Cairo reunion, forty years after.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Egypt on business. Sherif, a very dear friend since childhood, had the great idea of gathering a few school friends I hadn't seen for more than forty years. Cesare, one of the guys I was about to see, had built a solid career in hospitality management and was actually the Sales and Marketing Director for several hotels of a large international chain operating in Egypt. The other friends: Abouzeid, Debsia, Roushdy, Arakelian - as well as Sherif - were all successful engineers. Having been through similar experiences before, I was wondering whether any of them would recognize me. Above is how I looked like when I knew them and here's how I look today. I've changed a bit since...
Most importantly, I was apprehensive about the whole thing. Forty years later, what common interests could we have?
Cesare had organized the dinner at one of the hotels he managed. Obviously, the whole thing was quite emotional and at times, one could feel this strange mix of familiarity and ditance. Forty years is a long time, but all things considered, the reunion was a real success. Beyond up-dating each other on what happened in our lives and sharing hundreds of memories from our school days, it was obvious that our friendship had resisted the test of time.
I promised everybody that I will forward some old school photographs and copies from shool publications I had kept preciously. I've had the pictures scanned and decided to start this blog instead of forwarding the material individually.
Of course, now that the blog is officially launched, I'll add other stories and pictures, recount my numerous travels and use it to keep in touch with friends...Clearly, the more those friends keep me abreast of their own stories, the richer this blog will get. So I'm really counting on my readers to forward their own news, pictures and stories to build a broader community. And we'll see how this goes...