Paseo1959: June 2010

In early May, Rodney and I spent two weeks in Tunisia—two days in Tunis and the remainder with a rental car motoring about the Country. We covered about 1800 miles or about two-thirds of the Country which is about the size of Florida.

Tunisia is familiar to us from its role in WWII and perhaps reinforced by the 1970’s movie “Patton”. The Americans fought some decisive battles there—the tragic Battle of the Kasserine Pass in February 1943 where our forces lost many men, much ground, and confidence in some key commanders ; and the Battle of the El Guettar where Patton defeated Rommel’s 10th Panzer Division. The scene in which Patton, watching the battle proceed, shouts “Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!” is very Patton and memorable. The victory was not quite as decisive as portrayed in the movie (I prefer the movie version) , but was an important turning point in the war and led to breaking the last Axis line of defense in the south of Tunisia and consequently the German withdrawal from Tunisia. The scenery in Southern Tunisia has not changed from the filming and probably not much since WWII.

Tunisia ‘s role in ancient history is remembered primarily because of the three Punic Wars fought between Carthage (the city/state capitol of what is now Tunisia) and its arch enemy, Rome. The rivalry and three wars ultimately resulted in the total destruction of Carthage and the Carthaginians in 146 AD. Most everyone has heard of the feats of the Carthaginian General Hannibal. “Patton” also has a scene dealing with his memory of one of the Punic wars.

Lastly, if you have seen the” star wars” movies, several of them were filmed in southern Tunisia in an area around Matmata perhaps best remembered as the home planet of Luke Skywalker.

For our trip through Tunisia we traveled mostly on Michelin Map’s white roads which I have always referred to as” goat roads”. They are paved, but a single, undivided lane and provide the only route through many of the less developed and mountainous areas of Europe and North Africa. There is no GPS in Tunisia, so it was up to me and the Michelin maps, but I prefer it that way. I have never been sure the GPS knows what it is talking about. And, in Tunisia, navigation is pretty simple in that there are few roads.

Driving is another matter. The travel books cautioned that driving in Tunisia was a wild and wooly proposition, but we took the cautions with a grain of salt. Rodney—an indefatigable and unflappable driver --has driven through it all, but for India where we hired a driver. But, Tunisia was indeed nerve wracking.

There is no such thing as a lane. If the highway is marked for two, the drivers make three and sometimes four lanes. As you are preceding on a two lane road and in a no passing zone, the driver behind decides to make a passing lane from the middle. Sometimes this driver encounters another vehicle coming in the opposite direction and also in a make believe passing lane frequently approaching over the top of the hill. Then there are four abreast on a narrow two lane road all traveling at a high speed. Both shoulders and sometimes heavy breaking often need to come into play to avoid certain collision. The Tunisian drivers, however, choose neither of the above; appearing to believe this is great sport. It is always left to the lone tourist (Rodney) to” blink”. There were more than a few “flappable” driving moments.

Pedestrians walk everywhere but on the sidewalks. They wander throughout the streets. They are in the middle of the streets, in the middle of the lanes, crossing back and forth between lanes, whatever, totally without any care as to where the cars might be coming from or going. And oblivious to any space needs for motorized vehicles. This custom made city driving teeth clenching experience and the rural goat roads a welcome relief.

Driving aside, Tunisia is a fascinating and enjoyable country to visit. It is a country of great contrasts both in culture and scenery, inhabiting two worlds—the very European Mediterranean sea coast with its lovely beach towns, cities and villages, and international resort atmosphere , hosting some 2 million European tourists annually ; and the more African, Middle Eastern, and the more conservative Muslim remainder of the country.

Much of this country is extremely arid and then becomes the Sahara desert. Southern Tunisia is the country’s “Star Wars” heartland and indeed many of the sites of filming seem very familiar. It is a stark, barren, desolate, eroded, and haunting landscape full of fissures and craters. -- reminding one of what the moon must look like. Sheep and goats, goats and sheep and camels and more camels inhabit the south and west of Tunisia along with their shepherds and herders.

There is a very definite tourist season in Tunisia and early May is not it. It is still very chilly and windy on the coast and consequently the resorts are deserted. We were the only guests in the hotel in at least two of these towns, making our stay a little eerie. The strangeness of it all was compounded by the fact that the one man at the desk constituted the sum of the employees other than perhaps a cleaning lady. And, the one man staff was nowhere to be found in the evening. Additionally there were no elevators in any of the hotels once we left Tunis. One carried one’s own luggage, or paid an 80 year old cleaning woman to help. I carried my own. Rodney paid the cleaning lady.

The weather was lovely in the desert but again we found ourselves almost alone. Most of the tourist visits to the ruins, the desert, and the sites the lands of the Berbers come from day -trippers from the beach resorts. So, we had things just about to ourselves which was great.

The Tunisians are warm, friendly, curious about Americans (there are very few traveling there) and great Obama fans. At the same time they are defensive of Islam, the Palestinians, and angered by the Iraq war. But, they never seem to bring these feelings to a personal level.

Although almost 100% Muslim, Tunisia seems to wear its religion lightly. On the Mediterranean Coast very few women are coated or veiled, about one-half wear a scarf head covering and the remainder wear no head covering. In the remainder of the country most women wear head coverings as well as other covering garments such as the long coat, but the uncovered minority move about with ease and assurance so the choice seems to be a purely personal one.

Alcohol is permitted in Tunisia, and in fact they produce some wines—a legacy of the 100 year French Protectorate. But, most Tunisians do not drink. Alcohol is served only out of public view. Sidewalk cafes serve non-alcoholic beer and drinks are available only in a few of the more expensive restaurants in large cities and in Westernized hotels. As for purchasing alcohol, it is all rather surreptitious and done rather furtively. At some appointed hour, known only to a select few, a back door of a grocery opens revealing a closet size liquor store which stays open perhaps an hour and not every day. Rodney found these speakeasy openings and sites by observing from time to time men ,all carrying boxes of empty beer bottles, forming lines in alleys. We would simply join the queue.

As for food, the Mediterranean coast is home to delicious grilled fish which we had every night. As one moved south into the desert it was free range chicken, lamb, goat, or camel steak. And of course the ubiquitous couscous, an invention of the Berbers. Beef disappeared in the South because there was no grazing land and pork was never around because the country is Muslim. The free range chicken tasted as if it had ranged far and wide and for many years. A knife was no match for one of these guys. Pommes frites, another legacy of the 100 year French Protectorate are available throughout the country in every and all eateries large, small, and isolated, and they are fresh and wonderful, Salads too are good, fresh and everywhere—more cucumber and tomato and less lettuce. And olives, olives, olives. I became very accustomed to having a dish of olives for breakfast.

As for language, the universal and primary language is Arabic. Nearly everyone, however, especially the younger generations, speaks French as a second language. Very little English is known or understood—Tunis and the Mediterranean resort cities being the exception—but in the rest of the country many are taking up English as a third language and are always anxious to practice a few words. The great majority of road signs are in both Arabic and the Roman alphabet.

The country has a great, sweeping, history of conqueror after conqueror, The Berbers were the original inhabitants, but were first conquered by the Phoenicians, then the Romans, later the vandals and the Byzantines, the armies of Islam and the several Islamic dynasties, the Turks, and finally the French. But, Tunisia seems to have absorbed something positive from each conquering civilization. And, through it all, the Berbers, the original inhabitants of Tunisia, have endured and proven at times to be formidable enemies of the conquerors. Although they have become all but totally assimilated into the Arab population their customs and culture continue to survive especially in rural areas. The resulting mixture is pleasing, rich, and unique in North Africa. Sadly, however, the Berber language, Chelha, which can still be heard will disappear with the remaining few elderly speakers

Most of the conquering civilizations, but for the Carthaginians whose capital, Carthage, was totally destroyed and burned to the ground, left outstanding architectural reminders of their once great cities, forts and places of worship. The great city-state of Carthage has to be imagined. The Romans, after conquering, destroying, burning and salting the city and selling all of its remaining inhabitants into slavery at the end of the 3rd Punic War in 146 AD, then rebuilt a city of their own upon the site. This site just outside of Tunis overlooking the Mediterranean is beautiful and haunting, but of course it is not Carthage, only the former site of Carthage. (Remember the scene in “Patton” where he has his driver turn and take him to a battlefield he remembers and he explains to his companions that he was here fighting/commanding in the ancient battle this spot? As he describes the battle wherein the Carthaginians were terribly outnumbered, and its aftermath which was pretty horrific he does not say which of the Punic Wars he was fighting in, but, the description he gives makes me think he is describing his role as a Roman General in the 3rd Punic War.)

The ruins throughout Tunisia from the many centuries of Roman occupation are some of the best preserved in the world. The remains of whole cities can be found in Dougga and Sbeitla, one of the world’s best preserved amphitheatres at Jem, and the world’s best collection of Roman Mosaics at the Bardo Museum in Tunis. The Islamic Dynasties contributed impressive mosques and the medinas. The medinas are the original walled cities established by the Islamic dynasties. They are a very condensed labyrinth of winding narrow paths housing retail shops, residences, tradesmen’s places of work and restaurants. It is fascinating to wander in these mazes not worried about getting lost and knowing there is indeed some way out. Even if it takes a while to find it. Two of the Medinas in Tunisia are on the World Heritage list.

Once you head South and West you enter the land of the Berbers, including such architectural landmarks as the underground houses of Matmata called troglodyte homes, the picturesque Arab-Berber Ksour district, the heart of “Star Wars” country around Tataouine and Matmata, abandoned Berber hilltop villages, and eerie salt flats as one heads West to the Algerian Border to visit Douz and Tozeur towns located amid enormous palm groves as well as other oasis villages close to the Algerian border.

The troglodyte homes are underground homes of the Berbers who centuries ago went underground to escape the summer heat. The homes are found primarily in the Star Wars country of Matmata, and although conventional modern buildings are now in the majority, Matmata still has hundreds of the troglodyte pit homes.

The homes, providing protection from heat, cold and invasion, are located at the base of a large circular pit cut from 15 to 30 feet deep and usually buttressed with stone walls. Three to four homes are commonly included within a troglodyte dwelling, each home consisting of three to four rooms and connected to the other homes by court yards.

Unfortunately, these homes do not lend themselves to photography in that all one can see on the exterior is a narrow stairwell leading down from the ground level, or door craved into the side of a hill. And, the rooms in the interior feel like those in any other home albeit in slightly dimmer light. On the other hand, visiting these homes is relatively easy, as one can usually secure an invitation upon striking up a conversation with one of the inhabitants.

The Ksar (plural Kzour) typifies Berber architecture. It is a fortified granary consisting of several ghorfas—cave- like structures built of stone stacked three to four stories high and used for storing grain. Think of the kzar as a bank with the ghorfas serving as very large safety deposit boxes. Each ghorfa or cave storage unit belonged to a family, and grain as well as olive oil was stored here from the years of good harvest as insurance against the many years of bad harvests. Because of the arid conditions these stored grains could last several years. The ghorfas were accessed by precarious stone staircases and filled by and emptied using a pulley system. (See photos below)

In the bad years, the family savings of grain and oil could be withdrawn but there was usually a caretaker in charge of withdrawals—most often a religious figure—and this personage regulated how much grain could be taken out by the owners in times of scarcity. Thus the Ksar operated akin to a bank or credit union preventing crop holders from squandering their resources –sort of an enforced saving and stockpiling.

Southern Tunisia’s oldest surviving settlements are the spectacular hilltop villages built to take advantage of the region’s dramatic rock outcrops. They are all dotted with natural caves with became a place of refuge for Berber tribes who were forced to flee from various invaders. The caves were extended into houses by tunneling several rooms into the rock and adding courtyards. The highpoint of these villages was occupied by the ksar discussed above. There are several of these villages but three of these villages remain intact and virtually untouched since the inhabitants left. They are a special site.

Having exhausted our time, we headed back to Tunis for the trip home. This trip was uneventful and speedy in that we traveled back to Tunis on the one and only autobahn. I would highly recommend a vast to Tunisia, but if you have not yet visited Morocco, or Egypt, or Turkey I might do these first.

There will be a test on this material next week.

Your classmate
Claudine