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Happy birthday, Discovering MENA!!

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Wow. A year has passed since I shyly published a post in Discovering MENA and other thoughts. A year in which I have had my ups and down, I've been thrilled and I have been disillusioned, I have received invaluable support that has given me wings and I've lost hope sometimes. Confronting a blank page is not always easy, inspiration is very tricky, and having a blog means feeling very lonely sometimes. But the good thing is that I have never been bored, I have always found the motivation to carry on. This blog is really one of the things that keep me well alive and lively.

I created it trying to find a way to organize my thoughts. I had started to accumulate a certain amount of knowledge on the region (once you start discovering it, you cannot stop asking for more) and wanted to prove to myself I was able to put all of this in writing, to analyze what was going through, to put it and elaborate on it in an easy comfortable way. Being followed was the least of my expectations. And it still kind of is. As long as only one person has learned something with Discovering MENA, I am content enough. Because I myself have learnt more than I ever imagined. And, let's be honest, I am still a beginner in the field!

I still am ecstatic. I still am fascinated. I still look forward to sharing more expertise. Nonetheless I am above all thankful, thankful to all of those who follow me regularly, to those who sometimes check the blog, to those who have read it sometimes, and even to all of those who don't want to but are a source of personal and professional inspiration to me. I wouldn't be what I am without you.

Thank you. Gracias. Merci. Shokran.

P.D. I am always open to suggestions and criticism, never forget that!


Special thanks to these special people who read me regularly (or at least pretend to) and have supported both me and the blog in one way or the other: Maria Sanchez, Anissa, Antonio, Paula, Beatriz, Javier, Alexandre, Francesca, Clément, Eleonora,  Lucy, Rosa, Jon, Laura... (and those I am forgetting about).

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