Me and Abdellah...
Well, I would have preferred writing this closer to the “real-time” event, but it seems like 2 weeks have just gone by and I haven’t had any time to sit down and write this. It is now Thursday evening, after the first Holiday of Passover and have decided no matter what I will get this down on “paper”.
I returned home from Paris almost 2 weeks ago and, as expected, found myself sick for the first week I was back. This always seems to happen to me when I travel, or change environments, and I always am grateful actually for these periods of being unwell, as it is a wonderful opportunity for my body to cleanse itself of everything unhealthy that has accumulated during the change. New foods, new air, stress of travel etc. This time the whole process was shortened by a long-distance Reiki healing I received from Michal, one of my newest Reiki II students with enormous energies and powerful healing abilities. Much thanks to her.
And then of course the second week went by getting ready for the Holiday, finishing up work, cooking and finally a lovely Seder evening with Shlomit and Aviva.
And now, back to Gay Paree where I spent a wonderful 9 days with my dear friend Abdellah. I arrived early in the morning on Friday, and as expected, the weather was cold, rainy, windy for my entire stay. There was a solar eclipse the week I was there and my daughter asked me if I had seen the eclipse of the sun. My reply was: “What sun?”. Abdellah picked me up and took me to his brother and sister-in-laws home in a small village about 45 minutes outside of Paris by train called Seugy. They also have a 2 + year old son named Yanis and none of them speak a word of English. It was a fascinating journey into the world of body language and non-verbal communication. Especially with Yanis who did not even comprehend initially that there is such a thing as a “foreign” language and was quite amused at the funny way I spoke and began imitating me by speaking gibberish. I finally understood the amazing way my father always gets along with his great-grandchildren who speak no English and his speaking very very limited Hebrew. I found myself unconsciously using the same methods I always see him using to connect with the kids and I had a wonderful time with Yanis. We bonded quite easily, and although they were away on a ski trip the whole week and we actually only spent 2 full days together, I already had begun learning simple French. I commented that if I stayed for a full month with him, I’d be speaking French. (Like a 2 year old, was the reply!!).
Abdellah and I caught up on 1 ½ years of our lives since we last saw each other. Went almost everyday into Paris by train, found ourselves in cold nasty weather, rain, train strike one day and demonstrations another…all in all, quite interesting. But I had been to Paris 20 years ago and didn’t really come to be a tourist. Went to Paris to visit a friend and that is mostly what we did. We strolled around for awhile, went to see a couple of movies, window shopped a little, but mostly just enjoyed each other’s company and ate great food. (I had lost 4 kilo over the past couple of months-unintentionally-when I began eating really healthy meals which I have delivered to me each day at work-and gained it all back in just 9 days in Paris-eating much pasta, bread, enormous quantities of cheese and all kinds of deli and meat and sausages which I never eat at all!)
On Sunday we went to another one of his brother’s, Rashid, and I got to eat my first real French dinner which took about 5 hours to eat. Abdellah apologized that it was a “light” meal, but I hate to think what I would have done if it had been a “full” meal! We started with aperitif, and I drank my first Champagne! It was wonderful! But since I never , or very rarely drink, and I was on an empty stomach, it got to me right way. Add to that the wine during the meal and you can imagine my state when I finally got up from the dinner table. But the food was wonderful, even to the strange (for me) course of salad and cheeses and bread AFTER the main course. And then of course dessert….not to mention the entre before the main course…but the company was interesting, most people spoke some English so I was not completely in the dark all afternoon, and all in all it was a wonderful day. Another day, Abdellah wanted to learn how to bake challah, so we stayed home and that’s what we did!
It’s the first time in a very long time that I was able to just relax and enjoy each day, and I came home with enormous reserves of energy. I look forward to seeing him again one of these days, but who knows where? India I guess…
Just one quick story before I end this… For all those who insist on flying El Al for security reasons, you will most appreciate this story. When I got to the airport together with Abdellah, I made sure to get their early so as to get a good seat on the plane for the flight home. Although I was 3rd on line, I was one of the last to actually get to the ticket counter and wound up sitting in the very last row in the tail of the plane, near the bathrooms and kitchen!! Let me tell you, riding in the tail of the plane is an experience I hope I never have to go through again. Anyway, how did I wind up there? Well, as I said, Abdellah escorted me to the gate and when my turn came, the girl asked “are you together?” I said yes, but only I am flying, and Abdellah went to wait for me with my promise to him that “This shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes!” When I approached the desk where the security girl stood, she asked me who that was who escorted me and I replied that he is a friend of mine…and she asked me what his name was. Well, before I realized, or had time to think, of course I automatically said “Abdellah” and then both of us looked at each other and realized that an interesting script was about to be played out!! To make a long story short, before I left the desk, she knew the names of all my children, grandchildren and sons-in-law, their ages, addresses, and where they work, the whole story of my life in America and then my Aliya, my divorce, my current job etc. And then of course the questions about my suitcase. The tricky one being, “in the whole time you were in France, did anyone ever have access to your suitcase when you weren’t around?” I explained that we stayed at his brother’s house, but that they were away and just the two of us were there alone in Seugy. (Seugy??Seugy??-anyone here ever heard of Seugy??) So then of course the obvious look of question when I explained that I had my own room and my suitcase was always there with me (“You slept in SEPARATE rooms???” ) except for when we went out and we always went together. At this point, quite skeptical of my explanation, she walked over to consult with the 3 other security guards, pointing to me, pointing to Abdellah sitting on the side and explaining to them that I claim that we slept in separate rooms, and the look on all of their faces as they looked over at me obviously saying “yeah, right!”…. Well, after some further questioning, about where we know each other from, what I was doing in India alone, etc., etc., they finally released me to the baggage check. I had to go through a check where they use some kind of hand held detectors that they use to check every single item individually in the suitcase. I had to remove (after a guarantee from the girl there that she would make sure everything got back in again) everything from my suitcase, and remove everything from the smaller cosmetic, medicine etc., bags inside the suitcase, and from inside those bags, everything from the smaller zip lock bags they were closed in, tell them what each medicine, cream, etc., was used for etc. Then the same thing for my backpack….Then, before finally releasing me to the ticket counter, the head of all El Al security at the airport arrived and asked me if it would be OK if they also questioned Abdellah. I said it is OK with me but of course you’ll have to ask him. He doesn’t have to speak to you if he chooses not to. (He did answer their questions and, of course, since we were both telling the truth, our stories checked out!) I can understand finally why Abdellah has never come to Israel even though he says he would love to. He has family here by the way, as his mother is Muslim but his father is Jewish…. Several of his relatives came to Israel over the last few years to visit the relatives in Ashdod, but after what they went through , advised all the others not to do it. I can now understand, that if this is what was done to me, an older lady, Israeli citizen, what must be done to people with Arab sounding names or looks….I understand the reasons for this security, but must tell you that it is not funny at all….I wasn’t angry with anyone, or even annoyed, but it was not a pleasant thing to have to go through for sure.
Anyway, I arrived home safe and sound, if somewhat exhausted from not sleeping all night on the plane, and as we landed in Tel Aviv, we all thought the pilot had made an error and returned us to Paris! It was 14 degrees, and raining!!! The worst rain storm of the whole winter (which was supposed to be over by this time)…actually causing terrible flooding which killed a few people…unheard of. I finally arrived home cold and wet and quite disappointed that this is what I came home to instead of warm sunny weather. But it changed quickly, and now just 2 weeks later, spring/summer has arrived and it is glorious.
So, a Happy Passover to all of you, and there will be more to come shortly.
Labels: Abdellah, El Al Security, Paris, personal stories, pictures, vacation
