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.