< ![CDATA[  Friday was an exciting day. The kids were delighted to learn that school would be postponed until the afternoon, in favor of a morning trip to the Hammam-Sousse souq (market.) We visited the Sousse souq last Sunday and were completely dazed and confused by the mass of humanity flowing between countless stalls selling all manner of things we didn’t recognize... we later learned that the piles of chalky looking rocks were “Tunisian shampoo.” The boys think it is rather fabulous to be in a country where one can bathe with rocks and be considered clean. After last week’s grand adventure, everyone was keen to try out our smaller town souq and see what sort of treasures were to be found. Our new friend Peter had assured me that this souq was much more manageable than the massive overflow of humanity that we waded through last week. “Can I get a henna tattoo if we see them this time Mom?” asked Hannah.... “We’ll see... mainly we need to get the fruits and veggies for the week. If we get out with the food it will be a success; anything else will be a bonus!” “Yeah, we’re going for the veggies, that’s why the call it the “soup” right Mom?” chimed in Ezra. The trip to the soup was fruitful in all of the expected ways. We even managed to get second hand sweaters for everyone. “This must be where all of the Goodwill cast offs get sent,” observed Tony. He might be right. Men stood on top of makeshift plywood tables and shouted in a most disturbing way, presumably hawking their wares, although they may have been saying, “Hey all you Arabs! Look at these crazy Americans! It’s obvious they don’t know what they’re doing!! Quick, mark up your prices!” It’s hard to tell. As we shuffled through the crowd at a snails pace I whispered a silent prayer of thanks for Tony’s height... he’s a lighthouse for the children in the sea of red hatted men and veiled women. Ezra, sandwiched at stinky armpit level, looked up at his dad and said, “Hey Dad, I know what to say if you want them to move, just say “sac? sac?” like that guy...” and he pointed at the young man aggressively selling shopping sacks to passersby. Sure enough, people avoided him like the plague. The henna tattoo was not to be had, but was nearly made up for by the great luck of finding four (and only four) English children’s books at the last stall by the road. One was even a Thomas the Train book, just for Ezra. You’d think these literature deprived children had struck gold. Today has been conspicuously quiet, except for the slurping sounds of them licking the last honeyed words from their finger tips. As if the day could not get any better, Elisha lost a tooth. He’s been working on it for weeks. I was afraid he was going to pull it out on the ferry (remember, the one where everyone was throwing up?) He hauled the last one out of his head on the train ride over the Alps. He presented this one proudly just before lunch: “Do I get a dinar, Mom?” “I don’t know, go ask your Dad!” That one always buys me some time. The tooth fairy routine has been some what of a conundrum this trip. Elisha has used the varying exchange rates to extort a rather tidy sum from his father. It has long been our policy to give the Toothless-One the largest coin in our wallets. In the States, this has only once been larger than a quarter (Hannah at six, scored a Susan B. Anthony dollar). However, since arriving here, Elisha has managed a Euro, which is worth approximately $1.80 USD, 20 Kr. which is about $1.25 (I think) and for his trouble on the Alps train he lucked into a 2 Eu coin... around $3.60 USD. Yesterday, we happily granted his request for a “whole dinar,” worth about .80 USD. We’re hoping that if he loses any more teeth, he does it here. For now, he looks like Bugs Bunny and is chewing all crunchy food with his molars and is eagerly awaiting our next trip to the “soup” so he can spend his booty.]]>