Report by UAB student Samuel E. Gentle, Study-In-Tunisia Scholarship 2007 awardee.

I am grateful to everyone who helped make the Study-in-Tunisia Scholarship possible. The experience I had this summer will be one that I cherish for the rest of my life.

The five-week trip began with a one week stay with a host family in Tunis. It was there that I was introduced to the Tunisian culture and way of life during the busy summer season. The season filled with weddings, haflas, late nights, and dinner parties. I was able to get the ‘true experience’ of Tunisian summertime throughout this week. I enjoyed it immensely.

Weeks two and three were spent with eight other American students in Tunisia for the "Learn & Serve" Program administered by AMIDEAST, a non-profit agency that teaches English and helps students study in the U.S. (AMIDEAST has been in Tunis for over thirty years). We spent these two weeks seeing the sights of this small, but beautiful country and studying colloquial Tunisian Arabic at AMIDEAST. Having studied Modern Standard Arabic for one year before going to Tunisia, the Tunisian dialect took some getting used to. During our travels, we discovered Tabarka, Bizerte, Djerba, El Jem, and the remote, southern oasis of Ksar Ghilane. It was fascinating to see the different faces of Tunisia from roman ruins, to the pristine waters of the Mediterranean.

AMIDEAST had been asked by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education to provide ten American university students to serve as conversational tutors/native speakers at the English Language Village in Nabeul. The language village occurred during my fourth and fifth week in Tunisia. After our sight-seeing and language study, we traveled to the beautiful seaside town of Nabeul for the second annual English Language Village. Our days there were filled with one-on-one and group interaction with the Tunisian university students, and group excursions to Hammamet, Houaria & Kalibia. In the mornings, each pair of American students would participate in each discussion group of twenty Tunisians with a local university professor as a moderator. The topics were quite diverse and ranged from lighter topics like Jokes and Proverbs & Values to more heated issues such as Stereotypes & Prejudice, AIDS, and Gender Roles. Despite some occasional awkwardness, the Tunisians were very hospitable to us, and I felt quite welcome in their country.

The five weeks I spent in this amazing place will not be forgotten soon and this trip provided a wonderful first study abroad experience. I feel that Tunisia is a great “first destination” for someone interested in studying the Arab world or the Maghreb.