another photograph i managed to get from one of the negatives in my archives. this would have to be in 1982 or 1983.
i was working for a consortium of belgian, spanish and japanese companies who were building a phosphate plant south of manila. i had a big crush on the spanish boss, shown here, which was not a secret. in fact, it was him who would turn red whenever i got teased. fortunately, he was married and his wife just gave birth and it was customary with the spaniards to pass around cigars to friends and acquaintances in celebration. there were only 5 of us girls in the office and the rest were engineers from the three companies. because the cigars were to be offered to the ladies first, and i, being the more senior (i.e. oldest) of the girls, i got to have the first cigar, which i had a hard time getting lit. the japanese were teasing me, saying i was just feigning because i wanted for the spanish boss to linger near me, and if you could see it, he was blushing! and as part of the celebration, we also had champagne and wine and other booze. that was the time i discovered i cannot have champagne. i only had two glasses and i ended up at home with a cold compress on my head and a hot pack on my tummy. i could be very delicate sometimes even then.
the baby was named after me, but it was not a surprise, given that his name is the masculine version of mine.
i designed that t-shirt for my sister who was then working at the canadian embassy. i took the maple leaf emblem from the canadian flag. of course, i got to have my own shirt. and, oh, god! where did my hair go?
Oh my- the slightest hint of cigar smoke and I am sick to my stomach- literally! Such stories you have! And I wish I had half the hair you have right now. I just learned that the reason why it has thinned so drastically is probably due to the anesthesia from my surgeries. But i don't know if it will ever fill back in. )o;
I can see why you fancied Mr. Spaniard.