The Couscous Chronicles

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.