(Posted November 21, 2016)

Taha Barkaoui, an international student from Tunisia.
Photo by Nahui Twomey '18
Taha Barkaoui, an international student from Tunisia.
Photo by Nahui Twomey '18

Last Thursday, at 12p.m., Taha Barkaoui, an International student from Tunisia, gave a presentation on Tunisia as part of the international education week. Barkaoui dismissed many misconceptions about Tunisia, talked about the Arab Spring and mentioned some fun facts about the country, while the audience savored delicious Tunisian food that he prepared.

Barkaoui explained that most Tunisians are bilingual, with the country’s official language being the modern standard Arabic, and French as a required second language in school. The Tunisian dialect, which is a mixture of Arabic, Berber, Italian and French is also widely spoken. Barkaoui went to emphasize that there was a difference between Islamic and Muslim countries. “The majority of Tunisians are Muslims, but Tunisia is a liberal secular country,” he said. He also added that Tunisia is the only country out of all the Arab Spring countries that has had a successful transition to democracy, and as a result, freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution.

The audience seemed amazed by some of the comparisons made between Tunisia and the United States, one of them being that fact that Slavery was abolished in 1846, while the US abolished it in 1865 with the 13th amendment.

Jim Tuten, professor of history, attended the event to support Barkaoui because the international student became the Tutens’ friendship student through the International Friendship Family program. “I found it interesting that Taha’s grandfather had lived in one of the desert tiered houses and that they are well-designed to be cool even in the oppressive heat of the desert. I liked seeing the images of the Roman ruins and how their coliseum is still used as a music venue today. I rememberBob Wagoner (professor emeritus of philosophy), had told me Tunisia has his favorite Roman ruins in the world including those in Italy.”

Tuten also enjoyed the food. “I told several people about the couscous with pomegranate seed, the stuffed peppers and my favorite where the stuffed dates. I would have eaten a whole platter of the stuffed dates if no one was watching!”

Anne-Marcelle Kouame ‘19, Juniata Online Journalist 

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