Sheer relaxation and phantasmate

This entry is the condensed version of this entry, offering a quicker and for some a more pleasant read than the extended. The shortened version is not a separate piece of writing, but in essence the extended version, but with several paragraphs, sections and contemplations cut away, with minor changes to the text linking the different paragraphs to create a natural flow. If you want to see the extended version, go visit this link.

Okay, so I found out that last blog entry was waaaay too long! And it did take quite some time to write as well. I hope that it was not all too discouraging...
The thing is that once I sat down and began to write about my experiences from day #1, I had some kind of urge to go on and on, writing elaborately about every little experience that I had. And trying to write in a good manner is also somewhat challenging; writing in an entertaining manner and not simply just writing a factual account serves both purposes that this blog exists for. One, so that my audience actually enjoys reading about my travel, and two, so that I can look back at this at a later stage and enjoy it :) I already have a good time when I skim through the files from the 7th grade... actually six years ago!

Squabbling turkeys

It's been a few very relaxing and calm days that I have spent here in Tabarka. The only annoying aspect, albeit slightly entertaining in addition, is that the owner and cleaner in the cheapest hotel I could find here (about a 100 kr a night) seem to constantly be yelling to one another, with a strong undertone of Turkey-sounds (yes, the animal). They are constantly engaged in some kind of squabble in the fascinating language that Arabic is. The cleaning lady especially is quite funny to listen to sometimes. I really have no idea, but it seems she really has some wit. And most certainly a sharp, direct and crude voice. Will have to see if I can get a recording to decipher later.

Food

Apart from eating cheap-cheap to have a good enough budget for a whole-day diving & barbecue excursion to some islands I'm doing on Sunday with Mariem and Ghazi (really looking forward to it!!), I allowed myself some indulgence going to a one seriously good restaurant that served seafood. Normally a whole dinner costs somewhere between eight to ten dinars (~40 kr), but I went eat some delicious fish (that's when I sent you that SMS, dad) with a good appetiser and a free dessert composed of deliciously fresh fruit. For someone accustomed to having it imported, trying it out in one of the countries where the imported fruit actually is produced can be a shocking experience; the sensation of the vigourous taste is very different from that of fruit that has been transported over long distances and isn't taken straight of the tree or soil that so carefully grew it.

The pleasures of learning Arabic

I am learning to communicate with Tunisians in their mother tongue and I have found gratification in doing so. Every native I meet here (shop keepers included only after I have bought something from them, otherwise as always insisting I buy their better-than-everybody-else's craft) is particularly responsive and glad when I show them my notebook full of my scribble. They are always keen to teach me new words and patiently repeat two, three or four times when there's a sound I don't get, and smile when I finally get it. Mariem and Ghazi are also always helpful, emphasising the different syllables of a new word.

Some of the elegant letters I have learnt so far: ث ت ب آ. The second letter to the right is t as in "think", and as you can see, is also a smiley! And the last letter on the right a troll's head! It kind of is a problem, because I need to start thinking "t" and not "Oh, there's a nice smiley! Joy!" when practising... :P

Company of intoxicated scuba divers

Last Sunday I was invited to join Ghazi, Mariem, and some friends of theirs for a superb day of recreation on a boat. I set out early in the morning from Tabarka, and went to another coastal town called Bizerte, which hosts a few diving clubs with good opportunities. The trip was organised by one of these diving clubs, and after having joined up with roughly twenty people, all French and Tunisian, our boat puffed away onto the open Mediterranean under the cloudy sky. While en route, myself and a fellow, both of us not having dove (scuba diving with oxygen bottles, hoses, masks and everything ;)) for a long time, were given a briefing on the fundamentals of diving serving as a necessary repetition by a PADI Master Diver (I'm a PADI Open Water Diver). 

After one hour or so, we anchored up at Les Iles Cani, and the captain was quick to start a very extended and hilarious party with a lot of cheerfulness and mood. For the first time of my life (and read this closely dad!), I ate OCTOPUS (blekksprut)! As a small oblivious child I had a traumatising encounter with an octopus, and my father insists that he has never seen me run that fast before. Consequently, eating octopus has never been my first priority. Nonetheless, I was slightly surprised but also pleased at having successfully eating octopus. However, I wasn't really impressed with the taste, and the octopus meat was rubbery, making it difficult to break up. The six divers then suited up and we jumped out.

The dive that followed lasted for about forty minutes (time spent under water) and we went to ten meters depth. First off, we sat in a circle, in a forest of some underwater plants with long, yellow-brown strips emerging from their centre, at about four meters depth. The visibility was limited to about seven-eight meters, with lots of greenish plankton floating around and obscuring our view. We performed some mandatory scuba diving techniques; first off removing your mask completely and then putting it on again, all underwater. I also did this when someone took a picture of me without my mask on ^^ (I don't have the picture yet but I'll certainly put it up when I do get it). Secondly, we needed to remove our air supply from our mouths and put it back on. It is vital to be able to do all of this without panicking, which can be very dangerous at these depths. But by respecting the open water and learning how to behave, all scuba diving is a rewarding thing to do and experience by far most of the time. With procedures in mind, we finned along the floor, saw some rocks lying around, watched some dark fishes (although only very few and very small), and took some happy group pictures (again, to publish later). It was all very exciting and I was tremendously pleased to experience scuba diving again - a very fun and rewarding hobby by all means. Ultimately, one of our group member's pressure gauge was indicating a small level of air in his tank, and we resurfaced. Oh, and one funny anecdote! While we were in the initial phase of swimming slowly towards the ocean floor in the first stage of the dive, the boat owner all of a sudden appeared right over our heads with guess what?? A bottle of wine in his hand! He was excited and smiling, and pointed to the bottle. The people on the boat, continuing the barbecue party, had obviously wanted to extend the mood and happy times to us the divers scuffling around under his boat. My peers and I laughed, as far as that's possible under water, and looked forward to sharing a glass of wine when back on the boat. Though I tried to contemplate how we could have tried to actually drink the wine under water :)

Back on the boat we ate, drank wine, talked, and went for a swim in the water whenever we felt like it. I talked to some people, and really enjoyed myself. After a while music came streaming from the loudspeaker's mounted above the navigation cabin, a wonderful rhythmic blend of old classics, newer pop, some French stuff, and just generally dance music. Increasingly, people became happier and began dancing more and more fervently, assisted by a free, Bacchic (IBA people will know what I mean) flow of beer and wine and ultimately liquor. The party reached its peak when the boat sat course home towards the port when the end of the day began approaching, and we still went on dancing. With some others, I stood atop the navigation cabin, holding the mast, and boogied to the beat!

After a day of incredible fun and amusement, I returned towards Tunis with Mariem and Ghazi. And that, my friends, is where my story end this time.

See you next time
- Joyous salutations from Eric

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