Twenty years ago, in the magical Belgian film Toto le héros, we saw a glimpse of the future: walking down the street, you're confronted with wiring, plumbing, and tubing coming out of the most unexpected places. It's the Centre Pompidou effect, but without the discipline. I've seen the future, and it's here in the medina. … Read more Wired, Wireless, Haywire: Legation’s Trimlines Get Sidelined
Does TALIM pass the SAT* test? *SAT stands for Save America's Treasures, a US National Park Service program which, according to the NPS, "is one of the largest and most successful grant programs for the protection of our nation’s endangered and irreplaceable cultural heritage." TALIM Board members, Fellows, Friends of the Legation, interested citizens, and … Read more Save America’s Treasured Legation
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
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
Number of US National Historic Landmarks: fewer than 2,500 Number located outside the United States: 1 Location: Tangier, Morocco Name: American Legation (TALIM) – – – – – – – We are proud of our designation as the only US National Historic Landmark located outside the United States. So it was only natural that we … Read more National Historic Landmark: Shining the Legation’s Plaque
Sometimes, it takes an entomologist. At right, that's Jay Nixon, Board Certified Entomologist with American Pest Management, Inc., sent to TALIM courtesy of the State Department's Overseas Building Operations (OBO). Jay believes in the top to bottom approach in surveying our more than two century old building for insect problems. Bottom means bottom. In this … Read more Disco Time at the Legation’s Cistern Chapel
Last week I told you that the crime scene tape was coming up: well, I didn't find the yellow variety, but red and white stripes will do just fine. I don't want this to be a one-note blog, but these days of torrential rains and raw weather has put building concerns front and center. Try … Read more Incredible Shrinking Museum
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
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
