This week's news.

On February 20, 60 Minutes did an excellent piece on the Tunisian revolution. It's called The Spark and taking the 13 minutes to watch it will give you a good deal of information on how and why the revolution happened.

Last Sunday, February 20, this news broadcast was made of a horde in one of the President's homes in Sidi Bou Said, less than ten minutes from where I live. The actual piece was about twice this long, but I didn't think I'd burden you with the full nine minutes of film with Arabic narration. It shocked Tunisians. The safes were hidden behind walls of fake books, some of them Korans. There were several floor to ceiling safes filled with tight bundles of Euros, Swiss francs, USD, TDN, Another floor to ceiling concealed safe held boxes and boxes of gems and jewelery, There was a case of false documents, and another of various alcohols.

This is only the tip of the iceberg - probably get-away money that they didn't have time to get to. But it's nothing compared to what they syphoned out of the country every year at the expense of their own people. If you feel like watching the whole thing here it is.

How are things, you ask?

I don't think I know. My sense of Tunisia's stability depends entirely on whom I talk to. Every weekend, there is something bad going on in the south, and last Wednesday, there was an "interesting" event at our local mall. The employees struck because the mall reduced their hours from 8 to 6 and reduced the value of their meal tickets as well. The mall food court is too expensive for its employees, and they don't get enough time to go home, so it represented a real hardship. Well, in the middle of the walkout, "bad elements integrated themselves" into the crowd and tried to get back into the mall to loot. (Many people are of the opinion that these "bad elements" that keep popping up are part of Leila Trabelsi's militia, whom she continues to pay from her hideout in Libya. Who knows?) Anyway, there is a tank and armed soldiers in the mall parking lot, a new fixture, so these ne'er-do-wells did not go unnoticed. Shots were fired into the air to change their minds.

You see, I wouldn't have liked that if I had been there. I don't like hearing live ammunition while I park my car to do the groceries. The good news is that the mall employees got their hours and meal tickets restored. The bad news is that all the malls and large intersections and beaches and and and have tanks on them with armed soldiers. I am not getting used to that, and have trouble - unlike the Tunisians - associating their presence with security. Plus, they take up about 8 parking spots. ;-)

The downfall of Mubarek in Egypt helps a lot. There's no going back now. Eyes are trained on Algeria now. Tunisians are justifiably proud of what they started in this tiny country. What the US military couldn't accomplish in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan in two huge wars and hundreds of millions of dollars, the youth of Tunisia brought about in a week. Amazing times.

Just got home from my first day back at school. We are the first to re-open in Tunis, but are on a limited day (9-2) until the US Embassy tells us otherwise. I kind of like it. No school buses yet, so only those students whose parents can drive them can attend. Parents were made welcome to stay all day if they wanted to, and I had several in the library - a good chance to talk about books and reading. Apparently, we had 60% in attendance.

Took Paige to the airport at noon for her 2pm flight. No problems. She'll miss her connection from Paris because her original 9 am flight was cancelled, but they'll put her up somewhere for the night and she also knows several people there if she's stuck. She won't get into Victoria til 7:30 pm Friday, poor thing.

I took a different way home today, and saw three burned out vehicles at the side of the road. The Ben Alis and Trebelsis owned every car dealership and auto plant in the country, so new cars became targets of the revolution. People broke in to dealerships, took a car, drove it til the gas ran out, and then stripped it for parts before setting fire to whatever was left. Why not just steal the car, you ask? May I remind you that with all possible documentation, it took four and a half months for me to be able to drive my car here. There is no way a Tunisian could drive a car without plates, or get plates for a stolen car. Best to take those shiny wheels and rims and put them on your Fiesta.

Anyway, all is calm. Last night was the second in a row without low-flying helicopters or gunshots - or so say the people who were here to experience it. I'm guessing that Monday will be school as usual with a full schedule, but maybe without extra-curricular activities. I am very impressed with the service provided by the American Embassy, and disappointed at the Canadian equivalent. For example, the US had a town hall meeting on Tuesday so that everyone could voice concerns and listen to experts. The US just announced that ATMs were eating off-shore cards in an attempt to foil the Ben Ali/Trabelsis from taking out their money, and advised expats to go into the bank to make transactions. I would have lost my card today if I hadn't been part of the American School. The Canadian Embassador's children go to our school, for heaven's sake!

Not as bad as the French, however, and I do love the downward comparison model. Six mothers and their children were isolated by a sniper inside the French School here. The army came to the rescue, but since the school is officially on French territory, they could not move in without the OK of the French Ambassador. That approval did not come in until 10 am the following day. The youngest child was 2. Can you imagine keeping those children low, away from windows and quiet for 15 hours?! Not I.

This is not Dubai!

The contrast between ultra-modern Dubai and developing Tunisia was quite apparent on my way to work this morning.

Sheep are still grazing on the sidewalks...

...taking the right of way on the roads

...and ignoring barricades.

Barricades? Wait a moment. Lots changed in the five days I was away, as well you know. Here are some now common sights.

1. Tanks are everywhere.

2.  Most residential streets are barricaded. At night, a member of a loose neighbourhood watch checks every car that goes in.

My neighbourhood added three more men to their security patrols and has a roster of people who each take a night per week to be extra vigilant.

Paige and the Tank

While I cooked our last dinner, Rym, the neighbour across the street took Paige out to have her picture taken on the tank outside our fanciest shopping mall. No other tanks were allowing photo ops. Note the roses from a grateful people.

Souvenir of Tunisia

Most of the tanks we saw had some sort of floral tribute on them.

Roses or not, these things are scary

Monoprix of Carthage

This used to be my favourite grocery store. It carried this great fresh strawberry juice, had a reasonable deli counter, good parking and was just the right size. Unfortunately, it belonged to the Trabelsis and was looted and burned. As you can see, it will be quite some time before anyone shops here.

Home at last!

Went to bed at 11 and had to get up at 1:15 in order to be at the airport the requisite two hours ahead. Checked the website just before I left to make sure there were no surprises. The Tunisair computers were down, so we all stood in line for about an hour. When I got to the counter, the rep told me the flight would be delayed six hours. Rats! I could have had a normal night's sleep!

Anyway, all's well that ends. Home in one piece hugging my girl who is the greatest trooper in the world!