I stumble onto the escalator heading toward the train tracks. I feel ill; perhaps it’s from not eating, and then eating too much, but in any case, I feel as though I’m about to faint. I shouldn’t even be here right now,* I think to myself as I collapse onto a bench, grateful for the […]
Originally posted at Talk Morocco Julia Roberts, McDonald’s, Mickey Mouse. This was how a young Moroccan student of mine described the United States to me. Images from his youth: Pretty Woman, glimpsed illicitly on satellite TV as a boy, or downloaded by BitTorrent. McDonald’s, which arrived in his hometown when he was eight, a beacon […]
Authenticity keeps coming up in conversations. First it was the white people and dreadlocks conversation, followed by one about manufactured authenticity via cappuccino. In that same post, David says, “I find that for most tourists nothing is more important than seeking out the “authentic” of where they are.” I’ve been thinking a lot lately about […]