Tunisia

Before Song came to Dubai, I had no clue what Tunisia was. Then, she had a flight there one time and came back with lots of pictures (like the one above) and told me about how amazing it was, and that we should go on vacation there one day.

Well, then I moved into my new apartment, and one of my roommates was from Tunisia. I slowly came to understand a little bit more about the history of Tunisia, and what life there was like through his eyes.

Then, a few weeks ago, a young Tunisian man burned himself in the street to protest against a corrupt government and high unemployment rate, among other things. Ever since then the situation in Tunisia has exploded. Amidst mass rioting, the president promised better living conditions and the creation of 300,000 new jobs. The people saw through that and the situation escalated. Within days, his family escaped to Canada, and he left shortly after in his private jet, with $5 billion (my roommate claimed the money was the Tunisian people's money). France wouldn't take him, but Saudi Arabia ended up letting him land his personal jet. The people in power who are left behind are trying to pick up the pieces, but everyone's well aware that they're just as corrupt as he is. The president had pretty much killed off (literally, at times) any chance of a real opposition party, so it's pretty clear to everyone that those left behind are just as much to blame for how the country's been handled. Thus, the rioting and protests continue. Here's the current story: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/201111715545105403.html

"So what?" you may think. I used to be like that, and still am in some ways. Just not in this situation, because once you can put a name and a face of someone you know to a situation, it really changes your view on things. Honestly, if I wasn't living in this apartment, I wouldn't really care so much. But I can see the harrowed look on my roommate's face as he sees his country destroyed on the internet and TV, and the facebook videos he shows me that his friends have posted: sometimes just burning fires and people shouting, sometimes people talking about forming protection amidst the lack of any police, and sometimes people all bloodied up, in total shock.

I think that's perhaps the best thing about traveling: it makes me more human.