State of Things

We are in the middle of Day 2 of our conference in Sousse. So far, it has been extremely informative and inspirational. There is so much potential in this country! It is on the brink of major change and there is a mix of expectation, skepticism and hesitant hope among the population. There are a lot of critical decisions that must be made in order for the country to embrace its potential and a lot of hard work awaits anyone who lives and works here.

In the matter of a few days, I feel like I have gotten an entire semester worth of history, politics, sociology and international relations. Graduate school is highly overrated.

Like any conference, these two days have consisted of a lot of sitting. I have become quite familiar with the view out of a certain window of the hotel. I can see a dilapidated building under construction, palm trees and a garden. However, the conference officially ends its sessions today and the next two days will be spent visiting the projects around the country.

The hotel is full of tourists from Europe, Australia and other North African countries so it is almost like being at the U.N. (not that I have ever been to the U.N., but whatever). At any given time, you can hear five languages being spoken and none of them are English. People are very surprised to hear that I am from the U.S. since there are so few Americans that come here to visit. And the Tunisians always ask if I live in California or New York. Apparently Denver is not in enough movies for it to be popular.

The hotel is also really great at serving french fries with almost every meal. But there is not a drop of ketchup to be found. You may want to bring your own when you come.

So...

I realize that this is a very random post but I am trying to keep it real for you. Some days of my life are actually spent sitting, even if I am surrounded by foreign accents and french fries.