House hunting

I am back in Tunis, though sans Fulbright, sorting through the day-to-day issues of returning, getting back the qatusa (she gained some weight due to overindulgence at the hands of her 2 babysitters, and now back with me she's enjoying dry cat food), and house searching. Yes, we are moving. The day has finally come (after over a year and 3 months in our current second floor "étage de villa").

We have settled on another second floor "étage de villa" (floor of a villa) in the northern suburbs, about a five minute walk from the beach. Though I will now have to commute back to my old neighborhood for paintings lessons (2x a week) along with teaching (on the same days as my art classes), it will be nice to be in a different part of the city. I am attached to the Menzahs but I am also ready to get to know another area of the city - and its cafés, vegetable stands, restaurants, "hanuts" (corner stores), etc. The bus ride will be about 45 minutes, but it is comfortable and I can read, and it's not something (how ironic?) that I haven't done before. I used to commute to the northern suburbs, from the Menzahs, not 2 but 3 times a week to meet with my Arabic teacher. Now, the commuting has just been reversed :P.

We have begun moving and I will finish up this weekend, with a few planned dinners thrown in. I have a few concerns (including that Jess & Ruth, my roommates, have an unhealthy attachment to Elvis and plan on putting his picture up all over our apartment - they are both into "kitsch") though these are mitigated by the fact that our new landlady and her husbands are both, in the most sincere way I can express this, "sweethearts." They are really easy-going and seem genuinely happy to have us there. They have also delivered on all of their promises thus far, including fixing the satellite, the buzzer, and several outlets. They also had their electrician wire their phone line into our house. All in one day. (We need their phone line for an internet contract).

The qatusa seems a bit anxious and in the evening, as we are stuffing odd items into bags for our next day's trip over to the new apartment (we are trying to spread out the moving over several days), I hear Jessica reassure her: "Don't worry qatusa, we are taking you with us!"

Hopefully, this weekend it will all be finished up. The couch in this particular apartment will be repaired and the apartment itself will be empty of all of our things, and I will be out by the beach. And of course I will post pictures - of our rooms and of the beautiful view of Sidi Bou Saïd - white houses, greenery, and the ocean - from our rooftop.