Aichek

Back in Boston

2007-11-04T13:48:00.000+01:00

Alright, Silvana and I got back to Boston a couple of days ago, just in time for Evan and Lisa's wedding. We're back for good, so I won't be updating this blog any longer. I look forward to seeing all of you again.

Coins from 1927 and 1928

2007-09-28T12:40:00.000+02:00

Not exactly an earth shattering find, but here are two proofs (not actual coins used for exchange, tests if you will) from 1927, Albania. I found these in two different shops:

This is an italian coin from 1928. The inscription is interesting, it says "Better to live one day as a lion, than 100 years as a sheep".

Photos from the Medina

2007-09-28T12:35:00.000+02:00

Old mosque in the Medina:

Some guy, very friendly ad-hoc tour guide. Also note how well I hid the black bag behind the column. Retard!

Doorway detail:

Arch:

Shops in the Medina:

Shipwreck Videos

2007-09-28T12:16:00.000+02:00

On these two it helps to think the ship is in the middle of the sea. And by "helps" I mean freaks you the hell out:

We're takin' in water cap'n!

Shipwreck

2007-09-04T09:36:00.000+02:00

This past Sunday we came across the skeleton of a fairly large shipping vesel sitting right on the beach. I promise to keep this post free of comments about post-industrial decay.

Once inside, you notice that it's just a shell with various holes on the floor and on its side. My friend's silhouette in the backgroung should give an idea of scale. As the waves pound the side of the ship on the left, water rushes in and up from the holes on the floor.

The wave you see rushing in almost soaked my camera as I was trying to keep from slipping into what would certainly be an unpleasant experience.

This is taken in what use to be the engine room. For some scale, the holes in the gear are approximately 8 inches in diameter. I heart gears.

Photo of the side of a ship through a hole in the side of a ship.

Downtown Tunis at night

2007-09-04T09:31:00.000+02:00

These are a couple of photos taken in downtown Tunis at night. It's all so yellow.

Ras Angela

2007-08-31T09:55:00.000+02:00

These photos are from a nice little beach about one hour north of Tunis:

Some fish and squid cought by Armand, who has skillz, ya hear me, skillz:

This is the shell of a sea creature after we cut it open and ate its orange whatchamacallits. Not entirely lacking in taste, but a definite WTF factor.

And finally, a close-up of one of the squids. Not sure if it's angrier about the decorative shell I put on its head, or about the fact that it's, you know, dead.

No updates in a week. Weak!

2007-08-30T11:42:00.000+02:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I have not had a steady internet connection for some time. I have also been busy running around town completing some paperwork and no time to write. Finally, it has been scorching hot this week - in a friend's car, windows down, no AC, it was 132 degrees F. Granted this was in the car, but it should give you an idea.

So, I received a "not a good match" email from the place I applied to last week. They were absolutely correct - it was not a good match. As far as continuing to look for work, I will take Scott's (happy birthday dude!) advice and forget about it for some time. The benefits of this strategy are that I can spend time on Silvana's visa paperwork, and that I won't have to work.

A quick note to those spoiled Americans who use the DMV as an example of bureaucratic inefficiency: here they would be hailed as the undisputed kings of expediency. This never happened (hint: yes it did), but here is a hypothetial scenario:

You need document A. In order to get it you need to request it and wait 15-25 days. Now, the request cannot be completed without having document B, so you need to get that first. You deposited the request for document B at the end of June and should expect it at the end of July. Document B is not ready yet because person A needs to sign document C and forward it to person B, who will then in turn forward it to person C. Person C will look everything over and will issue document B. Dramatic pause... He will then forward it to person B who then will give it to you. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

Anyway, I try to relax.

I'll post a few photos in the next couple of days. Hope everyone is doing well.

Job search

2007-08-22T10:38:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I had six (!!!) interviews at a Private Equity firm here in Tunis. The whole thing went well, I think, so we'll see if I get a second call. Tomorrow I have another interview, this one with an employment agency, and I may also be able to get one at a bank through a friend.

In other news, I CFAiled level 2. It is very likely that I will sign up for next June, but not until I get a job first. In September I will register for an intensive French course at a school near here.

Anyway, those are the news.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Oudna archeological site (sort of)

2007-08-18T10:35:00.000+02:00

These photos are from an archaelogical site about one hour south of Tunis. Isabella and I took some back roads to get there and what we saw was pretty good, although not necessarily amazing. It turns out that was because we completely missed the main part of the site, which was conviniently located on the other side of the hill. What roman ampitheatre? There was no ampitheatre there!

Anyway, we did venture into the very dark ancient underground dwellings, but could not see much on account of their being very dark.

This is an underground photo made possible by a large hole in the ground - the same ground we had been walkin on earlier. There was a sign there warning about collapse or cave but we could not read it in its entirety and did the only reasonable thing - ignored it.

Partially restored roman aqueduct:

A baby falcon

2007-08-18T10:20:00.000+02:00

These are photos I took of my friend Isabella's baby falcon. Well, it's not hers in the sense that she intends to raise it, but she did rescue him as a baby after he apparently fell off his nest, and is temporarily taking care of him (her? I didn't check). She is currently looking for an animal rescue society or individual capable of handling all the falcon's needs.

He was very sceptical of me, especially when I got close to him. Apparently, a lot of Tunisian young men raise and train these falcons to hunt. Beautiful:

Below are a couple of photos of him having lunch using his very sharp talons:

This will not make sense to you if you haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite, so ignore it if that's the case, but speaking of talons:

Bizerte

2007-08-14T08:36:00.000+02:00

About one hour drive north of Tunis.

Small Rock:

Flowers:

Another rock:

The waves will get you:

Marsa

2007-08-14T08:34:00.000+02:00

Flamenco Dancers, Carthage Festival

2007-08-14T08:32:00.000+02:00

Long exposure, looks kind-of like a painting.

Night shot, Bardo museum

2007-08-07T09:09:00.000+02:00

[Click on the photos for larger versions]
This is a long-exposure night shot (thus some blur) of the view from the appartment. Not bad:

This is a roman mosaic of the four seasons, found at the Bardo museum:

A floor shot from the same museum:

Hammamet and the elephants

2007-08-06T12:30:00.000+02:00

Let me be the first to admit that this post is useless without lots of photos (I only include one I found on the net.) I know, I'm working on it.

So we're in Hammamet, specifically Yasmine Hammamet, with a few friends and we walked past Hannibal on his war elephants. The city's name comes from hammam - a Turkish steam bath. Apparently Yasmine Hammamet is a new tourist city built recently and not everything is necessarily old. Fooled me.

We sit down for a beer and some conversation. Well, I was not saying much except the occasional "Oui, voila!" and "No, I did not just agree to buy your entire inventory of hookahs!"

After one of our friends did a decent rendition of Mariah's "I Can't live (if living is without you)" [I hate that song, obviously] on karaoke we went for a walk and someone brought up elephants, specifically white ones and pink ones.

I did not know that white elephants existed, so I thought that if something was a "white elephant", then it was inconsequential. Unsurprisingly, I was wrong. Apparently, white elephants are a rarity and surrounded by much myth. Possessing one is a blessing, but you can't use it for any king of labor, so as a metaphor it means something whose costs exceed its usefulness (leave your best girl/boyfriend jokes in the comments.)

In french, an "éléphant rose" means hallucinations caused by the ingestion of various substances, or figuratively, wasting time on something which does not exist.

That evening's lesson was that looking through the karaoke books for Robert Johnson was like chasing a pink elephant, and trying hard to think of the french word for 'tune' was like paying good money for a white one.