My trip to Tunisia

A few weeks ago, I went with my friend Aisha on a trip to Tunisia. Aisha is an American of Egyptian heritage who is studying at Oxford in England. She went to Tunis, which is the capital of Tunisia. Tunisia is located on the Mediterranean Sea in the central part of the northern coast of Africa. Can you find which two African countries border Tunisia? Which European country is the closest to Tunisia across the Mediterranean?

Here is a picture of me in Government Square in the middle of Tunis. In December 2010 and January 2011, this square was filled with tens of thousands of protestors. Prior to these protests, Tunisia had a repressive government led by a dictator who brutally suppressed any dissent. That dictator's name was Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. After so many people demonstrated all over the country, however, Ben Ali had to resign. In October 2011, Tunisians got to vote in relatively free elections to choose their own leaders. They still have many challenges to establish a fair form of government in which all Tunisians can have a say, but they have made a lot of progress. Consequently, it is very meaningful to me to stand in this square and think what it was like when it was completely filled with protestors demanding their rights.

I pose in Government Square in central Tunis.

Tunis is also known for its clock tower, which I visited and photographed. The clock tower stands in the middle of a square that used to be called Place 7 Novembre (French for "November 7 Place") because that was the date when Ben Ali became Tunisia's president. After Ben Ali resigned, the Tunisians renamed the square Place 14 Janvier 2011 (French for "January 14, 2011 Place") because that was the day when Ben Ali resigned.

Clock tower on Place 14 Janvier 2011 in Tunis.

Here is a photograph of me with Aisha and her friend. We are posing in front of the door to a really beautiful mosque in Tunis. This kind of architecture incorporating bright mosaics onto the façades of buildings is very common in North Africa.

Aisha and her friend took me to this beautiful mosque in Tunis.