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.
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