Pictures from the journey thus far

This is me after my first day at my internship with my bag of s.w.a.g. (Stuff We All Get) from AMIDEAST. Inside is a city map of Tunis, cultural brochures with touristy site around the country in English, an explanation of the organization, and contact information for all the senior staff. I thought it was sweet.









Below is a picture of a ferry that is similar to the Splendid ferry that I took across the Mediterranean to Tunis. I am still amazed that these boats fun all year round.

And finally, a view of my international flight and the rows of people settling in for our overnight flight from Washington D.C. to Frankfurt. Hurray for travel, and double hurray for arriving (mostly) without complications.

AMIDEAST internship, first day

I am truly amazed at the sheer amount of hurdles that I had to jump over to get to my hotel in Tunis. Upon arriving in Tunis, I know that I was heading to a hotel and that I would be within a fifteen minute walk of my internship site.

As the ferry landed in the port of Tunis, I bid my new friends goodbye and passed through customs before exchanging my remaining euros for the taxi. As i fished out my paper with the directions to the hotel, i realized that all I had was the name of the hotel "Le Consul" and the name of my supervisor, who said that she or a representative of AMIDEAST would be at the port to pick me up. As I looked around the terminal, all I saw were passengers from the port pushing through crowds of seedy looking taxi drivers. Well, "I had better do as the locals do" I thought to myself. Perhaps my contact person was waiting outside of the terminal. I soon found out, from surveying the crowd outside on the street, that no one was present to pick me up. So, I tried to pick out the least-creepy looking taxi man and asked him in French for "l'Hotel le Consul". He looked confused, not by my accent, but by the name of the hotel. Sadly, I did not have an address or a phone number with me to help situate my destination on a map, and taxis in Tunisia are not equiped with GPS either. As my taxi guy asked his friends if they knew where the hotel was, the situation began to look grim as they shook their heads. Had my phone been working, I could have called my supervisor, but Verizon decided to include in fine print that there is no network coverage overseas without prior authorization granted from headquarters. Great.

Ok, so my options were running out. I was not to the point where I was willing to hop in a taxi and simply drive around because I honestly DO NOT have a fantastic sense of direction. Yes, it is one of my charms, Im afraid. But, I knew people who would be able to help me . . . at the American Embassy. Thank goodness the taxi drivers knew where that was located. As I was dropped off in front of the safety checkpoint and manicured lawn (which seemed strange surroundedby fine desert sand for miles), I realized that it was Sunday and the offices were closed. Thank allah the saftey check point was open and the Sunday guards spoke french! They connected me through their office phone to an American technical assistant guy who happened to be in his office working that afternoon. After searching on his computer and calling every number listed on the AMIDEAST website for my supervisor and Country Director, he could neither get a hold of them nor find the actual address of my hotel. I felt the situation turning more and more gray. This is what happend when people are taken from ports and forced to be pirates on the open sea or thrown overboard! ok, so maybe not that dramatic, but i really had run out of options at that point. I felt like I had literally done everything that I could.

At that point, the embassy guards were kind enough to pay the taxi fare for me to travel down the road to a nice hotel in order to use their WIFI in the lobby to skype my superviser. I prayed that she would be near her computer and would have a solution for me. When I finally did arrive and set up my laptop, she answered my skype call and was delighted that I had made it to Tunis. Although I shared in her excitement, I also explained the complication with my travel arrangements. She kindly provided me with the address and told me which taxi to take that would bring me to the center of the city to my hotel. When I finally arrived I went straight up to my room and collapsed, having experienced so much stress and uncertainty in the past 12 hours. It was so nice to know that I was finally in the correct location and that both my supervisor and my parents knew that I had finally arrived, and in one piece.

My first day at AMIDEAST went much smoother, which was honestly unexpected for me at that point. My supervisor's name is Leila Zahmoul, and she is wonderful. Born from a Tunisian father and a French mother, she floats effortlessly between French, Arabic, and has a great command of English as well. She is in charge of the testing services and study abroad programs for the Tunis branch of AMIDEAST. On my first day, she introduced me to all the senior staff, most of whom are bi-lingual or tri-lingual American or French citizens. I also met a few of the English teachers and other interns in verious branches of the three buildings thatAMIDEAST owns in that district of Tunis. Everyone seemed happy to welcome me to the team. The staff in my building told me they consider their department "more like a family instead of a work environment" because they take care of each other and make sure that everyone is well motivated in their projects. That got major points from me!

I have my own desk with a nice computer, and will be the point person in charge of the "Youth Exchange Studies" (YES) program for high school students studying in the US. I am overly excited for all the challenges and learning ahead of me. I am also going to be working as part of a team on a new program called "Future Leaders of Tomorrow" that provides scholarship to students who are motivated to impliment programs of social change in their communities. Again, Im so excited to work with young motivated individuals during my time here. Although it is not all glamorous, I am willing to "be an intern" and put in the grunt work in order to see that these students are able to achieve their goals. Not assisting, necessarily, but providing them with the resources and the motivation to make their dreams come true. I have experienced the challenges and resulting satisfactions from a similar acadmic experience in another country, and I would only want the best for these students. The simply have to show that they are willing to put in the effort to make it happen.

As I headed home from my first day, my head was filled with new French names and terms for everything in my new office. I realized that I would be staying in the hotel until Friday, and then moving to my new apartment with other interns. Going to bed that first night was quite easy! Im looking forward to the new experiences of the first week. I know that it will not be easy all the time, but when the challenges come we grow the most from those experiences.

Mediterranean ferry, Crayons, Bienvenue a Tunisie

First of all, Happy Birthday to my mom (Saturday, September 25). Im halfway across the world, but Im sending light and love your way. If you have seen Eat, Pray, Love, then you know my reference. If you have not . . . you should go see it and read this blog later. Sweet movie.

After staying the night in an Italian hostel, I packed up my affairs and headed to the port on foot. Some people that I meet in the hostle laughed at the sheer number of bags that I had (2 duffle bags and a rolling suitcase, mind you, is not THAT much) because they thought that I was taking a "petite vacance" or "little vacation". When I said that I was actually working for six months as part of my college degree, they laughed and then congratulated me for being brave. ok, that works. I found that it was actually rather amusing to allow people to guess where I was from and what I was going to do in Tunisia. I have tried for years to take on a French accent, and I have finally been able to mimic it close enough to where the Italians/French Rivierians/North Africans actually ask me what part of France I am from. Ok yes, its a silly victory for some, but a big one for me!

One of the best annecdotes from my entire trip so far comes from my time spent in the terminal at the port in Genoa. I arrived at 11:00 am and checked in for my ferry that would be boarding at 3:00 pm. I noticed that lots of people were going into the local supermarket in the terminal, which got me thinking about what kind of food, if any, would be available on the next leg of my journey. As I looked around the terminal for a place to stash my bags, I noticed two muslim women sitting on two benches with about five younger children under the age of seven, and one older girl of about nine. Now, while most of you are cooing as you think about their big smiles and innocent laughs, I am thinking about their tendency to shriek and crash into each other, increasing the tone and frequency of their shrieks. Ugh, young kids just make me nervous in large groups. I know, I know . . . I will get around to liking kids some day. anyways . . .

I thanked the women for watchingmy bags in Arabic, and their daughter offered a seat to me among the family. This girl was so impressive; at nine years old she spoke Tunisian Arabic, French, Italian, and bits of English. Ha, I pale in comparison and prefered to bask in her aura in the hopes of absorbing some language learning abilities.

As a result of sitting with this family, i have decided that all little boys around the world are the same. The mother was trying to feed the kids before getting on the ferry, and was having a hard time making the two youngest ones (I would guess about five years old) sit still while they ate their baguette and cheese. While one boy was sitting and eating, the other was running around the bench and laughing to himself about the joyous experience he was having, cheese and bread consequently smeered across his face in an adorable fashion. I could tell that he was one of those charming young fellows who could get away with causing trouble due to his charming big brown eyes. The mother looked concerned as she sat both of them down and place a hand on each one's shoulder in an effort to keep them seated while eating. Familiar?

Once the boys finished eating and were squirming as their faces were cleaned off, I suddenly had an idea of how to possibly keep them occupied. I reached into my bag and pulled out a pad of paper and a box of crayons that I had packed for "emergencies" such as this. I made eye contact with one of the little boys and flashed the box of crayons his way and a friendly smile. His eyes lit up and he pulled on his brother's sleeve all while pointing towards me. As his mother turned around, she nodded in approval . . . no words were need for this universal understanding. I motioned the boys over to where I was sitting and emptied the crayons out onto the marble floor of the terminal next to the pad of paper. The best comparison I have for this scene is "seagulls and a pile of stale breadcrumbs" as the kids swarmed over the crayons and paper. I smiled and looked over to the mothers, who were finally seated and laughing to themselves as they watched this whole scene. The children were finally quiet, all spread out on the floor creating scenes from their imagination and telling each other about the stories that resulted from the images. I sat with the mothers who offered me part of their lunch, insisting through broken french and sign language that I take the rest of the bread and cheese for my trip. Hard to refuse such hospitality.

Just as little boys are predicatable, so are little girls. When the announcement came over the intercom to board our ferry, the mothers helped me pack up the leftover paper and crayons. One of the younger girls walked up to me shyly and in Arabic offered me her drawing. I smiled and opened herfolded piece of paper as she scampered off to get her bag. She had drawn a rainbow and included her name "Ines" in English letters underneath the arc. I had the biggest smile on my face for the rest of the afternoon. Even though it is something small, I kept the drawing and plan to put it up in my new apartment in Tunis. So cute! Who doesn't love a rainbow?

This was my first experience with a ferry, and I was very impressed with the sheer scale of the boat. In the northwest, I am accustomed to ferries that take twenty minutes to cross the river, and hold a maximum of 100 people. Perhaps a few cars, but not too many. "Le Splendid", at 700 ft long and almost 90 ft high holds over 2000 passengers and 1000 cars. The voyage takes about 23 hours from Genoa, Italy to Tunis, Tunisia and passengers can enjoy four stories of sightseeing rooms, decks, cafes, bars, and even a swimming pool. yes, a swimming pool . . . on a boat. I was sure to take my motion-sickness patches, and even then I was a little quesy. The view was beautiful however, and despite my mild nausea I did spend a lot of time out on the deck after the sun went down and the rocking of the boat subsided a bit. It was fun meeting people from all over southern Europe and Nothern Africa who were traveling to Tunisia for various reasons. Plus, it helps being a cute American girl who enjoys tea, coffee, and light conversation from fellow travelers. I don't think I paid for a single drink or snack during the whole trip. No worries though, as I was smart and knew when to bid my fellow travelers "goodbye" before they asked for my email or phone number. Im interested in work experience, not dating experience!

You can look at missing a plane/train/boat as getting lost, or as a new adventure

Hello everyone!

Apologies for the delay in my first post from abraod. I have been on the road ,in the air, and on a ferry for a few days now and it has all been, needless to say, exciting. Let me share with you the happenings of my journey since I left Salem for the Portland Airport on Tuesday September 21.

I flew standby on a buddy pass, which essentially means that I am an alternate as a passenger on the plane. There was a little complication with my initial flight out of the country, but i eventually made it to Germany on day two of my journey instead of day one. The buddy pass worked for me to get down to San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon, but then the SF - Frankfurt connecting flight was . . . you guessed it . . . full. So, that meant that I had to turn around and hop onto the next pland back up to Portland in order to catch another flight out to the East Coast early Wednesday morning.

Although it was a little frusterating to know that I had to be in the air for a lot longer than I had originally anticipated, I did not let it irritate me. As my mother always says "Adriane, you are a Bolliger, and we don't let those things get to us because we can always laugh about them later." Thanks mom. Really. I count myself lucky to have a buddy pass that allows me to fly for free, and a sponsor (the "provider" of the buddy pass) who was supportive and consistently available by phone throughout my entire trip. Plus I had given myself several days to get to my final destination of Tunis, Tunisia. Last week I was becoming anxious because I had not purchased any train tickets or ferry passes, but after Tuesday had come and gone and I had not even left the west coast, I felt better about my decision to wait to purchase the additional transportation.

So, Wednesday morning I woke up and told myself "ok, this is a new day, and maybe THIS time I will finally get to Germany . . . and then I can laugh about how ridiculous this has all been." After flying from PDX (which, by the way, is one of my most favorite airports in the world) to Dulles, Washington D.C., I quickly ran across the crowded terminal to find that I had made the list for stand-bys to Frankfurt! The other passengers were probably curious about the motivation for my sudden victory dance, but some things are left best without explanation. Like crazy celebratory dancing in the middle of the terminal.

As I boarded the plane, I reminisced of the flights that I had taken with the University of Oregon Marching Band and Colorguard to the Bowl Games over the last four years. For the 2008 and 2009 games, the entire UO group (consisting on band members, colorguard, cheerleaders, staff, and faculty) filled a 747 plane that greatly resembled the one that I was flying on to Frankfurt. However, this flight was overnight and was therefore much more quiet (though I love band trips because no one sleeps for the entire weekend). I was seated with one other gentleman in the very last row of the plane, and we were lucky enough to have the entire row to ourselves! I was so stoked to be able to fold up the arms of the seats and stretch out across three of them. It made the whole trip much more enjoyable. Yep, that's right, I actually slept on the overnight plane to Europe.

Upon landing in Germany, I got off the plane and onto the shuttle all while watching the sunrise over Frankfurt airport. In a way, it was very special to see the beginning of my trip start in such a fresh and meaningful way. Immediately after, I turned into a mini tourist as I took photos of all the funny German signs. For all you people who are taking German back home, stay posted for pics from the airport. Example of me being touristy: laughing to myself at 7:30 am as I leave my place in the customs line to take a picture of the signs marked "Burgers, this way" . . . who would have thought a German "burger" is a German citizen!

After meeting up with our family friend, we loaded my three bags into her car and drove one hour south to Landstuhl, a small town just outside the US military base in Ramstein. After taking care of travel logistics all morning (exchanging US dollars for euros, reserving my train tickets for my trip to Italy, reserving the hostel in Genoa, the ferry tickets from Genoa to Tunis), I found myself getting very . . . very . . . sleepy. I felt like I had been up for longer than 24 hours, even though it had only been eight hours since I had landed in Frankfurt. I laid down to take a short nap knowing that I did not want to throw off my sleep schedule any further . . . and, you guessed it . . . woke up two hours later. I imagine that all my college friends are smiling and shaking their heads at this point because this is a common false assumption that we share in relation to our ability to actually take SHORT naps in the face of sleep depravation. However, this surprisingly did not make it more difficult for me to go to sleep early that night, so I suppose that it was greatly needed after 48 hours of constant travel either in the air or across various terminals in the airports.

This morning I was up at 6:00am to catch my first of several trains that eventually took me down through Switzerland into Genoa, Italy. The European countryside is beautiful and the train transit system here in Germany (actually, throughout Europe) is fantastic. Im taking the ICE train for a portion of my trip, which travels at around 170 mph. This makes the overall experience very different from my beloved Amtrak that travels at an average speed of 40 mph. ;-) I hope the US looks the Europe and develops a similar system. That would be amazing.

I met some military guys a few rows down from me who were heading to Oktoberfest. They were stationed in Ramstein and Landstuhl, and seemed to be pretty stoked to be able to travel in their free time all across Europe. We shared stories and lunch together, and then I saw them off as I headed South to Italy while they headed North to the festival. It is not as easy as I thought trying to get around with three bags between trains, but then again I remind myself that I am going to be gone for six months, and that half of my larger bag holds gifts for future friends and colleagues. Plus, incase anyof you were wondering, Lambo (my stuffed Lamb that goes everywhere with me . . . yes, even college) is along for the ride as well. I got a lot of smiles in the terminals and on the train, so I think it's ok.

For anyone who has been trying to text me, my phone is currentlyout of commission. It does not function outside the US, despite the information that I was given when I purchased it, so I will be finding a replacement in Tunisia. For now, emails, blog comments, and skype calls or messages are the preferred method. Thank you all for reading and keeping me in the loop with what is happening in your lives!

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An afterthought about train travel in Europe and a crazy Italian taxi driver:

Although I had a lot of fun with the traintrip, Im not sure that I would do it again in the same way. In total took six different trains and one metro plus walking on foot to get to my destination. That is a few too many trains changes for me, two of which occured because I missed my stop while on the train. I was supposed to arrive at my hostel tonight at around 6:30, but instead arrived much later at 10:30. The scene was set for a noir film. There was a crazy storm in Genoa that evening with wind, rain, thunder, and of course lightning. The cabdriver drove me to the neighborhood where he "thought" my hostel was, and then dropped me off on the corner waving his Italian arms in the air and saying " It eez nawt faahr. Guud lauck bella!". yeah, thanks crazy Italian cab driver. with no phone, laptop, or even a remote knowledge of the Italian language, I was able to ask a spanish woman in a shop (who surpisingly did not speak Italian, English, French, OR Arabic) about the hostel through a crazy serious of hand gestures: literally my last option at the bottom of the Adriane creativity barrel. Thank goodness it worked and she led me to an apartment building that had been remodeled into a multistory hostel . . . with no exterior signs, hours of opration, or phone number contact. Not kidding. So, im pretty lucky I suppose. Someone is looking out for me.

I must say that on the bright side, everyone that i met along the way (Americans, Swiss Germans, Australians, Spanish mono-lingual lady and Italians (excluding crazy cab driver) were all very helpful in getting me to the correct train. I have enough challenges with train connections when they are in English, and a few more when the language keeps switching every two stations. However, I am glad that I arrived well, even it took a lot longer than anticipted.

Welcome to my blog!

Asallamaleikum, hello, and welcome to my online journal outlet. For the next few months, this will be the forum for everyone to keep up with my activities and travels in Tunisia.

A little about myself and my upcoming trip; I am pursuing my B.A. in International Studies through the University of Oregon with concentrations in French, African Studies, and Arts Management. My position at AMIDEAST is part of an IE3 Global internship program through the Oregon University System. At this particular site, there are between three and four interns per year, so I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity.

My goals for this blog include:
1.) maintaining communication with family and friends who desire to share my experience
2.) offer perspectives of North African culture through journal entries composed of my interactions and observation of the people and the culture
3.) gain and share insight on how a developing Muslim nation operates and interacts with other countries politically, economically, and financially to remain economically competative and culturally diverse
4.) represent an American woman's perspective in a Muslim nation including learning to effectively function in a tri-lingual society and work environment consisting of French, English, and Arabic

The AMIDEAST internship (www.amideast.org for more information) originally caught my attention in the winter of 2009 as I searched through my university's database for study abroad programs that would fulfill the requirements for the completion of my major in addition to my personal and career goals. I was immediately intrigued by the language combination of French and Arabic needed for the position and the opportunity for direct work between interns and Tunisian high school and college students preparing to study abroad in the US. As a former Rotary Exchange Student (France, 2004-2005 sponsored by Salem Sunrise Rotary), I am very passionate about exchage programs and am very interested in working on the "other" end of the process as a support of students embarking on similar journies of self-discovery and cross-cultural learning.

My journey to Tunisia begins next Tuesday as I fly from Portland to Frankfurt, Germany, then take a train south through Switzerland in order to catch a ferry from Genoa, Italy to Tunis. This will allow me to break up the trip and do a bit of sightseeing on the way to my new home for six months. My intership begins on October 1 and lasts until March 31, after which I will travel up to northwest France in the Loire Valley to work on an organic farm as part of a program call WWOOF, or World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (www.wwoof.org for more information). Why northwest France? I wanted to be able to visit the same host families that i stayed with during my Rotary exchange program, and this opportuntiy seems like a great way to gain experience working with organic products in addition to spending time with the families and friends that were part of many fond memories during my year abroad.

For now, I am packing and saying goodbye to friends and family as I prepare for this incredible journey. I have a feeling that the experiences, interactions, and networking that will take place in the next few months as part of the internship and volunteer work will define several paths for future career and education opportunities. I am nothing less than extatic to begin this next chapter in my life, and appreciate all the support and encouragement from my friends, family, and colleagues. Thank you for believing in me and sharing the journey with me!