Where I've been the past few weeks

So I've been AWOl for the past few weeks, both for good and bad reasons. Here are a few highlights from my past couple months:

• trinidad+tobago film festival

I attended some amazing panels at the trinidad and tobago film festival this year. Though I didn't get to attend all the ones I wanted to see, the ones I saw were really informative. I got to check out presentations on film collectives, by the Tribeca Film Institute and presentations on internet and short film content. It was a great, no wonder they were named one of the coolest film festivals!

• Phantom of the Opera

I was lucky enough to help out with a local production of Phantom of the Opera. Caribbean Theatre Production put on a phenomenal rendition of the Phantom of the Opera. I didn't perform on stage but I was one of the stage hands.* It was so much fun and some days I miss it. The late nights were killer though!

• TTSPCA

I just started helping out at a local animal shelter. Not much to report now except: I want to take all the animals home with me!

That's all for now, I should have a new blog out next week. This one will be a story I've been working on and off for the past couple months. **



Don't think I forgot, It's almost Christmas.

Christmas gift recommendation: Pan! Our Musical Odyssey is fantastic local film. It delves into the rich history of pan and gives you a crash course in what pan means to the history of Trinidad and Tobago. You can buy it online here.

Also I've relaunched my blog Trini Christmas is... Check it out when you get the chance!

Christmas song: 


This song always give me chills

Tchau!

*Stage crew is the best crew

**Mostly off

Getting over disappointment

So as as upper secondary level Caribbean students will know, C.A.P.E. results came out this Sunday.  And I didn't do as well as I hoped. I did well but not absolutely stunning like I wanted.  So this blog is going to sound a little weird because my disappointment may be a tad unjustified.

Here are my tips for getting over disappointment

1. Distract yourself: Do you something you like doing and that make you happy. Watch the episode of that TV Show you missed, cook something, listen to music. Anything that you like that you think will take your mind off it.
2. Talk to your friends: Your friends will voluntarily listen to you for hours complain about how things didn't work out. Just make sure not to overdo it.
3. Reward yourself: You tried, even if you didn't succeed that's something.

Aaaaand that's all I got for now ;)

The plan for today is writing, makeup tutorials and studying for SAT's. I hope everybody else is having a nice lazy Saturday like me (or at least a nice Saturday if you're not into that kind of thing.

Learning a language

Confession: I am not good at foreign languages. Sometime around age 14 it felt like putting foreign words in my head was like overfilling a bucket, so I let it all slip out. I can recall French and Spanish to some degree but at a very basic level. Really the only language I have tried and am trying to learn is Japanese and the fact that I have some enthusiasm for it means it sticks pretty okay in my head. Recently, I have been trying to learn Portuguese. If you have seen anything at ll of the Brazilian National football team you will understand why.  So as part of my current year off I decided to channel this sudden and unwanted upsurge of teenage hormones into something that may be productive and am teaching myself Portuguese.

I'm using the Duolingo app to teach me and it's pretty great.

If you haven't hear about this app before Duolingo is an app for iOS and Andriod system where you gain a certain amount of XP for completing an excercise. Lingots can be earned by leveling up or completeing and excercise with no mistakes. The can be used  to buy bonus excercises*.The app so far has been really good for teaching me and I think I'm picking up the language pretty well. It's really good for anyone looking to start learning a language and I highly recommend it. I'm probably going to sign up for classes in September though, so I can get more hands on experience.

Tchau galera!

*Yes flirting is one of them

An Evening with Malala

I just got back from an event that the University of Trinidad and Tobago was hosting for their 10th anniversary and it was amazing. The University has, for the past few days, been hosting Malala Yousafzai and tonight's event was called an Evening with Malala. Firstly, the job the university did was amazing, everyone even got a free book!

(You can guess what's next on my to read list)

The event was well hosted and featured many aspects of Trinidadian culture, including song and dance. My favourite part was Krisson Joseph's rendition of "Education" by the Mighty Sparrow

But of course, the best part of the evening was hearing Malala speak. She praised Trinidad and Tobago's education for all policy  and spoke of other countries where she'd been where people didn't have access to opportunities like we did.  I also liked that, though she was very well spoken, she spoke like a 17 year old. She is young and brilliant and I'm proud of her, in a maternally 18 year old way. That girl does something to me, she touches my heart. All I can say to end this blog is I hope she has a good life, and I hope she takes care of herself. 

ttff Youth Jury

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival is offering this amazing opportunity where for the first time they're selecting a youth jury to award a film at this year's festival. I really want to apply and I really want to get in but I think I've forgotten how to write an essay. The application is pretty simple, just give some basic information and write an essay of about 250 words about your favourite movie. I already had problems trying to figure out my favourite movie is* and in trying to write the essay I've realised that I have forgotten how to write essays. It's been about a month since the last time I wrote an essay and I am no longer able to write one apparently. **

In other news a friend recently lent me Pokémon so that is basically my plan for the weekend there.  

*These are the real hard questions
**I would say I've also forgotten how to blog but I never knew how to do that.

My year off

So I am officially taking a year off before going off to college.  This was not exactly in the cards but the more time passes the more I'm looking forward to it. I'm such a nerd I actually made a spreadsheet to help me plan what to do and make sure I keep on track during this year.

In light of this (and because I've completely forgotten how to blog), here are some tips on how to make the best out of some unexpected free time:

• Think of things you've really wanted to do. I've been writing less because of exams and now that exams are over I've finished a script I really wanted to do and restarted this blog.
• Do things you haven't let yourself do before. On my list so far is: play mas, go ziplining and go to Tobago with friends
• Get pesky adult stuff over with. Including stuff like passports, vaccinations, doctor visits and all that lovely stuff
• Learn something new. At least one thing
• Volunteer, because the world always needs more of that.

Aaaand, I think that's enough of me for now, till next time!


P.S. Check out this really cool site called adultingblog.com. It is like a cheat code to life and holds a lot of great general tips.