The Good, the Bad and the Reality: Jersey Shore

So I am sitting here, roasting in this unbelievable heat and watching this unbelievably stupid show Jersey Shore. The thing is as stupid as it is, I don't miss an episode. It's hilarious and I am a sucker for American reality tv. Yep. I admit it. Anyway, this girl Sammi has to be the dumbest woman on the planet or at least part of the dumb elite. I watch this chick week after week get dumped on by...

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Jurassic Park Personified

When I made this decision to go back to school, one thing I kept saying to myself and to others was "I am getting older" and though you try to fool yourself into thinking you're that hot spring chicken you were when you did your spin as an undergrad, you soon realise that you're a damn dinosaur. (a hot dinosaur, excuse you) I have been following the social networking chatter from the 2010/2011 intake...

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Quick, hopefully painless update

So I have been cryptic about the stuff that's been on my mind for weeks now, but with everything happening just as God wanted it to happen, I guess I can let you all know that I am relocating for a while. As soon as they tearfully let me go, the Brits have tearfully started my welcome back party. I am leaving my life in Trinidad for a bit to head back to good ole Blighty to study, explore, soul search and...

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Beauty by Trininista

Someone remarked that I looked so fresh and pretty yesterday. I put some effort into making my hair a bit neater than the day before, and did a fantastic eyeshadow job which always works to lift my mood. Yesterday I really made the effort to look as good as I did not feel. And I succeeded. I looked stellar even though I felt like crap. There are some days when you get out of bed physically but...

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Shaken, not Stirred

I would like to thank my friend, Nats for sending me this when I needed some inspiration and guidance. The Robert Fritz quote really really resonated with me and I shared this with a colleague today as well and she also thought it was quite powerful. It helped me make a big decision recently cause sometimes we put things off out of fear of the unknown, out of circumstances that we may think are unassailable,...

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Piggylicious

The start of my vacation had marked the end of healthy, purposeful eating. I was eating well and going to the gym regularly. Then I went on vacation and I was also eating well - VERY WELL - and by that I don't mean broccoli and legumes. I was having Thai and Japanese and lots and lots of Italian, and Brazilian and Caribbean food and thanks to my cousin, lots of wine, lots of cocktails, thanks to RT,...

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Aunty Trininista and the Black Avenger

It's been a life changing weekend thus far. I will talk about life changer #1 later, but the other life changer only indirectly affects me. My brother is now a dad and I am still trying to wrap my thoughts around the fact that this dude I used to beat up and play action hero with, is now responsible for a baby and now has a family. It now makes me an aunt and as I stood outside the nursery peeking...

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Taking Animal Love Village to Village

My BFF is part of a great initiative in Tobago, which is aimed at reducing the stray animal population in the sister isle of Tobago, and promote animal welfare on the island. It is always such a big thing for me more as a Trini, and not so much as a huge, gooey dog lover myself (I cannot see a dog and pass it straight), to travel and see animals treated well - I mean beyond the normal boundaries of...

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Italy: The End of the Road

By the time we got to San Gimignano, I really think we were too tired to be excited tourists. The sun was unrelenting and we were also faced with a short hill and stairs - no escalators like in Siena, much to my annoyance. But really, the walled city of San Gimignano was breathtaking. The streets were teeming with life - both the tourist kind and the resident kind - with the city's famed towers looking...

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Italy: Modernity Meets Old World

The next morning I was up early again, donned a flaming yellow Caribbean sundress, had my breakfast and started on my walk to Santa Maria Novella station to meet up with the rest of my tour group for our day in the Tuscan countryside. I usually like doing at least one organised your on my trips, as it allows me to meet other travellers and see far flung areas that had you organised to see yourself,...

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Italy: The Day the Slushie was King, to the Trini Queen!

Walking along the Ponte Vecchio was really awesome. During a tour later in our trip, we learnt that initially, butchers set up shop along the bridge but the members of the Medici family, when having to walk along the bridge to get to work at the Palazzo Vecchio, did not appreciate the smell. Thus out went the butchers and in came the gold merchants and to this day, gold, art and beautiful souvenirs...

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Italy: African and Italian Beauty

I had set my alarm to wake me up pretty early the next morning cause I wanted to avoid the long queue at the Uffizi, so I was up by 6.30 and taking a shower and getting cute. One thing I really loved about Italy were the square toilets. Now to answer my aunt's question, no...I did not have a toilet that was a tiled hole in the floor. lol. My toilet was pretty modern as you can see. Everywhere I went,...

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Italy: Planes, Trains and Flip Flops

Now that I am back home and back at work - thus back to boredom, I can write about Italy a little. The Trini saying of cheap ting nah good rings true when one thinks of Ryanair. Without a doubt, this was the worst flight of my life, beating back even Tobago Express. I mean, not only was the check in annoying, but the constant hawking of Ryanair related products and services throughout the 2 hour...

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Back to Reality

So I am back home and what an "up yours", it has been so far. I needed to renew my driver's permit so I would be legal to speed on the nation's highways. Get to the office near my house and the woman gives me her best Third World answer: I can give you a form but the camera is not working so you would need to go to another licensing office. Welcome home!!! I was loathe to do it because I knew what...

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Speaking legs

Last evening I braved the chill, rain and sure pneumonia to meet Cat at Sadler's Wells Theatre to catch Tanguera, the tango musical. It was worth every sneeze, every sniffle and every cough I am fighting this morning. It was mesmerising,  beautiful, provocative and totally enjoyable. A story told primarily via legs and no words. Beautiful. Just beautiful. I would recommend it to anyone who...

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Sniffles, no snuggles

Coming down with a cold. I think between standing in the cold on Saturday morning, Saturday night and Sunday evening, and then with the weather being hot and then 2 mins later, chilly, this was bound to happen. The bbq was fab. Everyone had a great time, and the pelau was well embraced by all, and I was completely toasty after copious volumes of wine in all colours and nationalities. I...

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