Night in Tunisia is a favourite jazz track of mine from Bird (Charlie Parker) and conjurs memories of a night i remember in Jerba, Tunisia. I was holidaying in Tunisia with my wife, son who was 6, wife's friend and her partner who is Tunisian and her son.
We had just arrived on the island of Jerba on a car ferry and finally decided on a hotel to stay in, a beautiful hotel on the beach with many pools and populated with many chic European (Italian, French and German) tourists.
I realized i had run out of condoms that afternoon and had to go to a local supermarket down the road from the hotel and ask for help in buying them. It was a funny conversation with the person behind the counter. At first when i asked "If they sold condoms", I just got a blank face. I then asked for a prophelactic or French letter and i think one of those made the person twig as to what i was asking and they told me what the word they used for it is. He went behind the room and was saying to one of his friends, condom, condom, that's what they call it and they were both laughing about our English word for it. He then proceeded to a locked cabinet containing only 2 brands of condoms to choose from. I was thinking it very funny and odd that they considered condoms a high price item that needed to be locked away.
Later this day we all decided to go out to dinner in the restaurant as they were going to have a belly dancing show and we all thought we needed a bit of culture. An attractive Tunisian women came out and was belly dancing around the tables and trying to get some of the tables involved a bit and moved to our table and managed to entice get me to get up and have a bit of a wiggle with me. Shen then managed to get my shirt off and blindfold and lead me up to the front of the restaurant. I was now wondering what was going to happen next and felt the touch of lips on my lips and without thought didn't pull back, not knowing for sure who it was I was kissing, just that it felt good. There were many laughs and gaffaws around the restaurant. The belly dancer then took off the blindfold and my wife was up the front with me, in front of me and smiling at me, at which point i felt a little let down. No, not really only joking, I kind of suspected that this was what was happening. I then headed back to our table with my wife and our friends at the table couldn't believe that i kissed back and thought it said something about my faithfulness, something along those lines. We all had the biggest laughs about it. Hell, either way i thought, it was a win/win for me.. I had my condoms, i was ready to go.
