Home in a Week!!

This time next week, I will be sitting in an airport in DC waiting to fly to RDU to go home!!!  I am so excited to see my family, my Zoe, my babysitting families, and my friends!  I cannot wait!  I will be home Saturday, Dec. 21 until Sunday, Jan. 12.  I will be in New England for Christmas from Monday, Dec. 23 to Friday, Dec. 27.  Otherwise I will be in NC and cannot wait to see everyone!  Love to you all!

Tunisian Christmas Markets

This morning, Laura, Joni, and I went to this large exhibition hall (should have had the crazy international bazaar there!) which had lots of Tunisian vendors selling things.  So we went to check it out and to get some Christmas shopping done!  As with every new Tunisian experience, we had no clue what to expect.  But we were pleasantly surprised!!  There were some great items for sale and everything was unique!  We left with rugs, soap, framed pictures of Sidi Bou Said, and other fun things!  As we were walking around, Laura said "this could be our Tunisian Christmas markets"! (I talk about the fabulous German Christmas Markets all the time.)  A good time was had by all!

Laura and me with our loot!

ACST Christmas Party

Tonight my school had its annual Christmas party at this nice place called Podium in Gammarth!  It was decorated all fancy and had a good buffet dinner.  But my favorite part was seeing everyone all dressed up!  It was also great to spend this time with friends and celebrate my favorite time of the year!

Kaylee, Beth, me, Laura

My Shipment arrived!!!

Today at 9:00 sweet Tunisian movers came and brought me all of my things that were packed up and put in storage back in September!  Well my work permit went through so my things were flown out, sat in customs for 3+ weeks and now they are here! :)  It feels more like home now... my favorite part is all my framed pictures!  :)  The school let us take the day off when our shipment comes to receive it and unpack.  It was so nice to have that time!  Just about everything is unpacked... I have one container to unpack and I need to hang my pictures.  Then it will be complete!  So excited!

My door is decorated for the season! ;)

Siblings visit Southern Tunisia

When I heard Paul was coming in town, I wanted to take him somewhere in Tunisia that was different.  After talking to some friends, I decided on Southern Tunisia.  I totally thought I had lost my mind but I knew Paul loved an adventure!  And an adventure it was for sure!  But we got to see great sights and had a great time together!  We were in Southern Tunisia but not quite the desert.  The views were amazing none the less!

We landed in Tozeur and headed north to see two oasis's. 

As we are driving, we saw camels on the side of the road... wild camels!  Too cool!

First place we stopped was Chebika.   What a gorgeous oasis!

Then we headed to another oasis in Tamerza and that was an adventure for sure! We asked a Tunisian where the waterfall was (Tamerza is known for its waterfalls) and he ended up taking us.  But little did we know we were hiking and climbing through these huge rocks!  It was beautiful but when we finally reached the waterfall we found out we were 2 minutes from the waterfall from the beginning!   We were definitely taken for a ride but we did love the views!

Peacock hanging out in a cafe

We made it!

We hopped back in the car for our loooooong drive to the Berber Villages! 

 But along the way we drove over the Salt Lakes and it was so cool!!!

These are salt crystals were pulled off from the lake!

After a very looooong drive, a lot of it on mountain wavy roads in the dark, we made it to our troglodyte hotel in Douiret!  It was soooo exciting to make it to this hotel!  It is a hotel built in a cave.  They served us the most amazing dinner of hot soup, brix (Tunisian specialty), and couscous with chicken and veggies!  It was so yummy and having a home cooked meal after a long day hit the spot!

Entry way to dining room

Dinner!

Our bedroom in the cave.  It was the best night's sleep either of us have had in a while!  It was warm, cozy, and quiet!

Door outside our room

The hike up the hotel

After Paul packed the car, we walked around our hotel and found this... 

A whole town built into the mountain!  These ruins were just amazing to see!

Our cave hotel built in the mountain

Camel at the bottom of the hotel

Then we drove to Ksar Ouled Soltane.  It is featured on the 20 dinar bill and parts of Star Wars 1: Phantom Menace were filmed here.  We had so much fun climbing up the stairs and around. 

This is the exact replica from the 20 dinar bill and Paul holding the bill. 

Then we headed to Chenini to see the white mosque and ruins

Then he headed to Djerba where we flew back to Tunis.  Djerba is an island so we got to ride a ferry over!

We had an amazing adventure for sure and there is no one else I would want to do this adventure with!  

It meant the world to me to have Paul visit me!  We had such a great time together and he is absolutely the best brother ever!  Growing up I always thought it would be fun to have an older protective brother but it hit me this week I have a very protective brother!  He was so good to me and would do anything to help me!  I have missed him so much but having him here this week was wonderful!  It was so hard to let him go but I am so grateful he could come!  Paul, I love you so much!