David's Diary: Sunday, March 30, 2003

Saying Goodbye

The weather forecast is starting to look good for a passage to Malta. We are ready to get Dragonsinger on the move again. While we are looking forward to new adventures, it is time to start saying goodbye to the friends that we have made in Tunisia.

Hamdi, our friend who we met in our first week in Tunisia, has asked us to come over to his house to say goodbye to his family. All five of us make the short walk around the graveyard and Bourguiba Mausoleum to Hamdi's house. Hamdi's family live in a group of houses. His Grandparents live downstairs and his uncle lives next door. As the eldest son, Hamdi has already been allocated a piece of land on the property where he will one day build his house.

We have typical Tunisian sweet tea in tiny cups as we visit with the family. Hamdi is on spring break from university. His father tells us that Hamdi has spent every day lying around in bed until after noon. We know that Hamdi works hard at school as he works towards an engineering degree. Hamdi would like to be a telecommunications engineer when he is finished.

We talk about our plans for the rest of our trip. I look around the living room, so different than the ones in Canada, but yet now familiar after several visits. It was chance that brought Hamdi and our family together, but we have got to know each other and share a little bit of each others culture.