This is just to say that I am doing well and have not vanished from the face of the earth which could have been suggested by my mysterious vanishing from this blog. Simply enough (and a much better reason for not blogging than vanishing from the face of the earth) my internet has been fouled up for the past week and a half or so.
Life is great. My Arabic classes have concluded (we had a final exam this past Wednesday) as have my Field Study Seminar and Thematic Seminar (we're done with lectures). This mean's we've got all sorts of free time not only to complete our independent research project, but to do things like throw lavish birthday parties and have an extensive passover seder for the entire SIT crew hosted by myself and my good friend Ryan who attends Brandeis and is a Jew-iphyle. It was wonderfully haphazard and involved us visiting the jewish quarter in La Gulette, meeting the rabbi, and picking up 14 portions of a combination of tuna and brisket in the most delicious sauce I have ever had the pleasure of consuming...oh, and a box of French Matzah as well. The entire seder was in English, of course, and included a multi-denominational silent prayer and ad-lib tellings of the passover story, etc, and the ritual four glasses of wine. One of the best days I have had, full of shopping, cooking, sharing, questioning, and eating with good friends.
This past weekend I got to go to an absolutely fabulous concert: Anouar Brahem (who grew up in Tunis) and a new quartet (A Lebanese, a Sweed, and a German (I believe)). Anouar Brahem combined Tunisian (Arab / Andalusian) Oud music with Jazz influences mainly, as well as some Indian and specifically Iranian influences. Really interesting stuff that certainly be one of the main componants of my Independent Study Project. The title of my paper will be "Fusion" musics and Tunisian Identity in an Age of Global Stereo.
Speaking of which, today I found out who my advisor is for my project—a scholoar and historian from Tunis who gave us our first tour of the medina and who apparently knows a lot about Tunisian music. I am excited to meet him and get to planning some interviews. He speaks good English which is a G-d-sent.
Today we spent a long time making some great grilled cheese sandwiches (quite a delicacy here where quality cheeses are rare and a bit pricy) with tomatos (4 or 5) that I bought for around 40 cents from a man at the central market who had to hold the 50 milleem coins right up to his eye to see its value.
The internet looks like it might be waning. I'll check in again soon, in sh'Allah (If God permits).
I hope everyone is well.
Rudbelik (look out and take care) (accompanied by pointing at one's eyes, one and then the other, with a single index finger)
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