Flowers in my Hair

When buying a new car for Eden I like to drive it down from Europe instead of paying thousands of Euros in transport, that way I get to see my beloved Sahara, which is part of my “job” anyway.

The trip started in Sweden and after some days I found myself in Tunisia with Moncef, a very close friend of mine from the time we lived there in the 80s. It is a beautiful country and La Marsa just outside of Tunis is my favorite. I walked around the area visiting old memories.

When I walked up the hill on the road leading to Carthage I saw it was permanently blocked off with lots of plain clothes police telling everyone coming close to take a detour.

People also told me that the president had started to build around Carthage ruining valuable excavation sites. This was a symbol for me that there was something seriously wrong with the country.

Moncef & his mother 1986

I had never met a Tunisia like that since the first time I set my foot there in 1984 nor on my other visits.

One day Moncef bought me Jasmine flowers that I put behind my ear and a photo was taken that I have used as my profile picture on Facebook since April 2010.

Some months later the protests in Tunisia started and they coined it the “Jasmine Revolution”.