The Road Less Traveled: Tunis, Tunisia

One perk of teaching internationally is that the schools have a lot of money. When all students, K-12, are paying on average 30,000 euros/year to attend, you know you aren't hurting for money. At ASM, our headmaster throws money around like it grows here--- want a new computer? ok. want to go to grad school? ok. want to go to Africa for a conference? ok. How about taking 70 staff to said conference? ok.

So... off we went to Tunisia for 5 days for the annual Mediterranean Association of International Schools's conference. I was in charge of arranging/planning the aforementioned conference this year, so while last year was all about eating and sightseeing (what else would you do in Florence?!?), this year I actually had to be responsible and in attendance. Luckily, the conferences were excellent.

We did have some downtime where we were able to explore a bit of the country. One day we spent driving to Dougga. It reminded me a lot of the ruins I saw in Greece this past summer but the amazing part was that it was so well preserved. And we were the only people there (that'd never happen at ruin in Greece, or any other European country for that matter). Another afternoon we spent in the picturesque town of Sidi Bou Said. Again... reminded me of Greece. The colors and ornate doors were beautiful. On the last day I had to be in meetings but many of my friends went into the medina of Tunis. I've stolen their pictures to pretend I was actually there, too!

Of course, when you think of Africa, Tunisia probably isn't what would come to mind. And while it isn't a country I'll ever return to, it was another African country to "check off the list." Now I wait for my ultimate, dream vacation, the real African experience, a safari. That'll be the day...