News About The Greer Family

December 20, 2002: Living in Tunisia

Sahara Desert

We started December with a week-long trip to the south of Tunisia. We visited the town of Matmata where people live in caves dug out of the ground. Then we traveled to El Faouar, a sparsely populated oasis on the edge of the Sahara desert. From there we did a two-day camel trek into the desert. But that is not all that we have been up since our last update. The children are active in local sports, we are all improving our French, and school is almost over.

It has been a challenge to live in Tunisia. It has taken us a year to get used to the slower pace of Mediterranean life and the relaxed attitudes of businesses. Tunisia takes things even slower than the European countries we have visited and it takes a long time to do the simplest things. Meat, fruit, and vegetables must be purchased at the public market. The only fresh food imported to Tunisia is bananas, so cooking means adjusting our meal plans to what is available in the market. Cereal, yoghurt, and other dry goods must be purchased at the Monoprix supermarket which means multiple trips on shopping days. This combined with the usual cruising problem, we must use our feet to get to and from the market, means that just keeping food on the boat keeps us busy.

Kevin and Christmas Decorations

We have started preparing Dragonsinger for Christmas and every day we add new decorations to share the festive spirit. Christmas Carols are on the stereo and we already have plans for Christmas dinner. We may be a long ways from home and living in a Muslim country, but as we explain to Allen almost every day Christmas is a spirit and not a thing. Santa will arrive on Dragonsinger this year, because Allen tells us every day that he will. What a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas.

Travel Pictures

Matmata at Sunrise

We have two sets of pictures from our trip to the south. The first set is of the town of Matmata where people live in caves dug out of the ground. We actually stayed in a hotel that was a former home. The rooms were surprisingly cosy and warm and we all had a good night's sleep. Matmata has been made famous by the Star Wars films. In the original film, a bar scene and the one where Luke Skywalker asks his Uncle to leave the planet were both shot in Matmata.

Allen, Jocelyn, and Kevin Play in the Sahara Sand

Our trip into the desert was a once in a lifetime experience. There were so few people in the area that we never saw any other trekkers during our two-day trip. The only pitfall was that it was cold, both day and night. At night it was so cold that none of us could get enough blankets under and over us to keep warm. The sleepless nights were worth it as we trekked through the dunes, had meals cooked over an open fire, and saw the Milky Way suspended over us at night.

A Muslim Country

Cafe Before Ramadan

Tunisia is a Muslim country. One of the tenants of Islam is that followers must fast from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan. Fasting means that you cannot eat, drink, or smoke during the day. Children and woman who are pregnant or breast-feeding are not required to fast. In Tunisia, citizens are required by law to follow Ramadan. The Islam calendar is lunar and this year's Ramadan fell from November 5 to December 5. For outsiders like us the changes during Ramadan are remarkable.

The first thing you notice is that all schedules change. Consider shopping hours. Normally, shops are open from 9:00 to 1:00, closed until 4:00, then open again until 7:00. These are typical hours in the Mediterranean countries that we have visited. During Ramadan shops are only open from 9:00 to 3:00. Times for swimming and tennis lessons change. Even Jocelyn's school schedule was completely different during Ramadan.

Tunisian men like their cafes (you never see a woman in one). Before Ramadan almost every cafe would have many customers during the day. During Ramadan the cafes were either closed or were empty. Every day a loud sound like a canon going off would issue from the Mosque and this was the signal that fasting for the day was over. At this time of year we usually heard the boom around 5:30. From 5:00 to 7:00 you would not see a local on the street as everyone was home with their family having dinner.

We also noticed that as the month of Ramadan wore on things got slower and slower and people seemed to become grumpy, especially in the afternoon. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that many Tunisians smoke and not being able to smoke during the day took its toll. We also found that it was strange to eat lunch in the cockpit of Dragonsinger as local Tunisians walked by and glanced at our lunch.

Market During Ramadan

The Tunisians themselves certainly were energetic during the morning when Ramadan was on. The market was as busy as we have since it before or since. Outside the market a Souk (i.e., an open market) was set up selling everything from food to clothes to shoes. The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a special three-day festival called Eid ul-Fitr. Before the end of Ramadan we were invited to a local's house where we were treated to the special deserts that were being prepared for the festival.

Now that Ramadan is over things are back to normal. But as we get ready for Christmas we are still adjusting to living in a Muslim country. While we don't miss the aggressive marketing of Christmas in Canada and the US, we do miss the fact that there is no public display of the holiday season. Any why should there be? Christmas is part of the Christian religion and we're not living in a Christian country, so no Christmas lights and no Christmas decorations. Fortunately Christmas spirit still exists and the party season is just starting here in the marina and as we share with each other over the holiday season.

Recreation

Allen Swimming

Kevin, Allen, and Jocelyn are all actively involved in sports here in Monastir. Kevin and Allen are taking both swimming and tennis lessons. Jocelyn has joined the Monastir swim team and she is training hard. Her coach really pushes all the members of the swim team and Jocelyn finishes her practice sessions with barely enough energy to ride her bike back to the boat.

It is common for Jocelyn to swim three kilometers in a single training session. Jocelyn is currently working to qualify for the first swim meet of 2003. She has qualified for three events, but she must qualify in four if she is to make the team going to the meet. Given how hard she works, it's likely that we'll be off to Tunis at the start of the New Year to attend the meet.

Allen Biking on the Dock

One of our little challenges has been buying bikes here in Tunisia. We have bought bikes for Kevin, Jocelyn, and Allen. They cost far more than we thought they should and the manufacturers in China have a lot to learn about building bikes. Daily adjustments to each of the bikes are now just a fact of the way we live. At least David and Karalee have some faster transportation when they need to get errands done.

The big surprise has been Allen. He has never ridden a bike before. Within an hour of our getting him a bike he was riding around the marina. We credit this to Allen's good balance and to the fact that Allen has ridden the scooter he received for Christmas last year many kilometers. Allen is now so confident on his bike that he navigates down our narrow dock.

Learning Languages

It took almost a month, but Karalee managed to arrange for Jocelyn to attend a local school and take two subjects. Three times a week Jocelyn heads off for French and English. Going to a local school has let Jocelyn meet more local people and she has already started making friends. One of our goals in coming to Tunisia was to try and improve our French and Jocelyn's knowledge of the language has been growing every day. As a bonus, Jocelyn is slowly learning a few words of Arabic too. When you are thirteen and starved for company, you are highly motivated to make friends and communicate.

Kevin and Allen are taking private French lessons from our friend Maggie Watts. Kevin is using French school materials from our distance education school in Vancouver and Allen is using materials that Maggie found here in Tunisia. Adult French lessons are offered twice a week at the marina clubhouse by fellow cruisers here in Monastir. David and Karalee are both attending classes. We don't expect to come back fluent in French, but we do hope to be able to comprehend more and speak correctly when we do make the attempt to talk in French. We'll see how it goes and provide an update on how we made out when we leave Tunisia.

School

Kevin Doing an Experiment

Our main focus since arriving in Monastir has been school. We were a little bit behind when we arrived, due to the tremendous amount of traveling that we did in September and October. Karalee and I continue to alternate weeks of teaching. We have noticed that this has extended the school day by an hour or so over last year when we were both teaching. But having only one teacher has made all of our students more independent, especially Allen who in Grade Two needs to start doing more and more on his own. We start school at 8:30, work until 10:30, have recess until 11:00, and work again until noon or so when we break for lunch. Lunch often stretches into an hour, although we try and keep it shorter while still allowing for a short lunch recess. We like to be finished school by 3:00, but find that it can go much longer depending on the individual needs and performance of Jocelyn, Kevin, and Allen. We will be taking a two-week break from school over Christmas -- something that both students and teachers are ready for.

David's Diary

Sunset in Croatia

The Adriatic Sea is now being served up in David's diary. He covers Dubrovnik, Croatia, our first stop and then goes on to take us all the way to the top of the Adriatic with our visit to Venice. Then it's back down the Adriatic visiting more of Croatia, including places like Pula and Split, before crossing back over to Italy. Daily life, summer, the start of school, friends, kids, and lots of exploration are all covered during our travels in July, August, and September.