يا حسرة على بكري

• 

  مونديال 78

  Mondial 78, 2 June 1978

  Tunisia 3, Mexico 1, in Rosario: the first World Cup match an African team ever won. Your father still tells it as if he scored.

  Do you remember?
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  مايكل جاكسون في المنزه

  Michael Jackson at El Menzah, 7 October 1996

  His one concert in Tunisia. Whoever had a ticket still talks about it. Whoever did not still says they were almost there.

  Do you remember?
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  الكاسيت والقلم

  The cassette and the pencil, The 80s

  A pencil in the hole, turn, turn. You taped songs from the radio, and the presenter always talked over the start.

  Do you remember?
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  التليفون بالقفل

  The phone with a lock, The 80s

  In some houses the dial had a small padlock, and the key was in your father’s pocket. You could answer. You could not call.

  Do you remember?
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  البوبليتال

  Publitel, The 90s

  One booth, one call to the cousin in France, and the units on the counter going faster than you could talk.

  Do you remember?
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  المدرسة

  The school smock, The 80s

  A smock buttoned to the neck, a satchel heavier than you, and a warm baguette that never got home whole.

  Do you remember?
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  البيجو باشي

  The 404 bâchée, The 80s

  Oranges, a sheep, three cousins and a grandmother, all in the back. It never broke down, or it always did, depending on who tells it.

  Do you remember?
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  الفيديو كلوب

  The video club, The 80s

  Twenty minutes to choose, and you took the same film again. Rewind it before you bring it back.

  Do you remember?
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  البارابول

  The dish on the roof, The 90s

  One day every roof had a dish. Somebody turned it up there while somebody downstairs shouted now, no, now.

  Do you remember?
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  الكونسول

  The console, The 90s

  Blow into the cartridge, put it back, hope. Two controllers, three brothers, and one of them always lost his turn.

  Do you remember?
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  الموبيلات

  The mobylette, The 80s

  Pedal to start, a cloud of blue smoke, and the whole family on one seat. Bread in the basket, a watermelon on the knees.

  Do you remember?
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  عند المصوّر

  At the photographer, The 80s

  Best clothes, a painted lake behind you, and nobody allowed to smile. That photo is still on the wall at your grandmother’s.

  Do you remember?
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  الحمّام نهار الأحد

  Sunday at the hammam, The 80s

  Too hot, too long, and the glove took off a layer of you. You walked home with wet hair, a towel on your shoulders and red cheeks, and slept like a stone.

  Do you remember?
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  العلّوش

  The sheep, Every Aïd

  For one week it lived in the courtyard, and you gave it a name. Nobody told you, and you knew anyway.

  Do you remember?
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  ملوخية راس العام

  Mloukhia for the new year, Every Ras el Am

  Black-green and cooked for hours, because a green dish brings a green year. No spoon: bread and your hand. And nothing spicy that day, so the year is not spicy either.

  Do you remember?
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  الفيلم الهندي

  The Indian film, The 80s

  Three hours, songs in the middle of the fights, glibettes on the floor, and the whole room crying at the end. You went back the next week for the same film.

  Do you remember?
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  كاسات لفرنسا

  A cassette for France, The 80s

  Some families sent their news on a cassette. Grandmother first, then everyone in turn, and the child who said nothing because he was suddenly shy.

  Do you remember?
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  خبز الطابونة

  Tabouna bread, Every day

  She pressed the dough to the inside of the clay oven with her bare hand and never burned herself. The first bread never got to the table.

  Do you remember?
• 

  كان 2004

  AFCON 2004, 14 February 2004

  Tunisia 2, Morocco 1, at Radès. The first African Cup, at home. Nobody slept, every car had a flag in the window, and the horns went on until morning.

  Do you remember?
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  كرني الحانوت

  The shop notebook, The 80s

  Bread, milk, a tin of tomato. Nobody paid; the shopkeeper wrote it in the notebook, and your father settled it at the end of the month.

  Do you remember?
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  القُلّة

  The clay jug, Every summer

  No fridge was ever as cold. A clay jug in the shade, a little wet on the outside, and the best water you ever drank.

  Do you remember?
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  نص خبزة بالزيت والهريسة

  Half a baguette, oil and harissa, After school

  The four o’clock snack. Half a baguette split open, olive oil, a spoon of harissa, and your hands smelled of it until dinner.

  Do you remember?
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  البابي فوت

  Table football, The 80s

  In front of the café, one coin, two teams of friends. Spinning the bar was forbidden, and everybody spun the bar.

  Do you remember?
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  التلفزة الطليانية

  Italian television, The 80s

  RAI came in from across the sea, and many Tunisians learned their Italian from it. One person on the roof turned the antenna, one person in the house shouted.

  Do you remember?

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