Met Maria's friends for the first time

Here is my journal entry from July 25th, 1986 : " Woke up at 7:30 but stayed in bed until 8. took a shower and got back in bed until 9. Another great view of the lake today. Not hazy. I have been having a lot of weird dreams lately about people back home. We are going to Salo' this morning to buy Maria Victoria a Swatch watch, because she finished her studies. I wrote a few letters. In Salo' I didn't buy a thing--oh yes I did, an envelope. sandy bought some pants, maria a swatch watch and me, an envelope. Doesn't matter. We layed in the sun this afternoon and I am getting a good color. It was a late night tonight. We went to dinner at 8 pm. I made spaghetti for lunch. We went to an Italian supermarket today and I bought some snack food since I am always hungry lately. We went to the restaurant of the friends of the Pasotti's then we met some friends of Maria Victoria, all boys. They were very big flirts. After dinner we all drank some sparkling wine. It was 11 and Amadeo wanted us all to go swimming at his house. We didn't go. Maria V said that we would go there another day."

This was the start of lots of visits with Maria's friends. It seems all the female friends were on holiday somewhere and so only the men were around. That was strange. They really flirted with us a lot.

Jocelyne Ageneau (Bru)

Jocelyn Ageneau grew up in Fontenay le Comte in La Vendee area of France (the West coast). Strangely, she and I barely talked to one another during the camp but became friends afterwards.
She did not speak much English, although I know that she knows a lot. She became a teacher and married a policeman. It has been a long time since I wrote to her. I don't know exactly where she is or what she is doing now. I sent her a postcard to her parents' address but have not heard from her yet. I will try some of the other addresses I have for her. Does anyone keep in contact with Jocelyne?
The top picture is from a local newspaper article from Ouest-France. Alain and Jocelyne are from neighboring towns, so they were featured together with the local Lion's Club member.

jumping the gate.

In my journal dated July 24, 1986, I wrote: "Woke up at 10 past 12. Took a hot shower, the first one of my entire stay here. we got dressed and went to town. At lunch at the house. I made some scrambled eggs and bread and cheese..then chocolate. In town we were hungry again so had some ice cream. I am still hungry. I tried to make some phone calls first at a pay phone..no luck, then we found a cafe that has a phone we can use. It worked. I feel much better now. I had lost my sunglasses in the ocean in La Spezia so I bought some new ones. They are so cool. We had to jump the fence back at the house. Sandy took a major scratch to her leg. We will be going out until late tomorrow night so I took a nap back at the house. Layed in the hammock a while. Victoria had an exam today, her last one. We will celebrate tomorrow. Finally there is no haze on the lake and I can get some good pictures."

Here is a picture of the gate and the view.

Carolle Sanchez -- France

Carolle. Sort, dark haired. She did not speak English very well at the camp so I did not get to know her very well. She mainly was with the other French campers. She had a pixie-like appearance. Here are some pictures from her. I received one card from her in 1986 for Christmas and then never heard from her again. Has anyone been in contact with her? Please let me know. Here are some pictures of Carolle.
In the close-up of her face, that is Raija from Finland behind her.

July 23, 1986 Royal Wedding

Here is the entry from my travel journal dated July 23, 1986. "I got up at 10 am! but I never really slept the whole night. I had too much on my mind, thinking of people and future and such. Sandy slept well. We tried to watch the royal wedding of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson but the reception on the TV was too fuzzy. We did not get RAI 3 on the television at this summer home. Maria Victoria is angry about that. We will have to watch parts of it on the news this evening. Oh well, we just wanted to see her dress really. I don't know what is planned for today." that is all I wrote so other than TV I have no idea what we did. TV was something we did a lot at the beginning. Then later the father of the family where we stayed "spoke" to his daughter and told her that we should go out more in the evening and see things. I think it was hard for her. She wanted to be with her friends, who were all on holiday. She had to study over the summer and take an exam. It must have been difficult to always have these 2 other girls in the house. They were always very kind to us but on some days, Sandy and I would just leave the house and do things on our own so she had "free" time too. We were very lucky to have this family. They wanted to take care of us and did take us many places. "borrowed" this picture off Google's pictures. Thanks.

Patricia Cerceau --France

Here are a few pictures of Patricia. She had plans to go to an American University but I don't know if she ever made it to one. Does anyone keep in contact with Patricia? I sent a postcard to her mother's address. It is still a valid addres so I hope to hear from her soon. Let's see..Patricia. Her English was very good. She was not very tall and was always well dressed. She lived not too far from Paris in the town of Yerres (Essone). She would go with Annie and me sometimes when we walked places. She was a very sweet person and I hope she responds to the letter. Anyone have a story about Patricia? Let me know. Post a comment here. Ciao!