I'm getting the hang of things here now (somewhat) - I'm pretty confident I can get to the university/AIESEC office from my house. We went there again this morning and I spent most of the day talking to people and trying to learn more Arabic. Everyone here is very friendly and willing to repeat things 3 times over very slowly so I can figure out how to say it properly. We also went to buy a phone (because the one I brought with me didn't charge) so tomorrow I will be connected!
Chahine (the VP of incoming exchange here, one of the people who's been showing me around) took me to Schooling Plus where I'll work today. Good news: It seems like a good place to work, the boss I met (there are 2) seems nice and there's an American intern, Brittany, there who I've been talking to who has been here for the last 2 years and will help me learn the ropes. Bad news: I think they want me to work weekday evenings and all weekend with 1 day off per week... so basically I'll be working when everyone else is free and vice versa. I'm going to try and get a couple of weekends off per month, I want to be able to travel and see Tunisia!
I went shopping here for the first time by myself this evening - just to a few shops a couple of mins walk away but it was pretty cool, plus exciting to find tea and all sorts of useful things so close! I was surprised that the shopkeepers didn't speak any English and most of them no French either (although my French isn't fantastic, I can at least make myself understood). Until now I've only been talking to educated people here, and they all can at least make themselves understood in English and all speak fantastic French (although with some Arabic thrown in usually and a strong accent which makes it hard for me to understand... but still very useful! and I managed to find a couple of people to speak French with me too :) )
Chahine (the VP of incoming exchange here, one of the people who's been showing me around) took me to Schooling Plus where I'll work today. Good news: It seems like a good place to work, the boss I met (there are 2) seems nice and there's an American intern, Brittany, there who I've been talking to who has been here for the last 2 years and will help me learn the ropes. Bad news: I think they want me to work weekday evenings and all weekend with 1 day off per week... so basically I'll be working when everyone else is free and vice versa. I'm going to try and get a couple of weekends off per month, I want to be able to travel and see Tunisia!
I went shopping here for the first time by myself this evening - just to a few shops a couple of mins walk away but it was pretty cool, plus exciting to find tea and all sorts of useful things so close! I was surprised that the shopkeepers didn't speak any English and most of them no French either (although my French isn't fantastic, I can at least make myself understood). Until now I've only been talking to educated people here, and they all can at least make themselves understood in English and all speak fantastic French (although with some Arabic thrown in usually and a strong accent which makes it hard for me to understand... but still very useful! and I managed to find a couple of people to speak French with me too :) )
Want some helpful French phrases? Like, 'where is the train station', 'help', and 'go f*** yourself'??
ReplyDeleteI may have already offered these before, but hey :p