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<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_3034.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n***<\/p>\n
For Djerba these days, the biggest business is tourism.\u00a0 There\u2019s still a hue agriculture industry though.\u00a0 There are olive trees everywhere and Tunisian Olive Oil is a highly regarded commodity.\u00a0 Though I\u2019m seeing palm trees, the country\u2019s dates are really grown in the Southwest.\u00a0 Dejerba is in the Southeast.\u00a0 The country also has a thriving livestock and fishing industry.\u00a0 Clams, shellfish, and octopi are prime catches.\u00a0 In the center of the nation is Tozeur, a fruit and vegetable garden spot, generating produce that is distributed throughout the country and most especially good looking at local markets<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s all prelude to why I\u2019m really here.\u00a0 Ladies and Gentlemen, dear children, I give you that megamarket of power converters \u2013 Tosche Station (located not in the Outer Rim but in Sidi Jemour, Tunisia).<\/p>\n
Here on Earth, Tosche Station is a mosque that was built in the 1900s.\u00a0 Like a lot of buildings in Tunisia at the time, there were large rain-water catching tanks that helped the people overcome water supply issues.\u00a0 A rather elegant solution, discontinued these days thanks to ever more advanced water systems.<\/p>\n Unlike the desert planet of Tatooine, Tosche Station sits on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, a body of water cleverly framed out whilst shooting the Star Wars movie.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very popular picnic spot and I think you\u2019ll see why from the photos below.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to warn you now \u2013 there\u2019s going to be A LOT of photos, not just here but EVERYWHERE.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n We continued along the coastal shore to find a tiny abandoned mosque.\u00a0 This is the home of Obi-Wan Kenobi, again, cleverly framed so as to avoid that perky blue water.\u00a0 There may be moisture farming on Tatooine, but the only sea I recall hearing about was the Dune Sea.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n In the town of Ajim, there\u2019s the Mos Eisley Cantina (exterior only).\u00a0 This Wikipedia voted third most important town of Djerba is only 3KM away from the mainland.\u00a0 A ferry can cross the causeway carrying up to 20 passenger vehicles every 15 minutes.\u00a0 The fare is 1 dinar a car, or about 42 cents American.<\/p>\n As for the Cantina, it\u2019s a former bakery. \u00a0There has been a lot of development in the area in the past 41 years so what was once a pretty wide open street is now surrounded by various buildings and businesses.\u00a0 But the moment Mohammed and Mondher (I\u2019ve totally been butchering both the pronunciation and spelling of his name) turned on the street, I immediately recognized that most famous bar in that most wretched hive of scum and villainy.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Hey, look!\u00a0 Flamingos!\u00a0 Even Mohammed and Mondher were excited and wanted to stop.\u00a0 Mohammed tried to get them to fly off so I could get a better photo by yelling at them.\u00a0 He said if I had brought my gun from the US I could’ve scared them.\u00a0 I tried to tell him that not every American has a gun, nor wants one.<\/p>\n By the way, Mondher has been a tour guide for 17 years.\u00a0 This is only the third Star Wars specific tour he’s done.\u00a0 Usually he does French and Italian tours, and also speaks Arabic, and a little Russian.\u00a0 People are amazing.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n This concluded the Star Wars focused stops of the day.\u00a0 We carried on into the city Guellala.\u00a0 It’s an original Berber stronghold and home to traditional claymaking artisans.\u00a0 Djerba is very flat and only has a few hills, and these hills are where the clay can be found.\u00a0 Guellala is marked by hills and explains why the pottery business has always been booming here.<\/p>\n My claymaking tour guide was a world class potter, a fourth or fifth generation artist.\u00a0 I lost track of the \u201cgreats\u201d when he pointed to the photo behind him while sitting at his potter\u2019s wheel.\u00a0 Everything is done by hand \u2013 including the mining of the clay from the tunnels they\u2019ve dug into the ground.<\/p>\n Oh, and there was a cantankerous camel there that I got to give a water bottle.\u00a0 Even then he wasn\u2019t happy.<\/p>\n And of course the tour exited through a gift shop.\u00a0 I thought about buying a small cup, the kind of thing a carpenter might have, but the price was too dear.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a fun fact \u2013 the clay color depends on the type of water used. \u00a0So I guess it\u2019s kinda like bagels or pizza dough.\u00a0 But for red clay you use rain water\/mineral water.\u00a0 For white color clay, you mix in salt water.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Next it was on to the oldest synagogue in all of Africa, located in the small village of Erridah.\u00a0 Originally built in the 5th<\/sup> Century BC, the synagogue saw a major renovation 2400 years later in 1920.\u00a0 The building was redone according to similar style and dimensions, while also adding a pilgrimage accommodation wing for those visiting from afar (this was before the local hotel service started coming into its own).<\/p>\n It\u2019s a place called La Ghirba<\/em>, or \u201cThe Stranger.\u201d\u00a0 There are three main legends explaining how it got this name.<\/p>\n The first is about a girl who moved out of the city proper and built her straw hut home alone on the site.\u00a0 No one could understand why she did it and thought it strange\u2026 all the moreso when the girl\u2019s hut burned under mysterious circumstances.\u00a0 To honor her, the place was renamed La Ghirba.\u201d<\/p>\n The second etymology story claims that a rock fell from the sky as god\u2019s will, marking the spot where the synagogue should be built \u2013 a strange occurrence that warranted the name.<\/p>\n The third and final story says that when people arrived into Djerba it was a new, unknown land, and was therefore a strange land.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a far more tragic story involving this place.\u00a0 In April 2002, it was the site of a terrorist attack by Al Qaeda killing a locals, a number of German tourists and their guide.\u00a0 This horrific act prompted new security features and countermeasures.<\/p>\n This is small comfort but a reminder that life goes on and endures even in the face of such tragedy.\u00a0 Situated on the property are a number of olive trees.\u00a0 Mondher tells me that olive trees can last for 20 centuries.\u00a0 I find myself wondering if I misheard him on that\u2026 but I know he said these trees were at least 300 years old.\u00a0 What comes and goes and what endures\u2026 an olive branch endures.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Not too far from La Ghirda<\/em> was a Jewish Quarter of town that gained attention with a guerrilla art project.\u00a0 In order to bring life back into their city, to reclaim some of it as their own, a mass graffiti effort decorated the buildings with large murals.\u00a0 This series of art brought together the community and brought tourists to the area to see what had been created.<\/p>\n This is mixing space epics but I swear this was a depiction of Mr. Spock on a Sisyphean quest to capture peace (Mondher translated the Arabic for me).\u00a0 So while this is Star Wars tour, there\u2019s a bit of Star Trek for ya.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n As today\u2019s tour was winding down, Mohammed and Mondher took me to a 15th<\/sup> Century fort and the Djerba Marina.<\/p>\n The fortress was built to dissuade and defend attacks on the city and has long since seen its cannons removed (they were actually piled in a corner, rusting).\u00a0 Given that the Arab Spring originated in Tunisia, I wasn\u2019t sure if the graffiti here was in reference to that or if it was directed at somebody else.\u00a0 I considered framing it out but thought, ya know what?\u00a0 It\u2019s real and is worth including.<\/p>\n The Marina meanwhile was bustling with fisherman prepping to head out, checking their gear and piling their nets.\u00a0 The large clay pots along the pier are a Tunisian version of what I think of as lobster traps\u2026 only they are catching octopi not lobsters.\u00a0 So a terrible analogy on my part.\u00a0 But you get the idea.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n I was a little bummed I hadn\u2019t checked my photos properly at the Star Wars sites as there were one or two I really wanted that didn\u2019t come out when I embiggened them on my laptop in the hotel.\u00a0 I\u2019m probably going to ask the guys if we can detour ever so briefly tomorrow morning to reshoot a few.\u00a0 It\u2019s a packed day tomorrow so we\u2019ll have to see if it\u2019s feasible.\u00a0 Had I realized we were ending so early (we wrapped up around 1 PM or so) I would\u2019ve asked them to take me back this afternoon.\u00a0 By the time I realized we were ending for the day Mohammed had already dropped us off at the Souk and driven off.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t possible to figure out a way back then.\u00a0 Still, if it doesn\u2019t work out, it doesn\u2019t work out \u2013 I think I got some good photos as it is.\u00a0 But there\u2019s always that one last shot you wish you could\u2019ve gotten.<\/p>\n Meantime, it may be all to the good that we had an early day today.\u00a0 This damn cold is seriously messing with my head.\u00a0 Finally after 20-some odd hours after landing, my one ear \u201cpopped\u201d from the air pressure of the flight, but it still kinda hurts like the dickens.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying not to let it detract from my photo-blogging.\u00a0 Ya know, sometimes I amaze even myself.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n FYI: Here\u2019s one of the shots I missed.\u00a0 I meant to bring some more props for a shot at Tosche Station.\u00a0 But given this location exists only in cut scenes and via the Special Edition, here\u2019s a CGI tribute to what I wanted to do:<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n