Dinner
at Alfio's, Saturday 19th, October 2013
Thanks to Marlène Barki Lesley, a few members of the
Washington Metropolitan AAHA Group joined in and were reunited on
October 19th in the elegant party room of Alfio's Trattoria Restaurant,
Chevy Chase, Maryland.
The attendees were: Marlène (Barki) Lesley; Liliana (Cohen) Brown; Viviane
(Maschoieff) Pescov & Irwin Pescov; Joan (Vernikos) Hazan; Michèle
(Hindi) Alexander; Sonia (Khoury) Mahlouf & Rene Mahlouf; Eliane (Klat)
Kasteloot; Simone (Samuel) Shofer & Ralph Shofer; Sheila (Jabes) Tucker;
Élie Pallia; Jackie (Hirsh) & Herbert Samuel
After the appetizers and wines, the group enjoyed a
delicious dinner composed of a choice of different entrees.
Marlene (Barki) Lesley welcomed everyone and asked
the AAHA Group to introduce themselves and share, if they liked, their
growing up in Alexandria or any travel they enjoyed this past summer.
Viviane(Maschoieff) Pescov (Lycee Francais) took a
moment to remember a Dear Friend, Raymond Levy, who passed away recently
in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Raymond was the husband of Lisette Solal Levy.
Both Raymond & Lisette grew up in Alexandria where they were married in
June 1956 (57 yrs). They both went back to Alexandria, several times, to
visit the city and its sunny beaches they once loved.
Raymond loved the sea and was a passionate fisherman
and continued this sport in Sao Paulo till almost the end of his life.
When living in Alexandria, his only complaint was when, during the
summertime, Lisette and 4 of her friends would ride in Raymond's small
car (Skoda) to spent the week-end, at the Touring Club, in El Agami
Beach : these singing divas didn't stop singing the same song, on and
on, of Dean Martin's: " That's Amore"!
Once at El Agami, it was fun doing the "navette"
(going and coming) between El Agami, Bianchi & Hanoville. Playing
racket-ball, swimming and partying & dancing, at night, under the stars
on the music of Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Belafonte and Tony
Bennett's famous interpretation of "Stranger in Paradise"! For some
reason, the moon was always there illuminating the busy seashore and the
gentle waves.
Viviane read the following poem, in prose, in memory
of Raymond Levy:
"Remembering Raymond Levy: An Alexandrian"
My Friends:
Remember with me,
An Alexandrian who lived
By the blue Mediterranean Sea.
He once loved with passion
Before passing away,
Far away in a nation
By a tropical ocean,
With exotic seashores.
He found in this new land,
Love, friendship, ambitions,
Nature, the sunny beaches
And fishing expeditions
He had left behind long ago
In Cosmopolitan Alexandria,
By the blue Mediterranean Sea.
Viviane Pescov
Oct 19th, 2013
Marlene (Barki) Lesley first thanked everyone for
attending this very friendly and fun dinner. She thanked Liliana Brown &
Viviane Pescov for their help. She told us about her interesting
childhood & her school days
Liliana (Cohen) Brown (Lycee Francais of
Cairo) reported the wonderful getting together meeting with Sandro &
Anne-Marie Manzoni in Geneva.
Sandro & Anne-Marie: we all miss you and send you
Baccionis until we meet again. Ya Gamaa: It's thanks to Sandro that we
all started reuniting.
Joan Vernikos/Hazan (English Girls College) is an
Alexadrian who even though she's retired from NASA is still very active,
wrote many books on Health; on Ageing & Gravity; a very interesting
Newsletter on Health tips and many more... Joan told us about her recent
very interesting trips in France and all over Europe. Above all, she
related to us very important Health tips. Try to get Joan to email y'all
her Newsletter. Many Thanks Joan! Hope Geoffrey will join us next time.
Michele (Hindi) Alexander (Dames de Sion) joined in
and we enjoyed hearing about growing up in Alexandria.
Sonia & Rene Mahlouf (Victoria College) were
wonderful and charming as usual. They both sounded great when relating
the story when they first met and got married. Rene was born in Khartoum
(his father was a doctor there).
Eliane Kasteloot: always eloquent talked about the
schools she attended: Les Dames de Sion & then Le Lycee Francais
d'Alexandrie.
Sheila (Jabes) Tucker: the only Cairene among us
admitted liking Alexandria in the summertime.
Simone (Samuel) & Ralph Shofer: Simone who attended
The English Girls College talked about her school days.
Elie Pallia: friendly as usual talked about very
interesting books on Alexandria(one of the books is written by Albert
Pardo. Elie reminisced about the Figs of Alexandria. He promised us figs
and fig's seedlings for our next meeting.
Herbert & Jackie (Hirsh) Samuel: both attended Le
Lycee Francais and spoke about their youth and settling in the USA and
getting married.
Viviane (Maschoieff) Pescov mentioned attending and
graduating from the Lycee Francais.
Her husband Irwin was born in NY and attended school
in Washington.
These introductions were all laughter and fun. Many
jokes or " Noktas" were told. We didn't want to part after a long
luncheon which lasted close to 3 hours.
Our Gratitude to Marlene for getting us together, to
Eliane for the pics, to Liliana for helping.
A la Prochaine
Reported by Viviane (Maschoieff) Pescov