Day 5- Traveling to Dougga. So, I am not one of those women that has to use the restroom all the time. I have known them, and I am not one. But, for some reason on this particular day, about 2 hours into the trip to Dougga, it hit me bad. I suffer in silence for awhile until I just have to ask the tour guide how much longer we have left. My answer: "oh we must be at least halfway by now"
I couldn't help it, I just started crying. I just kept thinking "I am stuck in this bus, with over an hour left to go to some ruin in the middle of Africa on my birthday and I have to pee worse than I ever have in my life." After 15 minutes or so of crying and James trying to comfort me, I am forced to explain my situation to the tour guide. Very kindly, he suggests that we stop at a cafe in a little town he knows nearby. I am so relieved, I cannot even tell you.
We finally get to the little town, which is really more like a village to you and me, and the younger of the tour guides walks me in and deals with the guy running the cafe so that I can find relief. I am pointed to this closet basically with a door that has no lock and barely shuts. The toilet has no seat, and there is no paper and it is really not clean at all. Do I care? Uh, uh. I have my trusty paper that I jacked from the ship As I leave, the other ladies have lined up at the door, with all their husbands behind them. Turns out, everyone needed the facilities, I was just the only one willing to speak up. Oh, and no one else thought to bring paper, so my roll made its way through the whole tour group and I was the hero. Of the restroom...
I was talking to the younger tour guide, and it turns out that cafes in this part of Tunisia do not allow women inside them. So, they were very kind in letting us enter etc. After we are all finished, the older tour guide decides that this is a great opportunity to show us what small town Tunisian life is like. Let me tell you, it is not like our life. Just walking down the street, the "stores" were just little alcoves in a brick wall with no electricity or running water. We passed a "barber shop" which was just a barber's chair in the alcove and a bowl of water on a table. Next was a clothing store, which was just robes hung all over the alcove walls and a table of shoes. There was a fruit stand and a drug store which just had toiletry type stuff. Many of the women were wearing the full burka, and some of the people would try to turn away to make sure we couldn't take a picture of them. It was such an interesting experience. Here are some photos.
I couldn't help it, I just started crying. I just kept thinking "I am stuck in this bus, with over an hour left to go to some ruin in the middle of Africa on my birthday and I have to pee worse than I ever have in my life." After 15 minutes or so of crying and James trying to comfort me, I am forced to explain my situation to the tour guide. Very kindly, he suggests that we stop at a cafe in a little town he knows nearby. I am so relieved, I cannot even tell you.
We finally get to the little town, which is really more like a village to you and me, and the younger of the tour guides walks me in and deals with the guy running the cafe so that I can find relief. I am pointed to this closet basically with a door that has no lock and barely shuts. The toilet has no seat, and there is no paper and it is really not clean at all. Do I care? Uh, uh. I have my trusty paper that I jacked from the ship As I leave, the other ladies have lined up at the door, with all their husbands behind them. Turns out, everyone needed the facilities, I was just the only one willing to speak up. Oh, and no one else thought to bring paper, so my roll made its way through the whole tour group and I was the hero. Of the restroom...
I was talking to the younger tour guide, and it turns out that cafes in this part of Tunisia do not allow women inside them. So, they were very kind in letting us enter etc. After we are all finished, the older tour guide decides that this is a great opportunity to show us what small town Tunisian life is like. Let me tell you, it is not like our life. Just walking down the street, the "stores" were just little alcoves in a brick wall with no electricity or running water. We passed a "barber shop" which was just a barber's chair in the alcove and a bowl of water on a table. Next was a clothing store, which was just robes hung all over the alcove walls and a table of shoes. There was a fruit stand and a drug store which just had toiletry type stuff. Many of the women were wearing the full burka, and some of the people would try to turn away to make sure we couldn't take a picture of them. It was such an interesting experience. Here are some photos.
This last photo is the government building of this city, which is probably why it is so nice. I really loved all the blue and white and hope to see Sidi Bou Said next time which is a city all painted in the blue and white. The reason for the colors is that the white is cooler and the blue is to turn away the mosquitos. We finally leave our unscheduled detour, and head out to Dougga!
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