Tai Chi woman in South Tunisia

The first tip I would give is: Never rely totally on guide books. Be self- confident, read some books about the culture but do gather your own experience.

A woman travelling alone is much better off when she does not reveal too much skin. Tunisia is a relatively liberal Muslim country but when you are not prepared, you can be harassed or touched by men. Tai Chi principles were truly helpful in getting around without being too discouraged by sexism and how to counterplay against it.

I have been travelling alone through South Tunisia and very much to my surprise, I experienced no more advances than in any other country. The first time I arrived in Douz from Tunis, where I worked in the hospital for 6 months, I was asking for a taxi. " This is not Europe, this is not the North." was the answer, as though North Tunisia was the same as Europe. Later I have been told that the European culture and civilisation has invaded much of the northern part of Tunisia.

It was not until I arrived here that I realized how large the gap between the northern and southern part was. Time seemed to stand still in medieval 1001 Nights' Douz, only 500 km from touristy western-influenced Sousse. Douz is located in the middle of the Sahara desert, a total contrast to the mundaine North Tunisia. It was just after one week that I realized that the Western culture started to infiltrate into this living fairy tale in the middle of the sand ocean.

The South is more conservative and tries to maintain their Muslim tradition in a lot more fundamentalist manner. I asked questions and they invited me into their home to talk to the women. The younger girls spoke very good French and the youngest, Farida, very proudly showed me her French essay about the differences between mammals and other animals. She wanted to become a doctor later.....

The deeper discussions with the family gave me the insight that apparently my half Asian looks protected me a little bit against harassment. I was simply a sexless creature, a figure from a Kung Fu movie. In Tunisia, women are stereotyped: Europeans are easy sex objects, Asians are martial artists and indeed they told me they were afraid I was going to hit them. My daily Chen Tai chi practice including punches, kicks, straightsword and sabre forms with a retractable sword obviously gave them evidence that an Asian looking woman was exactly like the one in the Kung Fu movies.

Many men treated me like a man and called me"monsieur" or "mister", offered me friendship tea and I was nearly always dressed in tracksuit to emphasize their already prejudiced perception. Little boys and even girls were gathering around me as I was practicing tai chi, especially the weapons forms.

My favourite means of transport is the louage or shared taxi. I have a warm heart towards Tunisia and observed locals first as they prepared to pay. One should never ask the driver for the price, I simply paid what the others paid. A nice "S'bah el chir(hello)" instead of the French "bonjour" would win a lot of sympathy . They still recognized me as a foreigner of course and answered in French. But I think they did appreciate my efforts. Many local women commuted on their own to sell their crop.

I became more courageous and started to drink tea in one of the cafes. They told me that they thought I was a foreigner who worked for one of the companies in the big city. I travelled from Douz to cross Chott el Jerid, the great salt lake. My high hope to see a fata morgana(air image) did not come true. It was too cold on that day. The movie"the English Patient" was shot in this area and since then it became more touristy.. I went there by public bus instead of the tourist train and gained some more insight about life and people in the area.

You will see people in their traditional Nomad attire accompanied by their camels. next to young girls in blue jeans talking on their mobile phone, listening to music and smoking in the streets. The German travel agencies told me that I should be aware of people travelling with animals in public transportation. Bogus!!!! They only want to suck the money out of the tourist' pockets.

A policeman told me that it was a law not to take animals in public transportation and it was strictly adhered to. The public buses are totally safe because they are government-owned but share taxis can be dangerous because they are private and dependent on the amount of rides they make. In this country it helps a lot if you speak French because this is the second official language in Tunisia.

Tai Chi chuan, especially the martial Chen style forms, made me more self-confident and gained me some respect of the local men. I would recommend every woman who would like to travel alone to prepare well, prepare her emotions when they are touched by men and do a little Tai chi form martially. Try to find out more about martial applications and pretend that you can do them very well.

Every form including Tai Chi for Arthritis should be practiced with the attitude of a predator. It will make you more self-assertive. Put a wedding ring on in Muslim and Southern European countries. Look for forums to share your feelings so you will never feel alone and experience too much of a culture shock. The teachings I received in Tai Chi has guided me and provided me with both the right martial and mental attitude.