JaunsCorner.com Blog

OK, here is the summary of our second day, which is over in about 25 minutes at the time of me writing this.

It started with a great breakfast buffet, which we were served in a special Access For All” -Team-Only-Room; this of course was done because there was still “this Dog” with us and there would have been too many people to ask for permission in the official breakfast room. Before arriving there, while we were waiting in the lobby for everybody to arrive, a receptionist had approached me, asking if I got all ‘installed’ in my room and if everything would be all right. Maybe because I am an idiot who doesn’t know how to not talk about cultural issues, I pored out my heart to her about the whole Leo business, including my sad feelings about scaring whole Tunisia away from us. She, which was good, seemed to understand and was not acting like offended, but who knows how much of the rest of the day was influenced by that little conversation.
Well, to finish the whole breakfast thing: Mine consisted of a Yoghurt, a kind of croissant, two huge peaces of unfortunately dry cake, which reminded me of my flights with Ethiopian Airlines, a plate of fruits, a huge seeming jug of hot chocolate, two glasses of pineapple juice, - well and maybe some other stuff, I don’t remember anymore.

After breakfast, as unhealthy as it is, I got to try out the swimming pool located on the roof of the hotel. The pool is rather small and is being cleaned and disinfected with a bottle of beautiful blue liquidity twice a day. So far, we haven’t noticed anyone using it except people from our team - but no, let’s not think about why it is like that. It was a hot day (even hotter than in Ensenada, Mexico), but the water was still pretty cold.

On the way back into my room, the miracle finally happened: A hotel staff member (it could have been the receptionist I talked to), approached us and made some of these kinda-kissing noises to attract Leo’s attention. Slowly, she came closer and closer to him and finally caressed his head. Leo, on the other hand was just Leo and started licking her hand joyfully. She then, saying something in Arabic (it didn’t sound bad though), left us, and for the first time since arriving it felt more like being welcome, not just accepted.

The whole thing then changed back into crap when we tried to get to the Kram Exhibition Park and to the WSIS area. After leaving the hotel (this time being told by the receptionist how much she admired my dog - this one must have definitely be the one I talked to), we were refused from entering the bus, even after the driver called his boss to ask for special permission. This caused a huge discussion between the bus driver, who did not want to take Leo, and the security people, wanting the opposite. But since even the driver’s boss wouldn’t accept Leo, the bus left without us. To get us to the exhibition park as fast as possible (not to say: To get rid of us), the security agents stopped a taxi which just passed us. Mighty as they were, they ordered the passengers inside the taxi to get off immediately; then, the driver was - erm - asked to bring us to Kram Park. On the way he told us that dogs actually aren’t allowed in taxis as well, but since he didn’t want to get into conflicts with the local police, he would fulfill their request.

We didn’t get far though: After arriving at the Kram Park, we were supposed to take an Exhibition Bus. It took about 20 minutes until we could board it, as soon as we entered, one woman jumped out of the bus with one of those screams I only know from movies I don’t like listening to.
Then, finally, at the entry to the actual WSIS Exhibition Hall, the Confirmation Documents, stating that Leo was allowed to accompany me inside, were not accepted as being official. It was I guess only thanks to the Swiss Consul just showing up in that moment, bringing an Arabic friend and a lot of good ‘connections’ that we finally made it inside.

As soon as we arrived at the Swiss Pavilion, things suddenly went extremely fast:
First, a very comfortable Posto (consisting of a Basket and a blanket) was given to Leo so he wouldn’t have to lay on the floor; then, a bowl of water was brought by a hostess. After that, a few more or less important and mighty people gathered around us, talking something about “scandalous”, “Have To Change”, “Differently From Tomorrow On” and “United Nation’s Security Centre”. Then, while Our FIRST CLIENT showed up and asked me to introduce him to Internet Accessibility Stuff, a lot of phone calls must have been made and emails sent. The result was, that a few hours later, Leo was confirmed to receive his very own batch, making him one of the official Team Members of the Swiss WSIS Delegation and giving him the permission to enter and exit the hall as frequently and normal as any human. Although they said that now, even entering buses shouldn’t be a problem anymore, we also got scheduled to be driven to the Exhibition tomorrow morning by the Hall Manager and in his very own car, which might make things slightly easier I hope.

The badge arrived just before we left the Exhibition Centre. There would have been an invitation of the Tunisian Premier Minister for any kind of dinner or whatever, but since the whole Swiss Delegation kindly decided not to go (you know - “Human Rights And Stuff…”), we got our dinner in the hotel.

The waiter was pretty surprised when we ordered Camel On The Spit. Camel Meat, he had to inform us, was hardly available in the whole city of Tunis and was actually only a South Tunisian Specialty; then, he offered us the Fish of the day, which was (what a surprise) the most expensive item on the menu card. I ended up eating kind of normal chicken. So far, the most special thing I ate was this meat we named Donkey Salami, which was part of our Monday Evening Snack. We are still not sure if it really was donkey though, because neither the French nor the Arabic words of the label were listed in our dictionaries. But whatever it was, it didn’t actually taste too bad; and I hope that one day we get to enter another of those Tunisian food stores and stuff ourselves with more - well - whatever…

The last great blessing of this night was one waiter serving our dinner, who managed to connect with Leo in a wonderful way. While his coworkers still spent minutes staring at Leo with this “See How Far We Already Are” faces, this other guy not only introduced the dog to everybody around, but also regularly came to our table, caressing and cuddling Leo. He then told us that he had two dogs and four cats at home himself and then even offered some left-overs to Leo, which I unfortunately wasn’t allowed to accept.
But he must be one of the reasons that now, when I sit here typing this, I have this feeling of:
Yes, There Is Hope, Even For Dogs In Tunisia…

After having lots and lots and lots and lots of trouble entering the WSIS exhibition area, an old and funny idea was picked up by the OFCOM, which we are representing here; Leo, the most intelligent Dog in the world, is going to receive an official WSIS Member BADGE.

This also means that Leo is now an official member of the Swiss WSIS Delegation, which consists only of humans besides him.

We got promised that this should solve any problems; tomorrow I will let you know if it really did…

Yes, I am finally able to tell everybody in the world that I have been to Tunisia. We arrived here yesterday shortly after lunch time, got picked up by some Swiss Embassy People, received one of those heavy WSIS badges to “always have with you wherever you go because it will solve all your problems” and did feel way more important than at home already.

The hotel I’m staying at is stuffed with security guards, carrying around their headsets and machine guns. One of them is located almost directly under my balcony, but there are also a few of them in the corridor, at all corners in the streets and wherever else you would like them. The reason they are all here is (no, it is not because of us, but) because my hotel is kind of close to the Tunisian President’s Home Residence, which has to be protected against all possible attacks. These security guys obviously make a very - ehm - unique impact on the actually pretty Tunisian landscape. To me though, they are completely invisible, except somebody mentions them. Since they spend most of their time here just hanging around silently, they just don’t exist at all to my ears - Thank Goodness.

The main problem I ran into so far was my dog Leo. It is obviously true that the Tunisian people don’t seem to be into liking dogs at all. It started in Geneva already, where I was requested to either put on a muzzle on Leo (which I don’t have) or not to fly TunisAir at all. So far, all airlines I flew (and I flew a lot of them) with Leo understood the fact that putting a muzzle on a dog who never had one before would more likely cause problems than being any good for security. But TunisAir does not understand. In the end, they were satisfied with me putting the Gentle Leader Training Collar on Leo, although this is not a muzzle at all. In the aircraft, noticing that Leo indeed was very nervous and uncomfortable wearing it, I took the Gentle Leader off again and spent the rest of the flight trying to hide Leo from the airline Staff so they would not notice.

Then, the day went on like that: From buses not wanting to let us board with the dog, to a crowd of security guards gathering when Leo would run around freely and relieve himself; or from the super market with the huge “No dogs” sign to the bar with four waiters, all of them just hanging around and none of them actually serving us for minutes and minutes. They are all communicating the same it seems: “Dogs Scare Us, Including Yours”.
Although we are obviously accepted here at the hotel itself, the ‘normal’ people indeed do have problems with dogs. I heard that in the Muslim Religion, which is what they have here, dogs are seen as impure animals - I don’t know the details though, so if someone knows where and how this is written exactly, I’d be glad for a note about it. But anyways: The result is that I keep feeling like the trouble maker wherever I go and whatever I do. this dog at my side is causing people to either run away or to gather within safe 40 feet distance and watch every move we make. It feels like impossible to connect with the people like this and I can only pray that they are slowly changing and maybe one day will dare to approach and overcome their feelings.

Well, Day Two will be different I guess. We are going to hang out in the exhibition park, surrounded by an international bunch of people. I heard that the security checks will be way more annoying than at an airport, but I haven’t been there yet so we will see….

The closer we get to the final lift up for this Tunisia Event, the more stuff gets packed into that suitcase, the more documents are being printed out and the more I start wondering if and how I am supposed to either do my job or at least survive it… The more all this happens, everybody else seems to worry about only ONE major question, which is:

Are René And Leo Going To Make It To Geneva Airport On Their Own At All?

I wonder (not to say I am scared of) what might follow after we eventually manage to fullfill this task. Will I be expected to carry my passport on my own? Will someone order food for me?

Well, but who cares - I mean: We are not even in the train yet. Meanwhile, I better try worrying if everybody else makes it to the airplane safely - doesn’t actually feel too bad, does it?