The Colours of Africa

It never changes. Everytime I jump on a plane to make a long distance trip these things are always true.
They serve you dinner an hour after making altitude no matter what god forsaken time it is
They never, ever,  serve you enough wine
You wake up wishing you had forked out an extra grand or two to sit up front and not next to a complete stranger who is dribbling on your arm

Which brings me to Africa. South Africa to be presice, but Africa none the less. A nation trying so hard to put away the past, move forward, be more like Europe or the States in so many ways that it will eventually lose complete touch of what it started out as.  Take our new local airport as an example. They moved a perfectly good, well functioning, well postioned airport to a location that promised to deliver so much more and be so much more efficient.

In the past when I flew into Durban International Aiport, which technically had not received international flights from around 1999 but that's besides the point,  I used to to know I was Home. We flew down the mountain path and along the seaside and then we would step off the plane directly onto the tarmac and walk across into arrivals within nano-minutes.

Now, at the new improved spanky panky airport you fly over a bunch of green hills which are perfectly nice but quite uninspiring, and directly into a tunnel attachment that leads you into a massive building with not much in it. The place is deserted. No more crowds of people waiting to see their loved ones, no more buzz, no more heat steaming up off the tarmac.

I'm not sure how much more efficient this new airport has turned out to be, but I do know that while the trip home remains the same, this unchanged hum drum of long distance travel, the end result of haphazard typical African simplicity has gone forever.

I hope that while this wonderful country strives to be more 1st world every day it breathes another  breath of sunshine, it doesnt lose its colours. Those wonderful coulours of africa. Those little things that aren't perfect but they make us who we are. A patchwork design of some many things unique to us, all sewn together to make a great big colourful nation. Viva Africa!

Switzerland is not alway Neutral

I always thought that Switzerland was neutral. Not true. In my case it has posed a dilemna for me for the past two weeks and now that I have made a decision I'm not entirely sure its the right one. Time will tell, which is ironic, considering their watch making skills.

I've always been a pro's and con's type of girl. My mother played devils advocate so much when I was growing up that I now,
1.cant make a decision without overthinking every last detail to the point of nausea and
2.hate making decisions so much because I cant face the process involved so I end up blocking them out of my conscience until the very last minute. At which point it is either too late or a mad rush.

My mad rush this week involves me dashing off to the shops to buy a pair of boots and some woolie clothes to get me through a weekend in 6 degrees celcius. Im not really sure how woolie I need to go either, coming form a sub tropical home town in South Africa. I only really know how  to dress for humid, hot and a swimming pool.

But back to Switzerland. It was for me once the epitomny of neutral... war, bank accounts, the never accepting the Euro. These last two weeks its been more about, do I go and see someone who I have always sort of fitted into my social life through other people. You see there always seems to have been other friends around when we see each other. So its easy. You drink, be merry and if you find yourself in the occassional pash on the dance floor, so be it.
But now, now its just him and I.  One on one. At his family's home. It wasn't intended that way. It was meant to be with two other mutal friends of ours, his brother and girlfriend who I have known for years. But in yachting things change and they cant be there. So here is my question:  Do you have the same relationship with someone you know through other people when you are not with those other people? Or will it all go pear shaped? Maybe it will just be something Completly Neutral. I'll let you know.

Just a moment

Its funny I was sitting on the bow of my boat yesterday evening talking to someone about fate. Timing. Small decisions you make that somehow change or mould the rest of your existence and sometimes you know youre making them and other times you don't
When I woke up this morning it was pouring with rain. So much rain and so hard it appears to have challenged a few of the older buildings in the small town where we are based right now. I'll tell you the truth, I was trying to sneak in to my apartment without being spotted. I was wearing the same clothes that I was in when I had the fate conversation, which turned out to be a longer conversation than originally planned, with some one who does happen to believe in it and also rolls an amazing joint. But I digress. I openned the door to the communal hallway and heard voices, voices I didnt want to hear as they belonged to the very people I was trying to sneak past. After an anagonising moment of deciding whether to hide in the corner near the well (its an old building, yes we do actually have a well) or slip out the door again into the pouring rain I went  for the door. It turns out that moment may have saved my life. As I put the key in the door for the second time this morning an enormous piece of concrete came crashing down and covered the very spot I was walking on  5 seconds before.  It was just a moment, and I'm aware of  it, but my question is this. How many moments do we take in life that we arent aware of,  moments they may have changed the course of our life and yet we will never know. Avoiding and accident, seeing an old friend, meeting someone new, all things that if we had left a moment sooner or later may not have happened. I guess we'll never know, so I've just decided to put it all down to Fate.

The little black sheep amongst us

When I was a little girl I had a List. I had a List of the all the things that my future dream husband was going to be and do and look like. I hid it under my parquet floorboards in my very 80's bedroom for a while and must have changed hiding places over the years as when I went back to look for it a few years ago it was gone.
And so it seems have all the good men!
No, thats a lie. There are good men around... There are funny, good looking, hardworking, kind, generous men everywhere. Theyre all just about 6- 10 years younger than me and when they find out how Ancient I am, it seems all bets are off, unless its just a one night stand youre looking for that is, which call me old fashioned, but I'm not.
Yes, Im being punished for being the little black sheep in the family. Instead of marriage, house and kids I went to sea when I was 22 , travelling and working and having the best 12 years of my life, but somehwere in those 12 years it seemd I have exchanged one dream for another. I have got to see pretty much most countries in this crazy world we live in, expereince so many different cultures I sometimes can't remember where I did what and with who. But what are these things if at the end of it you dont have anyone to share your memories with? Was it worth it??? Damn straight it was....I'll just have to keep hoping that some where on this planet there's another  little black sheep out there. And according to The List the most important thing is he better make me laugh...............I'll need it when Im 90 and wheeling myself down the aisle.
Here's to accepting who we are,even if the young ones dont get it.