إلى اللقاء Ila al-liqa, I'm off to Tunisia

Hello everyone, merhaba. OK guys, I was hoping to pump out an article this week before I left for Tunisia but good grief, it has been hectic. Work got busy at the last minute and I also got more and more ambitious in terms of the amount of Arabic I wanted to learn before going. I had already completed the basics, like Arabic 101, so I was tackling the far more complex stuff. I have started packing and by the end of today, I will be in Tunisia.

I just wanted to share with you what I did today - I found out that there is a Tunisian Tourism Office in London within like a 10 minute walk from where I live. So I popped round to say hello, not quite wondering what kind of reception I'd get - now this wasn't some kind of shop on the high street where people just walked in, this was an office unit in an office block and it was not at all obvious to the people walking down the street (they are at 77A Wigmore Street) that they were there. But hey, the gentleman who say me dropped what he was doing, took out a map of Tunisia and we chatted for like 30 minutes. He told me where to go, what to do, what to eat/drink, where to avoid (there are terrorist activities near the Algerian border in the West and South of the country - which ruled out trips to Dougga and Tataouine) and I left with loads of useful literature and maps, now I don't even need to buy a guidebook, how about that?  

So yes, do check if there is a tourist info office of the country you're visiting in your city and pay them a visit. Yes we can get a lot of information on the internet, but nothing beats sitting down with a local and getting some useful maps and literature and it's all for free. OK time for some much needed sleep, I still have to finish packing in the morning, yikes... I'm back on the 10th September, so apologies for the radio silence until then as I am not bringing my laptop with me. I'm be out riding camels and tracking down Tunisian love rats for my dear Di Talasi. Ciao, إلى اللقاء Ila al-liqa!