The Birthday Girl !
Or : How to Transform A Sad Time Into something Happy and Joyous!
I got a call from Waikwan inviting me to another friend of Amy's : Ester. It was her birthday and she thought it would be a good moment to see each other again. Share a meal. Waikwan said What about Pedro Alta ? A Portuguese seafood place near Bercy ! Why not!
I got a call from Waikwan inviting me to another friend of Amy's : Ester. It was her birthday and she thought it would be a good moment to see each other again. Share a meal. Waikwan said What about Pedro Alta ? A Portuguese seafood place near Bercy ! Why not!
"We should get there early as they don't take reservations and they fill up very quickly! "
The night before, I'd pulled a leg muscle and was kind of hobbling, feeling a bit sorry for myself. But getting there, immediately enveloped in the cacophony of happy people, that pain just seemed to disappear.
Here we all are (except me taking the pix)
Huge platters of seafood arrived. One hot and the other cold. oysters, mussels, several types of clams: razor clams (called couteaux here) praires, huge crabs, shrimp, lobsters and gambas several accompaniments including a delicious bean and rice broth : our eyes widened as Waikwan said you know we only ordered for 5! From all eight of us, a collective sigh of relief !
My dinner partner to my left was a good friend of Esters. She is an engineer for automobile cooling systems here in France. Has worked for the same company since doing her schooling here some 25 + years ago. I asked her what it was like to be woman in such a male dominated profession such as engineering ?
She described coming to France, the first group of students from Mainland China.
28 were women she said, and 80 something were men. About two thirds have returned to China and the rest are still working here.
"Would it be any easier in China for a woman in this profession ? I asked
"Yes, she said. "Definitely if I'd stayed in China I'd probably risen higher in the management that I have here. Here, I was the first woman engineer hired. And that thanks to a quota for hiring women."
"But I love my job. I do the research side and it's really fascinating. We work exclusively with computer models.
Where as thirty years ago, the Peugots and Renaults might make six new models each year, now they offer twenty five. And those aren't just exterior changes. Each machine is really very different from the others. I travel a lot both for work as well as pleasure. Now there are several other women engineers in my firm."
It was an enlightening conversation. Once again the feeling that Amy's friends were all such interesting individuals. Very different interests but each and every one of them, really fascinating. New perspectives on so many subjects opening up in every direction !
And listening to my new friend, the engineer, gave me the same positive jolt as when I have gotten on a plane and the pilot was a woman...Good feeling! We gals are making progress !
On my right hand side sat Waikwan. Making sure everyone had morsels from each side of the table, wine in their glasses. She said how much she though Amy would have liked a gathering like this. I agreed!
Despite the chaos surrounding us, it was a decidedly positive ambiance at Pedro Alta. Most tables had six to ten people and they were definitely there to celebrate something.
Liling and the menu !
Across from me , Liling and her partner Xavier , also a painter and next to him, Marc , a photographer, another friend of Amy's. That's Ester in the blue shirt !
Afterwards several of us wanted to stay together, prolong that wonderful feeling of... well I'm not sure quite how describe it. Put simply just finding each other ! We accompanied Marc back to his place for a tea à la menthe.
More on that at another time. I'm certain this is just the beginning of many new friendships. Thank you, our Amy ami!
