December 31, 1938
“Elizabeth Moody, age nineteen and very beautiful, accompanied her Uncle, Dr. Walter C. Lowdermilk and family on an official trip for the United States government, using their personal car and paying their own expenses, to study old Roman lands for the benefit of the US soil conservation service, and American farmers to find out what could be [learned] of the agricultural successes and failures of the past.” – Forward to Lowdermilk’s niece’s diary.
December 31, Tunis, Tunisia…. I am really in Africa. It’s cold and I long to be hot just once. Wrote, unpacked and washed until lunch which we took out in an Arab eating house and had the native dish couscous with chicken. It’s sort of ground wheat with vegetable sauce and the meat on top. We also had ktafi, which is a sweet cake of coconut, dates, honey and I don’t know what else, very good. Arabian music accompanied the meal. On leaving, a beautiful ragged, dirty beggar girl smiled so appealing that we yielded. They often have beautiful teeth.
In the afternoon Mrs. Kelly took Billy to play with her son, and Wester and I accompanied her into the Arab quarter, down narrow dirty streets between white windowless houses to a mission school supported by the Methodists of Sweden. The Arabian house is built with all the rooms facing an inner court. We knocked and were admitted by a tiny girl. I nearly stumbled over a large assortment of wooden sandals placed just inside the door. One of the missionaries greeted us and was most cordial in inviting us to come across the courtyard to see the little girls at work. They were poor children (about 25 of them). They were very pretty little girls, from the ages of 5 to 12, were seated tailor fashion on the floor, busy at their embroidery, knitting or making lace. They were clean and their clothes were neatly mended. It took at least 3 weeks for the child to make this handkerchief which I am sending. They cannot be taught any school work they have to go to French schools, but their thought humans. They graciously sang several of the weirdest tunes I have ever heard. Dolls dressed by the Beta Epsilon girls would be appreciated here.
From the mission school we proceeded to the home of an Arabian girl recently married to her cousin. She was of a strong Mohammedan family and her husband is a Christian. He had married his cousin because he had seen her and knew what she was like, but the girl’s family had—
She was most attractive and hospitable, teaching us how to drape ourselves in the white robe and veil and showing us her wedding clothes and her home. Then back to the Kelly’s home for a huge delicious tea and a jolly talk about everything. Guy came back to the hotel with us for dinner, after which Mr. and Mrs. Kelly joined us and to celebrate New Year’s Eve we decided to attend an oriental concert. These concerts last from 8 PM to 4 AM however, in those hours the listeners could come and go. We arrived at 10 or 10:30 and from the street we could hear the curious wailing of what I took to be a man’s voice, but which turned out to be a girls—a very attractive girls, too. Her songs were accompanied by 7 or 8 piece orchestra of instruments entirely unknown to me. She was seated at the end of each piece, but with the start of the music she rose and swinging her body in rhythm with the music, walked back and forth until she started to saying. I don’t think she was particularly enjoying her work for she never smiled—perhaps she was afraid.
Arabs in native and modern dress were seated around the platform drinking and smoking. The room had become a hazy blue sea of smoke. Men in fez and in turbans, women with veils and women with hats all listened to the weird chanting music.
After a brief intermission another Arab girl—very plump and in a slinky yellow formal, entered and began strutting her stuff. She danced with her songs, and did those Arab men like it! She wiggled about and rubbed her fat hips and “tummy” and rioter plumpness all over the place much as though she had a tummy ache, except that she was obviously enjoying it. The singer turned out to be the mother of the girl and was more popular with the audience. Songs were probably of love and either very older popular, for often the whole audience joined in with the singer. One Arab was much annoyed because the foreigners could not understand the singing. He was very loud in his complaint and the audience soon knew just who we were, and we received many curious stares. We left about 11:45 PM Downtown the streets were crowded but not noisy—no horns were blown, no shouts of happy New Year, no serpentine or confetti—nothing that makes an American New Year’s Eve. We entered an arcade café and had ice cream and came home.
Nullius in Verba 