It's a Wrap!

This has been a crazy beautiful journey for me, unfortunately, the semester is drawing to a close as such it’s time to draw the curtains on this blog!

I have been introduced to so many new things like Wakeboarding….football the European way…Poetry….Literature…an epic musical play and so much more.  I had the privilege of taking you on my last vacation and sharing Abu Dhabi, Dubai and London with you, some of the many things I did for the very first time! I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed sharing it!

This project has taught me a lot about the power and reach of social media, how social media should be used vs the reality of how we use social media.  It has opened me up to blogging, which is something I was considering doing for some time but never got around to starting anything.  I am glad I did not, because this experience gave me an opportunity to wet my feet, make some errors along the way, get a feel for and understand how to use various social media platforms, understand the importance of consistency and content generation required for blogging as well as how to analyze and measure the effectiveness of my blog using data such as likes, comments, page view and traffic.

It’s been a rather rewarding experience for me, I have learnt so much about myself and challenged myself in ways I would not have done absent of this school assignment.  I can say that the past few months have challenged me to come out of my comfort zone, try new and daring things, face some of my fears and conquer them too!

Let me take this opportunity to thank you for all your likes, comments, shares and views; for all the words of encouragement and constructive criticism. I am so looking forward to my new blog!

 

A Green Screen Screening

I am what you can call a “movie buff” but I’ve never been to a screening of any kind of movie before so when Shiv suggested we do a collaboration I was excited.  My understanding of a movie screening is where you get to see the movie and provide feedback before it’s released to the rest of the world! 

Shiv’s blog focused of the various film festivals that takes place throughout the year, such as UWI Festival of Plays, Green Screen Film Festival and TnT Film Festival to mention a few. At the time of our collaboration a movie called “A Better Place” was being screened at the Green Screen Environmental Film Series 2015.

I learnt that the Green Screen Film Series was created by Sustain T&T, an environmental and sustainability education non-profit organization. There mission is to educate the public about local and global environmental issues that we face through the powerful medium of film.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Miquel Galofré and produced by Sustain T&T’s own Carver Bacchus, “A Better Place” takes the viewer to five communities in T&T where people are doing great things, charting their own course and inspiring others to do the same. Each of the featured organizations are also supported by UNDP GEF SGP. The film also features musical performances from home- grown talent. Check out the trailer here.

This experience opened my eyes to the reality of some of the communities’ right here in Trinidad and the challenges that they face. I was not aware of that the current fishing methods practiced in T&T lead to the accidental killing of critically endangered sea turtles; or that ERIC, the Environmental Research Institute, Charlotteville, Tobago existed or that they are working with community groups to educate local residents in managing natural resources.

Viewing this film opened my eyes to a new Trinidad and Tobago, it gave me an appreciation for the community in which I live and inspired me to look at how I can improve it in some little way.  I was blown away by the dedication of the different faculties of the University of the West Indies (UWI) who came together for this project, the togetherness of the community and the wealth of information and innovation that resided in these communities.

Thank you for opening me to a whole new world of film Shiv! 

You can check out Shiv's Blog here FILM 'n' TT

A musical....no way!

I have been to a few plays at the Central Bank Auditorium, Naparima Bowl and one or two other locations.  One of my favourite play is called "Mary Could Dance",  which was warm and sometimes scandalous play as it looked at what happens when three dancers/prostitutes face the return of one of the group’s first love back from living years in the United States and features everything from HIV/AIDS, to exotic dancing, to cat fights, to romance, to the antics of the scandalous pimp/bar owner Mule. The play was written by local talent Richard Ragoobarsingh and received many awards in its 16 year run.  It is the best local play ever.  The play was directed by Raymond Choo Kong and features a stellar cast which includes Penelope Spencer, Cecilia Salazar, Richard Ragoobarsingh, Glenn Davis, Dionne McNicol and Roger Dickie. It was a very powerful play which remained my favourite play until I saw Memphis the Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London.

 

As much as I go to local plays from time to time and I love movies,  I am no fan of musicals of any kind...nope not me! I am sure I missed out on some really good movies because of this which is unfortunate.  Nevertheless,  when you're on vacation you tend to be opened to try things that you wouldn't otherwise,  I guess that's what vacation is all about.  When my cousin Donavan and his wife Natasha, invited me to a play I was nonchalant, as for me it was to be just another outing...but boy was I in for the surprise of my life!



In front the Shaftesbury Theatre



 

The Shaftesbury Theatre is majestic and rich in its history and architecture as it was evident by the walls and ceiling as you entered the theatre. It's the largest theatre I have been to to-date, with two or three floors which holds roughly 1400 patrons.  It was truly an amazing sight and experience for me.

Tasha, Heuy, Janelle and Delray!

The lights went out, the curtains rolled up and the play was about to begin...now let me just say, I went to this play clueless as to what the play was about or who was acting, not that I would know in any event.  The play was loosely based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips, one of the first white DJ to play black music in the 1950s.  Dewey fell in love with a beautiful African American club singer and became passionate and determined to make her a household name in America.  This would come with it many challenges since something like this, at the time would face cultural divides and spark a music revolution that will shake the world.

The characters were amazing,  the lead cast was Beverley Knight who played Felicia,  Heuy's love interest, Matt Cardle who played Heuy and Roland Bell who played Felicia's elder brother Delray.  The acting was epic and the singing was out of this world phenomenal!  All three leads brought down the house when they sang - it was powerful, emotional and very much alive with tempo.  If Donavan or Tasha had told me this was going to be this exciting I would not have believed them.  I mean,  I was on the edge of my seat, totally engrossed and clapped throughout the play. I'm not sure but I think I was one of the first one out my seat for a standing ovation! I remember saying to myself "I'm coming to see this again!" because I enjoyed it thoroughly and was given a new experience and view of musicals.

This "little" outing turned out to be one of the most noteworthy experience I had on my vacation! 

 

At the Emirates...

The Emirates Stadium

In my last blog I shared with you what experiencing a football match outside of Trinidad was like for me.   I shared what made the experience mind blowing and how taken aback I was at the level of fanaticism that was demonstrated. It would be remiss of me to not blog on the well-known Emirates Stadium aka The Arsenal Stadium.

So, here's a bit of history for you - The Emirates Stadium officially opened on the 23rd of July 2006; it is acknowledged as one of the finest football stadiums in the world and was sold out for every first-team game in its opening season; its' capacity is a impressive 60,000. The Emirates Stadium replaced Arsenal’s previous home Highbury, which had become too small and lacked the possibilities for expansion being hemmed in by housing, achieving this was no easy feat for the club.  The Club not only constructed a stadium, it regenerated the local community.  The stadium was named Emirates because the airline sponsors Arsenal.  Some die-hard fans argue that ‘The Emirates’ is the country that the airline represents. It’s a small middle-eastern country, not a football stadium in North London.

On the streets to the Emirates...

Arsenal's history on display

Let me just tell you, when you are in the vicinity of the Arsenal Stadium there is no chance of you getting lost,  being unsure of which direction to turn or where to go because the streets a lines with booths selling memorabilia’s and fans chanting as they make their way to the entrance. When you get there, you become a child in a candy store once you walk into the Arsenal gift shop – anything you can thing about is in there and branded Arsenal including sweets!

The walls of the stadium is covered with history of all sort from the Hat-Trick Heroes to the founding players, a list of the club achievements over the years and few others that I really can't recall at the moment. 

Even though I am not a football fanatic,  I have to say that the holistic experience was really an eye opening experience for me in terms of having a better  understanding and appreciation of the magnitude of a "true" football stadium, when viewing a game,  what real fanaticism looks like and what it means to be legendary club! I can't wait to go to another game!

 

European football experienced for the first time

I am not a football die-hard fan,  I am what you would call a “band-wagonist”  because the only time I pay any attention to football is one of two times – when World Cup rolls around or when T&T makes some kind of significant stride in the football arena (which unfortunately isn’t very often).   My all-time favorite player is Diego Maradona and of course my team would be Argentina, this has been the case since the 1986 World Cup and has never changed to date!

Now,  even though I am not a football fanatic...I don’t live under a rock,  so,  I am familiar with current happenings in the football arena like the names of the big teams and a few of the big name players and maybe the team one or two of them belong to!  Yup…that’s about it!  So that when I got to London going to a football game was nowhere on my radar at all, but when opportunities presents itself to experience something new you have to embrace it!

Not being an avid follower of football, my first time at an international game was mind blowing!  I totally understood what people meant when they say “football is like a religion to Europeans” OMG! I was invited to see Arsenal play one of their “club” game…which club I don’t know but hey I knew Arsenal was a big team and so I was open to it! 

At the game!

The weather was ridiculously cold, I was buried in clothing – layers of them and still freezing my tosh off – maybe it’s because I live in a tropical island, but dammit it was cold!  I recall walking through the train station to get to another platform to take the last train to the Emirates Stadium when I saw this dude with an injured leg, hopping on a crutch in the cold and with one stupid question found out that he was heading to the very same Stadium as us!!!!!  This is something I would rarely see where I come from so I was like...no way!

When we got to the stadium, the amount of people that was there was amazing but what blew me away was the discipline they demonstrated upon entering and exiting the stadium!  It was like watching soldiers, with the exception of maybe one or two! That kind of turn out would only happen for a very significant game not a club match in Trinidad....no way!

If ever you want to experience true fanaticism, I would recommend going to a European football game.  The fans, the traditions, the excitement, the passion you experience is second to nothing you will ever experience anywhere else. These fans, turned out in the thousands to watch their teams play, the stadium was divided by team colors apparently (yes, I didn’t know this happens), each team had their respective “anthem” which turned into a sing off.  They were so engrossed in the game – from the warm up to the final whistle. It was all about the football!

Having experienced this, I get why footballers are paid so handsomely – they have to be consistently good because the fans are unforgiving at best!

When we met for the first time....

 

I come from a rather large family -  I have seven siblings…I think that is considered large!  My mom’s side of the family is a bit smaller than my dad’s, but collectively my extended family is large and spread across the globe - England, Portugal, France, United States and that’s what I can remember of the top of my head.

I am more familiar with my dad’s side of the extended family because some of us keep in touch from time to time and even though we are not as close-knit as we should be, we check in from time to time.  And thank God for social media we have Facebook, Skype and even Wats App to help close the communication gaps. However, I have a few cousins whom I have heard off for as long as I can recall growing up but never met until my recent trip to London.

One of my objectives on this trip was to meet at least one of my cousins who I've never met. I felt that it was necessary to meet and connect with my cousins because you never know what life holds and I don’t want to have to say “OMG I should have made an effort to meet them” or “I wish I met such and such”. In London specifically, I have three cousins who I have met only through my aunt who visits often enough.



David with Ava Bear and Ashley and Peter...these dads don't play

So I finally met my cousin David and his family…and I have to say I really have some gorgeous family!  I was surprised by how much of the Collins features he had and he was astonished by how much I looked like a “younger version” of his mom.  His wife, Bethany, who is all of maybe five feet,  is one of the sweetest person I’ve ever met and don’t get me started on their two year old Eva…adorable personified!

I also had the pleasure of meeting my cousin’s fiancé Ashley, who is such an awesome guy and their son Peter who was all of three months at the time!  Peter is so adorable it is no joke, and at three months old he was a perfect gentleman!


Nambia and Peter, Penny (me) and Bethany and Ava Bear!

It felt so good to finally meet one of my three cuz, to just sit and hang out, share jokes and stories and exchange numbers was awesome!  Even though I was not able to meet Dashan and Peter due to work schedules and life commitments,  I'm sure we will meet on my next trip!

 

 

My very first Nigerian party!

On my recent visit to London I visited my good friend Marsha for a couple days.  We have known each for almost twenty years, we’ve lost touch, reconnected and stayed in touch even though she migrated to London.

“Gordon” as I fondly call her is always up for fun and adventure and that never changed over the years. During my visit with her I was introduced to a number of Nigerians who live in her building.  My first perception of them were nonchalant, but that was until I went to one of their parties!

All ready for the party....

It was freezing cold and not being as adventurous as Gordon, it took some convincing to get me on board with this plan of going to a Nigerian party in the middle of winter, I eventually caved (maybe bullied) and so I went to my first ever Nigerian “event”!

I was of the firm view that nobody on the face of this planet can party like a Trini…but I was forced to reconsider that foregone conclusion. Nigerians, much like Trinis enjoy socializing and partying, the music is somewhat similar in terms of the rhythm, however, the dance moves was vastly different!  

Gordon and I partying the Nigerian way!

I gathered that Nigerian loves a good party, hold true to their culture and loves to dress up for an event.  They also seem to enjoy entertaining and meeting people.  I was hit on by a few curious minds wanting to know which part of the world I hailed from or sharing their Caribbean experience with me….their twang took some effort to understand but I think once you get the hang of it, its not that bad.

All in all,  it was an awesome to experience partying in another part of the world, with a group that reminded me of home and how much we Trinis enjoy our culture and party!