Americans in Algeria Speaking Arabic
In the latest video from Allaqta, Andrew interviews his compatriot July Blalack in Arabic about her experience in Algeria.
Interviewing July Blalack at Allaqta's studio in Algiers.
One of the perks and peculiarities of being one of just a handful of Americans here in Algeria is that I get a lot of interesting cold calls from the few American tourists who pass through. Given how little is written on Algeria in English, it makes sense; many English speakers who Google the country land here at my blog sooner or later.
Last summer there were Jeff and Steve, a pair of adventurous guys from Minnesota who had stumbled upon ultra-cheap roundtrip Minneapolis-Algiers tickets and bought them before doing any research. (After they reached out to ask, more or less, "Did we just make a crazy mistake?" I reassured them that they hadn't, and helped them map out an exhilarating 10-day itinerary. We met for lunch on their last day in Algiers. It was great fun all around.)
Not long after, Daniel, an LA-based friend-of-a-friend, got in touch about visiting the Sahraoui refugee camps in Tindouf. I gave him some contacts and advice on logistics, and he ended up taking me with him on his trip! (More on that to come very soon. Update: Read now: "In Tindouf Refugee Camps, Resignation and Frustration Do Battle")
Already this year, I had a visit from Ohio native (by way of Boston, Hanoi, and Nashville) and amateur musician Peter, who was casually traveling through Algiers with his mom.
And last week, my friends at Allaqta (the outfit who produced the great video profile that made me almost-famous-in-Algeria) called to say that they had found another American—and this one was an Arabic speaker too.
That was how I came to meet July and interview her about her experience visiting Algeria. Enjoy: