sand sand and more sand and then beach

So victor, the chilean guy, did give me a boost and from Touezr I jumped in a shared taxi (which Im very good at now) and rode to a village named Tazouer in the morning, got some wonderful pictues of a ruined village and then shot back to Touzer where I caught a bus to Douz which is the "gateway to the Sahara." The ride was beautiful through varied oases of palm groves. It is Date harvest time so all the people are out picking and the markets are a buzzin with fiber. And so am I again thank God. nuff said. Douz is a strange Tourist place but is very cool at the same time. A friend of Nour's in the States hooked me up with her cousins and they showed me around on the back of a scooter and in a 4by4. The hotel was great and so were the people. It was market day on thurs. so I bought a new scrub glove for the shower (i love these things) and some dates, got my clothes washed and walked around the market where they sell the animals. Sad but fun.
I wanted to go to Matmata after that where there are Berber villages undergroundm that served as set for star wars. I was going to have to go the long way and take three shared taxis because there are no direct routes. But this guy who was estatic at my American Muslimness asked a friend of his if he could take me direct. I was a bit skepital at first ecause he said I didn't have to pay so I went to the shared taxi stand and started my route but then I got a call saying the car was leaving. I said a prayer and went. it turned out to be this cool old farmer returning to his village in this little old truck. Very cool experience. We passed by big Tour buses and I just thought how different of an experience this is for me compared to them.
I met some cool loder tourists from Canasa in Matmata and one of the women had done a trip like this when she was younger. From there I headed to Tatouine which is not very attractive and is on my bad list because I spent the most tourist dollars there. It is hard to bargin with these guys...they are good. But I went out in a taxi and saw some very interesing berber villages and had a conversation with a guy about the antichrist and some other interesting topics (weirdo) But all said and done The people were once again nice and I had good conversations with the young guy at my hotel and his friends in Arabic.
And then I went to Jerba. The friend of Nour's in Tunis, Her husbad's brother picked me up from the shared taxi station and fed me and helped me find my hotel. this is a very nice laid back place. I'm just glad its off season. The htel is beautiful and chep and I tried Lableby for the first time to day for breakfast. You crumble bread into a bowl and then they put olive oil beans some tomato sauce stuff and garlic with olives and a parlty bolied egg all together. Sounds nasty but after stirring it all together...it is the breakfast of Champions! or me! Loved it. Then I got the best haircut Ive had since Miguel with a straight razer shave and the works. for Eight dinars (about 5-6 bucks) very nice. That's it for now...dinner time...cous cous!