Anyone reading this blog over the last few weeks might get the idea that Morocco lives under a big rain cloud. Definitely not the case. There is a sunny side to the country, and we've been there: Marrakesh. I even groused about its tourist-trap side, though the city is much more than beads and baubles. … Read more AIMS In Marrakesh, TALIM In Morocco
Back in Tangier after a week in sunny Marrakesh. Thankfully the sun is shining in Tangier too. Marrakesh and its sights – sprawling medina around its famous Jemaa el Fna, suburban reservoirs nestled in the shadow of the Atlas Mountains – attract a number of tourists. And therein lies the problem. I don't feel like … Read more Bad Tourist in Marrakesh
I like to call it the "poor box." It's the wooden box screwed to our door, with the hope that visitors to the museum will be moved to leave a token of their appreciation. Good thing tokens don't exist anymore. Or else we'd get them, along with wooden nickels, and other useless objects. Somebody once … Read more Legation Fund Raising: Insert Money Here
It was a year ago, January 2010, that a team from the U.S. measured, photographed, profiled, and documented the multitudinous problems that haunt our historic structure. Visible to the layman are problems of water absorption and saturation, cracking, settlement, mold. To the experts who came to Tangier one year ago, these problems – and more … Read more An Historic Structure: Report Eagerly Awaited
Photo at left: J. Rives Childs, Chargé d'Affaires, American Legation Tangier, February 1941 – June 1945 (from the collection at TALIM). The following letter is from one of Childs' many books, Vignettes, or Autobiographical Fragments, Vantage Press, 1977. – – – – – – – Tangier, 13 … Read more Tangier American Diplomat Among the Righteous?
Note to readers: December is a time when many people suffer from S.A.D., Seasonal Affective Disorder, or the winter blues. I may have identified a variant, peculiar to this corner of North Africa, called L.E.D. or Legation Enchantment Disorder. It's not quite disenchantment, but it is a bummer. This "December Report" is in the format … Read more December Diary: The Enchantment Is Elusive
It has something to do with completing one's research before the end of the calendar year, so December turned out to be Tunisian month in Tangier for three AIMS Maghribi Scholars – two of whom ended their stays in Morocco with presentations at TALIM. Yesterday it was art and architecture with Wissem Abdelmoula; today it … Read more Tunisian Week at TALIM
TALIM gets its share of AIMS Maghribi Scholars (the American Institute for Maghrib Studies grant program for inter-Maghrib research). Actually, Morocco gets the lion's share of scholars from Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Libya. At TALIM, we get to meet these scholars, who all have interesting stories to tell about their specializations, from architecture to zoology. … Read more Wissem Abdelmoula Shares the Fruit of His Research
With the sudden passing of Richard Holbrooke (who was Peace Corps director in Morocco from 1970 to 1972), we have not only lost one of America's top diplomats. We will also miss him when the Peace Corps marks its 50th anniversary of operations in Morocco, which will be held on Memorial Day 2012. I would … Read more Peace Corps 50th in Morocco
The art of piggybacking, taking advantage of targets of opportunity, is particularly important when an institution's budget is, shall we say, limited. This week is a case in point. Thanks to the re-opening, after extensive renovation, of Tangier's legendary bookstore Librairie de Colonnes, a certain amount of high-powered literary and cultural talent has gathered in … Read more Another Tangier Literary Week – With Americans
