Those little food products you do not always notice

For many years living abroad we would encounter food stuff that reminded us of home but would not be items we would consume or buy at anytime, like SPAM, Nescafé, Salada tea, Marlboro cigarettes, these 4 items are and were famous around the world. Often introduced by armies during an armed conflict like the Korean War (1950-1953) or simply by multinational companies who expanded their markets to foreign countries.

The local population took to them and often saw these products as a luxury. We did not and could not understand why these products had such status. Often there is quite a history behind such products, like SPAM being imported by US troops during the Korean conflict. The Korean population was starving and being able to buy a can of SPAM at the US Army PX was a luxury but only if you had the connections and the money. Later this product took on an aura all of its own and to this day is given in elaborate gift boxes. Imagine doing this here, your friends would think you are joking.

Nescafé has a similar story, at the end of the Second World War in Europe many food staples were simply not available, chocolate, fresh fruit, nylon stockings, cigarettes, coffee. Many countries had a coffee culture going back to the Renaissance when Admiral Christopher Columbus brought it back from the Americas with tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, oranges and chocolates to name a few native products of the Americas introduced in Europe in the 15th century.

So again the Allies had Nescafé and drank it all the time, the Europeans were curious and envious, quickly a black market was established and Nescafé was available for a price, thus it entered the local life and in countries behind the Iron Curtain, Nescafé became a luxury consumed by the Communist Elite. To this day in countries in the Balkan like Serbia it is still considered chic, though this is changing now with products widely available to all.

In the Middle-East it was Marlboro cigarettes and Benson & Hedges later who dominated the market.
Egypt the largest country and with an important percentage of its population smoking cigarettes there was a huge demand for British or American Tobacco products. Again the elite would set the tone and foreign cigarettes were considered far superior to any local product.

One surprise I had in all my years amongst the Arabs was how popular Johnny Walker Red Label scotch was, only to be outdone by the Black Label brand. I remember in the Sudan whenever we visited Khartoum which was often back in the late 1980's and early 90's everything was paid in cases of scotch. The government was '' officially '' strictly observant of the Sharia.
You needed a curfew pass, you needed some other service from some nice Muslim official
the payment was in Johnny Walker. All Sudanese soldiers at check-points in Khartoum were paid in packages or cartons of cigarettes usually Marlboro, their favorite, God help you if you did not have a pack to give out, they could be very violent. One night a European Consul was badly beaten for refusing to pay the usual bribe.

The joke became that the real name of the Scotch was Johnny Mohamed Walker. I remember one night in Cairo at one of the big supper night clubs at the Meridien Hotel frequented by Saudi Royalty and other Gulf Princes, the scotch would flow. The famous singer and actress Sabah was performing and she would call out to the famous patrons in the audience.
There was next to our table a senior member of the Saudi Royal Family who was enjoying a bottle of Johnny Walker Black label, Sabah asked him how was his friend Johnny. Everyone laughed.

I also remember visiting the Casino at the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek, in a Palace built for the opening of the Suez Canal to house Empress Eugénie of France. The casino had tables for Bacarat and Chemin de fer, Roulette etc... it was only opened to foreigners, Egyptians could not get in.
The Gulf Princes would be there every night and play incredible amounts, I remember one Prince loosing one million dollars in 5 minutes at Roulette, I was stunned. There was an elderly Armenian banker who worked for a Swiss Wealth Fund, I think it was UBS. He was hired by the King of Saudi Arabia to watch over his sons, they had a limit on any bets of 2 million dollars a night. They played so badly that the game was over in 30 minutes tops. This old banker gave wonderful parties at his penthouse apartment in Zamalek close to my home.

What one man considers luxury the other will think is bunk.

Cairo 

A momentous day

Well today I handed in my resignation letter from the Canadian Foreign Service at 4:16 pm effective on 28 December 2012. I spoke with the Director of Personnel, an old colleague of mine and with my assignment officer, we reminisced about the past years, so many years and so many postings at different Canadian Embassies around the world. It all seems to me like a movie, another world, another time. When I joined the Foreign Service, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister in Britain, Ronald Reagan was President, in Canada Joe Clark was Prime Minister, a man I always like for his honest straightforward approach to things. My postings were in order: Mexico City, Cairo Egypt with accreditation to Khartoum, The Sudan, Chicago USA, Amman Jordan with accreditation to Iraq and Palestine, Warsaw Poland with accreditation to Belarus and Lithuania,in 2004 to Beijing PRC, finally in 2007 to Rome Italy with accreditation to Greece, Malta and Albania. I also served on temporary duty at the United Nations, General Assembly, Social Affairs Committee in the Fall of 1985, then in 2001 in Lagos Nigeria and  Ankara Turkey. I also organized the first Protocol Office for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and served as first Head of Protocol and Official Visits.

I was in Mexico City on the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake of September 1985 and in Egypt during the first Gulf War when Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. I was in Khartoum on the night of the defeat of Iraq and came face to face with Tareq Aziz the Prime Minister of Iraq in the lobby of the Khartoum Hilton whose distinction was that the hotel was built at the point where the Blue Nile meets the White Nile, an impressive sight. I was stunned to meet Tareq Aziz in the lobby, a coincidence an accident really, he noticed by diplomatic passport and all he said to me was that he really like Canada and hoped to come one day to Canada. I will never forget his eyes, they were those of a man who had seen too much. They had no expression in them a bit like the eyes of a dead person, the flicker had gone out. He was as always courteous and polite, the human face of the awful Saddam Hussein Regime of Iraq. I remember in the Sudan how everything was paid for with cases of Johnnie Walker Scotch despite the fact this was suppose to be an Islamic Regime.

In Egypt I received death threats from some disgruntled person, the regime provided me with body guards and I never had a parking problem in Cairo for the next 3 years. In Jordan, His Majesty King Hussein, a charismatic and wonderful man, one of the great leaders of the XXth century, sent me a photo of himself in a silver frame with a dedication, to my friend Mr. Laurent Beaulieu with my best wishes. I was so surprised even my ambassador was a little jealous. His brother Prince Hassan followed up a few days later with a similar gift, apparently I had done something, I do not know what, that had attracted their attention. I remember on a return flight from Egypt to Jordan, I discovered that I was seated next to Sharifa Dina Abdul Hamed, the first wife of the King and we spoke of her horses, those white Arabian stallions, she was delightful and charming.

In Chicago, the great rival of New York, but with the polish and culture the big Apple lacks. Great City with wonderful architecture and cuisine. The USA from the mid-western point of view.
In Poland, Warsaw another great city, reborn after the darkness of Nazism and Communism, the rapidity of changes in the economy and life in general were dazzling. A country of culture, opera and the arts, a people with an interesting history. Warsaw a city of beautiful parks and palaces torn between Germany and Russia, a Slavic people with a Western European accent, very unlike their Russian neighbours often described by the Poles as too Asiatic.

Then China, a country which still clings to its Imperial past and the notion of the Middle Kingdom despite its 60 years of Communism. I discovered real Chinese cuisine and a very different perspective on China which is not apparent from home. Finally my postings to Rome and Athens, to end a career one cannot ask for anything better. What an incredible opportunity to be able to live and work in what is the cradle of Western civilization. Despite the fact that we have returned from Europe one year ago, we still often think of Italy and Greece, if not daily as you can tell from my posts on this blog.

All in all not a bad career and a charmed life. So it all comes to an end, like any thing else in life.
As I said to my colleagues today, One has to know when to leave the party. It was wonderful and now let's move on.

During my career I received many honours for my work but one I truly cherish, on the occasion of my 30 years of service as a member of Canada's Foreign Service a tree was planted in Sudbury, Ontario to honour me. I did not know of this in advance nor expected it and it means the most to me as it is a permanent symbol of my years of service. This tree is part of a vast project of rejuvenation for the City and it will certainly do a lot of good.

This view of Parliament in Ottawa just down the street from where we live in Ottawa. The buildings were built in 1864 and are the symbol of Canada representing our National goal of Peace, Order and Good Government.