Tea Lounge Kom Koi

After many months, we finally go out on a Monday again. It's a short walk to Tea Lounge Kom Koi, a fancy but laid back place halfway between our house and Rihanna Gaga's daycare. But although she normally goes to daycare on Mondays now, that's not the case this week. I have just returned from a conference in Finland. The conference was really inspiring and I loved being in Finland - I have always had a soft spot for Nordic countries since I lived in Iceland and Sweden as a student - but it was very unpleasant to be away for four days. Especially because I have been away so often the last five months, as I commuted between my work at universities in the Netherlands and Tunisia.

Rihanna Gaga didn't like it either. She'd often cry when I left and she was clearly worried that I wouldn't come back. She understands that I am far away - we explain to her that I take the plane to somewhere distant and she's smart enough now to get that - and she is preoccupied now with 'papa vroom vroom', which, together with a raised arm is her way of talking about me being in the sky. I arrived back from Finland yesterday and I didn't want to have to bring her to daycare the very next day. Luckily, the daycare she goes to is extremely flexible about days and times - we can basically bring her whenever we want on whichever day suits us. So today is our day.

The design of Kom Koi has the feel of a japonaiserie, with its black and red colours and vaguely asian decorative elements such as bamboo silhouettes. Kom Koi has a seperate section for smokers and non-smokers, a unique phenomenon in Tunisia which makes this a really attractive place to go to. Another aspect that makes me like this 'tea lounge' is their 'Café Kom Koi', a brilliant drink with creamed milk, condensed milk and strong, earthy coffee that slightly reminds me of an Indonesian way to prepare coffee called kopi susu. Because of the dark colours of its interior design and the fact that the non-smoking segment is in the back of the lounge, it is quite dark where we sit, but not in a moody way. Kom Koi is decidedly cosy.

The owner, a French lady, is chatting to what seem to be a mother and her teenage daughter at the table behind us and then tries to catch Rihanna Gaga's attention. Rihanna Gaga, however, ignores her and when she comes too close, clasps on to me. She's going through a more timid period and is wary of strangers these days. When the owner leaves, it doesn't take long before the teenage daughter starts to sob quietly, while her mother angrily - but equally quietly - asks her why she behaves the way she does, a question she keeps repeating while the daughter continues to cry and attempt to explain herself. I can't really follow what it's all about, as they're speaking French.

Rihanna Gaga is playing with her moomin, a doll I brought her from Sweden. The moomins are a special kind of trolls, round and white with pointy ears and a long tail, originally invented in the 1930s by Tove Jansson. Rihanna Gaga immediately liked the doll, even though she couldn't make out what it was - she asked us if it was a dog or a cat, but I told her it was neither - it was a moomin, which she pronounces as 'ehmi'. Since she got it, she's been taking it everywhere.

I've ordered a pancake with chocolate, which is a bit tiny compared to the ones you get elsewhere in La Marsa. It doesn't matter, the excellent coffee makes up for any failings the pancakes may have. When I'm finished, Rihanna Gaga makes it clear her nappy needs changing, so I pay the kind waitress and we return home.