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Uriel · Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:27 pm Post subject:

My dad spent a month driving around North Africa when he got out of the army. He said it was interesting, but you wouldn't like it if you were a woman. Of course, that was in the late 60's. Perhaps things have changed. One of my friends who is married to a man from that region said she also spent a month touring the area, and she liked it very much. But then, she wasn't planning on living there.

Loic · Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:38 pm Post subject:

Arabic cultures are still very macho. But I suppose it would not matter to foreigners as the Arabic culture of hospitality is legendary.

Is alcohol readily accessible in Morocco, Greg? I don't think I can live very well in a country where everyone is a self-declared teetotaller.

Since you have also visited Morocco, how francophone is that country, really?
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fab · Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:19 pm Post subject:

greg in noord-frankrijk · Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:16 am Post subject:

Uriel · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:11 pm Post subject:

I had an Algerian algebra professor in college. He once showed us the French way to set up a long division problem (which is essentially vertically flipped from the way I learned it). I had no idea that even something as universal as simple mathematics could have so much variation!

In my limited experience of riding camels, they're pretty uncomfortable -- I don't think I could stand a month on one. I once saw a photo of my mother on one in Egypt -- she was smiling, but .... then again, she was only 20 or so. Probably wouldn't go near one now. (And my dad had to rescue his camel saddle that he had brought back from her attempts to throw it in the trash on more than one occasion!)

Arab hospitality to guests is very well-known; I had another co-worker who had been married to a Jordanian at one point, and she said that when she went to visit his family she was treated like a queen. (Had very nice pictures of Petra, too.)

Nope, don't hear much about North Africa here -- probably because we don't really have any cultural ties to it at all. Very unlike France, which would have not only its historical colonial ties, but plenty of family ties as well from all the North African immigrants, the close proximity, shared language, and it being a major travel destination for you.

Deborah · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:02 pm Post subject:

Uriel · Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:31 pm Post subject:

Loic · Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:06 am Post subject:

A Muslim need not be an orthodox adherent of his faith, I reckon.
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Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.

fab · Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:31 pm Post subject:

fab · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:53 pm Post subject:

I found this map, which represent the areas where grown olive trees. Actuallt this discribes quite well the limits of the areas considered to be of mediterranean climate.

fab · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:16 am Post subject:

concernant la méditerranée, on peut évoquer le projet d'union méditerranéenne.

bien que les raisons pour lesquelles Nicolas Sarkozy ait évoqué la mise en place d'une telle structure puissent être sujet à bémol je trouve personellement qu'un organisme inter-étatique de type union Européenne concernant le monde méditerranéen est à mon avi une chose qui va dans le bon sens.

Porthos · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:37 am Post subject:

greg in noord-frankrijk · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:57 am Post subject:

fab · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 8:52 am Post subject:

Uriel · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 5:37 am Post subject:

Put it this way, though, Fab -- one could argue that the US is a Pacific nation. We have thousands of kilometers of Pacific coastline, and we do a lot of business with other nations on the Pacific Rim, have a large ethnically Asian population along that side of the country, etc.

However, people on the OTHER side of the country -- say, Maryland -- aren't going to have a whole lot of affinity for or identification with the Pacific world. Certainly not like Californians or Hawaiians would.

I think in that case it is possible to divide a single country up in terms of its regional affiliations. So you might say the south of France in Mediterranean, but the northern part is more northern European. Just as New England is definitely within the Atlantic sphere (like much of western Europe), Florida is semi-Caribbean, and Greenland is a strange hybrid of North American and Scandinavian.

Would that be a fair compromise?
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fab · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:37 am Post subject:

Benjamin [inactive] · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:45 am Post subject:

I would consider metropolitan France to be a Mediterranean country, an Atlantic country, a Channel country, and to a small extent a North Sea country. However, I would consider Bordeaux to be Atlantic but not Mediterranean, whilst I would consider Marseille to be Mediterranean but not Atlantic.

I would also consider Northern France to be literally more 'Northern European' than Southern France, because it is comparably further to the North within Europe. For the same reason, I would consider Scotland to be more 'Northern European' than England, and Norway to be more 'Northern European' than Denmark.

fab · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:22 pm Post subject:

greg in noord-frankrijk · Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:18 pm Post subject:

fab je t'assure que Bordeaux est tout sauf méditerranéenne, à commencer par le climat et l'ambiance. Ceci dit, c'est une ville méridionale : elle fait partie du Midi atlantique.

Uriel · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:03 am Post subject: