Rachel Muyal at her Home

Tangier’s Last Heiress

Waiters scurried around us to push the tiny round mahogany tables together, as is seemingly tradition now on these small group excursions of ours. The older of the two waiters…

Mourad Benkirane

The Oscar-Worthy Smile

I could feel the exhaustion take over. Even though I was thrilled to be on the other side of the world, embarking on my adventure of studying abroad in Morocco,…

Dog at Animal Shelter

You. Are. Crazy!

“Are we almost there?” I whined to my friend, Mohammed. We’d had been walking the stony streets of Tangier for roughly 15 minutes. I struggled because of the hot weather…

Caitlyn and Rania sitting beneath a palm tree.

A Spiritual Journey

When I decided to come to Morocco, some of my family members were worried. “You know it’s a Muslim country, right?” some said. “And Muslims don’t like Jews.” I thanked…

Reflections of a Petri Dish Child

When I first looked into the eyes of Imane, I saw a woman who is on fire. Her fierce advocacy of the natural birthing process and breastfeeding got me reflecting…

Medina in Tangier where Abdul's store is located.

Abdul’s American Love Story

Stories being the best teacher, within a few days of arriving in Tangier, I set out on a quest to uncover the everyday struggles and joys of a single Tanjawi,…

Bashir holding a tray of candles. Photograph by Will Rijnbout.

The Man Beneath the Flames

Candles danced around, magically perched on the man’s head. With a grin, the man danced, twirling and dazzling us with his flawless fire performance. Donning a bright red tunic covered…

Hypnotized in Tangier

When I was 10 years old I lost the person I looked up to most in life, my grandfather. He was the rock of our family, an avid outdoorsman and…

Sam Cohen

The Life and Times of Sam Cohen

Old, broken clocks covered the walls of the Jewish retirement home in Tangier, Morocco. The eight people that inhabited this building were some of the few Jewish people left in…

Photo by Ayoub El Badry

A Refugee in Tangier

The screeching of rubber tires and the rapid belting of a horn warning you to jump out of the way in a narrow, bustling street is unsettling. Then there’s the…