Our little Christmas road trip wound up yesterday. We left 8th century Moulay Idriss (photo above, nestled in the hills framed by Roman Volubilis) and struck almost due north, through Ouezzane and into the Rif Mountains. Ouezzane, perhaps best known here through the family of the Cherif of Ouezzane and his turn-of-the-century (19th-20th) "British Bride … Read more A Bridge Over Morocco’s Colonial Past
Bordj Nord in fog, Christmas Eve Fez, 2011 "Christmas in Fez!" was already taken as the title to a blog post by another American last year. In any case, for us it was Christmas Eve in Fez, and Christmas day at the Roman ruins of Volubilis, then on to Moulay Idriss, a sacred destination. Above, … Read more Moroccan Christmas in a Holy Town: Moulay Idriss
I know the print in the above image is a bit small (click on picture to enlarge in a pop-up screen). But what it represents is this: during a long three-week period, ending on 12 December, we had almost no "hits" on TALIM Director's Blog because jinns had taken it over. Our URL, or, in … Read more TALIM On the Digital Map
You never know what those International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) people will get up to. At Saturday's gathering in Mdiq (a northern Moroccan seaside town between Tetouan and Ceuta) of alumni from the US Embassy's various scholarship and visitor programs, the introductions were supposed to address the question "what do you miss most about your … Read more Skydiving In a Hijab: the Wonders of Exchange Programs
Algerian scholars Amina Leghima and Lila Chabane, 2011 AIMS Maghribi Grantees at TALIM's Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed Library I hope not; I hope this is not the end of a small, effective scholarship program. I hope that someone in a position to do something – say a senior US Government Executive Branch official – will … Read more The Last of the Maghribi Grantees?
Lucy Melbourne, American writer on Morocco, Fulbright scholar, and comparitive literature professor has done us a singular honor, with the publication of her poem "TALIM" in MLM – Le Magazine Littéraire du Maroc. It's in the Autumn 2011 issue. As Lucy says, it's further proof that English has become a language of literature in Morocco. … Read more A Poem Entitled TALIM
1961… Fifty years ago, a modernist architectural edifice in "New Tangier" replaces the Gift of the Sultan. [T]he Tangier Legation was an exception. Before 1821, and for a long while after, the United States owned no property abroad… [In the 1950s and 60s] Projects such as Tangier… designed by young "stars" such as Hugh Stubbins, … Read more The Modernist Tangier American Consulate General
You have to be dedicated, or perhaps suffering jet lag, to get up to watch Michael Singh's excellent documentary at 08:00 on a Sunday morning. The time was a function of the setting: this was the annual conference of MESA, the Middle East Studies Association, and Valentino's Ghost was making a debut showing. It's all … Read more Valentino’s Ghost: Hollywood & TV Imagine Arabs
Party poster show, Election Day minus 4 UPDATE 11/26/2011: Checking international media sources, it appears that the moderate Islamist PJD is claiming victory in yesterday's parliamentary elections in Morocco. And it looks like voter turnout, though slightly higher than in 2007, is still below half the electorate – the result no doubt of a vigorous … Read more Following Morocco’s Elections From Afar
The organizers, with sold-out table Many websites that provide step-by-step guides to "starting your new tradition" are semi-commercial. With yesterday's first edition of what might well become an annual event, our intent was strictly charitable, but then charity does start at home. Saturday's Tangier American Legation Open House and Christmas Market was a roaring success, … Read more Legation Open House & Christmas Market
