From C to Shining Sea: June 2012

Yes, traditionally in the song the camels name is Alice, however during my first full day in Tunisia I rode a camel called Umar - so it was only appropriate! Camels frequent most of the beaches around here and everyone is trying to get you to ride one! I've seen many camels thus far and I haven't even been here for 2 weeks. I rode Umar down on the beach near where we are staying right now. He has multiple friends giving rides as well so no one misses out. A girl who was visiting from Connecticut, Liz, doing some work with Alo's company went with me and rode one as well and hers was named Shakira. Shakira was a girl obviously and had some HUGE hips and her owner kept saying - "Shakira's hips don't lie"!

Below is Liz and I on our camels and Alo keeping the troops in order!

We also went to visit the North African American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunisia. It's only about a 10 minute drive from where we live in La Marsa. It is just beautifully designed. The grounds are so well kept and the mosaic walls are such a work of art. Most honored in the cemetery were killed in World War II activities from North Africa to the Persian Gulf. God bless all those who gave their lives for our freedom and those still fighting today.

I arrived in Tunisia around 9pm last Sunday evening. Finally! It's always a relief when Alo and I are together at our new destination just becuase of everything that goes into moving and making sure all the pieces fall together. I was so happy to see Alo since he basically moved out of our apartment in Indonesia the beginning of April because he had to work in East Timor for a month before moving to Tunisia. When I arrived he greated me with two large balloons and was taking photos like he was the paparazzi. We loaded up the car with my all of my overweight bags and headed to La Marsa where the hotel is located. We are staying at the Golden Tulip until we get an apartment. Its a gorgeous location way up on a hill overlooking the town of La Marsa (photo above). We are a short taxi ride or slightly long walk from anything we would need (bakery, grocery store, beach) yet in a quiet subdued area up on the hill.

See I wasn't lying about the paparazzi shots!

The trip to Tunisia was a breeze compared to traveling back and forth from Indonesia. The time spent flying is easily cut in half which is just wonderful. I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching my tv shows on the Ipad but 20 + hours of that is just not fun anymore - so wahoo for being much closer to home! Another plus of this trip is that most likely when flying here from the states you have to stop in Europe somewhere. There aren't any direct flights so usually we'll have to connect somewhere close by. I had about a 24 hr layover in London this time and enjoyed every second of it! I arrived late at night so pretty much went straight to the hotel, ordered some dinner and hit the hay. The next day I set my alarm for 7am to start my day of sightseeing before I had to fly out. It was just a perfect day out - sunny almost all day (rare for London) and a nice breezy cool day. No spotting Kate - maybe next time! ;)