We had a bad night’s sleep due to various noises: men fighting (?), cats fighting (?), mopeds, and calls to prayer. All things that would have been charming ambiance if we weren’t trying to sleep.

Millie was up at 6 due to the one hour time difference. We’ve been amazed at how dialed in her internal clock is. At home she wakes up at 7:12 on the dot every morning, and on this trip, after adjusting to time changes, she is up at the exact same time.

Our small bnb—I think we are the only guests so it’s more of a home stay—served us the best breakfast we’ve had yet. Warm lemony custard with almonds on top, a semi-sweet sesame cake, spinach and feta frittata, homemade yogurts, granola, jams, fresh bread, hot coffee, and a fruit smoothie. The gave Millie a small bowl of melted chocolate for some reason. She did not complain.

From here they called us a taxi to take us to the ruins in Carthage. These Roman Baths were quite a contrast from the Roman Baths we visited in England. Those cost $70 to enter and were packed with visitors, all of whom had an audio tour. This morning we strolled in and it felt like we were the only ones there. We were able to walk and explore wherever we wanted. At one point Nick looked around and found pieces of Roman pottery and mosaic scatted below our feet. There wasn’t a sign in sight so we had to use our imagination and some quick googling to understand what we were seeing.

We tried explaining the concept of the Roman alphabet to Millie since she’s learning to read. She wasn’t impressed by the very hands on education of learning the alphabet directly from the people who made it.

She got her Friday ice cream at the tiny cafe on site. Nick researched ride share options and we discovered inDrive, which is all the good parts of Uber (finding a ride, entering a destination and getting a price without talking to anyone) but for local taxis who set the price. We called one and quickly learned that we had been vastly overpaying with our hotel taxi.

We took a short drive to the pretty town of Sidi Bou Said. All the buildings are white and blue, matching the sea and the clouds beyond it. Very Mediterranean.

We stopped for a mint tea and fresh strawberry juice at a cafe.

And then we called another taxi via inDrive to take us back to the Medina. This week is the first time Millie has traveled in a car without a car seat. It didn’t stop her from falling asleep immediately. As I was thinking about the potential lack of safety of no car seat, a moped with two helmetless toddlers on it zoomed by and I was reminded that everyone has different access to and definitions of safety.

We walked around the Medina a bit and wanted to visit the beautiful mosque in the middle of it. When we reached it, it had a sign on the door saying “Muslim only” so we walked on.

We got back to our hotel at 3:45, and the restaurant we had a booking at didn’t open until 7:30. 4 hours to kill without many toys and trying to uphold screen limits is rough. For the record we aren’t anti-screen, but we know Millie and it’s an if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie situation with movies with her. If we caved and watched something this afternoon then we’d have to fight for the next 3 afternoons about going home to watch the iPad. So we listened to fairytale audio books, drew unicorns, played pretend with Judy, and built with her mini travel blocks. Somehow we made it to 7.

We made the short walk to the fanciest restaurant in town. We put on the nicest clothes we have, which are not very nice. As we sat down, Millie gasped at the quality of the napkins and said “I think these are real silt!” (Silk)

This restaurant served traditional Tunisian food and it was delicious. Millie tried lots of things which made me happy, even if she spit out half of them. Olives, capers, egg, shrimp, and ricotta did not make it past her uvula. But she ate a ton of my lamb and the nuts and raisins it was served with. And gladly dipped bread in olive oil. And she even took a bite of octopus (to completion).

We were seated right next to an American woman who was 100% the real life person that Jennifer Coolidge’s character in white lotus was based on.

We had three conversations today that are worth noting.

1. All day today, well-meaning older men have been taken with Millie and often greet her by touching her arm or her hair, and sometimes even kissing her hand. She does NOT like it. Unfortunately it often happens before we can intercept. It’s been a tricky thing to explain that it’s their culture and they are doing it to be nice, while also teaching her that no, a man should never touch you if you don’t want it. On the plus side, I’ve been impressed by her early understanding of consent. She said “in Texas if someone wants to touch you they have to ask first”

2. With all the church visits and now calls to prayer she has been asking a lot of deep questions. Earlier I asked her if she remembered what prayer was and she said “yeah, when you choose to sing at church instead of having babies” – a botched version of my description of nuns repeated back to me. So we talked about how it’s taking a moment to appreciate something, and reflect, and hope. This evening when we heard the call she said “so let’s prayer”. So we all said something we are thankful for and she very sweetly said “I’m grateful you played with me so much today”

3. While she was chowing down on my lamb at dinner she asked what type of animal it was and was fascinated by the bone the meat came on. And then all the follow up questions: is that a real bone? Is it dead? Who killed it? Did they kill it because it was being bad? I grapple with meat eating as it is, and am not sure any of our answers were great.

Traveling with a curious 4-year-old is certainly keeping us on our toes.