Because I like to delve into parallel history, here's what was going on in Tangier December 3rd, 1940: A band of Italian hooligans entered the British Post Office, tore down some photographs and news bulletins and damaged the counter grille. There seems to be no necessity to comment upon these events, which will be treated … Read more 70 Years Ago: Tangier Under Franco’s Rule
I'm not in the habit of running real estate articles, but thanks to vigilant friends of TALIM, I was alerted to an article in today's New York Times. In its "Great Homes and Destinations" series, the Times provides a tantalizing look at how some people (not us!) live in Tangier's medina. "In Tangier, a Traditional … Read more What Money Can Buy in Tangier: More Than a Dry Roof
While the US State Department deals with the Wikileaks crisis, we have our own brand of leaks. The literal kind. Leaks that seep in between the large, gaping spaces in window frames, through shutters that are rotten, or via walls that are cracked from foundering foundations. Think I'm exaggerating? Well, look at the map (Bestcountryreports.com). … Read more Wicked Leaks & TALIM: Our Own Liquidity Problem
That's me in front of one of the Legation's many doors, or doors-within-gates. Only it's not in the medina of Tangier, but in DACOR Bacon House, the HQ of Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired. DACOR has a small but wonderful museum, open to the public. But why this massive artifact from America's oldest diplomatic establishment? … Read more Washington’s Piece of the Tangier American Legation
Vicariously, I experienced the First Regional Book Fair in Tangier through updates from TALIM's Associate Director. According to Yhtimad Bouziane (here with Tangier's new mayor Fouad El Omari and Book Fair organizer Rachid Amahjour as they visited the Legation stand), it was a great opportunity to network and do lots of outreach, while selling a … Read more Tangier is Enchanted by Diana Wylie’s Book
Americans, when they hear the term "roofing," may think of flimsy shingles nailed into plywood. A weekend project for do-it-yourself carpenters. Not Tangier. Think concrete. Think layers. Many layers, like those encountered by an archeologist digging down into a Middle Eastern tell. Unearthing layers of valiant attempts to combat Tangier's notorious rains, which, as novelist … Read more Reclaiming America’s Legation: One Roof, One Room At a Time
Once, in a doctor’s office, as he paged through a dermatology manual, I was in the uncomfortable position of discovering the incredible variety of freckles, moles, beauty spots, rashes, cancers, ulcers, and growths that can appear on the human body. Luckily, whatever I had was in the benign category, but those pictures were indelibly seared … Read more Tangier’s Plague of Black Mold
Good publicity is almost as good as cash in the bank. So we were very pleased to be listed in the top 10 organizations to be highlighted in the upcoming "Summit" in Washington on Citizen Cultural Diplomacy. If it brings us much-needed funding, all the better. If not, well, we can bask in the glory. … Read more TALIM’s Moment In the Sun?
Thanks to an alert friend who spots everything to do with Tangier, here is "Lost in Tangier," the recent New York Times travel piece by Matt Gross. It's mostly about Matt Gross and his penchant for trying to get lost and always finding his way, which is an achievement in the medina of Tangier. He … Read more Tangier in the N.Y.Times
It’s out. Diana Wylie’s book Enchantment: Pictures From the Tangier American Legation Museum. And it’s a beauty. At left, Diana shows me a chapter on Tangier’s International Zone era, from the galley proof of her book. In the book world, you shouldn’t judge solely by covers. Not only is Boston University Professor Wylie’s book full … Read more Enchanting Book On America’s Legation
