotel Rihanna and checked out the rooms, they were ok but apparently there swimming pool was closed and it was expensive. We decided to check out a different hotel. When we arrived inside, we knew this was the place to stay. We were treated like royalty (it was only us and another family staying there). We were served a refreshing fruit drink then headed to our rooms to change into bathing suits to go swimming in their pool. After the pool we showered off and headed downstairs to the restaurant for dinner. We were served a 5 course meal. We had a spotless mountain view room with cold A/C, dinner and breakfast included for 60 dinars per night per person ($40). After dinner we lounged out and went to bed. Goodnight
Saturday August 21st 2010
Woke up and had some breakfast. We then headed to Tabarka a coastal town about 30 kilometers to the north. On the drive there, James was pulled over by the police. The police mistook James for a Tunisian and when approaching the car started to speak arabic to him. He was baffled that they could mistake his beautiful American face for that of a Tunisian. The rest of the stop went without incident. We drove around looking for a good spot to lay on the beach. The first one we chose was filled with tourists and a beached whale. Not literally, but an extremely large women who was walking around topless. Just Imagine a deflated hot air balloon draped over a person. Not a pretty picture. We drove down the beach a little ways and found a nice spot to camp out. We sunbathed for the afternoon then went to find a place to eat. After a lunch of fresh fish and a wannabe ray charles on the piano, we headed back to the hotel in Ain Drahem. Where we enjoyed another 5 course meal and a good nights sleep.
Sunday, August 22nd 2010
We woke up around 7am and went for a hike through the cork forest to a fort. Ain Drahem is known for there cork forests, and they produce alot of the worlds wine corks and other cork products. We learned that the cork may one day be in danger if the wine makers keep buying synthetic corks. They are cheaper and easier to make. Lets hope real cork is not phased out. At the beginning of our walk were were joined by 2 others. 2 dogs, brother and sister most likely. They followed us diligently for our entire walk. It took about 35 minutes to reach the fort, it wasn't quite hot out yet, but it was very foggy. After checking it out, we walked back to the hotel and had breakfast. Then while Bjorn and Lora got ready James took mark to the car to teach him how to drive manual. We putted around the parking lot for about 20 minutes. After a few stalls mark had the hang of it. James let him practice on a steeper hill and then let him drive about a half mile back to the hotel. We then headed off to the last stop on our journey, Cap Serrat.
Cap Serrat is a very small secluded beach town 30 kilometers off the main road. Some of the road was not paved so the driving was a bit hairy at times. The bumps were worth it. We were welcomed by clear blue waters and a fairly empty beach. We enjoyed the day in the sun, had some lunch at the only restaurant on the beach and headed back on the scenic route, to Lora's apartment in Tunis. The family who rented the apartment to lora brought us a Tunisian pasta dish and we had dinner, then relaxed before hitting the sack. Goodnight
Monday, August 23rd 2010
James woke up at 7am (he thought it was 8am) and walked to the bakery and market to try and pick up breakfast for everyone. After one unsuccessful attempt he tried again around 930. This time the bakery was open and he picked up some croissants for everyone. Once back Mark and James went to the market to pick up some veggies to make a pasta and zucchini lunch. James took a nap while the other 3 went to a glass museum and to return the rental car. Around 730pm we went out for our last supper. We met a few of Lora's friends and had a nice dinner. Before we were to leave for the airport Lora got roped into talking to the family before we left. Mark was then approached by the cousin and asked to exchange numbers and facebook information. Lora was still talking with the family as it approached 11:30. So we sent Mark down to get her out of there. Bad Idea, now 2 du Moulins were caught chit chatting. After about 15 minutes, Bjorn sent James in to do the dirty work. He went downstairs and told them we needed to go, he almost got roped in to the conversation as well but knew we had to leave. We said our goodbyes and hopped in 2 taxis to go to the airport around 12:30. We played cards while we waited for our 240am flight to germany, where we would take a connecting flight to copenhagen, Denmark then a train to Malmo, Sweden. We had a sigh of relief once we were on the plane and on the way out of the country.
Tunisia overall was a good cultural experience. The language barrier was difficult and it was hard to get used to as were the customs. The food was below expectations, and the breakfasts will not be missed. Sunny skies every day were nice, but at times it was too hot. We made the best of the situation though. Will we be back? James- "Absolutely not" Mark - "No". That about sums it up. As you already know we are in Sweden. Its almost midnight here so we will be getting some shut eye before posting pictures with this blog. Tomorrow we will post pictures and blog about our adventures in Sweden to this point.
We hope all is well in the states, and that Category 4 Hurricane Earl steers safely away from the Northeast.
Love,
James and Mark
Friday, August 27, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
The not-so flying falcon, and the woman with the rubber glove
Hello all,
Its been a little while since our last update so we will recap the weeks events.
As we arrived at the beach, our trip was cut short, as we were homosexually approached by a creepy tunisian man who was very fond of our American behinds. He had a New York Yankees hat on so we said hello and he proceeded to move closer closer to us while while whispering sweet arabic nothings into our ears. He removed his hat, shirt, and wallet, placed them on marks sarong and went for a swim. When he came out of the water he had a rock in his hand and gave it to mark as a gift. After our personal space was invaded we decided it was time to leave as we were not interested in what this man was offering. He tried to join us but we made it clear we were leaving alone.
Saturday 8/7/2010
- We were awoken in the morning by flies. It has been a common occurrence while sleeping here. We met Lora's co-worker Tarek who invited us on a road trip to Bizerte (about 45 minutes away). We took in a few sights such as, the old port of bizerte, , , we walked around the Kazbah (a fort), and we followed Tarek into a Mosque. A few minutes after entering a man came up to Mark and I and told us we must leave because we were not muslim. Tarek and the man got in a little argument, but eventually settle things and we moved on with our trip. After an uneventful and dull tour of the city, we headed out to Cap Serrat. Cap Serrat was a very secluded beach, it would have been nice to have made it there but we were lost got lost on the way because there really are no street signs---just like New Jersey. We ended up finding a very beautiful beach at Ras Angela. There was hardly any trash on the beach here. We soaked up some sun, played beach tennis and went for a walk down the shore for a few hours. We came across fishing boats, muslims praying, warm sand and purple rocks. We headed home from the beach showered off and went to dinner at a lebanese restaurant on the Corniche of La Marsa. Had ice cream to end a fun day.
Sunday 8/8/210
James woke up in the morning with a swollen red eye. We assumed that a piece of sand or grit got caught under his contact the night before and scratched his cornea. While James stayed home and nursed his eye, Lora and Mark headed to the Bardo Museum. Where they saw famous mosaics and statues from the Roman Empire. We then went to Cafe Journal for a quick lunch, where like all other places in tunis we were attacked by flies and homeless cats while we ate. We then headed home to relax before we headed out again to La Goulette a major fishing town. We went to Dinner at cafe vert with Lora's Argentinean friend Gaston, where we sat near the greasy foreign Ron Jeremy. We also saw a group of children in a cage in the bed of a pickup truck. It was an interesting site. A funny one to say the least.
Monday 8/9/210
Monday was a lazy day, we sat around the apartment, doing alot of nothing. While the cleaning lady took 5 hours to clean a 3 room apartment. We did our first load of laundry, and used clothes hangars for the first time. They do not have a drier, the sun is good enough for that in the desert. At night we went to dinner at La Plaza Corniche and enjoyed one of the better meals of our trip. We finished it off by listening to Adam Sandlers Classic CD, What the hell happened to me? With such goodies as, Ode to my car, The Chanukah song, The Goat, Respect, the hypnotist and do it for your mama.
Tuesday 8/10/2010
Tuesday we sat in the apartment all day bored as f**k. We cooked up dinner for ourselves that night with pasta, zuchini, carrots, onions, tomatoes and garlic. The food was pretty good. Not like home cooking, but we are working on it.
Wednesday 8/11/2010
Today Ramadan began. Basically everything closes down during the day, so there is not much to do. We sat around in the apartment all day and got to listen to the loudspeakers of the mosques all day. Not to mention that we are woken up every morning at 4am by the same loudspeakers. We passed the day playing with the pet tortoise, Tortu. Mark fed him by hand and in thanks, he pissed and shit all over the floor. Finally we decided to be productive, we took a cab to Sidi Bou Said ( a town on a hill with a nice view). The town is usually hustling and bustling but because of Ramadan, most were lethargic and quiet. (Practicing Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink between sunrise and sunset, so things can get a little hairy at times). As we walked around a lookout spot, we stumbled across 2 Americans that were being hustled by a baby falcon and its owner. Before we knew it, the falcon was on James arm and the man was talking to us about what he did. Mark snapped some photos, and he tried to take the falcon off of James' shoulder and it tried to fly away, right over the lookout down a steep glass and cacti ridden hill. The man frantically ran down the hill in his sandals, and was searching for the falcon, it was a baby so it could not fly. We both contemplated leaving the scene of the crime when we remembered we had hearts. The man found the falcon, brought it back up and let mark hold it for a minute, then took it back. He asked for a donation and James pulled out his wallet which only had US dollars. He saw that there was a few bucks in it and hustled us for 10 US dollars. (James felt bad that the guy had to run through cactus and glass to retrieve the falcon so he did not complain). Later that night we met Lora's friends (minus Lora, she was diligently working late). We had dinner around 10:30 and ended up staying till 1:45 because the owner invited us to have birthday cake and to hang out for awhile. It was a good end to a relaxing night. Bjorn arrived from Sweden at 12am, his hair looking golden as ever.
Thursday 8/12/10
We received some good news about a volunteer/job opportunity through a company called Organic Indonesia. It was the first e-mail we wrote and it was nice to have a response the day after. James has some serious e-mail skills. Bjorn took us to get cell phones in the shopping mall, so once in sweden/indonesia we will have phone access and will call everyone. We then went to the beach, soaked up some rays, thankfully no homosexual solicitations occurred this time. While Lora was at work, the boys went to the market, picked up dinner and nacho essentials. We made nachos, enjoyed some beer, good food and even better company. After dinner we were joined by lora's friends from the african development bank, where heated debates occurred about the development, or lack there of in africa.
Friday 8/13/10
Mark went to bed the night before feeling sick, in the morning he woke up with an upset stomach and a fever. Lora arranged a tour of Carthage and the tunis medina for us. Mark could not attend. Bjorn, James and one of lora's friends girlfriends joined us instead. We got to see roman ruins, a 30,000 capacity amphitheater, and roman baths in 100 degree heat, where we found rosemary bushes growing in the gardens. James decided it would be nice to have some to use for dinner that night so he ripped off a few sprigs, unaware that a guard with a large machine gun was watching. Thankfully he had better things to do than bust his chops. That night, Bjorn, James and Lora went to a dinner party at one of Lora's fellow co-workers. We had dinner, drinks and a good time. Lots of dancing. James was asked if he used to be a chippendales dancer. Bjorn systematically arranged a flirt with a nice young Rwandan lady for James. They had good conversation and enjoyed the evening talking. We arrived back home around 3am.
Saturday 8/14/10
The next morning, amidst groans, complaints about body odor and slight hangovers, we went to a hotel spa where we received a Hammam spa treatment. We relaxed in a steam bath, James and Mark had to share a foot bath because the 4th one was broken. Good thing our homosexual friend from the beach was not with us.. We were then washed by a lady with a rubber glove. She scrapped off all our excess skin and soaped up our alcohol scented bodies. After showering clean and putting on a robe we were lead to a waiting area, where we spent time relaxing before our massages. We all received 10-15 minute natural oil massages. None of the 4 massages ended happily. We had a good lunch at the spa, where we experienced the 1st rain since May. It lasted for a total of 3 minutes. We then went to rent a car for the next 9 days in order to go on our upcoming trip to the Sahara Desert.
Its getting late, we are all tired and are getting up at 7am to start our road trip. We will be visiting a roman colosseum which is preserved better than the one in Rome, as well as the areas where Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and the English Patient were filmed. If we have internet, we will update the blog if not we will post again as soon as we are back at the apartment. We look forward to the adventure but not to the 120 degree temperatures.
We hope all is well in the states, we will post pictures from the past week as soon as we can. For now our writing will have to do. Thats all folks. Until we blog again.
Health and Happiness,
James and Mark
Its been a little while since our last update so we will recap the weeks events.
As we arrived at the beach, our trip was cut short, as we were homosexually approached by a creepy tunisian man who was very fond of our American behinds. He had a New York Yankees hat on so we said hello and he proceeded to move closer closer to us while while whispering sweet arabic nothings into our ears. He removed his hat, shirt, and wallet, placed them on marks sarong and went for a swim. When he came out of the water he had a rock in his hand and gave it to mark as a gift. After our personal space was invaded we decided it was time to leave as we were not interested in what this man was offering. He tried to join us but we made it clear we were leaving alone.
Saturday 8/7/2010
- We were awoken in the morning by flies. It has been a common occurrence while sleeping here. We met Lora's co-worker Tarek who invited us on a road trip to Bizerte (about 45 minutes away). We took in a few sights such as, the old port of bizerte, , , we walked around the Kazbah (a fort), and we followed Tarek into a Mosque. A few minutes after entering a man came up to Mark and I and told us we must leave because we were not muslim. Tarek and the man got in a little argument, but eventually settle things and we moved on with our trip. After an uneventful and dull tour of the city, we headed out to Cap Serrat. Cap Serrat was a very secluded beach, it would have been nice to have made it there but we were lost got lost on the way because there really are no street signs---just like New Jersey. We ended up finding a very beautiful beach at Ras Angela. There was hardly any trash on the beach here. We soaked up some sun, played beach tennis and went for a walk down the shore for a few hours. We came across fishing boats, muslims praying, warm sand and purple rocks. We headed home from the beach showered off and went to dinner at a lebanese restaurant on the Corniche of La Marsa. Had ice cream to end a fun day.
Sunday 8/8/210
James woke up in the morning with a swollen red eye. We assumed that a piece of sand or grit got caught under his contact the night before and scratched his cornea. While James stayed home and nursed his eye, Lora and Mark headed to the Bardo Museum. Where they saw famous mosaics and statues from the Roman Empire. We then went to Cafe Journal for a quick lunch, where like all other places in tunis we were attacked by flies and homeless cats while we ate. We then headed home to relax before we headed out again to La Goulette a major fishing town. We went to Dinner at cafe vert with Lora's Argentinean friend Gaston, where we sat near the greasy foreign Ron Jeremy. We also saw a group of children in a cage in the bed of a pickup truck. It was an interesting site. A funny one to say the least.
Monday 8/9/210
Monday was a lazy day, we sat around the apartment, doing alot of nothing. While the cleaning lady took 5 hours to clean a 3 room apartment. We did our first load of laundry, and used clothes hangars for the first time. They do not have a drier, the sun is good enough for that in the desert. At night we went to dinner at La Plaza Corniche and enjoyed one of the better meals of our trip. We finished it off by listening to Adam Sandlers Classic CD, What the hell happened to me? With such goodies as, Ode to my car, The Chanukah song, The Goat, Respect, the hypnotist and do it for your mama.
Tuesday 8/10/2010
Tuesday we sat in the apartment all day bored as f**k. We cooked up dinner for ourselves that night with pasta, zuchini, carrots, onions, tomatoes and garlic. The food was pretty good. Not like home cooking, but we are working on it.
Wednesday 8/11/2010
Today Ramadan began. Basically everything closes down during the day, so there is not much to do. We sat around in the apartment all day and got to listen to the loudspeakers of the mosques all day. Not to mention that we are woken up every morning at 4am by the same loudspeakers. We passed the day playing with the pet tortoise, Tortu. Mark fed him by hand and in thanks, he pissed and shit all over the floor. Finally we decided to be productive, we took a cab to Sidi Bou Said ( a town on a hill with a nice view). The town is usually hustling and bustling but because of Ramadan, most were lethargic and quiet. (Practicing Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink between sunrise and sunset, so things can get a little hairy at times). As we walked around a lookout spot, we stumbled across 2 Americans that were being hustled by a baby falcon and its owner. Before we knew it, the falcon was on James arm and the man was talking to us about what he did. Mark snapped some photos, and he tried to take the falcon off of James' shoulder and it tried to fly away, right over the lookout down a steep glass and cacti ridden hill. The man frantically ran down the hill in his sandals, and was searching for the falcon, it was a baby so it could not fly. We both contemplated leaving the scene of the crime when we remembered we had hearts. The man found the falcon, brought it back up and let mark hold it for a minute, then took it back. He asked for a donation and James pulled out his wallet which only had US dollars. He saw that there was a few bucks in it and hustled us for 10 US dollars. (James felt bad that the guy had to run through cactus and glass to retrieve the falcon so he did not complain). Later that night we met Lora's friends (minus Lora, she was diligently working late). We had dinner around 10:30 and ended up staying till 1:45 because the owner invited us to have birthday cake and to hang out for awhile. It was a good end to a relaxing night. Bjorn arrived from Sweden at 12am, his hair looking golden as ever.
Thursday 8/12/10
We received some good news about a volunteer/job opportunity through a company called Organic Indonesia. It was the first e-mail we wrote and it was nice to have a response the day after. James has some serious e-mail skills. Bjorn took us to get cell phones in the shopping mall, so once in sweden/indonesia we will have phone access and will call everyone. We then went to the beach, soaked up some rays, thankfully no homosexual solicitations occurred this time. While Lora was at work, the boys went to the market, picked up dinner and nacho essentials. We made nachos, enjoyed some beer, good food and even better company. After dinner we were joined by lora's friends from the african development bank, where heated debates occurred about the development, or lack there of in africa.
Friday 8/13/10
Mark went to bed the night before feeling sick, in the morning he woke up with an upset stomach and a fever. Lora arranged a tour of Carthage and the tunis medina for us. Mark could not attend. Bjorn, James and one of lora's friends girlfriends joined us instead. We got to see roman ruins, a 30,000 capacity amphitheater, and roman baths in 100 degree heat, where we found rosemary bushes growing in the gardens. James decided it would be nice to have some to use for dinner that night so he ripped off a few sprigs, unaware that a guard with a large machine gun was watching. Thankfully he had better things to do than bust his chops. That night, Bjorn, James and Lora went to a dinner party at one of Lora's fellow co-workers. We had dinner, drinks and a good time. Lots of dancing. James was asked if he used to be a chippendales dancer. Bjorn systematically arranged a flirt with a nice young Rwandan lady for James. They had good conversation and enjoyed the evening talking. We arrived back home around 3am.
Saturday 8/14/10
The next morning, amidst groans, complaints about body odor and slight hangovers, we went to a hotel spa where we received a Hammam spa treatment. We relaxed in a steam bath, James and Mark had to share a foot bath because the 4th one was broken. Good thing our homosexual friend from the beach was not with us.. We were then washed by a lady with a rubber glove. She scrapped off all our excess skin and soaped up our alcohol scented bodies. After showering clean and putting on a robe we were lead to a waiting area, where we spent time relaxing before our massages. We all received 10-15 minute natural oil massages. None of the 4 massages ended happily. We had a good lunch at the spa, where we experienced the 1st rain since May. It lasted for a total of 3 minutes. We then went to rent a car for the next 9 days in order to go on our upcoming trip to the Sahara Desert.
Its getting late, we are all tired and are getting up at 7am to start our road trip. We will be visiting a roman colosseum which is preserved better than the one in Rome, as well as the areas where Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and the English Patient were filmed. If we have internet, we will update the blog if not we will post again as soon as we are back at the apartment. We look forward to the adventure but not to the 120 degree temperatures.
We hope all is well in the states, we will post pictures from the past week as soon as we can. For now our writing will have to do. Thats all folks. Until we blog again.
Health and Happiness,
James and Mark
Friday, August 6, 2010
Bon Jour, ca va?
Hello all,
The past few days have consisted of the beach, bad food and relaxation. Mark came down with a little bout of sickness from food, water, jetlag or a combination of things we dont know. While mark was in bed, james went to go play futbol with loras co-workers. He came back limping and proceeded to take a shower oooohing and ahhhing because of the injury he sustained during the futbol match. But glad to report the wound has scabbed over and mark has his health back and is on a roll with the ladies. It started at lord and taylor in eastchester where a cashier thought he was cute and asked for his number. On the beach a few days ago we noticed a few tunisian girls looking over at us now and again, and naturally we returned the looks. As we walked away the girls said bye in english, we said ciao and continued walking. About 10 seconds later we looked at eachother, asked eachother why we were walking away and turned around and walked right back over to the girls and introduced ourselves. We ended up talking to them for about an hour.
There are 2 sisters, myriam and nesrine, and 3 friends dorra, zeinoub and fatoota. We conversed a bit in french but mostly in english. our french mainly consisted of calling them pretty and beautiful. James asked Voulez-vous diner avec moi? (will you have dinner with me?) They enjoyed that and responded oui. Although their parents do not allow them to do such things. Charmers we are :). At the end of the conversation we exchanged facebooks and friended eachother later that night. Soon after we ended up talking to them and set up another day to meet at the beach. It was nesrines birthday and we bought her a pastry from the local "boulangerie" --bakery. They invited us to go to, as they say "cafe" with them for her birthday. We were picked up at 8pm last night in front of our apartment, where we then drove to the cafe to have coffee and cake. Cafe's in tunisia are usually male only, but certain ones are both male and female. Let me tell you, we received many looks for being white boys accompanying 5 tunisian women. This is what we call "pimpin" in america.
The night went well, mark and myriam hit it off and now her facebook picture is a picture of them together(awwwww). It was love at first site. James on the other hand prefers to play his cards and split his time between myriams sister Nesrine and zeinoub (she speaks little english) and he prefers it that way...just kidding. They took many pictures, and really really enjoyed sharing their night with us. They titled the picture album they created on facebook, love with mark and james. We will post a few pictures from the beach and night with them. We are the first american people they have met, so it is exciting for both parties. Not to brag or anything but they seem slightly obsessed with us. Which is both flattering and scary, because we do not want to suffer the wrath of any parents or we may have a jihad on our hands.
Today we began a workout routine to get Mark in shape. We used such items as a 6 pack of water bottles and a hiking back pack. Innovation is the name of the game. Well take some before and after photos. Tonight we may head to an African disco. Should be interesting if we end up going. We both miss home, but are enjoying everyday being sunny and 90 degrees. You may not recognize us both when we are back, we are changing colors. We were taught some arabic last night and were told we learn quickly and we would be tunisian in no time.
We are off to the beach. Hope all is well in the states. We are doing well so no worries. We look forward to setting up skype dates with you all in the future. Although the internet here, just like the food, is crap. Until next time. Tunisia out.
Au revoir,
James and Mark
Monday, August 2, 2010
Hello From The Plaza Corniche in La Marsa, Tunisie
First I apologize for the layout of this post. I thought it would look different. and second the pictures should be in reverse order.
We were slow to start our day at 1pm in the afternoon. We struggled ordering our lunch without lora as this country is not english friendly. We saw our first sunrise at 515am this morning after driving back from the discotech in Hammamet after watching one of loras friends cousins perform at a club.
The first day here we met the owner of the hotel(who is from NY) we are staying at until we go to lora's apt on the 4th. We then had a tour of tunis with his friend Hassan who owns a shipping and tourism company here. We then had dinner and drinks at his house and ended our first day here in grand fashion. The next morning, our new friend Hassan let us use one of the cars from his company for the next 21 days, at no charge. It is a black volkswagon polo (little bit smaller than the volkswagon golf). Lora was the driver at first but after a few stalls(cars are pretty much all stickshift), and a shaky ride around the crazy traffic in tunis she was voted out of the drivers seat and James took over. One thing to know about driving in tunisia is that it makes New York City look like a child's play. There are no traffic laws, and more importantly on many roads they do not have marked lanes. Speeds are all in kilometers as are distances. It is like a video game to drive here. For example, we were in traffic on a road and there was not much traffic on the other side, so some of the drivers decided to make a lane in on coming traffic, and learning the ways of tunisie quickly I drove into the other lane and followed them. It is basically a free for all.
The police pull you over randomly, they dont really enforce any traffic laws. We were signaled to pullover last night on the way back from the club (they stand on the side of the road and point to your car when they want you over) if you dont speak french they dont really bother you so I handed them my passport and license and when they couldnt understand me they let me go.
2 days ago we went to a town called el Houriah, which is basically the most northern point of africa. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the Mediterranean, where you could swim right off the dining area. We then drove up a mountain to the top where the view was just spectacular. It was about 5 hours of driving total and its only 100 miles away from La Marsa (the town in tunis where we are staying).
Yesterday we went to the beach in Hammamet (1 hour drive), which is the hamptons of tunis. The city folk and tourists go here on the weekends to escape to the beautiful beaches and resorts. Before driving out, we had "breakfast" at our hotel which consisted of bread and coffee. They dont eat breakfast like we do in the states. The waiter asked us whether we would like coffee or tea and we declined but lora had tea and when the waiter came out he had a plate with tea and bread on it for 1 person. Apparently that is what breakfast at a nice hotel consists of, we were not happy.
Our lunch on the beach consisted of a mixed grille plate, which everyone who ate it was dissatisfied with. The meats were not cooked and the food tasted like crap. We did try cows liver though. After spending about 6 hours at the beach in the salty and warm waters of the Mediterranean, we and by we I mean mark, james, lora and 7 of her friends(1 Nigerian, 1 Tanzanian, 1 Senegalese, 1 Argentinean, and 3 French) went to go get dinner before the concert. at dinner we waited awhile before being served and then again we waited about an hour before our meal came out only to learn that 4 of our chicken plates were inedible because they were pink and an order of mussels was drenched in salt (you would think they wouldnt add salt to a dish which comes from an already very salty Sea).
We decided after that we would try our luck with gelati, but the gods did not want us to be full yesterday, the dessert was sub par and we all left a little agitated. We then drove to the disco tech 20 minutes away. Where we had a nice table and got to see what a disco tech in tunisie was like. The clubs in tunisia love American music(they even played soldier boy, the song from alisons wedding that chris and james danced to). We danced our asses off and had an incredible time. It was more fun than most places in the states. Around 3am the hip hop group (apparently extremely popular in france) finally came on. They played a few songs and we left the club around 415. We got home just in time to watch the sunrise, and it was beautiful.
We are having a lazy day today as we are still a bit jet lagged. We are heading to the beach in a few to relax for the rest of the day. The weather is 95 and sunny everyday. We apologize for the lack of grammar and lack of organization in the blog, we are both tired. We do not know whats on the agenda for the rest of the week but we will upload some pictures from the past few days and blog again soon. We hope all is well in the states and we love and miss you all.
Ciao,
James and Mark
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