Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I love my husband a lot (Wednesday May 12)

So, if one is a supernerd Star Wars fan, one might know that George Lucas filmed much of the Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back footage in Tunisia. One might also know that Matmata, a small desert town just north of the Sahara, was the location for Tatooine, and that the fictional planet of Tatooine was named after the very real, very empty Tunisian desert town of Tataouine. One might even know that the home of Luke Skywalker, where we see him living with his aunt and uncle drinking that funny blue milk, is actually a real Berber cave home, tunneled into the ground to keep out the Saharan sun. One might EVEN want to stay in one of the cave homes that have been remodeled into hotels for Star Wars geeks, or have a drink at the hovel that was the site of Mos Eisley cantina, which still has set pieces of the bar laying around.

I am a Star Wars fan, but I am not one of THOSE people. Gabriel, however, is, and being a loving wife, I found myself, after 2 long, hot, stinky louage rides, in a Berber hovel. I am cheerful.


Anyways, it did end up being kind of fun. Also, who knew George Lucas ripped off everything? His costume designer should get no credit for any Jedi, Jawa, of Tatooine outfits, as they were all directly stolen from Berber culture. Seriously, she probably just bought out the local souk for all the extras. And he didn't dress the sets. But at any rate. The Berber caves are dark and cool, and despite the paint chipping off the cave walls and onto our faces in the middle of the night, Matmata was a not-to-be-regretted adventure.


Also, I married a geek.