David's Diary: Sunday, March 9, 2003

Dinner At Nabiha's

A constant fixture in Jocelyn's life in Monastir has been her friend Nabiha. At times, Karalee and I have worried about the intensity of the relationship. Nabiha is nineteen, but nineteen in Tunisia is not the same as nineteen in Canada. Jocelyn has slept over at Nabiha's numerous times and has become part of her family and even learned to speak French. Tonight it is time for us to meet Nabiha's parents as we have been invited over to their house for dinner.

Street Near Nabiha's House

We take a taxi to Nabiha's house. The house is located in a nicer district of Monastir, yet as we get out at the front door we see a herd of sheep being moved along. The sight surprises us a little bit, but Jocelyn explains that the neighbourhood we are in is surrounded by one of the poorest parts of Monastir.

Nabiha's Mom Cooking Dinner

We are invited into the living room where we all sit around feeling quite formal. Jocelyn has to translate the conversation as Karalee and I are still far from being able to communicate in French and no one in Nabiha's house speaks English. Their close friend Mr. Mohammad arrives. He does speak English so things get a little bit easier after that.

Jocelyn leaves with Nabiha to go to her room. I ask to be shown around and upstairs I find Nabiha's Mom Lyla cooking dinner in the kitchen. Jocelyn is in Nabiha's room which she shares with her two sisters. Soon all of us are in the bedroom, which is large, and has a TV and stereo. We soon realize that upstairs where we are is where all of the living is done in the house. The living room is more for show.

Dinner

After an hour or so dinner is served in the eating area between Nabiha's room and the kitchen. There is a formal dining room downstairs, but it is clear that we are being treated as part of the family. We are served fish soup, cous cous, and three different dishes with small fishes. Tunisians really like their food spicy hot, but Lyla knows that our taste buds are used to a milder flavour so she has used a minimum of spices. Kevin and Allen find some of the dishes too hot, but the rest of us dig in. We are glad that there is lots of water on the table, since the heat does catch up with us.

Later Jocelyn tells us all of Nabiha's family were worried about meeting us. Jocelyn could not remember how many times someone in the family asked her if they looked alright to meet us. Jocelyn has known Nabiha for more than four months now, but as this is the first time that the two families are together everyone was a little nervous. I'm sure that we would feel the same way if the situation was reversed.

Nabiha's Mom and Allen

After dinner we sit around the lounge area near the dining table. Jocelyn made a double layer chocolate cake as a surprise for tonight. We sit around and visit, eating our cake and drinking sweet Tunisia tea. At times it has been hard to communicate tonight, but after the great dinner we all relax and Lyla takes Allen on her knee. We're glad that the two families got to meet and share an evening together.