The MAIN EVENT: ( part 1 )
If being a fan of the Star Wars saga were a religion...traveling to the South of Tunisia would be every followers ULTIMATE Pilgrimage.
The Southern half of Tunisia is the Sahara Desert, and happens to be the land where and epic tale of good and evil, life and death, love and loss occured.
The Tunisian Sahara is the MECCA for any avid fan of Star Wars...and thus I am about to embark on a journey of GALACTIC proportion.
In case you haven't ever spoken to me more than 5 minutes and skipped over the first few sentences of this blog, I am an avid fan of the Epic Star Wars Saga and all the lore therein.
So much so that I've thought of naming my children after some of the characters. NOW, before you get ridiculous it wouldn't be any of the characters from the films ( although if it were a girl, I would consider it further ), from the name database they have on SW.com , but don't go spreading rumors !
Anyhow, this week marks the week that I will make ( what I hope to be ) my first pilgrimage to the South. Along with me will be 5 other trainees and Mr. Lotfi. The Americans will of course be representing as well as two new characters in this crazy story of mine...Chris from Belgium and Karim from Germany. Chris is actually German as well, but he grew up in Belgium, so communication should be at prime level for this trip. : )
Things were kinda hectic as I was planning the trip and horribly bed-ridden last week when everything was starting to come together. But thanks to good friends and some shady car rental guys, we have everything ( mostly ) set up. Finding a vehicle,legally for 7 people has proved to be a bit of an issue, but then came "Alli" (I think that's his name, and since this is my story, I'll call him that for now). This many seemed to a retired "junkee" who deals cars. He kinda followed us around and waited for the right time to strike. Imen joined Brian and I ( which helped alot as most dealers spoke in Arabic primarily), so she was doing all the translating as I was laying it down. We actually all practiced our lines before hand, so we could get ready for certain answers, haha ! I used to work for a car rental company so it's not that weird. Anyhow, after the first couple places, Alli pulls us aside and tells Imen he's going to show us some cars. We proceed to go on this wild goose chase all the way across the parking lot of the airport, back and forth, until we found it. "It" happens to be a Citroen Berlingo, which is pretty much a European Mini Van ( mini bus, as they are called here ), and it's only hope to getting back and forth to the South. So Imen bargained wit the guy back and forth, ( and for those who have never heard a heated discussion in Arabic...it's basically alot of screaming and arm flailing back and forth until someone walks away....pretty cool !) , and finally it was done.
300 TD later, we had a reservation and the largest and scariest issue had been dealt with.
Whew! And I didn't even speak with this guy !
So on to cooler things, as you may have seen, I purchased what the locals refer to as a , Burnoose, which actually has a purpose besides just looking cool. It's that cloak looking thing you may see me wearing in one of my pictures up there. Believe it or not I didn't just buy it to dance around with a lightsaber in...although, it works out that way. It is actually very warm, and is a traditional item of Tunisian clothing, especially in the small towns and villages. Part of our trip will leave us out in the desert camping ( I hope ) in a Beduoin tent, which is cool...literally. The desert may be hot as Hades during the day, but at night it cools off alot ! So, to be totally warm and Tunisian, I know have a blanket that I can wear in public....with a hood. And Brian, happened to point out the striking resemblance to the cloaks the Jedi and Sith wear in the movies and we have begun a theory that the Jedi outfits were fashioned after traditional Tunisian wear, based on George Lucas' admiration for Tunisia. ; )
So Tomorrow evening we will embark on this grandious voyage for the better of 5 days, to return on Tuesday morning ( Monday night ). With the final chapter in the Star Wars Saga debut quickly approaching ( May 19th for those who don't know), I can only suffice it to fate that I get to make my pilgrammage before completing the saga.
Not all is well in life, even now, but being able to take trips like this make life a little more bearable.
Thank you Tunisia, George Lucas, and the Power that be.
I really need this trip.
See you next week some time with the 411 on the South!
The Southern half of Tunisia is the Sahara Desert, and happens to be the land where and epic tale of good and evil, life and death, love and loss occured.
The Tunisian Sahara is the MECCA for any avid fan of Star Wars...and thus I am about to embark on a journey of GALACTIC proportion.
In case you haven't ever spoken to me more than 5 minutes and skipped over the first few sentences of this blog, I am an avid fan of the Epic Star Wars Saga and all the lore therein.
So much so that I've thought of naming my children after some of the characters. NOW, before you get ridiculous it wouldn't be any of the characters from the films ( although if it were a girl, I would consider it further ), from the name database they have on SW.com , but don't go spreading rumors !
Anyhow, this week marks the week that I will make ( what I hope to be ) my first pilgrimage to the South. Along with me will be 5 other trainees and Mr. Lotfi. The Americans will of course be representing as well as two new characters in this crazy story of mine...Chris from Belgium and Karim from Germany. Chris is actually German as well, but he grew up in Belgium, so communication should be at prime level for this trip. : )
Things were kinda hectic as I was planning the trip and horribly bed-ridden last week when everything was starting to come together. But thanks to good friends and some shady car rental guys, we have everything ( mostly ) set up. Finding a vehicle,legally for 7 people has proved to be a bit of an issue, but then came "Alli" (I think that's his name, and since this is my story, I'll call him that for now). This many seemed to a retired "junkee" who deals cars. He kinda followed us around and waited for the right time to strike. Imen joined Brian and I ( which helped alot as most dealers spoke in Arabic primarily), so she was doing all the translating as I was laying it down. We actually all practiced our lines before hand, so we could get ready for certain answers, haha ! I used to work for a car rental company so it's not that weird. Anyhow, after the first couple places, Alli pulls us aside and tells Imen he's going to show us some cars. We proceed to go on this wild goose chase all the way across the parking lot of the airport, back and forth, until we found it. "It" happens to be a Citroen Berlingo, which is pretty much a European Mini Van ( mini bus, as they are called here ), and it's only hope to getting back and forth to the South. So Imen bargained wit the guy back and forth, ( and for those who have never heard a heated discussion in Arabic...it's basically alot of screaming and arm flailing back and forth until someone walks away....pretty cool !) , and finally it was done.
300 TD later, we had a reservation and the largest and scariest issue had been dealt with.
Whew! And I didn't even speak with this guy !
So on to cooler things, as you may have seen, I purchased what the locals refer to as a , Burnoose, which actually has a purpose besides just looking cool. It's that cloak looking thing you may see me wearing in one of my pictures up there. Believe it or not I didn't just buy it to dance around with a lightsaber in...although, it works out that way. It is actually very warm, and is a traditional item of Tunisian clothing, especially in the small towns and villages. Part of our trip will leave us out in the desert camping ( I hope ) in a Beduoin tent, which is cool...literally. The desert may be hot as Hades during the day, but at night it cools off alot ! So, to be totally warm and Tunisian, I know have a blanket that I can wear in public....with a hood. And Brian, happened to point out the striking resemblance to the cloaks the Jedi and Sith wear in the movies and we have begun a theory that the Jedi outfits were fashioned after traditional Tunisian wear, based on George Lucas' admiration for Tunisia. ; )
So Tomorrow evening we will embark on this grandious voyage for the better of 5 days, to return on Tuesday morning ( Monday night ). With the final chapter in the Star Wars Saga debut quickly approaching ( May 19th for those who don't know), I can only suffice it to fate that I get to make my pilgrammage before completing the saga.
Not all is well in life, even now, but being able to take trips like this make life a little more bearable.
Thank you Tunisia, George Lucas, and the Power that be.
I really need this trip.
See you next week some time with the 411 on the South!
1 Comments:
At 12:41 PM, alex said…
It must be a Chicago thing. My cousin, who lives there, just had his first child last month. He named him Lucas after you know who...
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