Living in Tunisia – Tunisia: A Survival Guide
In this personal account, I describe my life in Tunisia from the perspective of a Swiss woman – between culture shock, infrastructure chaos, everyday frustrations and the feeling of being more alive than ever before, despite everything. The text shows unfiltered what life in Tunisia can really feel like – without sugarcoating and without expat romanticism.
Written by someone who did not survive with dignity
I’m back in Switzerland for a few days and sitting in my old apartment like someone who has traveled back to their former life. Everything feels familiar, and yet I can hardly believe that I used to live like this. With working traffic lights. With seat belts that can be fastened. With tomatoes that don’t try to kill me.
Life in Tunisia – culture shock between Switzerland and everyday life
Four months in Tunisia have changed me.
Not spiritual.
More like a „wild street cat that has seen too much”.
Tunisia gives you highs where you feel invincible and lows where you briefly consider swimming back to Europe. I laughed like an idiot, cried in public, embarrassed myself repeatedly and somehow carried on regardless.
And now that I’m in Switzerland for a short visit, the contrast hits me like a badly parked cab: Tunisia is chaos disguised as a country.
Nothing on the internet prepares you for this. Nothing.
You want water, electricity, food, transportation, basic survival conditions?
Good luck. Tunisia confronts you with a riddle, a challenge and sometimes an existential crisis before breakfast.
Traffic?
A godforsaken death trap.
Seat belts either don’t exist, are broken or are buried under the belongings of the cab driver from 2008.
And if the infrastructure doesn’t kill you, maybe the driver will.
Electricity?
A single rain shower can paralyze the entire neighborhood for ten days.
Apparently everything has to „dry”. Even the traffic lights. Even the universe.
Gas stoves?
Switch off the main valve each time.
Trust me.
Nothing in Tunisia works the way your Swiss mind thinks it should.
Food safety?
The tomatoes stare at you.
Some are fine.
Some lose the will to live.
Some plan crimes.
You learn to pick the least suspicious ones, wash them thoroughly and then eat your salad like a warrior.
Tunisia whispers: „You see? You have survived. Stop whining.“
What life in Tunisia has done to me
And yes, Tunisia has made me stronger.
It has forced me to speak out, adapt, fight faulty alarms at 7 a.m. and yell at elderly neighbors who keep setting them off.
Swiss politeness died somewhere between the tenth power cut and the third exploding tomato.
But despite all the madness, Tunisia gives me something that Switzerland never gave me: the feeling of being incredibly alive.
Not safe. Not comfortable.
Alive.
Tunisia is chaotic.
Tunisia is messy.
Tunisia is a death trap.
But you get used to it, like a stubborn desert plant that refuses to die.
And despite everything – the danger, the confusion, the tomatoes with ulterior motives – I will make this country my home.
- My everyday life in Tunisia is characterised by instability, improvisation and constant minor crises.
- Infrastructure, transport and utilities are often unreliable.
- The culture shock is particularly noticeable when compared to Switzerland.
- At the same time, I experience more intensity and vibrancy in Tunisia.
- This text is not a guide, but a personal account of my experiences.
