For those who may not know him, Mr. Patrick Georgevitch started his professional journey with a degree in physiotherapy. He has since refined his academic and professional skills with numerous postgraduate certifications, particularly in mechanical and manual therapy. In addition to being a fitness expert, having become a personal trainer, fitness therapist, and a sports and strength conditioning specialist with various sub-certifications, he specializes in performance nutrition.
On July 6, 2024, Bambi was honoured and delighted when she interviewed Montreal-based Patrick Georgevitch, as shown further below. Today, she is thrilled to know that Mr. Georgevitch (or Patrick) is on Substack.
Indeed, Patrick’s platform is called “Drops”. Stay tuned, but until then, what is Drops? It is a space where he shares brief and truthful reflections on clarity, health, resilience, and cutting through the noise.
If you’re curious or want to follow Patrick, you can subscribe here: https://shorturl.at/8x62O. Trust that he would love you to join. Thus far, there is one post introducing him and Substack. VERY SOON, he will start sharing more Drops.
Please stay tuned everyone, especially if you are interested in Patrick’s outstanding health-related content, especially that many of you expressed your appreciation of his work and explanation. Some of you may already be among his lucky followers.
Of note, Patrick will start sharing Drops in a few days. If you subscribe to his Substack, you will receive his broadcast emails. Specifically, if you are subscribed and he shares new posts, you will receive an email like a newsletter. You may share the drops you get as mails as well. However, in order to be on his mailing list, you must subscribe to his profile. There is no need to create an account yourself. By subscribing, you are simply adding yourself to the mailing list.
To conclude this post, before going to bed, Bambi will end with one of Patrick’s YouTube excellent videos, entitled “Your Way to Better Sleep“. From it, she learned about the impact of stretching on the quality of sleep. “Mabrouk” and long live Mr. Patrick Georgevitch’s Substack platform. May he keep the momentum of excellence. May you all enjoy self-care!
Nurse Khodor Ahmadieh. A picture provided by Mr. Ahmadieh,
It’s only been a week since Bambi arrived in Beirut. Thus far, she either re-connected with or met amazing new people. One of the latter are two most amazing and highly competent nurses, including the inspiring and multi-talented Mr. Khodor Ahmadieh.
Highly professional yet approachable, chatting with Mr. Ahmadieh has been enriching for Bambi at many levels. Indeed, she appreciates his character as well as his devotion to nursing care, humanity, critical thinking, spirituality, creativity, and artistic talent. His wisdom, philosophy of life, and drive are contagious. It is both reassuring and refreshing to witness firsthand his highly competent, professional, and uplifting care for his patients, colleagues, family, nephews/nieces, friends, and fellow community members.
At the creative level, despite his highly busy workload at the emergency room (ER), he takes the time to bring smiles to his peers and eventually social media followers. If you are interested, you can watch three of his public short videos. He has an impressive number of online followers who appreciate him as much as those who are lucky to also know him offline. How could they not to when he is filled with both authenticity and humanity? Of note, the last video you will see shows him acting in a Lebanese movie, Bride of Beirut [“Arouss Beirut”], shot in Turkey. Wow, bravo!
In addition to the artistic side above, Mr. Ahmadieh is gifted in cooking, bravo too and mmm! He is also skilled in food inspection and safety. Furthermore, he is knowledgeable in history of religions and surely in his own spirituality in the most inspiring ways (this would deserve a post in itself). Regardless of any particular talent, it is Bambi’s hope that he will keep his drive alive. With the latter, may he remain true to himself, grounded in his own sense of self while being connected to others and to the universe in uplifting ways.
To come back to his nursing core values, Mr. Ahmadieh has high works ethics. Above all, he is gifted in honouring patient dignity and treating them with kindness, along with a remarkable competence. There is a reason why everyone appreciates and loves him, including Bambi’s dad. May he keep hanging on to his beautiful values and congruent decision-making in his professional as well as personal life. Lebanon, and by extension the entire world, needs both emotionally and spiritually intelligent young people like him.
Indeed, it is precisely those human qualities described above, that made him rush, within minutes only, from his village in the mountains to Beirut where the tragedy of August 4, 2020 took place. He made it to the capital to offer his assistance. Even if his residence is geographically far from the capital (by the standards of Lebanon, not Canada), the sound of the explosion was heard in his village. Indeed, it was extremely scary to the point of thinking that the blast occurred at his neighbour’s place.
Upon reaching Beirut, just like in horror movies with apocalyptic scenes, he saw a chaotic level of destruction to the point that he had to leave his car far away from his destination. He rushed walking on his feet and finally made it to the hospital where he used to work back then. What did he see upon his arrival and what happened next, you may wonder dear readers? We will hear his story, with his own words, in the following paragraphs. Please stay tuned until then end of this post.
Along with three other hospitals, the institution in question was totally destroyed. The 300+ inpatients had to be evacuated it safely ASAP in the total darkness due to the loss of power. At first, no one knew exactly what was happening until they heard about the detonation of an estimated 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate, stored for six years at the nearby port without safety measures.
As a reminder, the Beirut surreal explosion resulted in more than 220+ deaths. There were also 7500 injuries, 300, 000 homeless people, 150+ permanent disabilities, over 3/4 of massive destruction of Lebanon’s capital, destruction of 4 hospitals as reported above, and US$15, 000, 000, 000 worth of damage.
During their spontaneous chat about the Beirut blast, among other emotionally charged topics like the latest war, Bambi was touched by Mr. Ahmadieh’s insights filled with humanity. She was very impressed by the story of the highly organised hospital evacuation. Of course, she immediately invited him to be interviewed by her for her blog. Being a generous soul with an open mind, he accepted her invitation on the spot. Gratefully, Bambi will now share with you the verbatim of their conversation. She hopes you will learn something deep about human nature from it, like she did.
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Good morning, Mr. Ahmadieh. Bambi is honoured to chat with you about the collective trauma of the 4th of August, 2020, namely the evacuation process of the hospital where you used to work. Many thanks for opening your heart to this blog’s readers.
“Good morning Ms. Bambi,
Thank you so much for this space to share my story. It’s not easy to put these memories into words, but I believe speaking from the heart helps us connect as human beings. I hope my answers not only paint a picture of what happened but also honor the lives touched, the pain felt, and the resilience born that day“.
1. It is Bambi’s understanding that on the 4th of August, 2020, you were not on duty. What can you tell us about where you were when the blast occurred? And how did you live this moment in terms of thoughts, emotions, actions?
“I was at home, in my room, resting after lunch, when the world seemed to shake beneath me. I jolted awake, confused — the kind of confusion that sinks deep in your chest before your mind even understands. At first, I thought it was something local, maybe a small accident. But as the noise reached me, as the fear crept in, I realized something terrible had happened.
When I saw the message about my bleeding colleague, my heart squeezed in panic. I felt a pull — a pull stronger than fear, stronger than logic — a pull to be there, at the hospital, where my hands and heart were needed. I left my worried mother behind and drove, not thinking about my own safety, only feeling the urgency to help”.
2. How would you describe both what you saw and what went on your mind when you reached Beirut and eventually your place of work?
“Driving into Beirut was like driving into a nightmare. Destruction everywhere. Buildings gutted, streets shattered, people crying and bleeding, desperately seeking help. I remember thinking, Where is the center of this destruction? But it was everywhere.
When I couldn’t drive any further, I ran. I ran over glass, over blood, hearing screams, seeing faces twisted in pain. And yet inside, I felt numb — like my body had entered survival mode, suppressing the terror, just focusing on getting to the hospital, where I could do something, anything, to help”.
3. Please tell us about the evacuation process, describing the plan, conditions, challenges, etc.?
“Inside the dark hospital, we climbed up to the ninth floor, guided only by flashlights, stepping over collapsed ceilings, broken walls, and shattered equipment. The smell of blood was everywhere, the air thick with dust and grief.
We carried patients down the stairs on bed sheets, arms burning, pockets stuffed with medical supplies. It was a race against time, but also a battle against heartbreak — because every floor held more devastation, every face we passed reflected fear or pain or, worse, lifelessness.
The ICU patients were the hardest to move, attached to life-saving machines, fragile in every breath. We had to wait for the Civil Defense to extract them through windows — it was agony, knowing we couldn’t help them as fast as we wanted“.
4. What were some of the unforgettable moments of the evacuation process?
“There’s one image I will never erase from my mind: a body, sitting quietly against the wall, as if peacefully resting — but gone.
And the cruellest moments were when we ran to someone, thinking we could save them, only to realize it was too late. I had to force myself to look away, to silence the part of my heart that wanted to mourn, and focus instead on those still clinging to life.
But even in the darkness, there were small, shining moments — strangers helping strangers, colleagues holding each other up, a quiet understanding that we were all in this together, doing the impossible, side by side”.
5. Were there any lessons learned from the hospital evacuation process?
“I learned that no matter how prepared you think you are, disaster tests you in ways you never imagined. But I also learned that teamwork, clear communication, and a shared sense of purpose can turn chaos into action.
And perhaps the hardest lesson: you can’t save everyone. As painful as it is, you have to let go of what’s beyond your control, and pour your strength into where you can make a difference. That is the harsh, heartbreaking truth of crisis work”.
6. What can you tell us about your ways of coping with the challenging conditions that stemmed from the Beirut explosion, on that day and later?
“For a long time, I carried guilt — a deep, gnawing guilt, even though I knew rationally it wasn’t my fault. I kept replaying the night in my head, wondering if I should have done more, been faster, been stronger.
What helped was speaking with my colleagues, realizing I wasn’t alone in my pain. We held each other up, shared our grief, and slowly, together, began to heal. I also found solace in quiet moments — in prayer, in reflection, in allowing myself to cry when I needed to. Healing doesn’t come all at once; it comes in small, fragile steps, and I’m still walking that path”.
7. How did the Beirut explosion impact you (yourself, your life, and/or work)?
“It changed everything. It deepened my understanding of human fragility — and human resilience. It made me cherish my family more, hold my loved ones closer, and never take a single day for granted.
In my work, it sharpened my sense of purpose. Every patient I touch, every life I encounter, I now approach with even more tenderness, knowing how suddenly it all can slip away.
And inside myself, I carry both a scar and a flame: a scar from the pain, but a flame of determination, to keep serving, to keep loving, to keep living fully despite the sorrow”.
8. If you had the chance to end our chat with a few words specifically meant to the readers of the Bambi’s Afkar blog who may have not had the chance to visit Beirut (yet), what would you tell them about the Lebanese capital and/or your country’s people?
“To those who have never been to Beirut: know this — Beirut is a city of fire and flowers, of scars and smiles, of heartbreak and hope.
We are a people who have suffered, yes, but we are also a people who rise, again and again, who open our arms to strangers, who dance at weddings even when our hearts are heavy, who share our last piece of bread with a guest.
Come see us not just for the history or the landmarks, but for the soul — the soul that refuses to break, the soul that welcomes you like family, the soul that keeps singing even when the world crumbles”.
“Thank you, Ms. Bambi, for giving me the space to speak from my heart. May we all remember: even in the darkest night, the human spirit can shine”.
Bambi is speechless. Thank you for your time, for the inspiration, and for being who you are, Mr. Ahmadieh or dear Khodor. What a beautiful soul. Please keep on serving and healing the world with your uplifting compassion and inspiring care. Take good care, please. May God bless and always protect you, along with your loved ones.
What goes on in the mind of Beirut’s lovely stray cats?
They seem to be as welcoming, resourceful, and resilient, as their fellow human Beirutis.
Like them, they seem to enjoy the present moment to its fullest, especially when they know how uncertain or adverse the past and, may God forbid, future days can be.
Long live the stray cats and may Beirut’s days be more peaceful!
A picture of the Jesuit garden taken by Bambi in her childhood’s neighbourhood in Beirut, Lebanon.
A picture of a cute cat, enjoying the Jesuit garden, taken by Bambi in her childhood’s neighbourhood in Beirut, Lebanon.
A picture of adorable cats taken by Bambi in her childhood’s neighbourhood in Beirut, Lebanon.
A picture of a friendly cat taken by Bambi in her childhood’s neighbourhood in Beirut, Lebanon.
Life is beautiful when we are a cat living in Beirut, Lebanon. A picture taken by Bambi in her childhood’s neighbourhood.
There is nothing like a brother, whatever the shape he comes in!
Did you know that today is both Brother’s Day (https://tinyurl.com/27jfxtsh) and the National Escargot Day (https://tinyurl.com/4rsd99h2)? What’s the link between both one might wonder? Apparently, none. However, if we take the time to think about it, perhaps we can find a relationship between snails and brothers.
Indeed, and in general, we can learn from snails (or escargots) how to wisely take the time to get to know someone. Taking things slow might perhaps lead to finding in the other person a brother while investing in the relationship, slowly but surely, as a mutual brotherhood. This slower process can foster a deeper, and ideally, stronger connection.
Of note, and by extension, this slowness can be protective, especially in cases where the new encounter is not genuine or manipulative. We thus remain grounded in reality, remembering whom we are, even when we deeply fall in romantic love, in non-romantic friendship, or in a true brotherhood.
Stated differently, emotional wisdom is good for our well-being, whether the rewarding relationship is with a best friend, a relative, or a romantic partner. A sense of true brotherhood can be born out of our shared connection and deeper relation.
So, long live the snails you may enjoy eating and all the brothers in your lives. Thankfully, Bambi happens to love eating escargots while being blessed to have many true brothers she can count on for connection, support, as well as fun moments. This includes brother-in-laws, friends like brothers, and all the good men in her life, starting with her adorable dad.
It is Bambi’s hope that you can think of at least one “brother” in your life who, of course, does not have to be born from your own mother. If you can identify at least one you can count on, you would be lucky too, dear readers. Trust that Bambi would be happy for you.
Mind you, regardless of the quality of human relationships, if we want to have a brother, we can star taking baby steps toward becoming a brother to someone else.
To begin with, at least three old posts were devoted to Rania’s talent, as shown further below. Yesterday evening, while chatting together upon Bambi’s arrival to the Lebanese capital, Rania showed her sister a BEAUTIFUL picture of Beirut. She took it from the skies during a recent business trip to the United Arab Emirates. With much gratitude for her consent, Bambi is now sharing it with you.
Today, for family reasons, Bambi visited the Saint George University Hospital. Upon entering this institution, she was deeply touched when she saw a memorial wall. The latter is a heartfelt tribute for all those who lost their lives in this destroyed, and now thankfully fully re-built, hospital. Of course, Bambi took the time to pause, reading each of the 18 names one after the other. Four of them were nurses in addition to other staff members, patients, and family members or friends. May everyone’s memory be eternal.
As a reminder, the surreal tragedy of the doomed Beirut port explosion took place on the 4th of August, 2020. Almost five years later, families of the victims are still waiting for justice. Of note, a small number of the thousands of those who were injured remain hospitalized. Some of them are even in the coma. Don’t they all deserve truth and justice?
A stunning picture of Beirut taken by Ms. Rania Azar-Berbery on May 21, 2025.A picture taken by Bambi at the Saint George University Hospital on May 22, 2025.A picture taken by Bambi at the Saint George University Hospital on May 22, 2025.
In a few hours, it will be May 20, at least in Atlantic Canada, because it is already tomorrow elsewhere around the world. Well, May 20 has been declared, by God knows whom, as the “National Be a Millionaire Day“.
This apparently odd day seems to be meant to those of us who have ever wondered what it would be like to be a millionaire (https://shorturl.at/CxTrO). Who knows? Maybe this is your personal case. Perhaps you do not care or maybe you have already experienced being a millionaire.
As far as Bambi is concerned, tomorrow she will surely start becoming a REAL millionaire. Yes. At the end of a 24-hour-long journey, she will find herself giving a hug to her dad et al. This is worth millions for her!
To come back to you, dear readers, Happy Be a Millionaire Day. This being said, may you be healthy, and as happy as you can be, regardless of the amount of money in your pocket and/or bank account.
With those heartfelt wishes, Bambi will leave you now. She looks forward to the following posts where she plans to keep sharing thoughts and perspectives on different topics, along with music of course. If you wish, she will also keep interacting with you on this blog through your comments or more privately.
Wow, Canada’s sunshine is brighter since May 15, 2025.
“Félicitations à notre chère Madame Ginette Reno”! Bravo to our beloved Ginette Reno!
Thanks to the great Ms. Céline Dion for her heartfelt tribute, shared below. Same for the most talented Mr. Roche Voisine who officially inducted Ms. Reno into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame three days ago (https://shorturl.at/duBQC)
“You know, I am a singer, I have been singing for 66 years, and honestly I didn’t sing for glory, success or money. And tonight, I’m shaking inside. I’m so honoured and so privileged because I feel I belong” .
“Il y a non seulement une femme en moi en ce moment qui est très fière, mais il y a une petite fille qui a tellement une gratitude“. This means: “there is not only a very proud woman in me right now, but also a grateful young girl“.
Bambi has always been fond of Ms. Reno, even before migrating to Canada in 1990. With much love, she devoted several older posts to her incredible talent. Without her voice, Canada, Québec, the world of music, especially of French songs, songwriting, movies, and even of our superb national anthem would have not been the same. Bless her!
Yesterday, Mr. Hadi Matar, the attacker who stabbed Mr. Salman Rushdie, was found guilty of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Justice was served. It won’t bring sight to Mr. Rushdie in his right eye, use of his arm’s nerves, all his other damaged internal organs, and peaceful sleep. However, it is Bambi’s prayer that it will bring him increased healing to his heart and soul.
As for Mr. Hadi Matar, he is 27 now. When he will get out he will be Bambi’s age today. It is her hope that the US prisons are more reasonable than France’s prisons where inmates become more radicalized there than in the free world outside.
As reported in an older post shown below, USA-born Mr. Hadi Matar is of Lebanese heritage. Acting on, and surely blinded by, a 1989 fatwa against Mr. Rushdie, as per the Times of India (https://shorturl.at/UdArb), he blinded Mr. Rushdie’s right eye, among other serious physical injuries and psychological trauma.
For those who do not know it, according to Britannica, a fatwa is “a formal ruling or interpretation on a point of Islamic law given by a qualified legal scholar (mufti) in Islamic jurisprudence” ( https://shorturl.at/9K8ds). As a reminder, the fatwa in question against Mr. Salman Rushdie was issued after the so-called controversy over his novel, The Satanic Verses (1988). Apparently because one of the novel’s rows referenced the holy Quran, Ayatollah Mr. Khomeini, allowed himself to issue his famous fatwa that ordered Muslims to kill Mr. Rushdie. How pathetically sad when a man of power speaks in the name of a beautiful, and potentially even more beautiful, religion in such an unwise, inhuman way.
Tragically, a few years later, it was Mr. Matar whose first name means “quiet/calm/peaceful” in Arabic who gave himself the right to move away from peace, reason, and civility as he tried to kill the world-renowned author. Why again? Because a late old man of religion, gave the green light to do so from miles away. Independent of religion, encouraging killing by proxy seems to be an expertise of the current Iranian regime.
Regardless, it is Mr. Matar who ended up forgetting about any personal core asset and/or ethical principle, including critical thinking, common sense, emotion regulation as well as agency, respect for freedom of expression and for humanity. How toxic a radicalized mindset can become. How TRAGIC it is for all its victims, first and foremost for Mr. Rushdie (and the other injured victim)… BUT also for the convicted offender’s parents and for himself lost to his ideology.
To conclude this post, besides music, there is nothing to add except to say the following: Mr. Rushdie, please keep on writing. Bambi did not have the chance to read any of your books yet, but it is her plan to do so as soon as realistically possible, including your so-called controversial novel. Above all, please keep on taking good care of yourself while inspiring us all to be as courageous and resilient. Thank you.
Regular readers of this blog know that Bambi often shares a German song, which won Eurovision when she was 10-year-old, growing up in war-torn Beirut. This beautiful and eternal song is a call for peace in the world.
Today, one of the songs that made it to the Eurovision 2025 final competition, thanks to a courageous young Israeli singer called Ms. Yuval Raphael, moves Bambi’s heart. The song is about healing, with a hope for brighter new days. Its lyrics are in English with some French, along with a few words in her mother tongue.
Of note, Ms. Raphael is a survivor of the Nova Sukkot Gathering music festival, which was attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Her participation was questioned by many demonstrators on the streets wanting to boycott Israel’s participation in the Eurovision. One of them even made a gesture of slaughtering her throat. Can you imagine? She is not any Eurovision singer. She is a survivor of a human massacre or tragedy.
Whether we like, hate, or are completely indifferent toward her birth country (now back to occupying Bambi’s birth country), it is hard not to be be touched by both Ms. Raphael’s song and personal story. The latter is about a daughter in distress and her dad who did his utmost to save her life during her LONG surreal saga. Indeed, he gave her survival tips on the phone and managed to send help to her et al. How does Bambi know all this? Out of curiosity, she listened to an archived interview on YouTube given by Ms. Raphael. What an ordeal. Indeed, many of those who were hiding with her lost their lives. One person even died on one of her limbs. Thankfully for her and for her family/friends, she is alive today. Thankfully for us, we can discover her song about humanity (regardless of any politics).
As for Armenia now, if you are a regular reader of this blog, or one of Bambi’s relatives/close friends, you probably know how much this country means to her : ). Bravo to the highly energetic Armenian PARG. Good luck for the final!
Of note, among the finalists, there are also other gifted candidates representing their countries, including but not limited to Finland and Greece. Wow, good luck to each one of them as well!
Last but not least, long live music that unites us, regardless of the language or the topic.
