"Don't Cry For Me Argentina" - Julie Covington, 1976

I heard on the news this morning that today is the 25th anniversary of the start of the war, between Britain and Argentina, over the Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas). BBC News have a special section on their website covering the history of the conflict.

Hearing of the anniversary really brought back memories to me. In 1982, I was working for Elf in Houston. There were only two of us in the office there, so my boss Nicolas and I worked in two adjacent offices in a downtown Houston corporate suite -- an office setup where many of our administrative services were provided for us. Among the other tenants were a Scottish man and an Argentinean. And we -- my charming French boss and I -- were working between their offices. It was indeed a very strange situation for an young American woman. I learned more about current events and world politics than I had bargained for when I joined the French oil company's American office the previous year!

Much to the relief of the woman who ran the corporate suite, armed conflict never broke out in her offices during that time period. (I think about Aurise often, and I hope she's ok. She was always wonderful to Nicolas and me.)

Seriously, though, I'm sure this day brings back really awful memories for many people in both the UK and Argentina. Meanwhile, we have a deepening international crisis building between Britain and Iran regarding the unlawful detention of 15 British military personnel seized in Iraqi waters. I hope everyone keeps a cool head...and that the 14 men and one woman get to come home to their loved ones sooner rather than later.

And my last thought for this posting is that it would have been my father's 87th birthday today. He died back in 1987, but he's certainly still being missed by lots of us.

Janet