Algeria

I love Revolutionario North African Tacos in Los Angeles which has a French Algerian chef. The tacos have such a great fusion of Algerian and other cuisines. When I visited with my sister-in-law and nephews, the special was a Thai taco. I also made sure to try the Albanian classics and they were all delicious!

There is diversity in the pictures on thecrazytourist.com for Algeria - desert, mountains, classical fountains, Roman ruins, modern cities, and more. They have three sections dedicated to different parts of Algeria, so you can plan future trips! As is true for most pictures on this blog, photo credit to thecrazytourist.com for the picture attached here.

The reading for Algeria was the hardest part for me. Probably the most famous book about Algeria is The Stranger by Albert Camus. The protagonist/antihero is one of the French colonizers of Algeria. In response, The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud parallels The Stranger with the protagonist/antihero being one of the colonized. Reading either or both takes you pretty deep into Camus' philosophy of the absurd. I finished both, but considered them more of an accomplishment than a pleasure.

Since the recent literature was difficult, I tried going back further into Algeria's history with Saint Augustine by Garry Wills. I struggled with that one as well. I learned that the pagans blamed the Christians for ruining something they set up (the fall of Rome) and that Aleric (attacker of Rome) was not a pagan but an Arian Christian. These ideas were counter to things I was taught in Christian school while growing up, but not necessarily worth listening to the six CDs unless you are a fan of early church history.

I watched Zabana! the 2012 entry from Algeria to Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film regarding an Algerian freedom fighter. From this I learned more about Algeria's struggle against France. All of the references listed above are available through Amazon and possibly in local libraries. Google books also brings up some references and travel guides for Algeria.

In the end, the food and the travel (if and when it becomes safe) seem to me what I would want to experience of Algeria. Your local travel advisor would know when and where to go. Shout out to my favorite travel advisor, Kaitlin Darnell at Laura's Travel in Redlands. May the travel industry survive and thrive - may we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Algeria and throughout the world.