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These are my latest experiment at work and so far we are doing very well.

Was given a large number of mature eggs and in two weeks have had 26 hatchlings of which 25 have survived.

These critters are amazing - there is a good picture of an adult female here:

http://www.nrk.no/img/349773.gif

I have been to Paris twice before. Once passing through in 1987 on my way to Calais thanks to the cheap student fare prices we used to get. The second to watch the final day of the Tour de France, that particular day it was a blistering 28 degrees. On both occasions I never got around to doing any of the touristy things you should do. Who can go to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower?

Thanks to my new world of singledom a friend (Sarah) and myself decided we should spend a couple of days in Paris.

We booked tickets on Easy Jet. Not the best idea we have had.
As the airport is so far away I would recommend taking the Eurostar, then you enter Paris at one of the main stations Garde du Nord. Our trip from the airport to our hostel took us over 3 hours and was a total nightmare. We left Codicote at 7.30 and arrived at our hostel at around 7.30 that night so you can imagine that it was not a good start.

We chose to use a hostel for our stay as we had planned to be out all day and most nights. It was touch and go choosing one of the websites available but we took the chance that we could always leave and find something else. The hostel was not great; the main area for people to get together was not comfortable and inviting. The kitchen was great; we cooked meals for ourselves some of the evenings. They had Internet access, which was reasonably priced. You can either book private rooms or chose the cheaper options and share, you do get to say if you don't mind sharing with the opposite sex but they normally put the same sex together in the rooms. Our room had two sets of double bunks and there were four of us in the beginning and for one night just two of us and our last night there were four again. The girls we shared with were friendly which was great. It's also good for sharing notes on places to visit and places to avoid. I would suggest choosing a hostel if you are not fussy and you know you will be out the whole day. What is the point of paying a huge amount if you won't see the room that much? All you want really is a place to shower and bunk down for the night. The curfew was 2 am and we only missed that once - more about that later!

We found a lovely little cafe to eat at the first night. Not many people speak English but we had a translation book and made a huge effort to speak their language and invariably they were very good about helping us out. If you make an effort they appreciate it. We did also make a point of saying we were from 'Afrika de Sud' and they were really interested in chatting to us.

We chose the option of having one meal out during the day and the other at the hostel. Their kitchen facilities were ample. We did take things like salt and pepper with us, as those were not available. By doing this we saved money.

We did the usual tourist sights like the Eiffel Tower, river cruise, Notre Dame and the Loevre. Unfortunately we left the Loevre until the last day and we had serious hang overs, not the best time to walk around this amazing building and try and comprehend all that is inside it. I have to admit to being disappointed with the Notre Dame. I have seen more impressive cathedrals in the UK, but I guess it was not about the building rather the story behind it. The Eiffel Tower was great and I managed to take some lovely photos despite it being misty. By walking and not using the metro much and wondering around with our map we came across some pretty buildings and markets.

The Latin Quarter is a must see. It also has a great party atmosphere at night; this was the night we never made it back to the hostel. We met some American guys who were intent on showing us the nightlife in Paris. We landed up getting provided with Dom Perignon, which was probably wasted on us by that stage. By the time we left their apartment the next morning we were surprised to find ourselves on the Champs. These were corporate attorneys who had the use of the most amazing apartment I have every seen. Imagine the ones you see in French movies, high windows, and beautiful wooden floors just totally amazing architecture. And let me add some clarification, we did behave ourselves – good South African gal's that we are!

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip (besides all the dog poo on the pavements). I found the people very warm and friendly, the food was great and will have great memories of it.

Next trip planned is Amsterdam, but I have to first cross the hurdle to get my ILR [achieved] before I can get yet another Schengen Visa.

Google just gets better

you can now personalise your google content page

click here

still in the beta stage

Read in the papers last week that Frank Lord the former Manager of Cape Town City in the late 60's early 70's had passed away.

I will always remember Frank for the times he would 'fall out' with us referees and linesmen during matches and straight after matches, yet the next time you met up all was forgotten.

:rip:

In February a Dutch couple came to help me with a project. Their little 4 year old, Ruth, started to go to an English pre-school, and she came home frustrated so many afternoons because she couldn't speak English.

I've spent time with her this afternoon and was soooooo amazed about how fluent her English, after 4 and a half months, is. Fantastic! Her mother said that she keeps on correcting her parents pronunciation. They are soon to go back to Holland and I hope she will continue to have an opportunity to speak English.

:daisy:

Don't know how many of you have read this book but if you haven't I can highly recommend it.

You can read a very thorough synopsis of the book here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,..._1,00.html

In short, it is the biography of Caitlin herself who moved from London to Maun in Botswana and lived there for 12 years. It recounts her experiences, both good and bad, during that time.

It documents the changes to the social landscape of Botswana (something that mirrors the changes in South Africa very closely) and is a very different and refreshing read.

In case you oke's do not know - SA won the under 21 Rugby World Cup ...



and



If you have not been following ...



Also the under 19 World Cup earlier this year ! ok:

He drops 5 players ... 4 of them is black players ... is he brave or is he just spitefull ? :lovef:

Decide for yourself ... I would have NEVER dropped Solly .. I think he is way better than


Breyten is back .. so is Andre Pretorius :o

Quote:Springbok coach Jake White either loves to court controversy or he is a very brave man. In naming a 28-man squad to undertake a short tour to Australia, departing on Wednesday, he axed five players ... of which four are black.

The squad includes one new player, that were not involved in the just completed Tests against Uruguay and France, Lions fly-half André Pretorius.

For the more cynical, or the politically minded, Pretorius is a white player - which means those with agendas will certainly have enough ammunition to fire at the Bok coach should they wish to do so.

Those axed on Monday are wing Tonderai Chavhanga, flank Solly Tyibilika, scrum-half Bolla Conradie and prop Eddie Andrews.

The fifth player who have been left out is lock Gerrie Britz, who is injured.

Considering the heated debate that raged in the past week around his Bok selection policy and his acknowledgement that there had been interference in his selections - especially in regards to the transformation issue - it is certainly not the politically correct thing to go and drop a group of black players and include a white newcomer.

But the Bok coach made rugby decisions and White is on record as saying he would like to select his team without interference.

While he subscribes to the transformation agenda of the South African Rugby Union (SARU), he wants to make selections based on rugby principles.

So lets then look at the team from a rugby point of view.

In that regard the axing of Tyibilika remains a shocker. Considering that White repeatedly said he would like to give key players a break, the encounter with the Wallabies in Sydney on July 9 - the first of two matches for the Mandela Cup - would have been the perfect opportunity to give Tyibilika a run and Schalk Burger a break.

Or he could even have played Burger and Tyibilika in tandem and gave Danie Rossouw a break. As it is, there are those who questions how White can select Rossouw ahead of Tyibilika.

The coach has his reasons, but leaving Tyibilika behind to play Currie Cup rugby is a big surprise.

The non-selections of Chavhanga, Conradie and Andrews make a lot more sense.

None of them would have gotten game time in Sydney, considering they were unlikely to even get onto the bench.

With Breyton Paulse fit again and Bryan Habana in near unstoppable form, it means a brilliant player like Jean de Villiers is not even guaranteed a place on the wing. In fact De Villiers may well be moved into the midfield, where is likely to be more effective than on the wing.

Enrico Januarie, despite some glaring handling blunders in the second Test against France, deserves at least a place on the bench and Fourie du Preez remains White's first choice at scrum-half. It leaves Conradie out in the dark.

Andrews, like he did in the Super 12, has not been a shadow of the player he was in the Tri-Nations last year and Lawrence Sephaka showed against the French that he is a solid selection. White is still keen to try him at tighthead, with Os du Randt likely to be fit for the Sydney showdown.

It also means White is unlikely to vary too much from the side that played in the two Tests against France and that only minor adjustments will be made - which has been the coach's policy all along.

The selectors said they will "review" the Springbok squad when it returns from Sydney.

The squad will assemble In Johannesburg on Wednesday (June 29) and departs for Sydney that evening.

The South African squad:

Forwards: Bakkies Botha, Gary Botha, Schalk Burger, Jacques Cronjé, Os du Randt, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, Lawrence Sephaka, Juan Smith, John Smit (captain), Gurthro Steenkamp, Hanyani Shimange, Albert van den Berg, CJ van der Linde, Joe van Niekerk.

Backs: De Wet Barry, Jean de Villiers, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, Enrico Januarie, Marius Joubert, Wayne Julies, Percy Montgomery, Breyton Paulse, Andre Pretorius, Brent Russell, Jaco van der Westhuyzen.

What are you afraid of if you have ponophobia?