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SPRING
2013
25
Letters to the editor
time, I was in 4th Elementary. This was one of many trips IC
arranged for us. I still remember one trip to Foremost Dairy Fac-
tory, another to Bonjus factory, and another to the Lebanese Mu-
seum. These trips were very enjoyable and, one way or another,
definitely affected our perspective on life and business.
The names of the students in the picture are as follows:
Standing - Left to Right
Samir Khattab, Fouad Saadeh, Walid Haddad, Claude Moughani,
Fadi Isamil (standing 5th from the left), Fadi Farhat, George
Sawan, Ikram Sirgi, Asaad Abu Khalil, Saleh El Fadel, Rabii Al
Aridi, Dani Hampakidis, Mrs. Mamdouha Beidas.
Sitting - Left to Right
Charles Sweid, Rachid Khalifeh, Paul Salem, George Fleifel,
Samer Kanaan, Hani Khatib, Oscar Bitar, Bassem Azar, Fadi
Lakkis, Mutaz Summakieh, Ramzi Antipas.
I would like to get in touch with any of the above names. I met
Captain Mutaz Summakieh (in the front of the picture, second
from the right) recently and he is a pilot based in Dubai. He told
me that this school trip in 1970 made him decide to become a pilot.
Fadi Ismail ‘81
fadiismal@yahoo.com
Dear editor,
It is a great honor for me to keep in touch with you. I would like
to thank you for your efforts to keep IC Alumni connected with
each other, especially through the Newsletter. I also would like to
express my cordial respect and appreciation for the great efforts
you are undertaking to help, improve and promote IC in all areas.
I visited IC last year for the first time since my graduation in
1976. I still maintain contacts with some of my great friends,
but would like to keep in touch with all. I came to Lebanon from
Yemen in 1966 and spent, in this spectacular country, around 11
years which were the best ever in my life. During these years, I
felt at home. I made many friends and never felt any discrimi-
nation whatsoever. I really felt as a member of the Lebanese
society, enjoying the good days and feeling with them the sad
days during the sorrowful war in this peaceful country. Lebanon
was and will always be the only Arab country that is very rich
in human resources. In my country, with all respect, we are still
an illiterate society and this has been reflected in our way of life.
As you know, Yemen has suffered a continuous crisis since 2011,
which has tremendously affected our lives. However, we keep
our fingers crossed, as we feel now that the country is moving
towards a big change which will hopefully improve our lives.
Yemen is very rich in its resources and is still virgin, and thus so
many investment opportunities are available in all sectors. It will
be my great pleasure to welcome any friend who would like to
pay a visit, and will make all arrangements to make him feel at
home as I have felt in Lebanon.
There were so many interesting events during my stay in Beirut.
However, I will only summarize some:
I used to live in Verdun and walked every day to IC. There was
a restaurant which I always passed by. I believe it was called
Horse Shoe. One day, I decided to have a meal there knowing
that my mother had just given me my monthly
petty cash which was 20 Liras. When I fin-
ished eating, the waiter gave me the bill which
shocked me from my head to my toes. It was
30 Liras!! I gently told him that 20 liras is all I
have. I begged him to let me go back home to
get him the rest of the money, but he refused
and then the punishment came: he took me to
the kitchen and told me to wash and dry all the dishes. I kept do-
ing that for about two hours with tears in my eyes. From that day
on, I avoided passing by that restaurant until the day I graduated.
There was a teacher in our class whose lectures were boring to
some students, and one day these students drew graves on the
black board and wrote: “In the memory of those who died wait-
ing for the bell to ring.”
And there was another teacher who used to wash the students
from his mouth when he spoke. As a result, we struggled to
come early to class to get seats in the back. The punishment of
late students was to sit in the front!
Eng. Yahya Mohsen Ishak ‘76
Sanaa-Yemen
Class 2B-1972