David's Diary: Thursday, October 24, 2002

Meeting Hamdi

While walking in the marina this week, Karalee and I met Hamdi. He was sitting on a bench and asked us where we were from. We learned that he lived near the marina and often stopped by to just enjoy the views. He is 21 years old and is a second year Engineering university student here in Monastir.

We have been having trouble getting a local SIM card for our mobile telephone. Hamdi offered to take our phone and get it all fitted out for Tunisia. Mobile phones are expensive and Hamdi could see the scepticism in our faces about giving him our phone. He pulled out his personal identity card and university card and offered to give them to us until our phone was returned. We still were not that trusting, but Hamdi agreed to come back today to help us out. Jocelyn, Hamdi, and I set out to find Tunisia Telecom to get a local SIM card for our mobile.

Hamdi's Brother and Two Month Old Sister

Hamdi took us past the old Medina walls to the local post office. Like most Tunisians, Hamdi speaks French, in addition to his native tongue of Arabic, and he discovered that we had to make an application to Tunisia Telecom in person in order to get a local SIM card. We walked another kilometer to Tunisia Telecom, with Hamdi pointing out things along the way. Tunisia Telecom was closed for the day by the time we arrived, so we turned around and Hamdi took us back to his house. It was located just behind the Bourguiba Family Mausoleum. Bourguiba was the first President of Tunisia. He came from Monastir and is buried here.

Hamdi is the oldest in his family. In the picture above, his younger brother (19) holds the newest addition to the family -- a baby girl just two months old. Hamdi also has another brother and sister. We were invited inside to meet the family and to have Tunisian tea. The Tunisian's like their tea very sweet and serve it in tiny glasses. Jocelyn and I tried the tea and a special herbal dip that Hamdi's mother made. The dip was too sweet for me, but Jocelyn liked it. It has only been a few days since we met Hamdi and already he has gone out of his way to welcome us to Tunisia, Monastir, and his family.