Iranian and Ethiopian Friends

Iranian Countryside

In my previous post I mentioned that the children attended the American School of Paris.  As was the case of the International School of Brussels,  the variety of children from different countries and cultures provided a rich environment.

Marie-Juliette had a good friend named Sarah who was Iranian.  Sarah was a sweet, soft-spoken girl. Her parents were somewhat reticent to have Sarah come over to our house after school, but they frequently invited Marie-Juliette to their apartment in Paris. The mother and aunts were warm and friendly.   They served her Iranian delicacies.  The family lived in a compound of Iranian refugee families that had fled Khomeini’s regime.  I imagine they had some connection to the Shah?  The building was surrounded by burly security guards sporting machine guns.  I wonder where Sarah and her family are now?

The Ethiopian Blue Nile Falls 

Charles and Christopher became good friends with two brothers from Ethiopia.  Their father was a bigwig at IBM International.  They lived in an apartment complex in St. Cloud.  The apartment buildings were built around a large garden that contained grottos, little bridges and woods .  It was a magical place to play.  Both boys were often invited for play-dates.  The family maintained a cook who sat on a mat on the kitchen floor.  Apparently, the little boys would order up something to eat whenever they were hungry. Maybe some injera and wat (sourdough flat bread and spicy stew).

The Ethiopian mother was an elegant, statuesque lady.  She usually wore a colorful, full-length gown and a matching turban. In my mind she resembled a stately Egyptian goddess. She seemed to enjoy the rough and tumble of four rambunctious boys.  We had tea together and she spoke to me of her family and of the grandeur and beauty of Ethiopia.  I think she was quite lonely.  When she learned of our departure back to the States, she presented Charles and Christopher with hand-embroidered shirts decorated with the Ethiopian coptic cross.  They were a work of art. 

A tee-shirt decorated with the Coptic cross - not a work of art!