Are you great at reading horrible handwriting? Your expertise is needed!

October 6, 2008 7:35 AM

Are you great at reading horrible handwriting? Your expertise is needed! Last year, I met one the most kind men I had ever come across while traveling through Europe. Unfortunately he gave me his address while rushing for a train and the handwriting of the street is pretty impossible for me to read. Can you decipher it? And if you happen to live in either Alicante, Spain or Rabat, Morocco, perhaps you know him? His name is Idrissi Hafid.
posted by mwachs to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

What I've done in this situation is to copy exactly the terrible handwriting onto the envelope--the letter gets there, and the people at the receiving end tend to recognize the local address.
posted by interrobang at 7:42 AM on October 6, 2008 [4 favorites]

3 Calle Algar (or Algan) [UNKNOWN WORD - maybe "Namivar"?]
Playa San Juan de Alicante
posted by Rock Steady at 7:42 AM on October 6, 2008

3 calle ... navidad
Playa San Juan
de alicante

I suggest you find out if there is such a place and call the mosque there and ask if they know this man and if they have a fax machine. Send a picture and a note and ask them to please pass on a message.
posted by parmanparman at 7:42 AM on October 6, 2008

Cannot be 100% sure, but from here it looks like:

Idrissi Hafid
3 Calle Algas Marinas
Playa San Juan
Alicante

A quick web search seems to confirm there is a street that goes by that name in Alicante, so it looks plausible enough.
posted by doctorpiorno at 7:45 AM on October 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

I think I agree with doctorpiorno -- that address comes up on Google Maps.
posted by olinerd at 7:57 AM on October 6, 2008

Yeah, doctorpiorno has it. Score one more for AskMe!
posted by languagehat at 8:01 AM on October 6, 2008

Last year, I met one the most kind men I had ever come across

Kind enough to forgive you posting his full name and address on the web without permission, I'm sure.
posted by jack_mo at 10:28 AM on October 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

FYI, Alicante has a population of well over 300,000 people, and Rabat has a population of two million. In other words more than say, Detroit, Philly or Houston. Or three times Austin ;)
posted by Iteki at 10:36 AM on October 6, 2008

Response by poster: Yes, I hope he's about to be able to forgive me...

Others: Thanks for your deciphering thus far!
posted by mwachs at 11:22 AM on October 6, 2008

FWIW, his name is Hafid Idrissi - his surname is written first on the paper, in block capitals.
posted by different at 3:03 PM on October 6, 2008