Café Jasmin

It's our last breakfast in Sidi Bou Said. Well, it's the last breakfast while we live in Sidi Bou Said. And even that isn't sure. I've found a job in Tunisia, so at least until April, we'll be living and working here. And who knows - we might have breakfast in Sidi Bou Said again, and even live here again. But for now, it's the last breakfast. We were going to have it at the famous Café des Delices (famous because Patrick Bruel sang a song about it, but nowadays more known for its ridiculous high prices and the waiters' tendency to be very creative with the bill), but it's raining and that café is outdoors. So we settle for something closer: Café Jasmin, which is basically just around the corner from where we live. It's in a less pittoresque part of Sidi Bou Said: the road leading to a rich suburb, la Marsa, which is lined with cafés and restaurants - there's a bit of a nightlife here, but some of the cafés are open in the morning too.

Jasmin offers several breakfast, such as "student" (probably meant for the students of the nearby architecture university, consisting of vienoiserie and coffee) and "oriental" (the same as "student" but with fresh lemon juice). We choose the most extravagant one, which consists of coffee, vienoiserie, lemon juice and a pancake with cheese. 'We' includes my girlfriend today - she's joined us for our last breakfast. We're all in a good mood. Rihanna Gaga walks around our table, babbling and pointing at things, trying to empty our wallets and scribble in my notebook.

Our fellow patrons is a group of men, who look like they're discussing business or politics. Café Jasmin is a modern looking affair - in fact, this place could have been anywhere in southern Europe. There are waitresses - which is not uncommon in Tunisia, but unique in the Arab world, where only men work in cafés and restaurants. It's modern looks are quite different from the more traditional looking cafés in the rest of Sidi Bou Said: it seems that in the centre of the village, the cafés like to appeal to tourists - both local and international tourists - with an air of authentic timelessness, while in this part of the village, the cafés opt for slick contemporariness.

The music is a mix of the latest U.S. r 'n b, mixed with Arab pop songs - and long silences in between and the food is good. Rihanna Gaga is not interested in our pancakes. She is interested in the lemon juice - she's interested in anything with a straw in it - but when she tastes it, she obviously dislikes it.

The problem with the rain is that we're forced to sit inside. And inside, people are smoking. So we can't realy stay long. After we've finished our breakfast, it's time to go, also because I have an appointment at the embassy. While my girlfriend and Rihanna Gaga return home, I hail a taxi and while it starts raining again, I drive in the opposite direction.