"Don't cry over the spilt ...YOGURT!!!"

How a yogurt can spoil your day
Usually, it shouldn't... but if your name is Gaby and it is the 27th of January it surely will! So, while flying to South Africa in December we were served with a delicious yogurt for breakfast. I loved it and i was sad i couldn't get it in Cairo. Well, i went to the supermaket this week and there it was!! So i bought a couple.
I took one to school thinking i will have it for snack. I walked into the kitchen around 10 thinking I will have my delicious yogurt; there was a note on the wall about this yogurt that fell out of the fridge and was all spilt on the floor. As soon as i read that i thought: I hope it is not mine!! Well, lucky me, IT WAS!!!!!!!! (this happened after another yogurt has misteriously vanished).
Well at that point i felt i had had enough of the "yogurt story", so like most women do, i shouted!! (bad thought, i guess ... actually not thought, but more of an impulse!).
Yogurt therapy followed with Gina.
Yogurt therapy 2 with boss (:O).
Yogurt therapy 3 with Cristina (sort of - or different kind of therapy).
Yogurt therapy 4 with Gina.
Yogurt therapy 5 with blogger.
How fun! (wish there was a sarcasm font!)
Don't cry over spilt yogurt ....
- it's just a yogurt
- I have another one at home
- it's just 2 LE
Well it is Wednesday and it is nearly the end of the week ... my nerves can't be stretched any more!

South Africa .... just thoughts

I have recently returned from South Africa ... i spent 3 weeks there. It has been long with many exciting things to do and see, but i have richly enjoyed it. When you say

South Africa, you immediately think of the continent and expect it to be a shady country with not much to offer (I do have to say that a lot of people do not know it is actually a country and not an area of the continent. There are still people who say: "ohh, South of Africa... where exactly in the South of Africa?"). As soon as I said South Africa to a friend, she said: Charlize Theron! That is good to know, isnt it? Anyway ... back to my trip.... I traveled Ethiopian Airlines .. not bad, not bad at all!! We first stopped in Khartoum (Sudan) to get more people, and then took off again to land in Addis Ababa where i changed planes. Another 8 hrs of flying from Addis to Johannesburg.

There is so much to say ... i do not even know where to start. As soon as you land, you think you're in Europe. At least, that was my first impression. The country itself is very developed with very good infrastructure and then ..... the scenery is breathtaking!! No wonder Lonely Planet has declared Cape Town the most wonderful city in the world! Coming from Egypt, where green is not a colour that you see very often (unless you live in Maadi, like me!) i was delighted to see the fresh green everywhere.

From getting locked in the bathroom somewhere near George to trying snails, it has been quite an exciting adventure!

I was able to experience a couple of days in a safari, chasing after leopards, looking for the elephants, seeing the rhinos, zebras, looking for the lions in the middle of the night ... being waken up in the morning by the sound of hippos bathing in the river...

I was quite blessed to get a diverse experience of what South Africa is: not just wild life and safaris, but city life in Johannesburg and Cape Town; going to see "Cats", the musical in Cape Town and watching "Cinderela on Ice" in Johanneburg.

Stopping at Plattenburg for a breath taking view was unforgettable ... Just as we were driving from George on N1 (or 2?) towards Cape Town on the Garden Route, you see the townships (places where the non-whites used to live during the apartheid (and some of them still live there)... it is such a contrast!! Some of them have their huts on a hill where you can get a gorgeous view of the ocean, but i am sure they do not appreciate that, and there is nothing wrong with it! While Westerners go for the view, some people are just happy to have a place to lay their heads at night.

Meeting old friends from Cairo in Bloemfontein has been wonderful!! You kind of get the feeling that you finally know someone or a place ... and it brings a sense of comfort in a way. You get to meet new people as well and with it come all the facebook friend request (lol).

I spent 5 days in Cape Town ... the weather was terrible during the whole time .... Table

Mountain was constantly covered with a cloud and i thought i will not be able to go up there and view the whole city. I had already bought a ticket for the cable car, so i had no choice but to go. Anyway, i took the hop on-hop off bus and that too me all over the city; one of the stops was the cable car to the mountain. Guess what? That day, the cloud was gone and i was able to get a very good view of the city and take some cool shots!!!

Food... well, when it comes to food ... i've tried some South African stuff (billtong and a poikje -

still not sure of that spelling), but i got to hate sushi and fish even more than i did already! lol. I still like my mum's fish best, though (it is the only fish that i would eat now!). Litchis were my favourite!!!!!!!!!!!!! I recall i had them once before, but they were canned... now i got to taste the real thing!! I wish i had a tree at my house! :)

Spending Christmas by the Indian Ocean, in a cottage by Riet River has definitely calmed my troubled spirit ... walking on the beach has never been more peaceful than then!

One of my favourite things was seeing the Kappse Klopse - it is a traditional festival of the coloured population, to celebrate the New Year, on January 2nd.

People in bright coloured costumes, with their faces painted, holding umbrellas and playing different instruments take over the streets of Cape Town. They are organised in troupes, each of them representing something (a minority, as far as i understood).

Now there is a whole dynamic of the white and non-white population ... i will not got into that, for political reasons ... i do have my opinion, but i guess it is better to keep it to myself.

I got to meet Keisha, Harry and Sally, 3 elephants that conquered my heart (plus a few more others) - i got to touch them and talk to them! Holding a lion cub's paw has been another amazing thing!!!

These things and the feelings that come with them, cannot be put into words nor shared, so i was content to just absorb everything and hold it inside, hoping that it will stay there forever! These are things one should experience, not just read about. As we were driving i was just content to look around, take everything in, like a deep breath and keep it in ... maybe until next time, because there will be a next time for sure!

PS: I am starting to hate blogspot as it messes a lot with the post and pictures!

Get on with your life!

Staff morning meeting this week ... many things were mentioned... one thing caught my attention: one plastic bag, laying around from Chilli's. On it, these words were written: "Get in, Get out ... Get on with your life!"

"Get on with your life!" ... i like that! :) It reminded me to stop clinging on to things from the past, people in the past/present and just continue. Like a very old friend of mine in high school used to say: "no one and nothing is irreplaceable".

I've always said: "money comes and goes" and i like to think i have been very wise and generous with it. I am learning to adapt it and say: "people come and people go". Just like money - you can give it away (or invest in people) - if it comes back to you, great ... if it doesn't, life is still good!

Take your "Chili's" (whatever that is) and "Get on with your life"!

Flying ... just like a bird

Recently back from my South African adventures, i have learnt a few lessons, but a very important one that God keeps reminds me of: to rise above. I have written about this before (first of all inspired by Dr. Bailey from Grey's Anatomy), but it is worth mentioning it.

As i was at Riet River, right by the Indian Ocean, celebrating Christmas, i couldn't help not walking down the beach .... it was so nice and peaceful, especially after so many weeks of teaching in Cairo. The weather was just perfect...

Anyways, i was watching the birds that were on the beach trying to eat some of the shells that were brought on the shore by the waves .... they were in the water, eating peacefully, when a wave came and just like that, they just flew above it and then landed again, and continued their search for more food.

I couldn't help not thinking of myself .... and how often waves come into my life, but hardly ever i am as peaceful as those birds... I never seem to be able to just fly above the wave of difficulty/stress/worries/etc.... Why? I guess it is in the human nature to worry and stress... I am still working on that.... Somebody told me stress comes from uncertainty, but i think of myself as a very self-confident person. Anyway, this is another subject for another time. For as muc has i try to keep positive and on top of everything, there's little things that knock me down.