tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25701795040212584322024-03-13T06:33:15.773-07:00In the footsteps of Nefertarisuzy pirotte vidalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00475022942338961296noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570179504021258432.post-33313890551719723192009-12-11T18:26:00.000-08:002010-01-28T07:39:36.515-08:00About the author<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_S5jgn91xXpU/SyL-w1Y3jcI/AAAAAAAAACw/T7dz_Y9K_m0/s1600-h/SultanaSuzy+%28smallest%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_S5jgn91xXpU/SyL-w1Y3jcI/AAAAAAAAACw/T7dz_Y9K_m0/s200/SultanaSuzy+%28smallest%29.jpg" /></a><br />
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<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">[By clicking on my profile - or the blue link -, you'll enter <a href="http://footstepsofnefertari.blogspot.com/" style="color: blue;">my second blog</a>, on which you can see the presentation of my <i>novels</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a dir="ltr" href="http://sultanalatifasblog.blogspot.com/search/label/1.%20The%20Jasmine%20Necklace%20tome%20I"> </a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;"> ] </span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I would be happy to supply any information concerning the sale of my books. Just email <a href="mailto:vidalsuzy@gmail.com" style="color: #45818e;">vidalsuzy@gmail.com</a><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In 1956 after the Suez War, most French and English Jews were kicked out of Egypt.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The rest, such as my family of Italian origin, left gradually because of vexations and reprisals against Jews in general as Israel had participated in that Anglo-French war.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In fact today there are practically no Jews left in Egypt except for a handful of people who do not leave because they are too old or cannot face re-adapting themselves to a new life.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Re-adapting to a new life was horrendous. We exiled ourselves to Milan as we had an Italian passport.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">How can anyone re-adapt to anything after having lived in Egypt, which at that time was a <i>ganna</i>, paradise.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The struggle for life was unbelievable.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We received no help from the Italian government who claimed: “We were not at war with Egypt, you shouldn’t have left.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">So our slide into poverty took its toll on both my parents and their health deteriorated.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It is true of my mother first who could not get over that exile. She left us at age 55 and then my father followed her at age 57.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We were therefore doubly orphans. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Separated from the country of our birth and that we considered as ours and secondly my parents leaving us.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It was accordingly necessary to pay tribute to both our community and my family.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">That is why I started writing my books so that no one forgets.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The title on the footsteps of Nefertari was chosen because she was beautiful and intelligent. Also the wife of the great Ramses 2, she was an independent woman before her age. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In this our Jewish women were like her.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Now take yourself back to Egypt and follow our guide Nefertari who will lead you into the world of Egyptian Jews.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div>suzy pirotte vidalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00475022942338961296noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570179504021258432.post-57320786027981797082009-12-11T18:21:00.000-08:002009-12-14T12:43:05.496-08:001. The Jasmine Necklace I<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 9" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 9" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:/Users/DOMINI%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><style>
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<h1><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">In 1956 the nationalisation of the Suez Canal disrupted our lives and we were “gently” <o:p></o:p></span></h1><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">pushed out of our own free will!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Ever since that forceful exile I have wanted to write our story, it has now become a matter of extreme emergency, as we are the last of the Mohicans, i.e. the older generation of Jews from Egypt.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The Jasmine Necklace, my very first book, gives an account of the life of Jews in an Arab land.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It brings back the tastes, scents and sounds of our life in Egypt. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Our traditions were rich and colourful. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We spoke several languages without problem. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We mingled with Christians and Moslems in peace.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Thinking we were part of that country, our attachment to Egypt was massive.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I wanted to mark our passage with my Jasmine Necklace.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Encouraged by everyone I went on to write.</span><br />
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</div>suzy pirotte vidalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00475022942338961296noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570179504021258432.post-56713656881017704782009-12-11T18:10:00.000-08:002009-12-13T08:56:29.929-08:002. Extaday. A childhood in Cairo 1939-1949 (The Jasmine Necklace II)<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 9" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 9" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:/Users/DOMINI%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The second book of the trilogy is our story as seen through the eyes of a child.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Two wars contributed to the demise of the Jewish Community in Egypt.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">1948: the birth of the State of Israel and the war that ensued breaking up our established and happy life. We paid very harshly for the foundation of that state. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">A good part of those who saw no future in Egypt for Jews, rejoined Israel.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Thus our 80.000 strong community shrunk by half.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In between that war and the Suez Canal War there was also another war, <b>WW2.</b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It was a very happy period for me as a child in spite of the war.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Living at the Extaday Hotel with the Americans as part of our life was exhilarating.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The raids when we all had to rush for shelter four floors downwards were also part of my contentment.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The hotel was a vast playground and my constant battles with boys a mammoth joy for me.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">My day-to-day adventures as a very boisterous child convinced my parents I should be tamed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">They sent me to a nun’s school and that is how I was almost tamed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">But you know what the French say:</span><span lang="EN-GB"> </span><i><span lang="FR-BE">“</span>Chassez le naturel et il revient au galop!”</i><br />
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</div>suzy pirotte vidalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00475022942338961296noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570179504021258432.post-27313621399009521292009-12-11T18:07:00.000-08:002009-12-14T12:26:20.261-08:003. The blue slipper of exile (the Jasmine Necklace III)<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 9" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 9" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:/Users/DOMINI%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We were living in a silk and honey cocoon and from one day to another we had to confront exile, poverty and cold.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We could not stay on in the land of our birth, not with all the threats and hatred towards Jews at that moment. Exacerbated by the clever speeches of Gamal Abdel Nasser arousing an unconditional support for him from the masses, it became even dangerous to walk along in the streets. We were not spared insults such as <i>Yehoudeya kalba</i>, Jewess dog, or ‘Tomorrow your turn will come’, showing a throat splitting gesture.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">One after another Jews of English or French nationality were expelled and those Jews who had lost their nationality because of that war could not leave unless they found a ‘system’ i.e. paying a lot of money to get that precious exit visa on which was stamped “NO RETURN.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">My family consequently decided to leave; no one could stop us as Italians but that meant losing everything we had and leaving with 2 bags and £ 10. We had more than 2 suitcases because of the baksheesh my father showered on Customs officers.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We did not all leave at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">First my grandfather who had become ‘apatride’ (stateless) and who’s shop had been confiscated, was put in a plane going to Milan, where he incidentally got lost not speaking anything but Arabic.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Then my mother and thirteen-year-old sister took a TWA Cairo Milan ticket, they then managed to change their ticket to Tel Aviv and visited our family who had settled there.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">During all that time I still did not know if I would be able to take my degree at AUC.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I held on hanging by my teeth till the day I received my degree on my 21<sup>st</sup> birthday.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It was time to leave as well say goodbye to Jasmine at its perfume and all the delights of our former Europeanised and cosmopolitan Egypt.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Once in Milan our situation got worse and worse. Our slide into poverty was inexorable.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The money that my father had entrusted to a passer, along with that of other people, disappeared into thin air. The passer stole all that money and left families destitute.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In Milan a large group of expatriates drifted along as well as they could, most of them waiting for a visa from the USA. Our Saturday meeting place was ‘La Galleria’ downtown Milan where we would each tell our story and give or receive advice on how to get out of the rut. We were extremely poor but so very well dressed! The Paris expatriates were called <i>“les clochards millionaires”</i> selling their clothes on the streets.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">One good thing though was a delightful mini pizza that you could eat standing up next to a round high top and watch that mozzarella being stretched out like chewing gum.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">But then there was also the cold and icy wind transpiercing us in winter.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Every day we checked the classified ads to find a job. But none of us knew Italian so how could we find any job. </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I taught English at night school but that was not enough to pay rent, feed a family and so on.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We were forced to give up our apartment and to rent two rooms in a ‘pension’. Though the lodger La Signora Lina was the sweetest old lady in the world, we were most unhappy.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">There was no hot water; the floor all crooked, the rooms were dark and my mother kept saying ABADAN, ABADAN, Darkness of doom!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The winter of 57 was a terrible one for us. We went on drifting like helpless leaves in the wind.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Also a lot of thieving people took advantage of us. Only the Americans sent us cans of cheese.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Illness took its toll on my mother and my father slipped into a depression.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Two years went by before we could raise our heads, but only after finding jobs with Egyptian Jews for my father and after two fruitless efforts (one of these was a scam to capture my first salary) I found a job with Italians. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Then life became brighter and we could lift our heads a little.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">To be followed in the book.</span><br />
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suzy pirotte vidalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00475022942338961296noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2570179504021258432.post-71602347715270556302009-12-11T17:59:00.000-08:002009-12-11T19:12:30.815-08:004. An unabridged trilogy<div style="text-align: justify;">These three books are now united in an unabridged trilogy under the name <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">“The Jasmine Necklace”</span> (A4 / 332 pages)<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">with new pictures, recipes, grandmother’s remedies, the evil eye and the inimitable sayings of my grandfather, and other funny uses we had in Egypt and later our strange dealings with ‘la mutua’ ( healthcare ‘<i>à l’italienne</i>’ ) and other events of daily life by people who did not speak Italian and had to point a finger!<br />
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</div>suzy pirotte vidalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00475022942338961296noreply@blogger.com1