Le Zéphyr

It's been a while. In fact, this doesn't mean that Rihanna Gaga and I did not go out for several months, but there just wasn't time to write about it. Since February, I've been ill several times - sometimes very ill, as a nasty flu got hold of me, followed by a stomach infection. In fact, I have a cold for at least the third time this year now. I don't know whether this is because my body needs to adjust to living in a completely different climate than the North European one I grew up with, or because I'm getting old, or because Tunisia just isn't the most hygenic place in the world.  On top of that, there was the constant commuting between Tunisia and the Netherlands, with me working for universities in both countries. I  short, I was tired and slightly overworked most of the time, having career worries and financial concerns and because of the fact that everything, from dealing with the landlord to paying bills, just takes at least three to four times as much time in Tunisia as it does in the Netherlands.

Which is not to say I don't enjoy the adventure of trying to eke out a living in Tunisia. With the crisis in higher education currently making getting tenure nearly impossible in the Netherlands, there is no real reason to stay there anyway and in that case, one could do worse than living in beautiful La Marsa, five minutes walking from the sea, with the prospect of a contract at a university here in Tunisia (but let's curb our enthusiasm until that is an actual reality).

And before this starts to sound too bleak: another reason why I didn't post anything during the last few months, was that we had so many visitors: good friends and family came to see us in La Marsa and we had a great time. Rihanna Gaga enjoyed two grandmothers coming over (my father's sister and my mother) and we really liked the company and the chance to show people around in our new hometown.


Anyway, today the three of us are going to Salon du thé Le Zéphyr. Le Zéphyr is located on top of a mall with the same name and offers amazing views over the sea, beach and surrounding hills of La Marsa. The crowd is mostly young and trendy, but not too. Rihanna Gaga quite likes the place: the roof terrace offers a safe space for her to walk around, with interesting statues of frogs and elephants - and even a Buddha statue, looking weirdly out of place, especially when the call for prayer sounds from the nearby mosque. At the same time, it really reminds me of the beach clubs back in Scheveningen, where Buddha statues are almost always a part of the décor.

Rihanna Gaga plays cheerfully with some weird looking plush toys - three animals that were part of a strange and, frankly, quite ugly present that she got at a Saint Nicolas Day celebration here in Tunisia. Saint Nicolas is the Dutch version of Christmas Eve, celebrated on December 5, when a centuries old Roman Catholic Bishop, originally from Turkey but living in Spain, supposedly visits every Dutch household to give presents to children. The celebration has come under fire recently for the fact that Saint Nicolas's helpers are blackface caricatures, which has led to condemnations from inside and outside the Netherlands. The defence is often that the helpers, called Black Petes, are black from chimney soot, but obviously that doesn't explain the thick red lips, golden earring and other parephernalia that are strongly reminiscent of the way black slaves were depicted in Europe - nor for the silly, subservient behaviour and Surinamese accent that many Black Petes exhibit. To then visit a Sinterklaas celebration in Africa (Tunisia is, after all, part of Africa) in which Black Petes were present, while my Facebook news feed filled up with stories for and against Black Pete as the debate held the Netherlands firmly in its grip, was an incredible strange experience.

But I transgress. During that celebration, Rihanna Gaga received a bow with several toys hanging from it that we could put over her bed. And the toys I brought for her today are part of this bow. While normally she runs around the places we visit once she gets used to them, today she stays on her chair and happily plays with the toys, sipping orange juice and eating bits of our breakfast. We orderd the Pétit Dejeuner Gourmand, a nice formula including coffee, a croissant and bread with omelette. For 9,500 TD it's quite affordable and a good way to start the day. Especially if you, like my girlfriend, have the croissant replaced with several thick slices of bread with butter and jam.

The weather is quite nice. We have had an unusually cold and wet spring in Tunisia, and this morning once again the sky was completely clouded - apparently a rare sight during May in this country, but all too common this year.  Luckily, however, the clouds have mostly gone now and the sun is shining down on Buddha and the rest of the roof terrace. Le Zéphyr really is one of the nicest places around here and, like my girlfriend says, probably the one place that is most like what we got used to in Scheveningen - and not only because of the Buddha statue.

After Rihanna Gaga has finished her own orange juice and large parts of ours, and we have finished our breakfast, we don't stay too long. We're off to the mall downstairs to buy new shoes for her - and then it's time for siësta for the little one, which means I will have a few hours to get some work done and do some blogging.