On 20th August, I began my long journey from Edinburgh to Tunisia, stopping in London and Paris. When the plane finally landed in Tunis, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia and as the doors opened, I took a long, deep breath.
Home. I was finally home.
How I had longed for that day, to have a Tunisian stamp in my new passport, to be greeted with 'peace be upon you', to hear Arabic again, to travel down streets called 'Rue Pakistan' & 'Rue Palestine', to disregard seatbelts and queues and to throw myself into the busy crowd and get lost forever, in jasmine and sunshine.
It's strange to go back somewhere you never really left. Tunisia has become such a part of who I am, I can't ever leave it behind. This time, I was there for a wedding and to visit friends and a very important little girl. But I was also there to see if everything I felt remained. Was 2012 merely a happy period of my life or could I have new stories, new love and life in Tunisia?
As soon as I seen Lucia, the Italian other half of me I felt myself again, maybe for the first time since I left. We hugged in the street outside the big mosque in 'Passage' and I grabbed a fistful of her lovely little curls as I always did. She'd stayed on after I left and was making a new home with her Tunisian half :) As she had to work, I made plans to catch up with old and new friends in Tunis before we would travel to Sousse together.
I made the decision to meet up with someone I knew only via Facebook due to our shared love of Palestine. I was a little apprehensive but oddly, less so than I would be in Edinburgh. Wrongly or rightly, I have always felt safe in Tunisia. Jihed met me with gifts of jasmine and flags from the greatest countries on earth - Tunisia and Palestine, ofcourse. We met his sister, a writer and had a fantastic lunch in a rooftop restaurant in the medina. They invited me to a concert at night in Carthage, Roman ruins overlooking Tunis. To my delight, it was Shadia Mansour, a rapper from London and I was lucky enough to meet her at the end of the night. In less than 24 hours, two people who had never met me before, gave me one of the most special days of my life.
Returning to Sousse where I spent the best year of my life was extremely emotional for me. In one city I found myself, found soul mates & family, found love and the life I had always dreamt of. I guess I was a little scared that my feelings would have changed, that maybe my city had become too intertwined with my feelings for the man I fell in love with there. But very quickly I remembered that actually, my heart belongs to Tunisia, before anyone else.
I will always have a reason to go back and it's not because of one person, it is because of every person. Jalel, my dear mentor and his wonderful family who always welcome me like their daughter and sister. AJMEC and its members - the association who took care of me and even gave me a place to stay this time around. My sister Mariem, who makes such a difference to this world, breaking barriers and prejudices simply by being her wonderful self, she inspires me everyday. The beautiful little girl living in SOS children's village in Akouda, who threw her arms around me and brought peace to my heart.
Until next time, n7ebbekom (I love you all) x
'' Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is." - Louis de Bernières
Home. I was finally home.
How I had longed for that day, to have a Tunisian stamp in my new passport, to be greeted with 'peace be upon you', to hear Arabic again, to travel down streets called 'Rue Pakistan' & 'Rue Palestine', to disregard seatbelts and queues and to throw myself into the busy crowd and get lost forever, in jasmine and sunshine.
It's strange to go back somewhere you never really left. Tunisia has become such a part of who I am, I can't ever leave it behind. This time, I was there for a wedding and to visit friends and a very important little girl. But I was also there to see if everything I felt remained. Was 2012 merely a happy period of my life or could I have new stories, new love and life in Tunisia?
As soon as I seen Lucia, the Italian other half of me I felt myself again, maybe for the first time since I left. We hugged in the street outside the big mosque in 'Passage' and I grabbed a fistful of her lovely little curls as I always did. She'd stayed on after I left and was making a new home with her Tunisian half :) As she had to work, I made plans to catch up with old and new friends in Tunis before we would travel to Sousse together.
I made the decision to meet up with someone I knew only via Facebook due to our shared love of Palestine. I was a little apprehensive but oddly, less so than I would be in Edinburgh. Wrongly or rightly, I have always felt safe in Tunisia. Jihed met me with gifts of jasmine and flags from the greatest countries on earth - Tunisia and Palestine, ofcourse. We met his sister, a writer and had a fantastic lunch in a rooftop restaurant in the medina. They invited me to a concert at night in Carthage, Roman ruins overlooking Tunis. To my delight, it was Shadia Mansour, a rapper from London and I was lucky enough to meet her at the end of the night. In less than 24 hours, two people who had never met me before, gave me one of the most special days of my life.
Returning to Sousse where I spent the best year of my life was extremely emotional for me. In one city I found myself, found soul mates & family, found love and the life I had always dreamt of. I guess I was a little scared that my feelings would have changed, that maybe my city had become too intertwined with my feelings for the man I fell in love with there. But very quickly I remembered that actually, my heart belongs to Tunisia, before anyone else.
I will always have a reason to go back and it's not because of one person, it is because of every person. Jalel, my dear mentor and his wonderful family who always welcome me like their daughter and sister. AJMEC and its members - the association who took care of me and even gave me a place to stay this time around. My sister Mariem, who makes such a difference to this world, breaking barriers and prejudices simply by being her wonderful self, she inspires me everyday. The beautiful little girl living in SOS children's village in Akouda, who threw her arms around me and brought peace to my heart.
Until next time, n7ebbekom (I love you all) x
'' Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is." - Louis de Bernières
No comments:
Post a Comment