Azzedine T. Downes

The Couscous Chronicles: Stories of Food, Love, and Donkeys from a Life between Cultures Azzedine T. Downes

Follow Azzedine Downes as he drifts between cultures, places, and time to build a life of service and adventure, first as a young educator in Morocco and later as a father making a home for his family in the United States. As the son of an Irish father and a Muslim mother, blue-eyed Azzedine feels the power-and the burden-of being a cultural shape-shifter. His presence alone evokes curiosity and arguments, sometimes risking great danger to himself and his family. He makes his way as a teacher, an organizer, and later a leader in the U. S. Peace Corps. In this wry traveler's memoir, his tales elicit at turn laughter, compassion, and heartache as Azzedine confronts the human compulsion to make sense of those around us, even when we're wrong. "I never found life to be linear and so returning to a point in time never surprised me," Azzedine writes. "What surprised me was the reaction of those that struggled to tether me to one place." Featuring a foreword by Jane Goodall, who shares his vision for hope and resilience in a troubled world, The Couscous Chronicles unravels the tapestry of a vibrant journey where one is never a stranger, but also never at home.
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