Life

Accommodation
	In 2003 the trainees who arrived first stayed in apartments in a house in La Goulette. Those arriving later got places in two residences north of the centre. Since I don't know these residences, the rest is only valid for La Goulette (and 2003 of course, that's not a prediction for next year!). In La Goulette you share a flat with 5 other trainees, always two sharing one room. There's a kitchen (cooker and basic equipment included) and one bathroom. Sheets are there, too. The TGM station is close, the beach also, there are shops and publitels around, and a laundry, if you don't want to wash by hand. Cafés and restaurants are lined up one behind the other, and in summer lots of Tunisians come especially for the fish-restaurants. Anyway our favourite food was sandwich, from a small busy shop around the corner. The main disadvantages were noise from the street and the cafés, and sometimes we dreamed of airconditioning. Consider mosquito scaring devices. The "Globol" brand you can buy in pharmacies uses liquid, works and seems to have no adverse effect on your health.
IAESTE
	The guys of IAESTE Tunisia spend a lot of time trying to make everybody feel well. They welcome you at your arrival and show you the flat and how to live there. They organize your first arrival at work and excursions on weekends. Or just go to the beach or to a café in the evening. If you read this: Thanks a lot for everything, it was great!
Trainees
	Most IAESTE-trainees are from Europe, but there are some exceptions. This year we had also people from the US and from Syria, but Germans and Poles made up the biggest part of the group.
Transport
	In the city you have mainly busses, metro and taxis. Taxis are easy to find and they're cheaper than in Europe, but more expensive than other transports. Metro and TGM are tram cars. There are 4 metro-lines in the city, and TGM connects the centre with La Goulette, Carthago, Sidi Bou Said and La Marsa. At least the TGM has a timetable, for metro and busses I doubt they have. Instead it seems they only leave when it's sure they'll be overcrowded. At least they won't leave before the driver has finished his coffee. For overland-transport see the trips-section.
Climate
	Between hot and dry and very hot and dry.
Shopping
	There are a lot of small grocery stores around, that are open all day and all days. Super-markets are a bit cheaper and very rare (in Tunis center you find Monoprix and Magasin general). Souvenirs are best bought in Socopa in the "Le Palmarium" shopping mall on Av. Habib Bourgiba (good quality, fix prices) or in the medina (varying quality, prices to be bargained). Some prices, so that you know when you are ripped of: Sandwich Thon: 1 TND Water: Sabrine 450 Millimes, Marwa 350 Millimes, a little more if cold. Bongos ("derbouka"): 7 TND Chichas: Starting at 20 TND for normal size (about half a meter) Scarfs: 4 TND for simple Polyester one, 7 TND for those with layers.
Money
	Currency is the Tunisian Dinar (TD), one equals about 0,7 Euros. You can exchange money in the airport or at banks (in summer only open till 11:30), but most ATMs work with credit cards as well as with ec-cards (maestro), so you don't really need to present yourself inside. Cash traveler cheques in a branch of the bank UIB (one can be found on Av. Habib Bourgiba), they only want to see your passport, most other banks insist on being shown the purchase receipt or other things. Your salary can be enough to pay rent, transport to work and basic food, but anything else like telephone, going out, trips or souvenirs will need extra-money.
Telephone
	Most young Tunisians can't live without their mobilephone. If you bring your own with you, international roaming is quite expensive, but a Tunisian phone card is, too. It's about 90 TD for an own prepaid connection, including 20 TD (?) credit. The alternative are Taxiphone or Publitel, small shops with coin-phones. There are a lot of them around. Europe is around 650 mills per minute.
Beach
	Tunisians love to go to the beach. La Goulette is the first beach from Tunis centre, so on a good day the beach is very crowded. After a good day it's littered and the water dirty, so it's better to go to La Marsa or Gammarth. It gets even better and less crowded on the (rocky) north coast, in the north of Cap Bon (El Haouaria), and in the south around Mahdia. Especially in the crowded city-beaches you shouldn't let anything lie around unattendedly, and even your presence doesn't avoid theft, so better leave all valuables at home. Girls should wear swimming suits, boys shorts, other dresses are uncommon.
Music
	All three months the president presents a new CD with the songs, that now have to be played in all cafes, discotheques, shops, taxis and louages. It contains a mixture of dance-music (Dr. Alban, DJ Bobo, ...), Arabian pop and traditional Arabian music, and it's impossible to evade these songs. If you like it, you can buy almost original CDs and cassettes for 1,5 TD anywhere in Tunisia.
Language
	Tunisians' mother tongue is Tunisian Arabic, while French is the language of education. Sudents learn English and one or more other foreign languages. Anyway the level of speaking foreign languages is often not so advanced, so it's best to have some basic knowledge of French. At least with the merchants you won't have language-problems: they seem to speak any existing language.
Food
	Food is good and cheap (baguette 200 mills, a meal in a non-touristic restaurant 3 TD). For religious reasons they don't have pork. Instead you find a huge variety of meat, making life difficult for vegetarians, as even salad often contains Tunfish (?). Food is a bit spicy for Westerners, due to the heavy use of Harissa. The different food also can cause you problems with the stomach, but that won't last long.
Clothes
	Tunisians normally wear long trousers and (t-) shirts, young people also wear shorts (to the knees). Shoulders should usually be covered, especially for girls. One pullover is a good idea, if you want to sleep a night at the beach or in the woods, a thin longsleeve is fine to protect you against the sun when your skin is already red.