June 12-16, Tunis, Carthage

I took the featured picture in Tunis. The same day before the Orlando shooting. It just struck me as meaningful… Especially after I heard the news.

***updated

• It’s pretty amazing to see Carthage. At least for me, encountering ancient history in person is pretty surreal. As a kid in school, reading about this stuff kind of feels like… fairy tales. It gives “history” a different kind of relevance and weight when you see it. At most of the sites, like the ruins of Carthage and the Baths of Antoninus, there are people who are authorized guides who will give you a personal tour. I was a little skeptical at first, but it was relatively inexpensive so I figured what the heck. So it turns out these guides are … legit to say the least. My guides were retired or out of work scholars who had previously taught in major European academic centers and had collaborated on some big archaeological projects. Apparently the economy in Tunisia is pretty bad, so… they give guides to idiots like me. The guy at the baths offered to drive me around the sites and drop me off wherever I needed, so that was pretty cool…
• I got ripped off pretty bad in Tunis. It’s ok though, I kind of knew in the back of my head that it was not a fiscally prudent decision to go out to dinner with this guy, but I did anyway. So it was after sunset, and it was to break the fast for Ramadan again. I went to dinner with this guy and picked up the tab, and it was just stupid expensive. The thing is, it was worth it for the conversation and for the experience. I guess, to some extent I’m ok with getting ripped off a little for certain experiences and conversations. I learned a lot about what life is like for regular Tunisian folks these days- and I got a pretty good meal at a local place too. This guy needs the money a lot more than I do anyway…
• There’s a part of Carthage that’s just like Santorini. Sidi Bou Said. Some pretty influential folks lived here before- including Michel Foucault and Paul Klee. They also had a Fatburger franchise there… serving burgers… during the day during Ramadan. So that worked out well…