Tunisia/Libya Trip Page 2 (back to page 1)
email Cristy Trembly

All of the sites have both Greek and Roman columns as they’ve evolved and changed over the years, (Greek columns have ridges, Romans are smooth) and the color of the stones are different. The theatre is in town, with holes in the floor to make echo so you could hear the actors all the way to the top. I sang there and it really worked! Amazing! The amphitheatres, though, were outside of town, because they had gladiators and killing and they felt it was uncivilized to have those noises and smells inside the towns!

We stayed overnight in El Bayda, at a private hotel which is new and very nice. There are private stores and hotels now, and the government has provided for equal work opportunity for men and women, the right to home ownership, subsidies for basic food products, so there can be a large middle class and people can live comfortably. Of course there are wealthy people, but I didn’t see desperately poor people. One reason, I am sure, is because extended families are the norm and relatives take care of one another.

Of course there are plenty of posters and pictures of Qaddafi around, but not as many as you’d expect. In Syria, for example, there are pictures of Assad in every store, every taxi, every building, every street corner, everywhere, but it’s not like that in Libya. One unique challenge in Libya, though, is that there are no signs allowed in any language other than Arabic, so reading the road signs, street signs, etc, are not easy. I really tried hard to practice my Arabic but my reading is still too slow driving down the highway. There used to be a lot of problems in Libya, but in the past 5 years Qaddafi is trying to do good things for the county, like lowering taxes and food prices, going to businesses and encouraging them to cut the red tape and paperwork, allowing private business, and using his own money for buildings and improvements. He is still the absolute leader, but at least he is trying. He has also forbidden Libyan men born between 1966-1976 to leave the country without special permission because he doesn’t want Libyans going to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban. Otherwise, people are free to travel and lots of people I met had been to Italy or Greece, some to the States or Canada.

I also visited Cyrene and Appolonia, 2 huge ancient cities, Cyrene being about 2000 ft. elevation, so quite chilly, and the port which was Appolonia. Like Alexandria in Egypt, much of Appolonia is under water today. It is amazing that Cyrene went through Greek, Roman and Byzantine times, with Punic, Greek, and Latin inscriptions. It’s incredible to see the inscriptions of Justinian, Hadrian, mosaics of Greek gods and goddesses, and nearby later excavations from Christian times. They had public baths, and an ingenious system of toilets, perfectly formed, in lines of 50, with 2 sets of water pipes, one for the waste, and one of fresh water to wash with. The men and women had separate facilities, but this was Emperor Commodius’ contribution to the world (this must be where the word commode comes from!)

Over 5000 people lived in Cyrene, it had temples and living areas and was a thriving city, and Appolonia is a beautiful town by the sea. I ate food here, at the amphitheatre, looking over the sea and the columns, in the sunshine, it was just fantastic.

I had the chance to visit several families, typical Libyan homes, which have separate guest areas, when people are invited for dinner or special occasions, then in another section for the family. I was really lucky, as a woman I could talk to the women more easily, and be in both the family sections and the guest section. I had great food every night, I met several people who had studied in the States or their parents had studied in the States, and kids learn English in school. Some people have very large families, I met one guy whose mother is 46 years old, and she’s had 12 children!! I feel quite far behind!

I also heard stories of people who stayed in the States to finish their education, and those who returned after 1986 were not welcome back in Libya. Some families were split because nobody could come in and nobody could go out, some people who returned were put in prison, and some stayed permanently in the States.

I visited Benghazi, we drove all around the city, the old cathedral, the Italian architecture, an old Italian lighthouse and an old Turkish prison that is being renovated into a museum. The highlight is the Umm al Mukhtar Monument, which is a landmark in town though the mausoleum itself is no longer there. Qadaffi moved it several years ago after deciding that this liberator of Libya, a very popular figure, was a little too popular, and it’s not good to be more popular than the President! It was also sobering to see the remains of buildings we had bombed in 1986, and it makes you remember that civilians live in the buildings next door.

I found a lot of similarities between Libya and Baja California, Mexico–the climate, the land, the roads, the color of the sea, the driving (scary traffic circles and indiscriminate lane changing), they love local soap operas (telenovelas in Mexico), you need special insurance to drive in Libya from Tunisia (like you do when driving to Mexico from the States), the plumbing and septic facilities, how you pay the bills with cash and never through the mail, flan, the subsidized food for staple items, many things reminded me of Baja.

We then flew back to Tripoli, and I stayed in the Grand Hotel, which is nice, but not like the Tibesti in Benghazi. Here I met my only other tourists, a group from the UK who had done basically the same tour I did. One thing we noticed is that stores weren’t open very much (probably because of Ramadan) and there were very few tourist-type things to buy (probably because there are so few tourists!) Tripoli is a very cosmopolitan city, with beautiful buildings in the Old City and beautiful mosques with ornate calligraphy and designs. A highlight was the old Castle, which now houses the Jamahiriya Museum. This is the official name, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, it says it on the license plates, the stamps, everything. It is a fantastic museum, of the history of the country, exhibits of the desert, the archeological sites, and for me, the best part, the Volkswagen Bug that Qaddafi drove in the Revolution in 1969. I was sorry not to see more exhibits about him, and was surprised, but they were renovating this section. I mean, you don’t have to agree with the politics to be interested in the history... There are beautiful modern towers in the new city, a lot of business activity and more hotels being built all the time. It is amazing, the drivers remind me a bit of India--if there is no center divider on the highway, people will drive the wrong way to make a left turn lane!

We also drove about 2 hours to Leptis Magna, another old city, founded by Emperor Septimus Severius who was from Libya, so he was truly a favorite son! There were 3 kinds of marble used here, but while some columns were to be shipped to Versailles, they were too heavy for the ship so are still lying on the ground. On the west coast you have Punic (Phoenician) sites, but on the east coast you have Greek. It is hard to remember that it’s only 100 miles from Appolonia to Crete, and only 100 miles from Tripoli to Malta. There are bells from 300 AD to call the dead to return, there are old crosses from the cemetery of the Basilica, and there are oil jars and ink jars from the Islamic period.

I also visited Sabratha on my way back to Djerba, the fifth ancient city, which is also a beautiful historic site, known for its mosaics and Roman baths, a tower and a mausoleum. You can really get a picture of life at that time by walking around these old cities. For example, the word basilica was a judicial court in Roman times, but in Byzantine times, they turned these buildings into churches, which is why a basilica is a type of Catholic church now.

We stopped both ways in Zuara, to visit my friend Isam who had arranged the trip for me, where his mother and sister-in-law gave me food and made me feel like family.

We got back to the airport for my flight from Djerba to Tunis, then on back to the States, and it was a pretty easy border crossing back into Tunisia. The Tunisian border guys were fairly amused with me, they said I was brave, and I smiled sweetly in French with them and they said “Bon Voyage et Bonne Chance!” I had a cancelled flight on my return, so I rerouted through Milan, Frankfurt and Chicago, begging to get on each flight (not easy the Monday after Thanksgiving!) But I got back safely and had a great time.

If I can educate people to the fact that Libya is a modern country, that they have families and work and do the same things we do, it would make a better world. It’s also important for them to remember that we are people just like them, which holds true for every country...