ElvisArafat

Elvis Arafat: Report from Sweden

/ bellewether / 3 Comments

Fotolia_Stockholm-old-town-4-Copy.jpg

A little while ago Argos, our European-African traveler, visited Stockholm Sweden for four days.

(See here his reports from Belgium and Jordan).

Argos, mind you, is of conservative persuasions, and the Scandinavian fling with socialism does not suit him. And yet he found it hard to deny that Stockholm had it going on: “It was maybe the most beautiful city I’ve been to.” Despite the absence of mountains (something Argos has always loved), the water was gloriously clear, the buildings magnificent, the streets clean, and the people gorgeous, which probably had something to do with the fact that, wherever he looked, he saw Swedes running, biking, and walking. Continue reading →

Elvis Arafat: Report from Jordan

/ bellewether / 3 Comments
Amman, Jordan

Amman, Jordan

Argos just returned from some wanderings in Jordan, Sweden, and Hungary. This report focuses on his first stop: Jordan and its neighbors.

Two things:

First, a quick refresher. Argos has a new job in which he jets about the globe as an adviser to his organization’s regional leaders and gathers information for corporate. Whenever he gets back stateside he gives me a call to share his observations. His first trip took him to Belgium. 

Second, a caveat: these write-ups are anecdotal but hopefully insightful.
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Elvis Arafat : Report from Belgium

/ bellewether / 7 Comments

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Years ago I walked into a Palestinian barbershop in the Old City of Jerusalem and came across pictures of Yasser Arafat and Elvis pinned to the same wall—a terrorist-freedom fighter and an American rockstar.

Travelling has a way of jolting assumptions and categories and lending perspective to global situations often processed for us by the mainstream media.

So I’d like to introduce a friend that has agreed to share his travelogue with us. We’ll call him Argos.

Argos has a new job in which he jets about the globe as an adviser to his organization’s regional leaders and gathers information for corporate. It’s a sweet gig if you can handle the flying.

Whenever he gets back stateside he’s going to give me a call to share his observations and some of the conversations he had with the locals about politics and culture. Consequently, this will be a reoccurring column at feralyawp. That said, while we’re well aware that Argos’ insights are anecdotal, they are nevertheless suggestive and possibly insightful.

Argos first trip took him to Belgium.

Continue reading →