http://www.iloubnan.info/en/rss Iloubnan Interviews en_En Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:56:53 EET Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:56:53 EET http://www.iloubnan.info lara@ebizproduction.com lara@ebizproduction.com http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/29320 It has been a long time since Massoud Ashkar laid down his weapons. The 52 year-old Ashkar seeks to run as a candidate for Achrafieh’s Maronite seat for the 2009 legislative elections. As he booked his ticket on the Free Patriotic Movement and Taschnag list, he tells us about his fighter’s past during the civil war in Lebanon and what he is fighting for today, this time on the political and social scene and for the future of his country. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/29146 Over the past ten years, Christine Aswad Sfeir became known as a leading business woman in the Lebanese food service sector. She is the CEO of the 30 Dunkin Donuts branches in Lebanon and has just embarked in a new venture, a restaurant, “Semsom” in Ashrafieh, Christine Sfeir is known for her youthful spirit and energetic personality that helped her achieving so much in so little time. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/29006 If professional coaching already has its own adepts, “life coaching” is still on its first stages in Lebanon. A telecom engineer for Alcatel in France, then at Ericsson, Rita Hatem chose to leave the corporate world eight years ago and become a “life coach” a profession she’s been practicing for two years in the land of the Cedars. She is the only person to work in this field, at least for the moment. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/28820 Rabih Mogharbel, the man behind hirelebanese.com and in partnership with Lebanon Expats team in Beirut will be holding the "Hire lebanese Job Fair" on the 9th and 10th of October at Monroe Hotel in Beirut. In his constant attempt to promote hiring Lebanese for his belief in their skills and smart competence, Rabih along with Lebanon expats team in Beirut have invited more than 40 companies for them to find their matching candidates during the job fair. On the other hand in an interview with iloubnan.info we asked Rabih Mogharbel about his thriving hirelebanon.com website and this what he had to say: http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/28725 Luxury brands today are tapping into the vast online market, expanding their e-commerce capabilities beyond the US, to Europe and Asia. Dia Diwan, a luxury lifestyle website, is doing just that as the Gateway to Middle East Chic. Dia Diwan is the brainchild of Rasha Khouri, an investment banker turned entrepreneur who believes there is a need to share the true spirit of the region, and offer a place to buy collections by Middle Eastern designers on-line. Now, whether you’re in Kuwait, Cairo or London, you can purchase online the latest Sarah’s Bag clutch or the Essa dress, be up to date on the trends in from the Middle East to international capitals, and read about new restaurants, shops, and designers. Ioubnan.info talked to Dia Diwan’s founder about the intricacies of building a website for the Middle East and the stresses and smiles that come with it. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/28317 Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, are feature-film producers whom fate united in an artistic synergy and a complementary duality. They finished their university studies together and since then, they have worked and produced together. Their movies circled in worldwide and they won numerous prizes. Their creation is distinguished in their essential moving art which makes you ponder and lingers in your memory. Their themes deal with the universal dilemmas of the individual’s immersion in the society, along with their presentation of the war traces. Following the film shooting of their last long feature-film “A perfect Day”, they relocated in France with their little girl after the 1001 productions invitations, the house production which they collaborated with years ago. It is not an exile for them, since their attachment to their homeland remains instinctive. Their last creation: a photo-video installation in L’Espace Topographie de L’art (Paris) entitled « où sommes-nous ? Penser Et “Panser” (Where are we? Thought and wound dressing), where they finalized their long feature-film with Catherine Deneuve. iloubnan.info encountered the young film producers in Paris and interviewed them. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/28159 Someone can take up a businessman's career and remain aware of economic and social problems in his country and at the same time be passionate for public issue. Nicolas Sehnaoui, a 41 year-old businessman, is in charge of the economic committee in the Free Patriotic Movement. After a successful 8-year management of an insurance company, and after being part of many administrative boards in prestigious companies, including one of the best banks, he exclusively devotes himself to politics nowadays. While he considers the possibility to run for the 2009 parliamentary elections in Achrafieh, he entrusts us today with the source of his political and activist engagement, and his loyalty towards the General Michel Aoun. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/27970 The Light FM radiostation host, Tanguy, welcomed Dani Klein, the singer of the ban Vaya Con Dios, few weeks ago at Byblos. The multilingual Belgian singer told him about the evolution of this oscillating band between blues, rock, pop and Latino, which became famous in the eighties due to the song called “Just a Friend of Mine”. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/27548 What is the situation of the Lebanese SMEs? The General Manager of ESC Dijon Bourgogne group (France), Stephan Bourcieu, gives strategic management and business plan technique courses in the High School of Affairs (ESA) in Beirut. This 36-year old director assumes that a great number of his students would become managers of Small and Medium enterprises. He examines with us the behavior of the Lebanese SME managers and defines some means that can help those enterprises grow in the Cedar Land. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/27546 What does a major actor in construction think about the Lebanese capital and the architecture of its most recent areas? The General Manager of ArcelorMittal group, Mr. Pierre Bourrier, came to Beirut to animate a conference of the "Ecole supérieure des affaires" (ESA) about the big French schools in the XXIst century on June 6. On this occasion, iloubnan.info asked him to express his opinion vis-à-vis the city of Beirut, the tours on the seaside, the dynamism of this city, and its potential….And, of course, vis-à-vis the efficiency of the Lebanese. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/27422 Some know him as a man of principles, and some know him for his looks. However, lately, amidst the abundance of political – and none political – speeches, he was known for his silence. In a meeting that brought Mesbah El Ahdab and iloubnan.info together, we came back with the following interview. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/26947 He served a very short Mandate, yet his name remains as the example of the “clean” and young minister. Demianos Kattar, who took on the Ministry of Finance and Economy in the post-PM Hariri’s death period, was always involved with the youth and environment issues. In a private meeting between the Youth Shadow Government and Minister Demianos Kattar, iloubnan.info was present and had this exclusive coverage. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/26691 Some call him the Godfather of the Resolution 1559, many remember him as the man who stood in the Face of the Syrian Delegate in the United Nations and was the advocate of Lebanon. Many Americans recognize him as the Lebanese native who was appointed by President Bush in the U.N., but the dearest Title to him is Walid Maalouf: “A Lebanese”. During a discreet visit to Lebanon, iloubnan.info had an exclusive meeting with Walid Maalouf (Director of the Public diplomacy for middle eastern & MEPI affairs) who talked about the labor period post-resolution 1559 and revealed a new book to be launched in 2009. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/26370 In a country that is struggling in political, economic, and existential issues, and amidst the sterility of the first, second, and third authority, only one way remains to achieve justice and help it find its way: the fourth authority, the press. One of the controversial people and justice advocates is Ghada Eid, the Host of the TV show Al-Fasad (the corruption) on New TV, a program that has been on for 3 years now and tackled many delicate issues. In an exclusive interview with iloubnan.info Ghada Eid reveals many things, starting from the beginning of her career to the issues covered by “Al-Fasad”. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/26268 With the mythical Lebanese travel agency, Nakhal, founded in 1959, Elie Nakhal is a major actor in the tourism sector. This year, he launched Hoojoozat.com (from the Arabic “houjouzat”), an e-commerce website dedicated to online hotel reservations around the world. It is managed by “Hoojoozat society”: though different from Nakhal society, it is a real electronic extension for it and it opens the door to international clients. Interview with Elie Diab, Manager of Hoojoozat . http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/26018 Two young Lebanese webmasters have launched a brand new software of live web tracking and data analysis: after a year of hard work and analysis, Elie Khoury and Jad Younan gave life to Woopra. In so little time they struck the technology market by force, and beat all their opponents. iloubnan.info interviewed Elie Khoury. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/25993 Something has awakened in Beirut city…. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s Samandal Comics Magazine. A while back ‘Samandal’ (salamander) Issue Zero was launched much to the delight of Lebanese comic lovers. A trilingual collection of stories (Arabic, English and French) bringing together the work of several artists, Issue Zero drew strokes of great potential. www.samandal.net draws a distinct portrait of what Samandal is all about, has issue zero uploaded in PDF format (ready to be downloaded) and features key submission info for those budding graphic novelists out there. Samandal is not a kiddie comic but rather acts as a platform for a diverse range of styles, themes and interests from the experimental to the more mainstream in an attempt to reach a broad audience and overcome barriers. iloubnan.info asked the Samandal team a few questions to illustrate a better image of this magazine with big plans in the pipeline. And here are the answers, straight from the horse’s mouth. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/25884 “Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder” said Shakespeare. Yet, with the evolution of medicine generally and plastic surgery specially, the saying has changed to “Beauty is in the hand of the money holder”. Therefore, First National Bank Lebanon has decided to make beauty a possibility when it launched its custom made plastic surgery loan almost a year ago. A loan that has won the heart of the Lebanese consumer swiftly, and opened the eye of national and international media. First national Bank’s aim was to innovate: they ended up with an invention, the first plastic surgery loan in the world. In an interview with iloubnan.info, Mr. Joseph Azoury- FNB branch manager (Jounieh) shared with us the success story of a “beautiful product”, FNB’s “plastic surgery loan”. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/25708 Live Debris is a collaborative project dedicated to the proliferation of reuse art, craft and design. Present in Beirut from March to June, 26-year-old US artist Taylor Stevenson is teaching reuse techniques and curating an exhibit of art and craft made from commonly discarded materials. Through events which are free and opened to everyone, the project highlights programs and individuals who are transforming their communities with the creative use of common trash. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/25277 In light of the current situation in Lebanon, and in the aftermath of the so called Four-Day-War, we attempted to evaluate the overall outcome and status-quo of the crisis by having a conversation with Marwan Dbaise, political analyst in the Lebanese newspaper Aliwa’. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/26541 After the awful impact of July 2006 war on the tourism sector, the 2008 winter season was impatiently expected by the professionals of the sector. Unfortunately, the season did not satisfy their expectations. The Ministry of Tourism and the entire sector have decided to bet more and more on the Lebanese tourists of the Diaspora. A high potential target that seems determined to benefit from Lebanon despite its instability: According to the Central Administration for Statistics, 914 716 (which means more than 42%) from the 2 140 591 travelers that visited Lebanon in 2007 were Lebanese. So how does the tourism sector survive nowadays? To see things more clearly, we closely followed one major actor of the hotel sector in Lebanon: Robert Zoghby, CEO of the Intercontinental Mzaar Resort, who examined with us his balance sheet for the 2008 winter season. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/246 Omar El Turk, one of Lebanon’s most promising Basketball Players, has shown great style and amazing performances in his game lately as a part of the Lebanese Basketball national team and as a main player in the Riyadi Club first team. He is known for his devotion and love for the game but most of all his love for his country Lebanon! http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/245 The environmental NGO AFDC (Association for Forest Development and Conservation) is organizing a reforestation campaign in Lebanon during the whole winter. The association reveals its concern about the Lebanese mountain that is threatened by Socioeconomic as well as environmental problems. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/24477 They are more at ease, their number is higher than the locals: some banks in the Cedar Land are recently interested a lot in the Lebanese expatriates. In fact, those banks offer them specific loans that could serve to buy houses in Lebanon. These new products allow banks to win new clients abroad, clients that are often more demanding than the local ones. The Lebanese banks consider this fact as a real challenge because the expatriate business is more and more aggressive. Three questions to Jihane Souaid, Head of Sales at the Lebanese Canadian Bank. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/1506 Historian and professor at the Lebanese University, Issam Khalifeh published a book in 2006 in Arabic on the subject of the Lebanese-Syrian borders and the delimitation and demarcation attempts that took place between 1920 and 2000. He supports his book with several French, Lebanese and Syrian reports confirming the Lebanese origins of the Shebaa Farms and the Nekhaileh village. Issam Khalifeh is a member of the committee that submitted a report to the UN Security Council proving that the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese. His plan is to place the Shebaa Farms sector under United Nations trusteeship. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/1498 If tobacco consumption has become one of the essential issues in terms of public health on the global level, what about its situation in Lebanon? In such a country where we often offer cigarettes on a silver tray, which campaign can we launch? Interview with Drs Zeidan KARAM and Tania ABOU NOHRA, two specialists in terms of tobacco impact on the Lebanese people’s health: Dr Zeidan KARAM (aggregate professor of the general hospitals in France and professor in Saint Joseph University Beirut, Faculty of Medicine), has been chief of cardiology in St George Hospital Beirut for 20 years. He is also the author of the book “Tobacco, the legal drug” (Le Tabac, cette drogue légale). Dr Tania ABOU NOHRA is a specialist in pediatric dentistry. She proposes new measures against tobacco consumption among the young Lebanese. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/1477 The young French musician of Lebanese origin Ibrahim Maalouf performed in a concert on January 22 at the “Café de la Danse” in Paris. Meanwhile, he has just released his first solo album and he is preparing for an international tour. The breathtaking sound of his trumpet captivates and enchants the audience. Laureate of many contests, this 27-year-old young skilled man has won many prizes (he was the first prize winner of the National Trumpet Competition in Washington DC in 2001, and the second prize (ex aequo) winner of the international contest of Paris village Maurice-André in 2003). He was born in a family of artists: his grandfather, Rushdi Maalouf, is a musicologist, a journalist, and a poet. His father, Nassim Maalouf, is the inventor of the trumpet in forth tones. His mother, Nada Maalouf, is a pianist. And the famous Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf is his uncle. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/248 Think Lebanon Association was created in Switzerland by the Lebanese Diaspora. It organizes cultural events to encourage young Lebanese artists, and grants the collected funds to charitable associations operating in Lebanon on the social level. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/222 After having thoroughly searched, documented, shot, archived and thus immortalized last year’s excruciating events, two Lebanese filmmakers have been recently awarded international first-prizes, respectively for the best documentary of the European and Mediterranean Film Festival on the TV of the Sea in Maddalena, Italy, (« The Oil Spill in Lebanon » by Hady Zaccak) and the best short documentary of the New Zealand Documentary Festival (DOC NZ) (« A Summer Not to Forget » by Carole Mansour). Let’s give the floor to the two filmmakers! http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/45 The 33-year-old Ricardo Mbarkho is a Lebanese artist and a videographer. Ricardo films and never stops filming. He is never away from his camcorder which is the expression of video-art. It is a particularly economic art because it does not require a purchase or a lot of material means. In this artist’s repertoire, there is a set of three works focusing on communication via internet (like LebaneseGroup, Connected, or Visitors), video installation, and videos (like A la mémoire de Basil Fuleihan, Plus que normal, and Gare de Lyon-Juvisy). Ricardo Mbarkho is a new art precursor: the art he claims is simply a way to be. “Everyone takes from art what art takes from himself”. According to Mbarkho, creation has to be a means and not an end in itself. It must actively participate in the “network’s” advent, made up of a new thoughts principle, a mixture, and an intercultural dialogue against the hostile reign of incommunicability. Ricardo graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts in Beirut, The School of Fine Arts in Paris, and the School of Cinematography Studies. Always flying between France and Lebanon, this artist is living in a breathtaking rhythm nowadays: Ricardo teaches, creates, and exhibits in Lebanon, in France, and in all the corners of the world. Therefore, he represents the “ambitious” Lebanese person: Ricardo the student made his way in life, especially in the universe of video as well as in the 7th art, overwhelmed by the will of succeeding and representing the socio-cultural Lebanese belonging to a national and multinational public, above any prejudice and by mixing dreams, ideas, and secret gardens without any modesty. This is surely going on in a heart-broken Lebanon. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/32 In a climate of extreme political tension, the Majority and the Opposition still have four weeks to agree on the name of the next Head of State. MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, member of the parliamentary block of Hezbollah, is resolutely optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations. But for the Party of God, there will be no compromise on resolution 1559 or on a candidate who supports the US interests in Lebanon. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/33 Former Baabda-Aley MP Salah Honein (who did not run for the 2005 legislatives) carries out a general review, exclusively for iloubnan, of the problems that the country is facing today. Without being completely devoid of any sign of hope, this analysis does not harbor illusions or empathy vis-à-vis the general political community. Salah Honein embarks hereunder on a comprehensive reading of the latest developments with his usual outspokenness, starting from the future president of the Republic issue who must be as he states a “unifier”, to the “false debate” on the quorum subject, then on to the Syrian standpoint which he asserts “refuses the emancipation of Lebanon”, and the subject of “the international court process that is already under way”. He also exposes his vision of “a system that should be rethought, and a Nation that is to be built”. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/34 Tarek Mitri, a Christian academic specialized in the Islamic relations, worked with the World Council of Churches (COE) for a long time. This advocate of open dialogue has not been active in the political sphere for long. He was the Minister of the Environment and Administrative Reform under the cabinet of Najib Mikati (April 2005) and was later made the Minister of Culture under Fouad Siniora’s cabinet in July 2005. Acting as the interim Foreign Minister, he was the Lebanese government’ s special delegate to the United Nation’s Security Council where he negotiated the resolution that put an end to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon. He has also undertaken diplomatic accompaniment for the adoption of the special International Court resolution for Lebanon. iLoubnan presents an exclusive interview about Lebanon’s political and cultural future with the man who, only one year after a devastating conflict, takes on the heavy responsibility of representing a country still in the grip of terrorist attacks and fundamentalist Islamic threats. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/35 Lawyer and politician, Ghassan Moukheiber is the nephew of former deputy Albert Moukheiber. After a career focused on defending human rights, Ghassan Moukheiber ran for the Metn area’s Greek-Orthodox seat in the partial legislative elections following his uncle’s death. He was supported by the National Bloc and the Progressive Socialist Party who at the time did not have an actual popular base in Metn. At the end of this election, which was marked by a major clash between the then Opposition Alliance represented by Gabriel Murr and the Pro-Syrian Coalition represented by Myrna Murr, he obtained only 2% of the votes. Despite this, a few months later the Constitutional Council appointed him in parliament after annulling Gabriel Murr’s victory. His stand in Parliament was characterized by anti-Syrian positions and by a commitment to public freedom and human rights. He ran for the 2005 legislative elections under General Michel Aoun’s list for the Metn area and achieved good results: this time winning his place as a parliamentarian through the traditional voting system. He is currently a member of the parliamentary Opposition of the Bloc of Reform and Change led by General Michel Aoun. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/36 Jurist, Boutros Harb was elected in 1972 as a member of parliament for the Batroun (North Lebanon) Maronite seat. An independent parliamentarian, he was the Minister of Public Works and Transport and the Minister of National Education and Fine Arts from 1979 till 1980 under the cabinet of Salim El-Hoss. He was the Ministry of Education in the cabinet of Omar Karameh from 1990 till 1992. He played an active role in the negotiation of the Taëf agreement, which earned him a spot on the list of potential candidates for presidency. He boycotted, alongside other Christian key figures and parties, the legislative elections of 1992, but took part in the following 1996 elections and subsequently won back his previous seat. Member of the parliamentary opposition when Rafic Hariri was in cabinet, he announced his candidacy for the 1998 presidential elections but then withdrew on the day Emile Lahoud was elected. He briefly supported the Salim El-Hoss cabinet in 1998, only to later join the opposition. In 2000, he broke-off his alliance with Nayla Moawad and Omar Karameh and ran for the elections in alliance with Suleiman Frangieh Jr. and the Tripoli block of Mohammad Safadi and Najib Mikati. At the time he declared that this partnership was simply an electoral alliance that had nothing to do with his convictions or his political and national views. In 2001, he was one of the founding members of the Kornet Chehwan coalition and strongly expressed his opposition to the politics of the Rafic Hariri cabinet and to Syrian hegemony. In 2004, he created the National Front for Reform alongside Nayla Moawad, Omar Karameh, Salim El-Hoss, Hussein Husseini and Albert Mansour. The same year, he announced his candidacy for the presidential elections and then contested the constitutional amendment extending the mandate of President Emile Lahoud. In October of the same year, he refused to join the cabinet of his ally, Karameh, which he regarded as very pro-Syrian. Autumn 2004 onwards, he participated in the Bristol meetings that gathered various factions of the anti-Syrian opposition and took part in the Cedar Revolution which followed the assassination of Rafic Hariri. He won the 2005 elections in the north as part of the March 14 list. Boutros Harb, who is one of the principal candidates to succeed the current President Emile Lahoud, took the time to discuss major Lebanese political issues with iloubnan. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/1463 Lebanese journalist May Chidiac, who was wounded by the explosion of her car in September, 2005, took back in July, 2006 her political broadcast on LBCI. On May 3rd 2007, she was made chevalier of the Legion d’honneur by French President Jacques Chirac in Paris. She tells us her reaction after this decoration, which she dedicates to the Lebanese people, while she is waiting for "better days in Lebanon". http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/37 Leader of the National Block since 2000, Carlos Eddeh succeeded his uncle Raymond Eddeh. Elected by the Party’s assembly few hours after the death of his uncle, he had no previous political activities in Lebanon. Eddeh adopts a strong laic and anti-Syrian position, mainly opposing the Syrian decision of extending the mandate of President Emile Lahoud. In the fall 2004, he was close to the other opposition parties and actively participated in unifying them, which led to the Cedar Revolution. He ran for the parliamentary elections of 2005, as candidate of the Maronite seat of Jbeil, on the list of March 14thcoalition defeated by the list of General Michel Aoun. In this interview, Carlos Eddeh talks about all major political sticking points in the country. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/40 After having won the Berytech 2005 prize from the AUF (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie), the Edulab project was selected for the MIT enterprise forum of the Arab world, in order to participate in the second round of the 2006 competition “MIT Arab Business Plan”. It is to be noted that only 30 projects had been selected among the 1652 proposed. Edulab seeks to develop a software specialized in all scientific courses included in the official Lebanese curriculum: French and English mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology; 3 CD ROMs have already been marketed. They should allow pupils to conduct real time experiments through virtual labs and visual simulations of the scientific material used in schools. Behind the Edulab project is Elie Chaaya, young computer scientist of 32 years old. http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/44 End of June 2006. Between his project for the Lebanese National Library and preparations for the francophone Beirut Book Fair, Minister of Culture Tarek Mitri talks of his love for books, his interest in religions and of the hope he nurtures for the cultural future of Lebanon. Everyone will tell you that the minister of Culture is particularly approachable and genial. He truly is. But what strikes one most at the first encounter is his reserve. The man does not confide easily, at all rates not to the press. He is known to have a passion for religious questions. Before his appointment to the ministry of Culture in 2005 he was in Geneva in charge of a program at the Department for Inter-Religious Relations & Dialogue at the World Council of Churches (WCC). For many Lebanese Tarek Mitri is first and foremost the man of the Christian-Muslim dialogue. “Actually, I am interested in dialogue between all religions,” states the Minister “be it Buddhism and Christianity or Christianity and Islam.” http://www.iloubnan.info/en/interview/id/38 Deputy since 2005, Samir Frangieh, 60 years old, has an optimistic eye on the evolution of the Lebanese society. He welcomed us at his office at the Parliament, Nejmeh Square, Beirut. He arrived late to the meeting. For forty minutes, we were wondering if he had forgotten the interview. Actually, he didn’t. He arrived and apologized humbly. He is extremely modest and simple. He explained why he arrived late: he had condolences to present. Oh, condolences are a crazy thing. It is a tradition that gained social value during the war, at times where it was impossible to meet in coffee shops to chat. People had to meet somewhere else! Funerals, then condolences, the 7th and the 40th day after death; this is the ideal occasion to meet. Yet, he takes advantage to criticize the hypocritical aspect of this tradition, and its use in politics for electoral purposes. Then he offered us a cup of coffee with a charming smile that seldom leaves his face. He sat, and lit a cigarette. He smoked three to four cigarettes during the two-hour conversation. He said that he gave up smoking… for a while. “I tried to follow the advice of a medical team who help those willing to give up smoking! They were interested in my state of mind, asking me if I smoked to make up for any anxiety, stress or worries. But I told them that I smoke only because I like to.” And he recalled that because he smoked he was fired from the Jesuits school at the beginning of the baccalaureate academic year.