Wed, Sept 30 Meeting Shehreen

Focus of today is meeting Shehreen, who was one of my grade 3 students at the U.S. College of Aggression Martyrs in Tripoli, Libya, in 1990-1991.  Yes, that was the name of the school.  It had been known as the Oil Companies School before the Americans bombed Tripoli in, I think, 1986.

We met at Green Park tube station, walked around Green Park, went for tea at Patisserie Valerie by the park.  Spent 4 hours catching up.

Shehreen did grades 1 and 2 in Ottawa, where her father was Bangladesh Ambassador to Canada, and grades 11 and 12, where he was High Commissioner.  She speaks with a Canadian accent.  What I remember specifically about her in grade 3 was that one day she brought a piece of her writing to show me, and I was impressed that a child that age was voluntarily writing, and she had wanted to show her teacher.

Shehreen has been studying in London for years, first getting a Masters in Communications, and now, she's in her third year of a PhD program in Communications.  Her thesis: the role of the media in the Bangladesh independence movement.  She has also been writing for a magazine in Bangladesh, focusing on women's issues, and she is on the teaching staff at the University of Dhaka.

Her husband is with her (and her daughter) in London, studying for his second Masters, in war, conflict and development.

She mentioned that many of the 18 students in our grade 3 class have gone on to get PhDs.

It was great to see her again, after more than 20 years.  She's expecting to move back to Bangladesh in October 2016, when she's finished her doctorate, and her husband has finished his masters.

She's looking sad here, but really, she wasn't.  She was quite thrilled to be meeting with her teacher from long ago.  She remembers there were only 3 girls in the class of 18.  I'd forgotten that.

Green Park, leads to Buckingham Palace 




Home for the evening