Tunisia: Sousse, Sfax and Gabes

We spent our first week in Tunisia at a conference in Sousse, a resort city of about 160,000 people on the Mediterranean coast about 90 minutes south of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. We didn't see much of Sousse outside of our hotel, but we did make two short day trips in the area. We also didn't spend any time on the beach because of the colder winter weather, although the sun-starved, red skinned Britains in our hotel in their bikinis and shorts didn't seem to mind.

From Sousse we rode the train two hours south to Sfax, a city of nearly 300,000 and the second largest in Tunisia. Sfax is known for its old, walled city--parts of which date back to the middle of the ninth century--which is called the "finest living and working medina" in the country by our guidebook. We would probably agree with that assessment. It's not famous like Marrakesh or Fes, but it had intriguing, narrow alleyways crowded with Sfaxians, large, impressive walls and a real lack of tourist influence. We stayed with some friends who live there.

Finally, from Sfax we continued down the coast and took the train another two hours south to Gabes, a city of just over 100,000. We stayed with our same friends there, and used the city basically as a base from which to travel further south on our own.

El-Jem, a Roman colosseum located halfway between Sousse and Sfax. Built in the early third century, it was the third largest in the Roman world, and is believed to have been able to seat around 30,000 people. We came here on a day trip from Sousse.


A small part of the walls of the old city of Sousse, which were built in the mid-ninth century.

A sweet, almond dessert treat at a shop in Sousse.


Part of the old city walls of Sfax.


Fresh French bread tempting passersby at a bakery just inside the old city walls of Sfax.


A covered shopping area in Sfax.


Matt with the owner of a rug shop in the old city of Sfax. He said he inherited the shop from his father 50 years ago.


A group of men at outside a coffee shop in Gabes.


A unique street sign in Gabes.

Why I love flying!

One of my favorite things to do is to travel--well, besides sleeping and drinking good coffee (as many of you who know me well can attest to!) Over the years we have been able to travel to many amazing places around the world. Just like life, sometimes the journey is just as interesting and eventful as getting to the destination. For example, we get to sit and talk for hours to intriguing people from around the world, experience collective stress and relief with our fellow passengers when the pilot announces there is going to be an emergency landing because something is wrong with the plane or of course learn patience when our flight is delayed--for the third time that day. But the one thing I have grown to love when flying--especially outside of the United States of America--is the moment RIGHT AFTER the plane descends and the back wheels are done bumping up and down on the runway. The engines have stopped roaring like a pack of lions and the front wheels once again become connected to the earth. It is at this moment that the applause starts from the passenger cabin.

I Love THIS! For some it is an applause of relief and for others it is praise for the flight crew and the good job they have done. For me it is both of these things, but I like to think of it as a time of collective thanks to God from all the passengers that we have arrived safely. It is appreciating for just a moment before chaos ensues and we are all pushing to get our luggage from the overhead compartment or calling our ride on our cell phones, that we were in it together--not just defying gravity while flying 30,000 feet above this earth--but in life as well, and that we are experiencing community, if just for that short time.

Morocco: Marrakesh

Our next stop in Morocco was Marrakesh, which we travelled to by train by going back through Casablanca. Marrakesh is about four hours south of Casablanca, and because of several delays on the track our entire trip from Fes took about ten hours, two hours more than expected. This was the only trouble we had on an otherwise excellent and comfortable train system. The last hour or so of the trip consisted of brown, rocky desert, but Marrakesh is an oasis, and as we pulled into the city we drove through hundreds of tall palm trees, above which various birds circled. The city is also bordered in the distance by the snow capped High Atlas mountains, helping give the city a unique, outer limits feel.

The population of Marrakesh is about one million, but once again, we came to see the old city, where around 220,000 people live. Like Fes, it is surrounded by walls, parts of which date from the eleventh century. At the southern end of the old city is a giant square, where food vendors, story tellers, musicians, snake charmers and others set up shop for tourists and locals alike.

A water vendor in the square outside the old city of Marrakesh.

Annamarie getting henna--kind of a temporary tattoo--from a local woman.

Annamarie and Shelley show off their henna.

A narrow alleyway in the old city.

Matt and Yahya, a worker at our budget riad.

A view of the square from a restaurant, with the old city in the background.

Eating cotton candy in the souq.

A red wall in the old city.

Another street in the old city.

A crowd gathers around a story teller in the square. That's Matt on the left.

Two views of the square. The mountains are visible in the first photo.

Morocco: Fes

After we left Rabat, we spent three nights in Fes, a city of around one million people about three hours by train east of Rabat. Fes was founded in the late eighth century not long after the conquest of North Africa by the Muslim armies, and portions of the walls surrounding the old city date from 800 years or so ago. It was of course this old city that we came to see. Although parts of the old city seemed to contain only tourists (like us), it was still definitely a working city with schools, mosques, shops, homes and shops and markets patronized only by the locals among the nearly 9500 roads and alleyways--some literally just big enough to walk through--inside its walls. The population inside is around 160,000.

We've visited a dozen or so of these old walled cities in the Middle East and North Africa now, and while Fes isn't number one on our list, we found it to be unique because of its size and because it is built on a hill. The old city is amazingly enormous, something we didn't fully realize until our last day, when we finally got high enough to see everything. It's probably the biggest that we've visited. Also, most of the other old cities we've visited were built on flat ground. However, Fes was built on a hill, a hill that is fairly steep at times, and this simple fact is something about which we both remarked. Below are some pictures of our time there.

A sheep being led through the streets of Fes.

Fes is famous for its leather goods, and this is part of the leather tannery. The vats contain bleach to clean the skins, as well as various different colors for dyeing. The workers just stand in the vats with their pants and shirts rolled up, working with the skins. They also have to deal with the intense stench emitted by the whole process. Have you ever bought a new leather jacket? Think of that smell multiplied by about a thousand.


The interior of a riad--an old home converted into accommodation for tourists--with a fancy central courtyard surrounded by three or four stories of rooms. They are popular places to stay in Fes, and we spent one night here.

Annamarie and Shelley, our friend from Minneapolis, drinking Moroccan mint tea.


A gate into the old city of Fes, with two minarets in the background.

A door to a home in the old city.

The view from our riad.

A worker at the riad, serving us mint tea on the rooftop.

Morocco: Casablanca and Rabat

Our first week in Morocco was spent in Casablanca and Rabat, two cities on the Atlantic Ocean. Casablanca--a busy port city of almost four million people--was actually nothing special. Rabat--the capital of Morocco with about 1.5 million people--was definitely more appealing. We spent Christmas there, and had a special Christmas meal of delicious Moroccan food inside the old city.

The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. It is the third largest mosque in the world, and was built in 1993 for the former king's 60th birthday. It can hold 25,000 people inside, and 80,000 in the courtyard outside. The minaret is 210 meters tall and is the tallest in the world. It also has a retractable roof.

Kids playing soccer on the beach in Casablanca.

The view from Rabat, with an Islamic cemetery in the distance just outside the beach.

Part of our Christmas meal.

Matt and his Christmas dessert.

Exploring North Africa

Recently we returned from a one month trip in North Africa, spending about two weeks each in Morocco and Tunisia. Except for a previous visit to Egypt--which is really more Middle Eastern than North African--neither of us had ever been to North Africa before, so it was a good chance to experience a different part of the Arabic speaking world. Although there is only so much one can glean from two weeks in a country and four weeks in a particular region, there were certain qualities that struck us during our time there.

One of the more obvious qualities we noticed is the huge French influence in the region. For one, even though Arabic is the official language of both Morocco and Tunisia, French is widely spoken in each country, and in Morocco especially it seemed to be used as much--and sometimes more than--Arabic. Throughout our travels we had a hard time convincing people that although we were white skinned we were not French speakers and could not understand their French, no matter how many times we told them so in Arabic. Although there are probably other, more important ways this French influence can be seen, we saw it also in the wide availability of certain foods such as French bread and crepes. Nearly every meal we ate came with French bread, and it seemed as if there was always someone on the street carrying a loaf in their hands or riding a bicycle with a basket full of French bread. And in Tunisia especially, fresh crepes filled with various toppings seemed to be just as common on the street as hummus is here.

More interesting perhaps is the greater male-female interaction that we witnessed in both countries in comparison to Jordan. Here, contact between unmarried and unrelated males and females is limited. You simply do not see for the most part, for instance, teenagers or young adults of opposite sexes interacting in public. You will see such interaction at a place like Starbuck's, but rarely will it be as part of a larger group. It usually consists of just one couple, and the interaction more than likely will stop at the door leading to the outside. By contrast, we saw teenagers and young adults in both Morocco and Tunisia hanging out outside in public and inside various cafes and restaurants. We saw school-kids laughing and running around after each other after school--flirting, one might say--and couples walking arm in arm on the sidewalks. We see none of this here in Jordan.

Finally, while maybe not the most groundbreaking thing to point out--but to us nearly as amazing as male-female interaction--was the presence in both countries of lines. By this we mean that when we were involved in an activity that involved the intricate process of taking turns, an orderly line actually usually formed, instead of the disorderly, every person for themselves blob that usually forms here. I will never forget the long, peaceful line I stood in to buy train tickets in Morocco, which was breathtaking simply because of the mere existence of the line itself.

These are just some small observations about our time in North Africa; certainly there are other observations to be made. We enjoyed our time, and enjoyed learning a little about a different part of the Arabic speaking world. We'll have new pictures posted this week, so enjoy!!!

Exploring Jordan

Last week Jordan celebrated the former King Hussein's birthday and we decided to rent a car and get out of Amman for the day. We have visited most of the popular tourist sites in Jordan such as Petra, Jerash and the Dead Sea and plan to start exploring the more obscure sites that many don't get to see, such as King Herod's desert palace where John the Baptist was beheaded or Pella, another Roman city like Jerash. But for this trip we decided to travel about two hours north of Amman to Um Qais--one of our favorite places to visit in Jordan. According to the Bible, Um Qais--called Gadara at the time--is where Jesus cast demons out of two men into a herd of pigs.

Matthew 8:28-34
They landed in the country of Gadarenes (Jordan) and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, "What business do you have giving us a hard time? You are the Son of God! You weren't supposed to show up here yet!" Off in the distance a herd of pigs was browsing and rooting. The evil spirits begged Jesus, "If you kick us out of these men, let us live in the pigs." Jesus sad, "Go ahead, but get out of here!" Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. Scared to death, the swineherders bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs. Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.

We enjoy going to Um Qais because it is cool to see a place where Jesus performed miracles and because it is out in the country, away from the hectic pace of Amman. It is a place where Jordan, Israel and Syria come together, and from it there are amazing views of the Golan Heights--land that is contested between Israel and Syria--the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River Valley. Sitting in Jordan overlooking this beautiful scenery in the peacefulness of the countryside, we are reminded why we are here and continue to pray and work for peace between these close neighbors.

Below are some pictures of Um Qais and our drive back to Amman through the Jordan Valley. ENJOY!

A young boy on his donkey, helping to herd sheep in the Jordan Valley.

The sheep herd.

The sheep with the hills surrounding the valley in the distance.

The main street through Um Qais/Gadara, lined with columns.

The same street, from a different view.

The ruins of old shop stalls in Um Qais/Gadara. The columns in the background--as well as many of the bricks at the site--are made with black basalt, which is a unique feature of the city.

The top of a black basalt column.

Annamarie on the steps of a lookout point at the restaurant at Um Qais.

Looking out from Um Qais toward the Golan Heights on the right, with the Sea of Galilee and Israel and Palestine toward the left.

Eid al-Fitr

Well, Ramadan is over--it has been for quite some time now, we've just been a little too busy to update this--and the normal rhythm of life has returned to Amman. It is interesting that just as the onset of Ramadan required us to adjust mentally, the end of Ramadan has required mental adjustments as well. For instance, during Ramadan we of course would not eat or drink outside--or even chew gum--lest we draw the ire of those around us who were officially supposed to be fasting, and so we would be sensitive to the culture around us. We even felt self-conscious eating or drinking in front the big windows at the front of our apartment. This self-consciousness lasted even after Ramadan had ended, as occasionally we found ourselves retreating from the windows with food or drink, only to remind ourselves that there was no need to be careful anymore. This is a small thing, but it is an example of the mental steps one must take to be sensitive to certain aspects of the culture here, and how ingrained those steps can become in your mind.

Anyway, for three days after Ramadan, it is the tradition here in Jordan and across the Islamic world for Muslims to visit their friends and families to celebrate the end of Ramadan. This is called Eid al-Fitr--The Festival of Fast-Breaking. The visits are meant to be short--as there are a lot of visits to be made--and you are supposed wear some of your best clothes and perhaps even get a fresh haircut for the occasion. Of course food and drink is provided during these Eid visits, and in Jordan it is tradition for the hosts to serve small sips of unsweetened Arabic coffee--as opposed to the usually very sweet coffee--and a cookie type treat filled with dates or nuts, called ma'mool. Below is a picture of some ma'mool.

Baseball Fever in Jordan

Last week marked an abrupt end to a remarkable season for my favorite baseball team, the Minnesota Twins. As an avid Twins fan, I checked the progress of the team nearly every day these past few months, even following games live online when I could, as I did recently during their last regular season game so I would know if they won their division before I went to bed that night. They did indeed win, and I went to bed a happy man. Unfortunately, they were then soundly beaten in three straight games in the opening round of the playoffs, eliminating them from the postseason and turning that happy night into a distant memory in just a few days. Below is a picture of me putting on a happy face behind the bar at the Marriott Hotel in Amman--where I watched two of the three playoff games--as the season was coming to a close. I wait expectantly for the next season to begin.