All posts tagged: expat

on a Tunisian souk

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There are people who claim value in high art: ballet, opera, the finest works of most-lauded authors. I agree, I do agree, that’s all important. But if you ask me about poetry in motion, about where to find the art of life manifested, I’ll point you towards the markets, the wilds of a city, like the souk of downtown Tunis. You only know a place once you’ve learned its rugged streets, its funky corners, the beauty it hides in small bites and in plain sight. You know a place once you’ve engaged its most forthright ambassadors, its most plenipotentiary negotiators: market vendors. You know a place when you’ve breathed it in, whatever olfactory sensations that affords you! You come to know a place through the rhythm of footsteps on its pavement, when the many aspects of culture, climate and locale culminate to produce a throbbing, artful chaos. Greetings knock about as people slip past each other effortlessly, and the sacred in the ordinary is evident, and unremarkable, and breathtaking, all at once.

what’s to eat #27

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My first meal on a recent trip to one of my favorite places on the planet: Tunisia. We were 3 happy diners in an elegant ocean-front dining room with salt-licked windows facing wild winter waves. The waiter presented a platter of whole, raw fish for our selection, and I let my friends, locals, do the choosing. then we sat back and enjoyed sweet and slow jazz music, Tunisian wine, and I savored my first tastes of culinary delights I had waited all of 7 years to enjoy again: heavenly harissa, glorious olives, tuna-stuffed briks with slippery egg yolks. And then, 3 red and grilled fish appeared before me, like a perfect painting. the light, the energy, the music, the company: all transpired for a transcendent first meal, not to be forgotten. . . . All my love to Dorra and Zied. Restaurant La Belle Plage La Corniche, Bizerte, Tunisia

on shopping at the friperie

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We hunted. We hunted for clothes, for shoes, for things we didn’t know we needed. We were on a mission to stay focused inside the whirlwind of fabric, colors, voices, and knick knacks that is the friperie market of Bamako. I followed the leader, the expert, the one who knew how to best liaise with the Boutiquier Masters of Piles of Clothes. We went boutique to boutique, stack to stack, dress to shirt to skirt… We moved from bed sheets to clothes to shoes and back again. We waited patiently, for shop keepers to bring their gems, and for each other. We waited a bit less patiently as well. We got to know the neighbors. There was trying on and trying off things, lots of questions and guessing, yeses and nos, and cash exchanged hands. In the end, all parties left satisfied, and tuckered out.

on houses

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What’s your house like? Not the one that keeps you out of the rain, but the one to which you retreat when times are tough. The house you built from bones, and shards of glass, and pockets of generosity, and life’s gifts. The house you carry with you, like the tortoise you were meant to be, like the one you are sometimes. What’s it like? Grandiose, with room to dance? Or just big enough to nap inside? How do you arrive to that place? Do you run, do you crawl, do you saunter? How often do you go? What’s it like in there? Are you safe, and free of fear? Is it comfortable? Well-furnished? Are there plenty of rugs and pillows? Do you breathe freely? Who do you let in? For how long do you entertain? Do you remember the route inwards?  Don’t forget it, keep practicing–it’ll come in handy when you need it most. . . . Photos of homes, etc. in the neighborhood of Faso Kanu, Magnambougou, Bamako

on lately

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 Lately: Happy birthdays (and deflated meringues) in broken German; Drinks of various strengths, and art adorning the walls of Malian galleries; The regular, every day living that keeps the gears oiled; A variety of welcomes; Zoo trips for kids and grown-ups alike; And a mask for every mood. Bamako’s National Zoo is worth a trip! Inexpensive entry for Malians and foreigners alike, including regular entry and access to the reptile and aquatic houses. Lots of special events, too!