I have met a lot of colorful Egyptians, but Sousou stands alone!

He did not work at Records; where he worked was a mystery, not only to me, but to other people who knew him.  Sousou himself never revealed what he did at IAI.  If you insisted, he hid behind the secrecy imposed on all of us.  Therefore short of following him after the lunch break, we were unable to determine his functions.  After knowing him, I can assure you that he had not been entrusted with sensitive duties.  (Some of us surmised that he had a lowly position and would have been humiliated if we knew the nature of his work).

I have met Sousou before joining IAI.  Back then, he was merely an acquaintance.  He had come from Egypt in the early ‘50s (before the Second Exodus).  He lived in a nearby city by the name of Holon.  He often came to the Bat Yam ma’abara where he had numerous friends.  One of his friends referred him to me on a day when he needed medical attention; this friend assumed that since I studied pharmacy, I could provide Sousou with at least medical advice.  I made a tentative diagnosis, but insisted that he go to see a physician.  My diagnosis turned out to be right, and from that day on, Sousou considered me an authority on everything.

Sousou had a limited education, and was rather vulgar.  His Arabic was peppered with proverbs and swears words.

He professed a great admiration for the members of the opposite sex, and he openly showed it.  When an attractive girl went by, he laughed in his peculiar vulgar laugh, raised his right leg, and slaped his thigh vigorously.

At the age of 33, he married a much younger girl.  His friends assumed that connubial bliss would now be his.  But, alas, it was not to be.

Because of emotional and perhaps physical problems, his wife would not allow normal sexual relations to proceed; and Sousou had to content himself with half measures.  He kept his friends apprised of the situation, and his sex life was as private as the nightly news!

After having exhausted all medical avenues, Sousou requested and obtained an annulment of his marriage.

A year later he remarried.  When he returned from his honeymoon, his friends had only one question for him, “did you go all the way Sousou?”  Sousou slapped his right thigh and responded with a resounding “yes.”

*  *  *

Regretfully, I must stop here.  The individuals I have introduced are not the only ones I have come to know and care for; many others have spiced my daily existence, and there are certainly interesting stories behind them.  Unfortunately, the line had to be drawn somewhere, or this narration would have proved interminable.

I make an exception for a very, very special friend, Moshé.  I will portray him in a separate section.

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