Tense in Tunisia

I frequently get mistaken for a journalist. I like to ask random questions, especially of strangers. People you know, or who think they know you, sometimes feel the need to say certain things, or cover their answers with messages they think you want to hear. Strangers don’t tend to do this as much. plus, a lot of my job involves talking to strangers and trying to learn as much about their concerns and challenges in a short space of time, so I suppose at this stage it is ingrained in my subconscious to interrogate people. Random Tunisians are happy to talk. They are generally a chatty bunch it seems, but the current situation must be adding to their willingness to give a stranger their views.

Tunis is a bit tense at the moment. The country will have its first post-revolutionary elections on the 23^rd, which combined with the situation in neighbouring Libya has created a rather conspiratorial atmosphere. My hotel is filled with wealthy Libyans who have decamped from their country to Tunis to sit out the crisis. The hotel lobby has been turned into a designer refugee camp, as everyone sits around in Chanel and Dolce and Gabbana, drinking tea and watching little children (also in designer clothing) running around.

Everyone has a view on the situation, and it seems cab drivers have especially strong views. Over the past few days I gathered that:

1. Everyone likes Libyans (“our cousins”) and thinks Gaddafi was sick, but no one agrees where he is. Several said Venezuela, others Niger, others said he will never leave and will need to be dragged out, Saddam Hussein style.

2. There is not much love for Algerians and Moroccans are naïve/ stupid/ fundamentalists (who would have thought?)

3. Ben Ali was a good leader, the problem was his wife and her family, they were robbing the country

4. It will take 10 years for real change to be felt in Tunisia. Up till now, the changes in daily life have been almost non existent- with the exception of the freeing of the media.

5. some assured me the votes are rigged (by the americans, or by Sarkozy) to get a result 40% for Ben Ali's old party, 20% for the main islamic parties and so on. other assured me the results are totally up in the air.

As one of the guards escorting me about said at one moment "i have a hard job now. i dont know what is happening or what will happen, and i just want to sleeping peacefully at night." he didnt look angry, or even upset, he just looked fatigued.