Aug, 2014. Arrived in Tunis, Tunisia on August 8, 2014.
Arriving in Tunis and getting settled was not bad. The staff did a great job during orientation and helped us to get the house together, showed us the local markets and restaurants and familiarized us with the areas. Our house is nice and came mostly furnished. We had to add the extras, lights, extra side tables or chairs, the decorating part, etc. But that is the part that I love and it is what makes your home comfortable for you. We were loaned a school car so we had transportation to get around. Which was very useful because Tunis is a large city, the school is about 15 minutes away and my husband keeps those principal's hours.
Arriving in Tunis and getting settled was not bad. The staff did a great job during orientation and helped us to get the house together, showed us the local markets and restaurants and familiarized us with the areas. Our house is nice and came mostly furnished. We had to add the extras, lights, extra side tables or chairs, the decorating part, etc. But that is the part that I love and it is what makes your home comfortable for you. We were loaned a school car so we had transportation to get around. Which was very useful because Tunis is a large city, the school is about 15 minutes away and my husband keeps those principal's hours.
The weather is warm, mostly in the low to mid-90s with it cooling off to about 60 at night. This is still summer, it cools off come Oct. Since we were coming from one of the rainiest places in WA state, I was loving the heat and constant sunshine.
I quickly learned that this is a photographer's paradise! So much to see, so much history to immerse yourself in, great sunny lighting and tons of new places to explore. History has never been my "thing" but when you live right in the midst of it, you can not help but want to learn.
There are so many wonderful sites all around us. The first month was an adventure's paradise. I was thankful for my new camera that takes great photos all by itself! That is one reason I wanted to create this blog, was to share the beauty that is here in Tunisia and beyond!
Normally I consider myself to be quite well traveled, but I do have to admit that I needed to look at a map to locate the exact location of Tunisia when that initial call came for Mark and his potential job here. I knew Tunisia was located in Africa, but I was not sure where exactly? Oh my, I had no idea! Right on the Mediterranean! Man, did we luck out! We work with so many people here who share this love for adventure and who are also world travelers or at least who wish to be.
The produce markets are lovely! The fruit and vegetables are real, fresh with no GMO's obviously; it spoils fast and each piece needs to be inspected for mold or bugs or whatever. It does not come picture perfect like it does in the States. (Thank Allah!) This main produce market is about 15 minutes from our house, in La Marsa and we tend to go on the weekend. They are also open during the week but only until about 1:00 I believe.
People here are really helpful overall and friendly. Not much English is spoken here. The main languages are Arabic and French.
Our house is in Carthage, about 2 blocks away from the ancient Punic Ports. We can see the Mediterranean from our rooftop deck. It is a big home with beautiful marble floors and staircase. There are four bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. Also an office, a family room and an outside room where we have an extra refrigerator and the washer/dryer. Too big for us, but since we have a maid who comes 2x a week, we shall enjoy it. Some rooms we just have designated as The Suitcase Room, etc. I took an entire room to make into my closet: My Closet Room. For those of you who know me, this is not a big surprise. But regardless, for such a big house, the closet space is really lacking. Two of the bedrooms have no closets of any kind, and there are no closets on the main floor. You would think that a huge house would have a linen closet or a coat closet on the first floor? C'est la vie!
Right near our home, just 1/3 of a mile away or so is an ancient Roman Bath House. This photo is just a drop in the hat! We were walking in the early AM before school and kept walking by this site. Armed guards outside. It took us a couple of weeks to have time to explore. It is just incredible!
(I have found the Blogger blog site really sucks when you are adding photos, so bear with. I have found something new, but it is not immediate. It will take me a bit of time to figure it out. If my husband was confused by the new photo/blogger site, then I don't need to feel badly about my lack of knowledge! So in the meantime, I am just dying to start this process and I cannot wait. I waited long enough for my computer to arrive and was stuck with Facebook for months. I needed to get started on my travel blog now so this will have to do for awhile.)
I quickly learned that this is a photographer's paradise! So much to see, so much history to immerse yourself in, great sunny lighting and tons of new places to explore. History has never been my "thing" but when you live right in the midst of it, you can not help but want to learn.
There are so many wonderful sites all around us. The first month was an adventure's paradise. I was thankful for my new camera that takes great photos all by itself! That is one reason I wanted to create this blog, was to share the beauty that is here in Tunisia and beyond!
Normally I consider myself to be quite well traveled, but I do have to admit that I needed to look at a map to locate the exact location of Tunisia when that initial call came for Mark and his potential job here. I knew Tunisia was located in Africa, but I was not sure where exactly? Oh my, I had no idea! Right on the Mediterranean! Man, did we luck out! We work with so many people here who share this love for adventure and who are also world travelers or at least who wish to be.
The produce markets are lovely! The fruit and vegetables are real, fresh with no GMO's obviously; it spoils fast and each piece needs to be inspected for mold or bugs or whatever. It does not come picture perfect like it does in the States. (Thank Allah!) This main produce market is about 15 minutes from our house, in La Marsa and we tend to go on the weekend. They are also open during the week but only until about 1:00 I believe.
People here are really helpful overall and friendly. Not much English is spoken here. The main languages are Arabic and French.
Our house has lovely tiles in various areas of the floors and the bathrooms!
Very ornate, but I at this point, I did not know that I had seen nothin' yet!
Our house is in Carthage, about 2 blocks away from the ancient Punic Ports. We can see the Mediterranean from our rooftop deck. It is a big home with beautiful marble floors and staircase. There are four bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. Also an office, a family room and an outside room where we have an extra refrigerator and the washer/dryer. Too big for us, but since we have a maid who comes 2x a week, we shall enjoy it. Some rooms we just have designated as The Suitcase Room, etc. I took an entire room to make into my closet: My Closet Room. For those of you who know me, this is not a big surprise. But regardless, for such a big house, the closet space is really lacking. Two of the bedrooms have no closets of any kind, and there are no closets on the main floor. You would think that a huge house would have a linen closet or a coat closet on the first floor? C'est la vie!
Right near our home, just 1/3 of a mile away or so is an ancient Roman Bath House. This photo is just a drop in the hat! We were walking in the early AM before school and kept walking by this site. Armed guards outside. It took us a couple of weeks to have time to explore. It is just incredible!
(I have found the Blogger blog site really sucks when you are adding photos, so bear with. I have found something new, but it is not immediate. It will take me a bit of time to figure it out. If my husband was confused by the new photo/blogger site, then I don't need to feel badly about my lack of knowledge! So in the meantime, I am just dying to start this process and I cannot wait. I waited long enough for my computer to arrive and was stuck with Facebook for months. I needed to get started on my travel blog now so this will have to do for awhile.)
Thanks for sharing your blog!
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