Mary McCullough | Eric Fournier
I spent the 2007-08 year on sabbatical as a Fulbright Scholar in Tunisia. I taught classes in English literature at the University of Tunis-El Manar and conducted several research projects. I returned to Birmingham at the end of June. At the end of the school year, one of my students invited me and other students into her home.
Her mother cooked a delicious meal of couscous, fish, mechouia (grilled pepper, onion and tomato salad with tuna and olive oil), brik (fried pastry dough with savory fillings), and other dishes that didn’t fit in the picture!
Downtown Tunis (the capital). Behind me is the Bab el Bahr (called “gate to the sea” because it used to open on to a lagoon. It was called “bab de France” during the French protectorate, 1881-1956).
This is the entrance to the medina (old city), and my favorite café, Sucré-Salé, where scrumptious sweet and savory dishes are served.
When I was in Tunisia (August 10-16) as a delegate to the Congress of the International Geographical Union, I visited the Antonine Baths. The baths are in ancient city of Carthage, not far from the Tunisian capital of Tunis. Carthage was the site of a city that ruled much of the Mediterranean world. The city fell to the Romans in the 3rd Punic war and it became part of the Roman Empire. The Antonine Baths were built around 150 AD and are the largest such ruins outside of Rome. One of the fascinating things about Tunisia is experiencing the layers of history from Carthaginian to Roman, then early Christian to Arab, and finally French colonial to the modern nation.
