Soccer games, couscous, studying - a lazy Sunday.

Right now, I am watching soccer with the Ghorbel family. It is dark, because they never turn on unnecessary lights (very much like the French families I have stayed with). We ate couscous with fish for lunch, & for dessert had chocolate and pistachio ice cream with slices of pear and banana, all sprinkled with rose water and sugar. It was delicious. Shedly, who is retired now, used to head the Tunis health department, & so - he says - after seeing the inside of too many dirty restaurants, he only likes to eat at home. [People working in restaurants in the States often say the same thing.] I totally agree with him that food made at home almost always tastes better than food from a restaurant. And speaking of valuing historical 'women's work' (& let's be honest, contemporary 'women's work' too), I enjoy appreciating food made at home. As Historian Jeffrey Pilcher wrote in his article "Industrial Tortillas and Folkloric Pepsi: The Nutritional Consequences of Hybrid Cuisines in Mexico,” the modernization of tortilla production led to processed tortillas of lower nutritional quality and further deprived women of what had once been their meaningful contribution to the household. Their hard labor grinding corn, he argues, before gave them status and identity. Food carried messages for women; it expressed their affection for their families, could “communicate anger as well as love,” and helped women gain “respect and authority as a result.” The industrialization or 'modernization' (a term heavy with meaning) of tortilla production led to men taking over historically female occupations once they were “mechanized” (and “scientificized”) such as the management of the tortillerías.

Anyway, last night I went to a wedding with Karim. Nahed, his sister, helped me get ready, and we eventually settled on a maroon shirt that tied around the neck and had a small Berber charm hanging from it. I matched that with a generic black skirt from Karim's mom & some nice black shoes with golden speck - the only nice shoes I own! - that I bought from DSW over the summer. Nahed and her mom and I had lots of fun picking out outfits and dressing me up. We spent about 40 minutes picking out make-up and applying it - Nahed put a lot on, much more than I ever would, but it still ended up looking nice and not obnoxious. I think if she hadn't studied accounting, she could have been a stylist. She also did my hair, pulling back the top & puffing it a little bit. It looked much classier than anything I have ever been able to do myself! The wedding itself was fine, but we arrived late since the reception started earlier than we thought. We ate some food and danced a little, signed the guest book, & left. I like weddings -not only because there is food and dancing - but because I enjoy the people watching. Some of the women pile on the make-up and dance the entire time, no matter their age or clothing size. I appreciate that - it prevents a tyranny of the young :p

Soon I'm going back to my apartment to study Arabic & prepare for my class tomorrow with my Syrian professor in La Marsa. She is such a good teacher, partially because I like her so much and am too embarrassed to go to her unprepared. So tonight I'll listen to the dialogues, write them down word for word, study the new vocab and the old, and pray that I remember it all.

& Inshallah, internet this week!!