Tunisia: Thursday, March 4 - Last day in Tunisia

Our last day in Tunisia! We woke up at 5:45am and had breakfast at 6:30am and checked out and headed north to visit the ruins of Carthage. We first stopped at a little Punic children's cemetery that the ancient Romans had wrote about saying that the Carthaginians sacrificed their first born and laid their ashes in this cemetery. But our Professor said that this tale has since been disproven and they now believe it is a cemetery of stillborn children that they sacrificed to the gods, although how you sacrifice something that is stillborn is beyond me.







In this little cave area is apparently were they had the sacrificial stone. Perhaps where they burned the bodies?

After the Punic cemetery we continued on to the ruins of Carthage, which was a Roman Bath complex built right up against the Mediterranean Sea. The weather was very beautiful that day too, so it was nice to walk around in them. The bath ruins are just below the President of Tunisia's Palace and were were forbidden to take pictures in that direction. It was pretty much just a big white wall and you could see palm trees and only a small bit of the Palace. The water was prettier to photograph anyway..













Next we went to the American Cemetery for the fallen soldiers in WWII. I was actually surprised there was an American Cemetery in Tunisia. Our Professor, Maria, had said that The United States rents the land from the Tunisian government. Hopefully they will always be able to pay for that plot of land. The cemetery was fairly large and had the name of each soldier on a white cross marking their grave site. There was a long wall in front of the graveyard with all the names of the fallen who's bodies were never found. In the far corner, at the end of the list of names, there was a beautiful mosaic of Tunisia and surrounding countries. There was also a mass grave for all the unknown solders. I also found a little chapel area with an altar and a few pews.







"Honor to them the trod the path of honor"



"Here are recorded the names of Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country and who sleep in unknown graves. 1941 - 1945. Into thy hands oh Lord"







"Some there be which have no sepulchre their name liveth for evermore" - The mass grave



"1941-1945. In proud remembrance of the achievements of her sons and in humble tribute to their sacrifices, this memorial has been erected by the United States of America."



Also written in French..



And Arabic









The altar says "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish"



I was glad that Maria took us to see the cemetery. It was humbling and always makes me proud of those in my family who have and still serve in the army. Until I studied abroad, I took for granted how completely isolated it can feel being in another country that doesn't always understand you. Especially after being in the desert parts of Tunisia that are known to have very similar terrain to Iraq, you start to really feel the thousands of miles between you and home. I fortunately was on spring break, having the time of my life. But many before me died in most of the places I had been. It was a good reminder who's debt I truly owed for this experience.

It was nice to be back on American soil for a bit, even if it was rented. After the cemetery we headed to our last site, Sidi Bou Said. The village was really beautiful and is known as an artsy town. The streets are small and windy and you have to walk up the hill to get to the heart of it. We first ate lunch, I had another Shawarma with lamb, this time I got frites on top (french fries!!). We walked around a bit, had many people trying to get us to look in there shops. But I just wanted to take pictures and enjoy my last moments in Tunisia without haggling for some little trinket.









A huge rain cloud lingered and made it windy and cool. But thankfully never dropped buckets of water down on us.









Soon it was time to go to the airport. I couldn't believe my trip was over already!



Bisslema Tunisie!



Ciao again Roma!

This was by far one of the BEST parts of my semester abroad! And the night in the desert I will remember forever as one of the best moments of my life! Maria is planning on having a 10 year reunion, starting from the first year she began taking students down for their fall/spring break. She said it will probably happen in about 6 or 7 years. I would definitely LOVE to go!

Hope you guys enjoyed reading about my adventures!
Ciao and Bisslema!