Night in Tunisia

Café des Chômeurs

Maybe I'm wrong, I've only been working at Enda for five days, but it seems to me that when the Directors are busy (and by that I mean busy elsewhere) the staff sort of takes their time with work. Now I'm not saying that this is bad or good or even all that different from many work environments in Canada. But it is ironic.

Many times so far I've heard people referring to the men who sit in the cafés all day because they can't find work. They call them les chomeurs, the unemployed. There's a touch of condescention I think, a bit of looking down upon others. I'd seen them from the window of the car as we drive to work in the morning, but I'd never been around them directly. It is not appropriate in the poorer districts for women to enter the cafés; this is where the men stay while the women meet at home or go to work cleaning apartments and houses in the wealthier districts. I learned today, though that not appropriate is not the same thing as not allowed.

After lunch while waiting for a meeting to begin a couple of co-workers invited Wifak and me for a tea at one of the local cafés. Wifak raised her eyebrows and shook her head, asking them if they were serious. They were. Women are not restricted from the cafés, they said. So we agreed. It was not the first time Wifak had been in a Cafe de chomeurs, and she looked comfortable enough. I was a little uncomfortable. Besides being very white compared to most people here, I have this very obvious non-arab french pronounciation. Within a few minutes we had drawn everyone's attention.

Most of the men were a lot younger than I imagined. It's not that I thought only older men were unemployed, but rather I though the younger ones would find something more interesting to do than hang around in a cafe all day. They were all lean, with no extra weight on them; perhaps it is a sign of the frugal lifestyles they must live. The tea was brown and sweet and the air was smokey. It struck me as funny that these men didn't act all that differently from my coworkers when the boss is out. The only differences, really, were the snacks and cigarets. I almost think the chomeurs have more to brag about... Today anyway.

posted by tiaraletourneau @ 3:10 p.m.