Geëmigreerd!

And of course it has been far too long since I wrote my last blog.

It seems that blogs have to mature in my head before they find their way into the written word.

In addition, I now also like it; take it easy! Taking your time...

I seemed to have forgotten that last part.

In the Netherlands I always seemed 'on' to stand. Working, walking the dog, shopping and cooking food. Don't forget to put the container on the road. The laundry... And making sure I spent my free time usefully because hey... I didn't have enough hours in the day for everything I wanted.

And when all the duties of the day were over, I sometimes found myself lacking the energy (or enough money) to do all those fun things. A lot also went on autopilot, without thinking.

And now? Now I have all the time... and I only do what I really enjoy.

Enjoy much more consciously too! I love my 'New Life'.

Mother visiting Tunisia

On the afternoon of June 11th, my mother sets foot on Tunisian soil. We pick her up from the airport in Monastir, throw her luggage in the trunk and drive straight to a great restaurant at the waterside in Monastir. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.... right? Because we are proud of Tunisia and suffer from a kind of need for proof as in 'look, it is really not what the majority of Europeans think of this country'.

My mother seems to have lost her tiredness from the trip (it's less than a 3-hour flight, but she left home early) instantly. My mother is a critical lady, but the sparkes in her eyes reveals that her first impression of Tunisia is better than she expected. In the days that follow I notice that I had rarely seen her so relaxed before.

She stays in my own little house and the fact that space is limited doesn't really matter. We live outside a lot here and luckily I have a really nice terrace. We eat outside. Nizar has been given a few days off from work and we give my mother an impression of what our days in Tunisia are like. We eat somewhere different every day and she is clearly impressed by not only the food and the kindness of all the people, but also by the incredibly wide choice in all kinds of nice terraces in the most beautiful places.

Of course we go to Hergla, to Monastir and also to El Jem. El Jem has an amphitheater that is almost identical to the Colosseum in Rome. The difference is that it is much less busy in El Jem, it is built in a poor place and does not attract nearly the number of tourists and visitors as the Colosseum. It is truly an experience to walk around. For me, the amount of suffering that must have taken place there is almost palpable.

For culture lovers, Tunisia is certainly an interesting country to visit. It is an incredibly fascinating country with an incredibly rich history. In addition, the landscape is very diverse. Green in the north (where it can snow in the mountains in winter), areas with an incredible amount of olive trees, the desert in the south and of course snow-white beaches on the coastline.

The days fly by. Of course we have to play a game of tennis and my mother would like to meet some of our friends here. How wonderful that upstairs neighbor Danilo is organizing an Italian evening with his friends and we are invited. They reserved part of an idyllic terrace at a hotel and cooked the meals themselves. Italian music on the speakers and together with a club of about 30 people we experience a wonderful summer evening. With good food, nice people and cheerful music, any language barrier does not really matter.

After two weeks it's over and mom flies back home. Her last day with us we celebrated her 84th birthday. As a gift, we have bundled all the beautiful pictures of her visit to Tunisia in a photo album and I think we can now call her an enthusiastic ambassador for tourism in Tunisia.

Just up and down to the Netherlands

A few weeks later, Femke and I fly to the Netherlands for 10 days. The Four Days Marches in Nijmegen is a party that Fem would rather not miss and we were able to find relatively cheap tickets. Nice to see some of my friends again, of course. For ten days I filled in all three parts of the days to see a lot of people and to buy some things that we 'miss' here, or which are very expensive here. I ordered a water filter to filter the Tunisian tap water. Healthier and saves me a lot of lugging around with all those plastic water bottles. How much better drinking water or a filter on water taps would help Tunisia. It could also drastically reduce the enormous mountain of plastic....

Now you are of course curious about what is cheaper in the Netherlands or what cannot be found in Tunisia. In the Netherlands I buy a lot of coffee cups, food for Boef! and Rebel, sprinkles, cup-a-soup (I remain lazy when it comes to cooking food haha so yes, I also stocked up on minced meat and nasi herbs), syrup waffles for Nizar, truffle mayonnaise and moist cleaning wipes (not to be found here). I'm actually not missing much here, but if you really want European products, they are at least 20% more expensive here than with us and often even more.

As true emigrants, we notice how busy it is in the Netherlands. Busy in the shopping streets, busy on the roads, busy on terraces... everywhere we go we find it busy. In traffic I forgot the speed of the e-bikers... my frame of reference for cycling speed is still that of a normal bicycle haha. So on the way to Lidl I had almost 2 people on one of those hypersonic bicycles, lying under my mother's car.

Of course, the prices of everything did not go unnoticed. It's almost impossible to have lunch for less than €25 per person. For that kind of money we eat dinner out here for 3 days. Then you will be reluctant to spend these kinds of amounts.

It was nice to see friends again, but boy, was I happy to go back to Tunisia; away from the hustle and bustle. My home is really here now. Rarely before in my life have I felt so happy and at home as here.

Don't Blame The Refugee, Blame The Ones Who Makes Him Run...

Of course I get a lot of questions from the Netherlands about the immigrants who cross from Tunisia to Europe in a boat. A sensitive subject. Actually, I don't feel like writing about that at all because it is so complex. I can only say that you cannot look at the situation only from Western eyes. There is also another side to the story. It's a geopolitical issue if you ask me. Europe is aging and needs migrant workers... human smugglers and organizations (in both Africa and Europe) also earn a lot of money...

Tunisia, probably due to its favorable location on the Mediterranean Sea, has a rich history of oppression and plunder. Consider, among others, the Romans, the Byzantines and the Ottomans. The last colonizer, France, may have given Tunisia back its independence in1956, but certainly not its economic freedom. And did you know that a Tunisian is hardly allowed to travel anywhere in the world without a visa? To have Nizar come to the Netherlands for a week's holiday was 'one hell of a ride'.

You will really have to read deeply and unbiasedly into the matter to see what is really happening in Africa and why, for example, Tunisia, despite its wealth of raw materials, is not flourishing.

And yes, there was and is corruption in this country (where in the world isn't it, actually?). President Kais Saied is receiving press in Europe as if he were locking up his political opponents. I see it differently. He locks up corrupt representatives. For example, people who have enriched themselves exhorbitantly at the expense of the Tunisian population. These people are protected elsewhere in the world (including by France and Canada) and the many stolen billions cannot be recovered in this way. The Tunisia Deal would only go ahead if Saied signed up for a loan from the IMF. This money is provided at high interest rates and under all kinds of conditions that often do not benefit the country in question. If you want to help, help unconditionally... Kais Saied refused... and in my opinion, completely rightly so.

Of course it is all much more complex than this and I don't know everything either. I would like to say how I view the world, but I don't think everyone is interested in my political fantasies here. However, it is part of my day because I follow everything closely. I really should have become an investigative journalist...

I will probably take a tip from a dear friend to heart in the near future:

'Create a second Blog and describe your view of the world today'.

Then I would also like to write about the issue of Palestine because it is incredibly close to my heart! And the pain about this is of course palpable in (Islamic) Tunisia.

If you are interested in what I think about this? Then listen to this interview with Chris Hedges (investigative journalist) on YouTube. Highly recommended to inform yourself more broadly about this issue in the Middle East.

Life By Day

It is of course wonderful to live so close to Femke and Nizar. We spend a lot of time together. Comes very naturally.

We regularly go out. The Meet Up group has split into two groups and that means a difference in activities. There is always a nice outing available. Think of a museum visit, an afternoon to an escape room, visiting a new city or place, to the Medina of Sousse, to the Souk (incredibly large market), eating out in the evening, having drinks in a bar, eating sushi, walking with dogs...

Furthermore, an evening at the beach with friends is of course great fun. Fem and I like nothing more than carrying plaids, a chair, a rug on the table, a parasol over your head and candles on... (it always gets dark early here). As long as someone else provides the food, Femke and I will provide the right atmosphere.

We regularly meet friends for breakfast, lunch or drinks. A dinner at someone's home also guarantees a colorful evening. And of course we did a lot of swimming, especially when it was very hot here. Wonderful to live so close to the sea!

Construction plans

Slow living of course also has a downside. It took some time before our construction plans really became concrete. But... we are almost there... We have all the permits, the final construction plan and the associated amounts, of course. According to our architect, the first shovel can be in the ground at the beginning of January. We're going to experience it...

If all goes well, the house should be ready within a year. We go with the flow... If it comes on time here in Tunisia... you will have to be patient. Good exercise for me!

In the meantime, I have of course already managed to collect a lot of home accessories. Lots of unique pieces too. I find so many beautiful things here!

Because I designed the idea for the house myself, I can of course just walk around in it in my mind. I already know every corner, every wall... niche... arch... I therefore know exactly where I will put or hang all those home accessories. Everything simply comes from Tunisia. I'll see if I can take some pictures of those items for my next blog! In addition, the interior will be very basic, many elements are simply made of concrete. You can have your own custom mattresses and pillows made here relatively cheap and that is the plan. It will be a home with Tunisian/Arab influences mixed with Mediterranean Joie de Vivre. #Cannotwait hahahaha.

Below a small impression with visuals...

The Holidays and New Year's Eve

We celebrate the holidays here in Tunisia. Of course that is no fun for our family in the Netherlands, but the flight tickets are expensive this time of year. The construction of the house took longer than expected and that also means renting something here for longer and therefore higher costs. A person cannot have everything, so to speak.

There are 'Christmas Fairs' here and of course we visit them although it does not much feel like Christmas, showing up there in a blouse, with sunshine...

We have a Christmas dinner planned with friends and ditto for New Year's Eve. However, we do not put up a Christmas tree. You see them here sometimes. Some shops dress up for Christmas and so do some restaurants. In addition, there are of course many hotels here with European guests and you can also find the necessary Christmas decorations in the shopping mall. A little too much glitter & glamor for my taste, but hey... it's there.

I wish you atmospheric and meaningful holidays with nice people around you. Twinkling lights, maybe a crackling fire and more of that kind of coziness.

And may all your wishes come true for the new year!

My good intention is that I will start writing blogs more regularly in 2024, but I can't promise...

See you next year!