10 Things I Wish I Know how to Explain to Tunisians7 min read

Dear readers,

I hope y’all are staying home, washing them hands, baking, coloring, binge watching movies, arguing with your significant other or family members or doing anything humanly possible other than going out and not respecting the social distancing rules. I started taking writing more seriously and started planning to share one or two blog posts with you weekly.

Articles written by me:

• 10 Things to Know If Invited for a Tunisian Iftar
• 9 Things to Know about Ramadan in Tunisia
• 10 Tunisian Road-Trip Snacks
• Tunisian Shall Stop Doing These 5 Things
• Ten Things I learned from Living Alone in Tunis
• For the Love of Tuna?
• Brunching But NOT the Tunisian way?

Again, topics will vary depending on my mood and things happening around me in Tunisia and the entire world. This week’s post is about few things that I have always struggled to explain to Tunisians. Some of those things are stated in the list below:

#1. Peanut butter

No matter how hard I try to explain the awesomeness and pure deliciousness of peanut butter (PB)to Tunisians who never tired it before I fail big time. I usually get “who cares about PB, we love Nutella“. Things have changed the past couple of years as Tunisia started producing and selling some peanut butter jars. I still think the super unhealthy JIF brand is the bomb.

#2. Sour Cream

This is something I miss and wish I know how to describe it to Tunisians. It is also super random because cheese and dairy products are part of the Tunisian cuisine.

#3. Registering Wedding Gifts

This concept blew my mind when a friend in Texas told me about it. I tried to explained this to a friend who was about to get married and the look on his face was priceless. He did not believe that registering the things you want to buy and have people help get you some of them as gifts was okay!

He kept on saying it is such an embarrassing thing in the Tunisian culture and the conversation ended with him telling me chances are zero to none for me to marry a Tunisian guy and live a happily ever after life!

#4. Big One Week weddings

I always find it insanely irritating to see people waste so much money while they can use that money to travel or avoid having to be in debt for some time after the marriage.

I must give a shout out to my buddy Ahmed and his amazing wife Eftikar for being the first Tunisians I spoke with and they said they had zero debt wedding because they only did what they wanted to do! They did not give in to family pressure and I’m so proud to see them happily married with two cute boys!

#5. Being on time

One of my worse pet peeves is not being on time. I go to meetings always 5-15 minutes earlier. I make sure I text, call or email in case I’m going to be late. If you don’t already know, Tunisians are not known for being punctual. Respecting time and appointments are not very common in Tunisia.

#6. Asking About how Much Money Someone Makes

That is a very rude questions universally, but Tunisians do not agree. They have don’t shy away from asking such a personal question.  My strategy is to play it innocent and look confused. If they push I would simply say “I’m sorry that’s a personal question ” and leave it there.

#7. The Why are you Still Single Question

Why are you still single is one of those questions that people, and mostly married friends and relatives will never stop asking you. To be honest my answers depend on my mood so sometimes I can be nice and sometimes I’m rude. I will write a longer blog about this point but what you need to know that there is nothing wrong with you and Tunisians like to ask this question.

#8. Solo Time & Travel

The importance of having some time alone and traveling solo is seriously underrated. Some Tunisians do not seem to think that traveling alone is a good thing. It doesn’t matter whether you are a woman or men. It is the concept of going to places alone that doesn’t seem to make sense for Tunisians. I always like to point that getting to know oneself is essential and I always end up meeting amazing people during my solo trip so there is nothing wrong with that.

#9. Tunisian Wine & Beer

I don’t like Tunisians beer or any beer for that matter. All beers smell nasty and they remind me of the smell of mud. So, some people act really surprised when I say that it is gross and I’m not missing anything by not drinking.

#10. Mall

The concept of the survival of the fittest in big malls in Tunisia especially in Carrefour on a Saturday night and Sunday morning makes no sense. After making the mistake of going there to get some groceries on a Saturday evening I promised myself to never go there in the weekend.

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