Reality Is Wrong. Dreams Are For Real!

The landing in my new homeland is a 'soft' one and feels completely natural. Three September 2022 Femke and Nizar pick me up from the airport in Monastir. Where our first ride leads is clear to all three of us. With my luggage still in the trunk, we drive straight to Hergla. There we celebrate my arrival in my new life in our 'regular pub' Esplanade Belle Vue.

The first six weeks I stay in the apartment of Femke and Nizar. The guest room of only two by three meters is my temporary private room. Although the common space is limited, we feel good about each other. As a result, in all those weeks there is not even the smallest annoyance. How beautiful is that?

It's bloody hot that first month, but hey... the beach is not 50 meters away! While bobbing in the fantastically clear sea, my landing is relaxed and prosperous. And together with the welcome sea breeze, my still very busy head blows quickly and wonderfully empty. I don't need long to feel at home here with that great beach as a backyard.

Regulation for emigrants

In addition to a little holiday first, there is of course also a lot to arrange in the first weeks. First of all, I want a residence card as soon as possible. To do that, I first have to open a bank account. Nothing goes online here. You just walk into a bank and talk to someone. This is also the case at a local police station to apply for my residence permit. I had it within three weeks, by the way. Everything is going so incredibly well, partly thanks to the unstoppable help of Nizar! In addition, there are agreements with, among others, the architect, the notary / lawyer... Of course I want to have WiFi and also a Tunisian phone number. My patience is not even seriously tested. It's also nice not to have to arrange everything online, but to actually just talk to people at a desk.

In the apartment complex next to Fem and Nizar, an apartment becomes available. It is furnished, but of course not the way I want it so we go looking. In second-hand shops, with good searching and partly thanks to a 'trained eye', there is plenty to find here that I can do something with. In addition to the fact that it is of course not as expensive as buying things new, it has the advantage for me that it is good for the locals. I also like old stuff that tells 'a story'. That brings more atmosphere and individuality to me. By the way, my entrepreneurial heart beats faster here. I find so much beauty here! Old doors, beautiful pottery, beautiful rugs and canvases, but also many old home accessories. You have to look carefully, but hey, I like that so much! Who knows, maybe the name Days At Home (my former furniture store in Oosterbeek) will probably just come back into my life? In any case, I am thinking seriously about it. To be continued!

Eating At Home and Outside

We often do brunch outside the door. Not only because it is of course good to stay on a terrace, but also because you can hardly prepare it so cheaply at home. Almost every restaurant here has brunch on the menu. Sweet and savoury toppings, meat, yoghurt, coffee or tea of your choice, smoothies, fruit and all kinds of bread... and everything super fresh! And believe it or not... all together for an amount of around ten Euro. Not per person, but just for two, or in our case, three people. I don't really cook here.... (yes my friends from the Hotelschool... still nothing has changed haha). There is no oven in my apartment. A hob, on the other hand is of course available. The holes for the drain of an extractor hood are very visible in the wall, but only wind and sand blow through them when there is a strong sea breeze. All in all, a good excuse for me not to stand and cook here.

In addition, Fems and Nizar prepare all kinds of traditional Tunisian dishes such as Brik, Loubia, Shorba, Shakshuka and Couscous. Fortunately, my company is appreciated during dinner. I treat myself to brunch more often...

Filling Wardrobe at the Drip

Clothes. Well, there wasn't much of that in two suitcases. In addition, that was certainly not a priority on my packing list. I had only brought two dresses and three pants, some shirts and my cowboy boots. In the particularly western-looking Mall of Sousse you will find shops such as Zara, Mango, Bershka and Stradivarius. But much more fun are the Tunisian Frips! What is a Frip? That is a store where you will find second-hand clothes, shoes, bags and accessories. And Sousse knows an unimaginable amount of Frips. From a building with only a few m2 of retail space to much larger Frips. They often buy batches of clothing that come to Tunisia in containers from Europe. These containers are full of, among other things, clothing ordered online that is returned by the European customer. These clothes are not repackaged by the selling party (cost), but come to North Africa with containers full. I bought a brand new Adidas tennis skirt with the price tag of € 84.95 left on for only 20 Tunisian Dinar. That is about € 6. I also found almost brand new tennis shoes, two brand new jackets from Zara for 40 TnD, beautiful pants, sweaters, blouses, shoes, etc. Even designer clothes like Abercrombie & Fitch. Nothing wrong with that. A completely new wardrobe for less than the price for a suit from, for example, Studio Anneloes. So when you hear people say "those refugees... they all wear designer clothes"....

Friends and the Meet Up Group

I experience here... how shall I put it... a lot of synchronicity. Why? Because it seems like everything comes my way here as a matter of course. Nice apartment, cozy Italian fellow residents in the complex (good coffee guaranteed) and tennis courts at a nice hotel nearby. For coziness in the house, motherless kitten Crook! on a terrace in Hergla on my lap. Then there was also a street kitten of the same age walking around in our street. Rebel. She is now big buddies with Crook! Even though I'm more of a dog person, these two four-legged friends definitely make my home here my home.

At the end of September, a Meet Up Group of foreigners living in Sousse spontaneously emerges. English is our main language and the group is still expanding. We do a lot together. You can think of drinks together, eating, game nights, bowling, workshops and visiting other cities. We even went to three different Christmas markets. We sat there with 27 degrees at the bar on a sun-drenched terrain shrouded in Christmas atmosphere. We also celebrated New Years Eve with a number of people from the group in Hardrock Café around the corner. One thing I have to tell the Tunisians: they know how to celebrate! We had a really great night.

Currently, a multi-day trip to the north is in preparation; In addition to a bus, we also want to rent a house for a few days. This way we can further discover the northern part of Tunisia. To date, I have not seen much of this myself, besides Tunis, Dar Selma and Sidi Bou Saïd. Also nice for Femke because she is currently building a travel guide website for Tunisia. She already knows so much about Tunisia. She has already seen a lot of the country and takes really great photos during those trips. She posts it on her Instagram account or on TikTok, but how nice is it to bundle all this into a website that is a source of inspiration if you want to discover Tunisia?

In October and November, friends from the Netherlands come over. The first visitors (Vincent, Bernie and Sem) are lucky because Nizar is on holiday. This way we have plenty of time to take them everywhere. We rent an extra car and make a lot of kilometers. Nice to introduce them to Tunisia. Especially because I notice that many people do not really have an image of Tunisia. I didn't have that myself before Femke moved here.

When our house is ready, I think it would be great to show people more of this special country. Apart from sun, sea and beach, there is so much more to discover here. And by then I know my way around better and I probably speak a bit better French (second language here) and some more 'handy words' Tunisian.

Becoming Street Wise

I'm starting to find my way here more and more. I am still grateful to Femke for encouraging me from day one to get in the car and drive myself. Fortunately, they have a car. Nizar works every other day from 6 pm to 8 am (at Enfidha airport) so during the day the car is always at the door. Driving here is a bit different than in the Netherlands. Taxis and louages (small intercity buses) drive as if they were the rulers of the Tunisian road surface. The driver's hands are eerily close to the horn. It could only make you so bloody nervous. Furthermore, the manhole covers are not as beautiful in the asphalt as with us. In addition, don't be alarmed by unexpected holes in the road surface, cars parked everywhere and nowhere along the road, Wild West-like overtaking maneuvers and cars without lights in the evening.

Sousse is a city with more than 400,000 inhabitants (that is more than, for example, Utrecht), but I have not yet been able to discover a traffic light. Nodes are solved with roundabouts. If you want to make a little progress... Otherwise, you'll never get in. They really don't stop for you if you hesitate for a moment. Luckily, I love driving! And I hear you thinking... Google Maps... But no, it's not going to help you tremendously here. He knows major roads, the highways to cities of course, but the more fine-grained search in neighborhoods is difficult because most streets here do not have a street name. Then it is useful for orientation if you know some landmarks. The highways are good, at most a bit dark at night. You just have to think a little more yourself here.

El Kantaoui

We currently live in El Kantaoui, a tourist place about 10 kilometers from the center of Sousse. It has a beautiful harbor surrounded by many cozy restaurants and terraces. In addition, Kantaoui has a great golf course with beautiful views over the sea. There are quite a few large hotels in Kantaoui. Furthermore, you will find plenty of small supermarkets and a lot of tourist shops here. And if we are looking for something 'western' we go to the Carrefour. But it is more fun to buy locally. You can't pay digitally everywhere here either. In fact, I pay almost everything in cash. So is gas/water/light (sorry guys... only about € 15 per month to date).

Developments with regard to our plot of land

There is news regarding our building plot in Hergla. Last week the archaeological team went with a large excavator. With that, they went in search of remnants of our land from the time when the Romans were in charge here. In Hergla a lot has already been found from that time. All in all, it was quite an exciting moment. If such a team finds something, you are not allowed to build on that piece of land. I have made an arrangement with the selling party that the contract will be terminated if archaeological excavations are made. Fortunately, this was not the case! All in all, four deep holes were dug, but nothing was found. We were very happy! The plot of land is close to the sea in a really beautiful location. In addition, Hergla is definitely our favorite location. Why? It is a 'Clif Town' town where white beaches alternate with huge rocks. In addition, Hergla feels a bit Greek. Many white houses with blue shutters and blue and white curbs. Hergla is very clean by Tunisian standards. It is relatively quiet and the people are incredibly friendly. It feels like a privilege to live there.

Our building plan has already been approved by the municipality of Hergla. We expect the official building permit in two weeks. Then we can start clearing the trees on the plot of land. The architect also needs two months after receiving the building permit to form a construction team and then construction can start. According to the architect, he needs 8 months for the construction of our house. Who knows, maybe we'll live in our new house next spring. To be continued!

P.S.

I have not regretted my move to Tunisia for a day. I feel at home here almost as a matter of course. It's great to spend a lot of time with Femke and not have to do so much anymore, but above all to do a lot of what I like. And how I love the light here. But more on that next time.