To meet and to ask

Today we walked around the Medina with our surveys and were positively surprised about how many people were willing to give time for discussion. Thank you for all those who participated! Also the trust we had in those conversations was something which made us feel good. In the beginning when we started with the surveys it was hard to know how taboos may affect to the answers we got. Now we are starting to have something on which to base our overview, without local knowledge it would still be hard. 

The opinions of the society live deep in the Tunisian culture. While doing the surveys face-to-face, yes/no questions are not the ones which matter at that moment. The most interesting answers come after those ones; the glimpses to their opinions after sharing the general situation, they made me listen carefully even when the talk is happening in Arabic. In those moments you just want to follow all the face expressions, and little signs which could give some information. The translation rarely reaches those but it’s about the power of meeting.

For me a stopping moment was when the discussion led us to a point when the other party was surprised that having children outside of marriage is legal somewhere. Also meeting people who personally know a victim of violence and hearing about the challenges women can face when remarrying because they will be the ones judged for the divorce, negative colored feelings about the future after the revolution, they make you think. And they make you want to continue every day. For sure we are here for a reason.

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If you haven't yet followed the Facebook page for more detailed project updates, go here: https://www.facebook.com/Wonder-Women-of-Sfax

Tozeur - weekend in the south

Those tourist shops in the middle of nowhere selling 'sea flowers'.

The road crossing the salt sea.

Waves of a different kind of ocean.

Paradise called Résidence Loued Hotel in the middle of my personal heat record, +42°C.

I have never seen this many palm trees at the same time. Welcome to the jungle for real.

Every tourist who appreciates herself goes to see the Star Wars scene when visiting Tozeur.

Sahara is only one type of a desert, but really a breathtaking one.

The mirage exists (even though you wouldn't believe it by looking this picture).

Appreciation towards water just got new definition during this trip. Even the wind coming from the window while driving a car was just burning hot, like being in a dry sauna, continuously. Many of the locals still had jeans or black dresses on. No idea how they survive. My feet were burning in sandals. The clothes which were wet of sweating could have been considered for a while as refreshing, but for that you need some good imagination. Challenging environment, new experiences, this was definetely one example of it.

P.S. Palm trees produce dates instead of coconuts here. Water bottle of half litre is useless. But cold water, it's heavenly.

Kerkenah islands

These beautiful landscapes taught me that there are still places where women's and men's jobs exist in career planning as well as the mindset of children. However, in those places as well there are strong women who believe in their abilities of being the role model for the next generations and taking the needed initiatives for change.

The power of smile

Getting to know the reality of Tunisian women started with going to a cooking class of a local NGO called Free women. The day was a big day for the women there as they were having their final exam before getting the certificate. Happily we figured out that our expectations towards what was waiting for us were lower than the reality.

As true as it is than Africa also has internet connection we also were able to find people with ready degrees and language skills. For most of them coming there wasn't anyhow the only option they were capable of doing. The challenge isn't about succeeding in studies, it is the unemployment, which still follows even after graduating for example from business school. Getting the certificate from the baking course might not ensure getting a job but helps with creating the job on your own.

Some of the younger women also spoke English, which made the communication easier for me as well in this Arabic and French filled country. Most importantly, I was able to find the most powerful common language of all the languages; smile. With one of the women I met there and felt the most connected with we didn't have a common spoken language but we were still able to share feelings. And feelings create stories.
 

Maybe the best known non-spoken language is the survival hand language. However, in addition to trying to show the directions, it's possible also to connect with people only using impressions and gestures. We were able to sigh for the heat and detailed work, appreciate the effort of giving one's best, engourage, be friendly and interested in each others. And in the end, that's all what matters.

The women of the Free women have the attitude. The next day we went to their graduation party where their paistries were served, people were sitting in fancy tables wearing their best costumes, dancing, sharing the proud moment together and smiling the smile of succeeded woman. I had a feeling I could sense the attitude also from the participating children, which isn't really surprising as they have been raised surrounded by those role models. Already taking the opportunity to take part in the course asks for courage in the society where it's assumed that all the women just know all tricks of baking and cooking. After seeing those strong smiles, ruling my own life as courageously as them seems the only pursued way to live. I believe, it's also the way to achieve those strong smiles and the determined attitude.

How does the life here look like?

Sand and light colored houses, chaotic traffic, talkative people who are willing to help, eating on the beach in the sunset, palm trees. Getting to know the other EPs, figuring out the mystery of medina - a place about which everyone is talking about but you don't understand before seeing what does it actually mean - cafes on the rooftop.

Emshi [insert the destination], plaza, Dinar khamsmia - and that's how you get the cheap shared taxi after 9 pm. This is how we'll start to be Tunisialized!

The whole new world

Everything is so different. I have continuously the feeling that my eyes should be recording all the details, streets, markets, buildings, cars, busses, markets, mosques. There is a new culture shock waiting behind every corner. Crossing the street and taking a taxi require some talent. They say we are going to get used to it, let's see. The question about survival of "just tourists" still remains. Even if they would ask for more money from foreigners, how the system could be understood without the inside knowledge?

I have to admit that going to the city center for the first time was stressful. Having all the reminders about being careful flashing in my mind, trying to memorise the road back, wanting to enjoy the fascinating scenery and the perfect temperature after the sunset, while listening to the local's analysis about the environment and the things I would have even known to pay attention to - that was quite much to handle but we survived. Fortunately I share (a room and) the taxi. Being confused together was highly appreciated.

Meeting with the AIESECers and the other already arrived EPs was really good. It reminded me that the life is still the same here as well and it was so much easier to relax after realizing it. Also, being able to have the common AIESEC language felt super nice after being compeletely lost with the majority of language based information here. Abbreviations, I wouldn't have ever believed I could feel so happy to hear you.

The local language they speak here sounds for me just like random noises after each other. It's kind of hard to even believe that those noises would mean something for somebody. On the other hand, it's easy to not to pay attention to it so it's not taking too much of your energy but the feeling of being really useless with my language skills is strong. It feels extremely necessary to learn some expressions to feel more comfortable and polite. I already have a list of the very basics and the host sister promised to teach us more little by little every day. Challenge accepted.

P.S. Yesterday I really got to know the power of sun. It's nothing you cannot live with, but it's definetely a tiring factor, in addition to all the other new things and the new enviroment. Water and light clothes, thank you for existing.

First impression

Stopover in Frankfurt still felt so familiar with the prices in Euros, understable language and not so different looking environment. However, the airport there also had the honor to cause the first moment of culture shock which looked like this:

Yes, the flight was supposed to leave at 22:15 but looking at this screen being already confused with the timezone changes made me look couple of times again. Luckily the texts were changing with the more familiar alphabetical ones and I hadn't yet lost my ability to read.

The other heart pumping moment came when they gave us boarding cards in the plane. This was something no one had told me about and my fellow traveller and discussion buddy next to me didn't have a clue of either. Filling in a paper with your own basic information of course isn't a big deal, but they were also asking for an address in Tunisia, about which I had no idea. Fingers crossed I then went to the passport control, and survived. After that the hand luggage scanner already stole my attention so that I even forgot to check the first stamp I got.

When stepping out from the airport I did my best to resist taking photos after laughing a bit in my mind at the EPs (exchange participants) doing so when I have been picking them up in Finland. I might also have been too amazed and hyped about the warmth of the air. And that combined to the darkness! It has always meant something exotic for me.

As an answer to a question if people in general speak English here I got "No, French they do speak a lot". In addition to sheep, also pedestrians walk beside the highway. The sun is shining exactly from above. The wind doesn't really cool the air. It IS hot. So far the hotness has still been enjoyable, in the end this is still what I signed for with my country decision.

With 16 Dinars (6 Euros) you can get from Tunis to Sfax in 2,5 hours. The question just is how would a person without any local contacts and language knowledge have found the bus station, understood where to pay and stepped into the right louage. Thanks AIESEC for providing us these, as well as the strategical phone calls with the driver.

The host family found us, stomach has been filled, rooster is crowing somewhere in the distance. Tunisia has treated well so far.

Tunisia facts

Population: 11 million
Area: 163 610 km²  (Finland 338 424 km²⁾
Main religion: Islam
Spoken languages: Tunisian Arabic, French
Top 3 largest cities: Tunis (1 056 247, capital), Sfax (330 440), Sousse (271 428)

Some distances
Helsinki-Tunis: ~4000 km
Tunis-Sfax: ~300 km

• Tunisia achieved independence from France in 1956.
• Shortly after that women got full legal status (possibility to run and own businesses, have bank accounts, and seek passports under their own authority).
• The Arab Spring, wave of revolutionary actions in the Arab world, started in Tunisia on December 2010.
• Reasons behind the revolution were for example high unemployment, food inflation, corruption, a lack of freedom of speech and other political freedoms and poor living conditions.
• Tunisia is a representative democracy.
• The country is considered as the most modern one in Arab world and has for example higher woman participation in politics than in general in this area.

Tunisian flag

Butterflies arrive

After having lunch in Helsinki with some cool AIESEC friends reality starts hitting. The reality which is making me nervous. I don't know how the passport control works, do I need to pay something? I don't personally know the people who are waiting for me, I know almost no one from the whole country. I don't know any other Finnish people there, if they even exist. Yes, to be the different, kind of makes me nervous. That's something I haven't really experienced before.

While sitting in the train to the airport heart is pumping quite a lot. For a long time I haven't felt so small. But it's definetely a good feeling. And it's what I wanted from this experience. To boarden my horizon and to make my world view wider. To face something I haven't faced before.

It felt so good to just sit there and wait, not having anything to due and organize. This moment of stopping allows also time to think about the life, to find those thoughts which might have been thrown away when being busy.That's the delight and challenge of travelling: actually needing to face yourself.

Here we go

3:55 The alarm rings after a short quality sleep in my own bed. Going to the toilet, closing the suitcase, collecting the snacks.

4:34 Stepping outside, the sun is shining, such a beautiful morning. The light - which you can feel only with good imagination - is coming from an extraordinary angle, it is summer, despite of only +7 degrees. Luck is to have water thrown from a glas to the street traditional Turkish way for making the journey go smoothly. Breezyness makes me wonder if I really can leave the Gore-tex jacket home. Well, sometimes you just need to believe.

5:03 The railway station. Quiet, sunny city. People are having varying amounts of clothes, the destinations probably vary as much. It feels so good not to be among the ones who are having a woolly hat. I only have my just-in-case-jacket, which wouldn't be enough for six weeks' trip anywhere in Finland. But this adveture is taking me further.

5:33 The train moves, one of the best feelings ever. There is just the road and the wild unknown, some kind of hints about what will be waiting over there, but not too much. The excitement can be felt in the fingertips, toes and tummy. The smile is long-lasting and wide. The mind is open and emptying from the sorrows of the "normal" life. There is no turning back which means that there is nothing which could stop the journey. Life is now, adventure is now, here we go.

Suomen suvi

Kesäöitä, kukkia, ystäviä, jäätelöä. Rantajalkapalloa, ukulelen soittoa auringonlaskussa, naurua ja halauksia. Saunomista, lämpimiä iltoja, jaettuja tarinoita. Tuulinen kotikaupunki, liian vähän vaatetta, kesä on asennekysymys.

Vihdoin myös lippu Helsinkiin, posti käännetty, matkustusilmoitus tehty. Pakkaamista ei tunnetusti kannata aloittaa turhan aikaisin, pyykit pitäisi pestä. Kaupassa käydessä yrittää pitää mielessään, että päiviä on enää muutama. Kohta sen myös ehkä käsittää. Hyvin mahdollista, ettei kuitenkaan ennen koneesta nousua kaukomailla.

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Summer nights, flowers, friends, ice cream. Beach football, playing ukulele in the sunset, laughing, hugs. Going to sauna, enjoying the warm nights, sharing stories. Windy home town, not enough clothes, summer is all about the attitude.

Finally I bought the ticket to Helsinki, forwarded the mail and did the travel notification. Packing has not yet started, as usual. Clothes are waiting for the washing machine. Visiting grocery store needs some additional thinking and continuous reminding of only few days left. Probably I'll soon realize it. Not sure though, if it will happen before stepping out of a plane in the destination.

One week before take off

"The weather gets a bit cold at nights so you might need to pack a jacket just in case."

Everything is relative. So is the fact that today I'm celebrating the “hot” first day of summer in shorter pants in Finland, and in a week I'll be stepping out of a plane to at least ten degrees warmer summer in Tunisia. Being confused about what to wear there hasn't been the only question in my mind lately.

After this week I'll be breaking my world map’s limits. Going outside of Europe has been my dream for a long time and now it's closer to actually happen than it has ever been. Tunisia is maybe not the most common one to start with but for me it's only making the country more attempting and I couldn’t be happier now calling this dream reality.

Before knowing that I would go for an AIESEC project I knew that I couldn't spend a year without leaving the country. This possibility was one of many but it feels exactly the right one. The deadline of leaving my beloved home country behind has given me again a new perspective to enjoy the things I cannot take with me; walking in the forest, smelling the fresh air after the rain, filling my mind with the adventurous light of summer nights, breathing in the quietness. Rye bread is easier to pack, chocolate will most probably melt and the personal space you can just try to carry within yourself in addition to the Nordic excitement.

Travelling and going to places I have never been is something I really do enjoy and this isn’t the first time I’m doing it. However, this will be the first time in many other matters. I’m really curious for example about how will it feel to be living in a country which has a language I know literally nothing about. I’m guessing it will take me back to time when I couldn’t read. Not even being able to say where the word ends and the other one starts might cause some challenges.

Crossing the European boarders doesn’t only mean the need of starting to use the passport for real but I’m expecting to face a completely different culture over there. What does that kind of a facing mean in practice, I don’t really know, because I cannot say I would have experienced an actual culture shock before. Africa doesn’t make a difference in the group of all the continents and carries its own stereotypes. In addition to that, North Africa has its own as well, and that might have waken some of those many questions I have gotten regarding to my destination. Wise men have said that the stereotypes exist for a reason. That’s also why I’m very much looking forward to see it all by my own eyes and probably find some reasons behind.

Today riding the bike in the center so alive and full of people again made me praise the summer. It felt so good to see all the happy people and feel the sun. For one day at least it was possible to wander around without a jacket! For my upcoming journey, however, I’ll be packing the jacket – just in case.

Viikko ennen lähtöä

“Ilma tulee olemaan hieman kylmä iltaisin, joten takin pakkaaminen varmuuden vuoksi kannattaa.”

Kaikki on suhteellista. Niin on myös tämän ”kuuman”, kesän ensimmäisen lyhyemmissä lahkeissa juhlistetun päivän vaihtuminen viikossa vähintään kymmentä astetta korkeampaan Tunisian lämpöön. Mukaan pakattava vaatetus ei ole ollut ainoa mieltä askarruttava asia.

Viikon päästä rikotaan rajoja. Euroopan ulkopuolelle matkustaminen on ollut haaveenani jo pitkään, ja nyt tämä henkilökohtaisen kartan laajentaminen on lähempänä kuin koskaan. Tunisia ei maana ole kenties se yleisin aloituskohde, mutta nimenomaan tämä ainutlaatuisempi vaihtoehto teki minuun vaikutuksen. En voisi olla iloisempi kutsuessani tuota unelmaa pian todellisuudeksi.

Jo ennen kuin tiesin AIESEC-projektiin lähdöstäni, olin varma, etten voisi viettää vuotta saman maan rajojen sisällä. Tämä mahdollisuus oli yksi monista, mutta valikoitui juuri haluamakseni tavaksi viettää kesäni. Nyt kun kalenterissa on taas selkeä takaraja Suomelle, pienistä vaikeasti pakattavista asioista osaa taas nauttia uudella tavalla; metsässä kävely, sateenraikkaan ilman hengittäminen, kesäyön valolla mielen täyttäminen ja hiljaisuuden hengittäminen ovat kultaa. Ruisleivän saa helpommin reppuun, suklaa todennäköisesti sulaa, ja henkilökohtaisen tilansa voi yrittää kantaa mukanaan pohjoismaisella innokkuudella.

Matkustaminen ja sen mukanaan tuomat paikat, ihmiset ja kokemukset ovat jotain, josta todella nautin, eikä tämä tule olemaan ensimmäinen kerta niiden parissa. Ensimmäistä kertaa kuitenkin olen matkalla maahan, jonka kielestä minulla ei muun muassa ole mitään tietoa. Miltä tuntuu katsella kylttejä, joista ei erota edes sanojen rajoja? Voi olla, että lukutaidottomuus kohtaa vuosien jälkeen.

Euroopan rajojen ylittäminen tarkoittaa muutakin kuin passin käytön aloittamista todella. Uskon, että kulttuurin eroavaisuuden tulee todella huomaamaan. On vaikea sanoa, millä tavalla, sillä todellista kulttuurishokkia en usko oikeastaan ennen kokeneeni. Afrikkaan, ja etenkin Pohjois-Afrikkaan, liittyy omat stereotypiansa, kuten muihin maanosiin yleensäkin. Nämä ajatukset voivat mahdollisesti olla pohjalla maavalintaani liittyville kysymyksille, joita olen saanut kuulla. Stereotypioillakin usein on taustansa, ja mielenkiinnolla odotan mahdollisuutta olla niistä parin kuukauden jälkeen hieman paremmin perillä Tunisian suhteen.

Pyöräily niin aurinkoisessa ja eloisassa kotikaupungissa tänään oli omiaan virittämään kesätunnelmaa. Siinä hetkessä on vaikea kuvitella noiden iloisten ihmisten katseita parempaa. Ainakin päivän verran ulkona ei edes kaivannut takkia! Tulevaa matkaa varten aion sen kuitenkin pakata – ihan vain varalta.