today has been beyond amazing!

after the stress of leaving tunis, we headed south on route nonumber. this can get a bit confusing because it has the same number as all the other routes. luckily the signs pointed us in the right direction to sousse. i’m just a little ashamed to admit how happy i was to see an american irving-style convenience store on the side of the highway. we got gas and bought twix, chips, coke, and fanta orange soda. oh, and we’ve also started indulging in shark, the tunisian energy drink. it’s red bull, with arabic writing and a picture of a shark. kind of amazing, really. it was so comforting to walk into a store lit with flourescent lights (attended by a bored clerk who hates his job) so that i could pay too much money for maltodextrin, high fructose corn syrup, and partially hydrogenated whateverthehell. as i said, i’m a bit embarrassed to admit it. sometimes those kinds of things are comforting.

so we made it to sousse and wondered why the hell we wasted so much time in tunis. well, that’s not really true – i still love tunis and i still love the hotel laico (except for the staff. have i told you how i want to watch them burn in.. nevermind). but check picassa for pictures of our hotel room and you’ll see why i have such an immediate love for our place in sousse. it’s utterly unbelievable and the people are so nice. of course, they all want money and each one of them has a brother with a store just down the street, and come, let them take you there, the best store in the city, good prices, only a ten minute walk, come, jewelry for the madame? gifts? you like gifts? they show you the finest in tunisia. just walk with them as quickly as you can down the twisty mazess of the souq..

but really, the people here have been so helpful. even the ones who aren’t trying to sell us something are helpful. but the pushiness of the shopkeepers came close to unbearable today. it is possible that too many things were purchased for too high a price. but man, oh man, was it fun. i didn’t get as many pictures of the medina here as i did in tunis, but you can get a bit of a feel for how beautiful it was. trinkets, endless trinkets, and even some quality souvenirs and gifts in the hidden nooks of the labyrinthine cobblestone streets. it has been said that, in the city, it is possible to fall in love a hundred times a day. in sousse, i fell in love with the city at least a hundred times today. we were standing inside walls that are 1200 years old. i walked on bricks that were 40 times as old as me. bewildering.

i ate a chuwama today and it felt like i was french kissed by the gods of food. it was hot enought for me to taste (which is saying a lot) and it tasted like nothing i’d ever eaten before. and while i ate this wonderful god-given morsel, i stared at an arabian-style tower that was 4 times as old as my country. these are the things i can’t fathom, no matter how hard i try..

now we are back at the hotel and we’ve had a couple drinks. tunisians apparently don’t drink a whole lot, though, because the two that i had barely left their mark. or mayhap i’m just a silly american drunk-

(AND HOLYGOD! must share this with those who might care! think back to venture brothers season 2, episode 1. remember the rave scene where brock catches up with doc venture? that song, remxed, is playing in the discoteque RIGHT THIS SECOND! i kid you not, i’m listening to it from just a few feet away. not a great song, but one with energy – makes me wish i was dancing.. man, i love the world!)

-so yes, perhaps i’m just an american drunk who expects pizza villa drinks wherever i go. meh, it was a tasty beverage nonetheless. now the discoteque is raging and we may just pop back in to shake our groove thangs. that’s how it’s done, right?

gots to go..

Okay, so things have improved immensely in both the world and my mood since the last post. After that harrowing car ride from the airport to the hotel, I was pretty sure that I was going to barricade myself in the bathroom, make friends with the tub, and pray to Allah, Jesus, and a few malevolent Norse gods in return for the ability to ride out the remainder of our time here undisturbed.

Turns out I was just tired, scared, and bitchy. Becca forced me to wake up and we spent the afternoon walking through the souq (marketplace) in the madina (old city). It was absolutely thrilling and my head is still spinning from sensory overload. We’ve got quite a few pictures and several videos to post, but most of those will have to wait.

Now it is time to eat.

Also, I realized that I had commenting abilities restricted to the point of uselessness. I’ve fixed this and now anyone should be able to comment on any post. You don’t have to log in or have a username or any of that silliness. It would be swell to hear from anyone back home, if anyone has a minute.