"Look at the peaks!"

I think I mentioned in a post back in the fall that the translation of the name of a beautiful northern town -- Chefchaouen -- means "look at the peaks." It's apt. The Rif Mountains are lovely; they most certainly ought to be admired. But mountains, as we know, require more than just ogling, and so imagine my excitement when my landlord mentioned two or three months that he belongs to a hiking group. "You can come too, if you can keep up," he offered.

Picturing the diversity of MENA

For the last several years, Fulbright has sponsored an annual enrichment seminar for the grantees based in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region. In early May I was fortunate enough to travel to Amman for this year's seminar, as well as to extend my plane ticket on either end and do some tromping around Beirut, Damascus and the Petra ruins in Jordan.

Enrichment seminar? you may be asking yourself. Where is it that my hard-earned tax money is going now? A fair question.