The Magic of Tunisia

Not many college students in the States can say that  they spent their spring break in Tunisia, Africa. I spent the past 10 days on a life changing experience that I will never forget. When signing up for this trip I didn’t really even know what to expect, I just thought to myself that this is an experience I could probably never imitate again for the rest of my life. So why not go for it?

During these 10 days away from Rome I learned so much about a completely different culture and in return learned a lot about myself. Our many adventures were fun and educational. Even in a country that had just over a year ago undergone a national revolution, we didn’t feel threatened once on the entire trip. One of the many highlights of the trip for me was the day we spent getting to know Tunisian students our age studying in Tunis. They told us about what they had to go through during the revolution. I cannot get over how much courage the youth of Tunisia have to fight for what they believe in. They value their education so much, most of them speak three languages and are just overall more focused on their studies compared to American students. I learned though this experience that knowledge is power, and education means so much more than we realize. This is not something we should take for granted for one minute.

We also participated in some rather rugged activities including visiting Star Wars sights, riding camels, dune diving, hiking through ancient sights, and last but not least our night camping out in the Sahara. Unfortunately, the weather was not exactly what we expected for the desert and it didn’t get above 60 the whole trip long. Another downfall occurred when half of the group got terrible food poisoning the day we were to be camping, and some were continually sick the rest of the trip.

Although as a reward for the sickness and non stop action, our last two days we were finally able to relax a bit and have some time to ourselves. All of our hotels were very nice but our last resort was extremely comfortable, with good food, nightly entertainment and a spa we were all set. Unfortunately, it was far too cold for the beach and pool but most everyone spent the whole day Saturday relaxing at the spa.

This trip has reassured my love for travel, especially to places I would have never expected to visit. Because in those trips is where you will learn the most. Coming back to Rome I now have a slightly different perspective of what life could be like in a completely different country. Although I missed all things American more than I ever have before, I will now appreciate everything so much more when returning home. We are so incredibly lucky and many of us don’t even acknowledge the smallest things from toilet paper to big things like democracy. I strongly recommend this trip to every Loyola student whether it be while at JFRC or during the summer trip. It is an experience very unique to Loyola, and upon graduation in two years I will think back upon this experience having shaped who I am and who I want to be.

So shukran Tunisia!

Ciao