Circumspecte

It's been almost a month since I moved to Tunis, and many folks have been asking about my initial impressions. My response: Tunis and I are still learning each other. And really, that's what it is. For whatever reason, Tunis is hard to decipher. Besides the obvious preference for pink/fuchsia in interior decor (don't ask), the undeniable tea culture, and the fact that most women seem to wear platforms, it's been hard to get a handle on it so far.  In many ways, Tunisia is the most culturally novel and nuanced place I've come across in my travels thus far. Situated on the tip of North Africa, this African/Arab/Mediterranean city has so many influences. Besides the diversity of Africans living here, the French, the Italian pizzas and Roman influences in the city of Carthage which was once the most powerful city in the then-modern world (even more than Rome, definitely on my to-do list!), the most obvious thing about Tunis is the Arab or Islamic influences. Arabi...