Rapid Travel Chai

I wrote yesterday how Trump found me at a Moroccan highway toll booth.

Morocco may seem peripheral to Americans, rather less so to Europeans due to its role as a transit point for refugees/migrants. Yet, Morocco is one of America’s earliest friends.

The first foreign soil purchased by the fledgling United States of America was for the American Legation in Tangier. Morocco was among the first countries to recognize the United States.

Of the 2,540 US National Historic Sites, there are 17 among the US Commonwealths and Territories and 5 in Associated States, however only this 1 in a Foreign State. It is a highlight of a visit to Tangier, a beautiful museum on the edge of the medina, near the Jewish Cemetery.

The building hearkens back to a time when overseas representation was meant to engage with the local population. Now we have ominous fortress embassies that even I as a US citizen am intimidated to approach.

As we contemplate the upcoming election where some candidates talk of walls, exclusion, violence and more, the meaning of a place of cultural understanding and engagement is never more relevant. You never know when an old friend or a new may come at a moment of need.