Being a foreign woman in Tunisia...

As a foreigner it’s impossible to stay invisible in Tunisia. Walking on the street means people staring at you and often trying to talk to you, mostly Tunisian men who sit in cafés drinking mint tea or coffee and smoking shisha. Especially if they hear us speak English they would often try to talk to us. But now I’ve gotten really good at ignoring them and if they get really annoying then we just tell them “Barra” (Go away) and that’s that. Nothing bad has happened to me so far. These people mostly talk but don’t touch :).

Walking around on my own is not a problem although in the evenings it’s a bit tricky. Everybody warned us girls to not go out in the night alone, especially since we live in the center of the city and there are a lot and sometimes strange people walking around. But I’ve done it and it was not a problem. Sometimes it can be a bit scary but so far it’s been fine. I can say I feel pretty safe here although it’s not the same as in Vienna. I would not walk down an empty street alone at 3a.m. So I guess you gotta be careful but it’s not that dangerous as one would think.