AAHA = Amicale Alexandrie Hier et Aujourd'hui : www.aaha.ch
GATHERINGS AND REUNIONS
VC
- EGC - SHS
International
Reunion
Sofia - Bulgaria, August 28 to September 5, 2004
The Victoria College Association of North America
The English Girls' College
The Sacred Heart School
A
joint school reunion included the 'old' students from the Victoria College, the
English Girls College and the Sacred Heart School. A memorable reunion indeed !
First and foremost the five member organizing committee was cut short with only
two attending the reunion : Dr Adib Barsoum VC (U.S.A.) and Nicole Biancardi
SHS(Canada). The OVC president Samir Zalzal was unable to attend due to
ill-health ; Costa Caradimitropoulo VC (U.S.A.) lost his beloved spouse Georgia
to cancer on August 24th and then there was Dr Alfred Yazgi VC
(Geneva).......Freddy to his many friends passed away on August 16th. Freddy was
responsible for keeping the 'spirit' of the Old Victorian Association alive for
several decades and will be sadly missed.
Regardless
of the many setbacks the reunion took place as scheduled because just like
life....the show must go on. Our week's program in Sofia was entrusted to
"Lyuba Tours" a Bulgarian travel agency whose services were very
professional. The forty participants stayed at the 5* Kempinski Hotel. The
program included both cultural visits and sightseeing excursions in Sofia , Rila
, Plovdiv , Samokov and Borovets. We were entertained by several groups of
professional folklore dancers, gypsy musicians and the daily menus included
succulent traditional Bulgarian cuisine always accompanied with delicious tasty
local wines and beer.
One
of the highlights of the week was a visit to the Tsarska Bistrista Royal
Residence in Borovets where to everyone's delight we were guests to a lavish tea
and our host none other than the Bulgarian Prime Minister King Simeon ll,
himself an Old Victorian !!
Unfortunately
our reunion was dealt another blow on the evening of our Farewell Dinner
,September 4th. One of the participants from Egypt OVC Armand Kahil succumbed to
a massive heart attack in his room while getting ready for dinner. Needless to
say that incident put a 'damper' on all the activities foreseen for the evening.
There were no farewell speeches, group photographs or joyous send-offs as in the
past reunions instead it was shock and disbelief which ended our reunion as the
French would say ....en queue de poisson .
Hopefully the participants to the reunion in Sofia will remember the numerous happy moments spent together that week and especially the hearty laughs we shared while travelling on the coach. These cherished memories should most certainly contribute to a numerous attendance to next year's school reunion. Rabena Kebir...see you next year inchallah !!
Photo 1 : The Prime Minister and the EGC and SHS Ladies
Background, from l > r : Patricia Lewin, Nicole Biancardi-Francescutti, Nancy Pool, Prime Minister Simeon II of Bulgaria, Jocelyne Francis-Riches
Standing, from l > r : Lucy Mazounian-Pilikian, Nadia Khalifa, Gehan Aly-Hussein, Kitty Elzik-Butcher, Azza Sharanoubi-Aboulela, Christina Tsakiris-Simeon, Keriman Assiuty, Zoe Rees-Woolrych-York, Thalia El-Nakeeb, Lucette de Saab, Joy Barsoum
Front row, from l > r : Safinaz Daoud-Nabih, Dikrana Iranian, Celia Male-Cohen
Photo 2 : The Prime Minister and the EGC and SHS Ladies
Background, from l > r : Jocelyn Assaf-Sargologo, Patricia Lewin, Nicole Biancardi-Francescutti, Nancy Pool, Prime Minister Simeon II of Bulgaria, Jocelyne Francis-Riches
Standing, from l > r : Lucy Mazounian-Pilikian, Nadia Khalifa, Gehan Aly-Hussein, Kitty Elzik-Butcher, Azza Sharanoubi-Aboulela, Christina Tsakiris-Simeon, Keriman Assiuty, Zoe Rees-Woolrych-York
Front row, from l > r : Safinaz Daoud-Nabih, Dikrana Iranian, Celia Male-Cohen
Photo 3 : Prime Minister Simeon II and the Victorians
Background, l > r : Kevork Pilikian, Sameh Aboulela, Frank Pool, Klaus Lewin, Youssef Elzik
Forefront, l > r : Sherif Khalifa, Adib Barsoum, Simeon Saxe Coburg-Gotha, Aly Khalifa, Wagih Assiuty, Johnny Shafferman
Photo 4 : Prime Minister Simeon II and the Victorians
Background, l > r : Kevork Pilikian, Sameh Aboulela, Frank Pool, Klaus Lewin, Youssef Elzik
Forefront, l > r : Armand Kahill, Sherif Khalifa, Adib Barsoum, Simeon Saxe Coburg-Gotha, Aly Khalifa, Wagih Assiuty
Photo 5, from l > r : Keriman Assiuty, Kitty Elzik-Butcher, the Prime Minister Simeon II, Wagih Assiuty, Jocelyne Riches-Francis, Linda Stroun-Ichay
Photo 6, Royal Residence in Borovets, Tsarska Bistritsa
From l > r : Armand Kahill, Jocelyne Riches-Francis, Prime Minister Simeon II, Gehan Aly Hussein, Wagih Assiuty, (profile) Lucy Mazounian-Pilikian, Sameh Aboulela, Patricia Lewin.
Photo 7, Sightseeing in Sofia
Photo 8, Follow the Yellow Brick Road in Sofia
Background, l > r : Klaus & Patricia Lewin, Wagih Assiuty, Johnny Shafferman, Lucy Mazounian-Pilikian, Kitty Elzik-Butcher, Nancy & Frank Pool, Youssef Elzik
Foreground, l > r : Souvi Maitre, Nadia Khalifa, Keriman Assiuty, Linda Stroun-Ichay
Photo 9, Taking a break on the way to Plovdiv
From l > r : Nicole Francescutti-Biancardi, Zoe Woolrych York Rees, Johnny Shafferman, Lucette de Saab, Christina Tsakiris-Simeon, Klaus & Patricia Lewin, Lucy Mazounian-Pilikian, Rosetta Awsourian-Zartarian
Photo 10, Visit to the Rila Monastery
Background, l > r : Bruno Lewin, Stephen Morse, Kitty Elzik Butcher, Johnny Shafferman, Aly Khalifa, Sherif Khalifa, Kevork Pilikian, Patricia & Klaus Lewin, Joy & Adib Barsoum
Standing, l > r Keriman Assiuty , Rosette Zartarian Awsourian, Youssef Elzik, Celia Male-Cohen, Lucy Mazounian Pilikian, Nadia Khalifa.
Foreground, l > r (Kneeling) : Wagih Assiuty, Linda Stroun-Ichay, Anne-Marie Latif, Souvi Maitre.
Photo 11, Trakia Folk Dance Ensemble performance at the Roman Theatre in Plovdiv
Photo 12 : Remember the smile ...one of Armand's last !!
This photograph was taken on
August 31st 2004, in the garden of the Zodiak restaurant near the Rila
Monastery. Obviously our dear Armand's smile demonstrates his enjoyment in
the company of three charming ladies......Safinaz Daoud Nabih ; Gehan Aly
Hussein and Lyuba Boyanin (our travel agent and tour guide). Sadly enough
Armand succumbed to a massive heart attack four days later, on the evening of
our Farewell Dinner September 4th. Due to the unforseen circumstances
Armand Kahill was laid to rest in Sofia, Bulgaria. A word of consolation to
Armand's numerous friends is that he spent the last week of his life
surrounded by the love and friendship of both his friends and
......admirers !!
Photo 13 : Nicole Francescutti-Biancardi and Prime Minister Simeon II of Bulgaria
Photo 14 : Minouche Riches, Jocelyne Riches-Francis and Prime Minister Simeon II of Bulgaria
Participants
Last Name-Maiden Name First Name, Affiliation, Residence
Aboulela
Mohamed (Sameh), VC, Egypt
Aboulela-Sharanoubi
Azza, Guest, Egypt
Aly
Hussein Gehan, Guest , Egypt
Assiuty
Wagih, VC, Egypt
Assiuty
Keriman, Guest , Egypt
Awsourian
Garabed, Guest, Egypt
Awsourian-
Zartarian Rosetta, Guest , Egypt
Barsoum
Adib, VC, U.S.A.
Barsoum
Joy, Guest, U.S.A.
Butcher-Elzik
Kitty, EGC, U.K.
Daoud-Habib
Safinaz , EGC Egypt
De Saab Lucette, EGC, Egypt
El
Nakeeb Thalia, EGC, U.K.
Elzik Youssef , VC, U.S.A.
Francescutti-Biancardi
Nicole, SHS, Canada
Iranian
Dikrana, SHS, Canada
Janson-Sidarous
Merris, SHS/EGC, Germany
Kahill
Armand, VC, Egypt
Khalifa
Sherif Ahmed, VC, Egypt
Khalifa-Salah
el Din Nadia, Guest, Egypt
Khalifa
Ali Ahmed , VC, Egypt
Khalifa-Allam
Nadia, Guest, Egypt
Latif
Anne-Marie, Guest, Lebanon
Lewin
Klaus, VC, U.S.A.
Lewin
Patricia, Guest, U.S.A.
Lewin
Bruno, Guest, U.S.A.
Male-Cohen
Celia, EGC, U.K.
Maitre Souvi,
Guest, Switzerland
Morse
Stephen, Guest, U.S.A.
Pilikian
Kevork, VC, Egypt
Pilikian-Mazounian
Lucy, EGC, Egypt
Pool
Frank R., VC, U.S.A.
Pool Nancy, Guest, U.S.A.
Rees-Woolrych-York
Zoe, EGC, Greece
Riches-Francis
Joceline, EGC, Italy
Riches Mireille, Guest, Italy
Shafferman
Johnny, VC, U.S.A.
Stroun-Ichay Linda, SHS, Switzerland
Tsakiris-Simeon
Cristina, Guest Egypt
AAHA = Amicale Alexandrie Hier et Aujourd'hui : www.aaha.ch