We began our adventures on the island of Djerba (so pretty much a relaxing resort). All of the buildings were white-washed with blue doors or beams. That was soo beautiful. Most of the houses also had dome roofs which were pretty cool. So we started out sun bathing and swimming in the Mediterranian. We attracked a bit of attention when asked our nationality. They guessed Beligum for me and Portugeuse for others. Nope, American, we said. They didn't believe us. We were sometimes the first or second americans they'd EVER seen. It was crazy. The only people that go to Tunisia, we were later told, are french speaking people from Europe (it was a french protectorate). So needless to say we made a splash. Lots of ppl hollered out Bush to us, which didn't phase us much because they were doing it in a lighthearted manner. (I do realize that this is probably one of the safest Middle Eastern countries for an american to be in because it has no direct beef with the states or Bush and they LOVE making money off of tourists...even americans). So we relaxed and got some sun. I got to try a hooka which is a cultural pipe thing they have. It funnels flavored smoke through water to filter the impurites out and you get smoky incense left or something. Everyone was pretty suave with their swigs, but I on the other hand was ridiculous. It doesnt feel like you breath any in so when you stop you don't think you got any but they when you go to exhale all this smoke is there.
It freaked me out and I just looked silly. Kyle claims he can do the rings, but we never saw it. The guys there were ridiculous by the way. Everywhere we went (that is the girls) we were propositioned, offerend coffee, offereed camels (to the boys in our group) in exchange for our hand in marriage, offered other things...It got annoying but at least we made some awesome deals in the shops because of it (the boys never got prices as low as ours).Shopping was interesting. There are no set prices. They give you an absurd number and you give them an equally absurd one back. Eventually you make an agreement. They'll go real low if you start walking away (if you ever need to try it). It was fun at first but after awhile you just wanted to know what it cost and be done with it!
After a couple days we began our tour (in french with famlies and stuff...that was interesting). We started in this place where the sheperd ppl live. Its where they filmed part of Star Wars apparently. This culture is a lot different from the rest of the country, mainly Islamic. This people just chill out in there cave houses and weave and sheperd and all that good stuff.
Where we went it was more for tourists to see, but there are a lot who still do everything the old ways to guard thier culture. (notice my lack of actual information, this will be common, the tour guide spoke really fast and in french...so i got only the gist of it...sorry). 
I can see why they filmed Star Wars here, it really didn't look like the earth I'm used to. That's in all seriousness by the way. It's not what you would usually think of when you think of a beautiful place, but it was litterally awesome, because it really did fill you with awe. God is creative. 
He did not make the whole world the same. It's really cool to be reminded of that just by seing His handywork. I seriously wonder sometimes how He came up with it all. But then I just remember...He's God.The next place was really cool too, but kinda scarey.
It was once a sea, I believe, and is now vast salty earth with some puddles here and there. It doesn't sound impressive, but it is. The impressive part is the size. It is huge. Vast, as Nasco and Kyle said. In fact, here's a picture of them trying to show the vastness. 
The sky just blended with the earth into one blurry thing. If you were left out in the middle of that, well that would suck a lot. I'd also like to show you the sign for Algerie, because while Tunisia may be neglected in french classes, Algerie is not. 
France and Algerie had a big war with them from 1952-1962 for their independance, which they got. Unfortunatly they are not on good terms and it is not a good vacation destination for francophones....The next stop was the SAHARA, desert that is. Yeah the famous one. The crazy thing is, even though its just a bunch of sand (like
a beach sans water), it's still really cool. Normally sand, like at a beach, isn't all that impressive but the sea or ocean is so huge and goes on forever. Well this time it was the sand. And there was lots of it. We saw at one point an oasis on our right and the desert on our left. Now an oasis isn't the two palm trees and a pond like you usually think of. An oasis is a ridiculously huge field of palm trees. Like a big farm of them. The reason it's an oasis is because it has a nifty supply of water somewhere underneath it that keeps the trees alive. So that was on one side, endless palm trees. The other side was sand and hills of sand and scorching sun that just goes on and on and on. It's crazy. You just don't see an end. Now to top of this, we did what every stupid western tourist (myself included) wants to do in the desert...we rode a camel! 
Well actually a dryaid (sp?) or something (one humped camel). They are bigger than you'd think. And they smell. They all look like girls too because of they're curly eyelashes. 
The people dressed us up in traditional tunic garb with the head covering. Now you wonder why they wear so much if its so hot, right? Well we figured that out soon enough. Once you step outside the sand blows. Everywhere. I couldn't see without my sunglasses on. I couldn't open my mouth without the cloth over it. So it all made sense. Now back to the camel. I got on mine, she was real sweet. But there was a bizarre dude leading my camel. I was the first on, but somehow I got behind all my friends and they were all up ahead farther than I could see. In fact I wasn't by any of our tour group. It was me and the camel guy. Now why do you think he did that? I'll give you one guess. I didn't think I looked so great with the garb on, but what can I say...He wanted to have lunch with me, know where the hotel was, where we were headed...now I didn't think that was good info to give out (esp since I was worried about being back there all aloneish) so I did the dumb blond (add foreigner to that) thing. He spoke in french, I didn't understand. He tried english, still no luck. Of course I really did understand but you get what I was going for. 
Then I ask for him to take me by my friends in the pink headgear. I think he thought I said boyfriend though. It seemed like after that he felt defeated cause he walked me up to another group of people and gave my camel to someone else. So I wasn't with my friends but at least there was no more tete-a-tete. Unfortunatly, because of his little shinanigins there is no pic of me on the camel...sorry. But don't worry, I still had a lot of fun. I was on a camel! Afterwards when he tried to find me again I pretended like Kyle was my boyfriend and it all worked out. Oh those guys...(thats my view from atop the camel by the way)This is it for Part I. For more, tune in next week...haha. I'm such a tool. More coming though, I promise...
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