Sunday, April 20, 2008

Edinburgh


" the entrance to Edinburgh Castle"
The last two weeks were easter holiday.. my baby was nagging all the time about going out then she asked me a surprise question : she wants to go to the zoo !! ... since she learnt about the story of Noah and his animals back in school and Dania is becoming more and more obsessed with animals. this is how the whole idea of Scotland came into our mind... Edniburgh is about 1 hour and 25 minuts away ( by train) and it has a zoo!!...
we surfed internet .. got a good hotel offer .. bought train tickets and off we went to the highlands.....

the city is huge with lots of hills and lots of ups and downs roads ( my legs are still aching !!!) ..scotish flags are everywhere .. as if they want to make sure that u don`t mistake it to any other british city ( coz honestly it is not much different) ...
although you are surrounded by many modern buidlings but still you can feel and breath the medivel atmosphere especially when you look over that famous castle ( it just reminded me of Brave Heart the famous movie !!) ..


" Dania infront of the castle with the princess !!"



the second day was Zoo day !! Dania was up really early.. very excited, she begged us to hurry ... we changed our clothes ..ate our breakfast and off to the street ... took the bus and few minutes later we were inside the zoo... I will never forget my daughter`s expression when she saw the first animal ( a sea lion ) swimming in the water.. she started to jump from one cage to the other .. as if she was afraid that animals will go away.... she would name each animal and ask me if she didn`t recognise one.... she enjoyed the monkeys ( we enjoyed watching them too !!) .. she was very excited to see the lion ... very afraid to see the snake ... but most of all very happy to see the pinguinis ( my favourate animals ) ...

the zoo is well equiped .. animals are maintained in their natural enviroments ...and facilities were excellent .. the only problem was the weather .. it was freezing cold .. most animals were hiding .. we had a hard time trying to find the tiger or the kuala !!

the day in the zoo was finished with a very funny ending .. the pinguins parade .. yes people it was a real parade .. we were standing on specific lines and peinguinis were marching infront of us looking at us in a very funny way ... I laughed really hard at the scene ... it was unbelievable...
here are some photos from the zoo:



"Dania at the entrance of the zoo"

in the evening we headed back to the hotel .. took our bag and went to the station.. Dania was exhausted ( so do we !!) she slept all the way back to Newcastle ..
it was a good short break .. we enjoyed the whole trip .. Dania is still talking about the zoo and about the castle with the princess in it !! ..but she realised today that Edinburgh zoo has no Giraffes or Elephants ... !!!! she was right .....
Best regards
Um Dania

Saturday, April 05, 2008

If you`re still there !!

It`s been a while I know.. I must admit that I feel very guilty towards my blog .. it is like adobting a child then abandoning him in the middle of the road.. the guilt is intense that sometimes I would rather prefer to delete it than having it infront of my face whenever I open my PC..I would avoid checking it whenever I`m online.. i sometimes wonder what was the reason behind opening this blog.. and why the flame that led me to open it had faded gradually .. I must confess that alot of what is in my mind is hard to be poured into words.. not because it`s hard or something ..no .. it is just the courage to express myself more freely.. and the invisible bounderies that ban me from being more sincere ..
my blog was supposed to be about our family and our daily challenges... yet I found it really hard to give a record of what we see and experience on a daily basis.. maybe the language is a barrier since I decided to write in English ... the language choice was -maybe- because I felt that my own language will expose me .... hiding behind a second language was one of my ways to creatre a new space of freedom ... " they will never know who I am " I would tell myself.. then I will ask myself why am I hiding.... and from whom... I never opened a taboo topic .. and most of my posts are simple day-to-day records without any details..
I`m a free spirit who believe in equality .. justice and peace.. I have my strong opinions that lead to endless debates and discussions .. I don`t take life for granted.. I appreciate every single drop of water I dring ... every molecule of oxygen I breath.. I question everything in life .... yet , I never opened those topics with you guys.. prefering to be a normal working -now student- mother with a normal family ( what is the normality anyway?) .. hiding behind the safety of normality and anonymity..!!
I need to reflect on my blog.. it has to be changed.. I may consider changing the language or even writing in mix .. I love the Arabic language... mama and baba spent a good part of their lives teaching us how to use this beautiful language in a perfect way.. they believe that you would never master any language if you don`t express yourself correctly in your own language.. I think they`re right...
I may consider changing the title ... it is not about only my family... it is our lives and the lives of others...it is about the concept of life...
i need to take more time to think .. then I `ll decide what to do.. and for you who are still there .. wait for me .. I`ll be back soon