About Me
- Predencia
- A few years ago I decided to start a new career as a performer. I used to be a biology teacher but couldn't face walking around in a white coat all day teaching children who didn't want to learn. Actually it wasn't so much the children as the system cause I think all children want to learn - they just don't all want to learn in schools. Anyway I now work as a Life and Executive coach. Work is perhaps not the right word because it never feels like work. I just love to see people grow and change. I love it when they peel of the layers of limiting beliefs and find their true self. And I make some great frends in the process. I've re-discovered my writing and have published two poetry books and now working on 2 CDs, a novel, a book of short stories and talking to someone about a collaoration on a film script. That should keep me busy for a whild. Oh and I do bellydance.
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Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Mr Austin said yes.
09:23 | 
Posted by
Predencia |
A few hours ago Mr Austin, the owner of the renouned Austin's Book Services said yes to stocking Dare to Love. It was a timely agreement, given that I'm about to do a radio interview in two hours. I can now confidenty say that the books will be available in the largest bookstore in Georgetown. While I'm extremely happy about this, I am happier about the nature of the transaction. Mr Austin is an exteremly charming person with a great sense of humour and a very sharp wit, a shrewd businessman but seems fair.Although we hadn't made an appointment, and he was about to leave for one, when he realised I was about to go and do the radio interview he spared us some time. I think also because Denis is a personal friend of his and he had accompanied us to the meeting. Denis, also a charming person, in a very laid back way. He never looked rushed, long easy strides, but as a journalist he covers a lot of ground. He met us at the bookshop, took us to the craft center and then found a taxi to take us back to the hotel. I commented on the friendliness and generosity of everyone we've met so far, which is directly opposed to what we had been warned to expect. He just smiled and said 'you can't believe everything you hear. Guyana has its problems, but not everyone has allowed it to affect their basic humanity.'
Monday, 31 October 2011
Haloween in Guyana
Haloween isn't something that's celebrated massively here in Guyana, although there was an 'All Black' event on Saturday night and a few children dressed up tonight. Being in an hotel I guess we are missing whatever is going on out there. There is more evidence on 'Dancing with the Stars' that it's Haloween, than there is in the wider community.
Today was a busy one. Marcelle, the journalist who wrote the Starborke News article, came to collect us this morning and took us to meet Rupert at the Guyana Information Agency (GIA). He weaved a very special brand of magic and I ended up doing a TV news interview. I don't know if it was used tonight because I didn't see the news at 6 p.m.
After we left, with radio interviews set up for tomorrow and Wednesday, we went to join Marcelle at the Starbroke office, a more formal affair, where I met the editor Cheryl Springer who welcomed us and discussed the follow up article to the main one published on the 22nd.
Marcelle also introduced me to Denis, a veteran reporter, who is happy to accompany me to Austins, the main bookstore in Georgetown.
I am totally bowled over by the hospitality of everyone I've met so far. I look forward to the interview tomorrow and to meeting more people.
Today was a busy one. Marcelle, the journalist who wrote the Starborke News article, came to collect us this morning and took us to meet Rupert at the Guyana Information Agency (GIA). He weaved a very special brand of magic and I ended up doing a TV news interview. I don't know if it was used tonight because I didn't see the news at 6 p.m.
After we left, with radio interviews set up for tomorrow and Wednesday, we went to join Marcelle at the Starbroke office, a more formal affair, where I met the editor Cheryl Springer who welcomed us and discussed the follow up article to the main one published on the 22nd.
Marcelle also introduced me to Denis, a veteran reporter, who is happy to accompany me to Austins, the main bookstore in Georgetown.
I am totally bowled over by the hospitality of everyone I've met so far. I look forward to the interview tomorrow and to meeting more people.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Lazy day, hectic night
It was worth just chilling yesteray, as we needed our energy for the night. We only left the hotel to go across the road to the spa. As they only had a massage machine (and not a real masseur) I headed straight back to the hotel, but my friend stayed to have a manicure and pedicure, which, while surprisingly cheap compared to Barbados prices, was, in her opinion, all it was worth. After last night's meal fiasco we are learning to adjust our expectation of service.
The meal fiasco in question was a chicken chow mein I ordered at Buddys on Sherrif St. Both my eating companions also had chow meins, prawn and beef. Their's were fine, lovely in fact, but mine was just a tangle of noodles and four slabs of roast chicken with orange skin plonked on the top of the noodles with a sprinkling of raw shredded cabbage. I can hardly think of a time I'd experienced a more unappetising looking meal in a restaurant. If it was unapetising to look at it was worse to taste. The chicken was like old flakey cardboard, and the noodles tasted like they'd been tossed in slightly rancid soy sauce.
My friends were generous enough to there meal with me as I found mine totally inedible. Probably only the second time in my life that I've ever left a meal untouched. The first was in a Greek restaurant in Kefalonia in 2007, and there the proprietor refused to take my money. Not so here, when the waitress finally came to clear the plates (not ever once coming to ask if the meal was OK) I told her of my dissatisfaction with it. We couldn't believe it when she asked if I would like a bag to take it home in.
We were thinking of staying to go to the nightclub but decided against it after that experience. Instead we went to the Transport Social Club which played lots of old time music and where men asked women to dance, and waltz them across the floor.
The night had begun with with a walk to the sea wall, then along it, and then to Buddys. About six miles in all. It took us past the wide square, with the Pegasus on one side, and the American Embassy on the other. Down the grove with the mature trees ringed at their base with white paint, looking like overweight school girls in white socks. The heat of the day had subsided, the air was cool, inviting, and filled with the aroma of spinning candy floss as we headed to the wall. There I understood the engineering feat that allows Georgetown to be inhabited.
We had initially been heading for an 'All Black' Haloween event in that area , but the walk and the sea air had so opened our appetites, that we had to find a place to eat. The walk from our intended destination to Buddy's further sharpened our appetites, which is why I felt the disappointment of the meal so acutely. Where the walk built the appetite, the dancing used up the meal pretty quickly. We relied for energy on rum and coke. It was cheaper to buy a bottle for the table, much like I'd buy a bottle of wine on a night out, instead of glasses.
It was a fabulous night, dispite the electricity going down twice during turrential rain. The music was spot on, the guys could dance and the women were friendly. We left at four o'clock when it became obvious the electricy was not going to come back on. But it was probably time.
The meal fiasco in question was a chicken chow mein I ordered at Buddys on Sherrif St. Both my eating companions also had chow meins, prawn and beef. Their's were fine, lovely in fact, but mine was just a tangle of noodles and four slabs of roast chicken with orange skin plonked on the top of the noodles with a sprinkling of raw shredded cabbage. I can hardly think of a time I'd experienced a more unappetising looking meal in a restaurant. If it was unapetising to look at it was worse to taste. The chicken was like old flakey cardboard, and the noodles tasted like they'd been tossed in slightly rancid soy sauce.
My friends were generous enough to there meal with me as I found mine totally inedible. Probably only the second time in my life that I've ever left a meal untouched. The first was in a Greek restaurant in Kefalonia in 2007, and there the proprietor refused to take my money. Not so here, when the waitress finally came to clear the plates (not ever once coming to ask if the meal was OK) I told her of my dissatisfaction with it. We couldn't believe it when she asked if I would like a bag to take it home in.
We were thinking of staying to go to the nightclub but decided against it after that experience. Instead we went to the Transport Social Club which played lots of old time music and where men asked women to dance, and waltz them across the floor.
The night had begun with with a walk to the sea wall, then along it, and then to Buddys. About six miles in all. It took us past the wide square, with the Pegasus on one side, and the American Embassy on the other. Down the grove with the mature trees ringed at their base with white paint, looking like overweight school girls in white socks. The heat of the day had subsided, the air was cool, inviting, and filled with the aroma of spinning candy floss as we headed to the wall. There I understood the engineering feat that allows Georgetown to be inhabited.
We had initially been heading for an 'All Black' Haloween event in that area , but the walk and the sea air had so opened our appetites, that we had to find a place to eat. The walk from our intended destination to Buddy's further sharpened our appetites, which is why I felt the disappointment of the meal so acutely. Where the walk built the appetite, the dancing used up the meal pretty quickly. We relied for energy on rum and coke. It was cheaper to buy a bottle for the table, much like I'd buy a bottle of wine on a night out, instead of glasses.
It was a fabulous night, dispite the electricity going down twice during turrential rain. The music was spot on, the guys could dance and the women were friendly. We left at four o'clock when it became obvious the electricy was not going to come back on. But it was probably time.
Friday, 28 October 2011
In Guyana
As the plane flew over Guyana I really got a chance to appreciate the splendor of the rain forests and the vast expanse of land that is this country. It was a muggy day as we disembarked, and rain began to drizzle as the taxi sped and crawled intermittently into Georgetown. There's always something inherently tantlising about discovering something and somewhere for the first time.
The mix of housing along the route, the haphazard way they seem to have sprung up around each other, the new and shiny, co-existing next to wooden and rusting corrugated structures; some looking like their occupants have long deserted them. Past the splendid banks and other finance buildings, the distillery, the Demerara River on the left tracking our every move. Past the many school signs, sponsored by Moneygram (get them early?). Being schooled by the taxi driver in the precautions necessary not to be ripped off, the steps we needed to take to stay safe, as Guyanese are not honest, will not miss a trick to take advantage of strangers. Finally arriving at the Sleepinn with aprehension mounting, only to find it was the wrong one.
The very considerate driver took us the two miles or so to the next one, where I was unable to find my purse. The purse I knew I had in the taxi only a few minutes previously. After several fruitless searches of my bag, and the taxi, I came to the conclusion that I must have somehow left it at the first hotel. A call from the receptionist quickly confirmed this, so back to the hotel to pick it up. All the time I was thinking that there was a lesson I needed to learn from this.
When we got to the hotel the receptionist pointed to a gentleman sitting on one of the chairs opposite the counter, and said he'd seen it on the chair where I'd left it, and handed it in. They encouraged me to check that all its contents were there. They were. Then I got the message. I had begun the trip full of aprehension and mistrust, here was an opportunity to see things differently, to recognise that Guyana is not full of thieves and charlatans and people just waiting to do you over. There are probably more people like this man here, but no one is writing about them or encouraging you to see the good in the nation. So, my attitude changed. I gave him a hearty handshake and five US dollars and gave two dollars to the receptionists amidst much gushings of gratitude. A small price for the misery and inconvenience a lost purse would have caused.
I finally managed to get in touch with my friend who brought me a copy of the Starbroek News with my article in, showed us around Starbroek Market, and gave us a guided tour of the area while helping us to find somewhere to eat. This was followed by a tour of the Allbouystown area, ending the evening in a lovely bar. We talked about so much, including my interview at Mix 96 fm yesterday, which was a great success.
The mix of housing along the route, the haphazard way they seem to have sprung up around each other, the new and shiny, co-existing next to wooden and rusting corrugated structures; some looking like their occupants have long deserted them. Past the splendid banks and other finance buildings, the distillery, the Demerara River on the left tracking our every move. Past the many school signs, sponsored by Moneygram (get them early?). Being schooled by the taxi driver in the precautions necessary not to be ripped off, the steps we needed to take to stay safe, as Guyanese are not honest, will not miss a trick to take advantage of strangers. Finally arriving at the Sleepinn with aprehension mounting, only to find it was the wrong one.
The very considerate driver took us the two miles or so to the next one, where I was unable to find my purse. The purse I knew I had in the taxi only a few minutes previously. After several fruitless searches of my bag, and the taxi, I came to the conclusion that I must have somehow left it at the first hotel. A call from the receptionist quickly confirmed this, so back to the hotel to pick it up. All the time I was thinking that there was a lesson I needed to learn from this.
When we got to the hotel the receptionist pointed to a gentleman sitting on one of the chairs opposite the counter, and said he'd seen it on the chair where I'd left it, and handed it in. They encouraged me to check that all its contents were there. They were. Then I got the message. I had begun the trip full of aprehension and mistrust, here was an opportunity to see things differently, to recognise that Guyana is not full of thieves and charlatans and people just waiting to do you over. There are probably more people like this man here, but no one is writing about them or encouraging you to see the good in the nation. So, my attitude changed. I gave him a hearty handshake and five US dollars and gave two dollars to the receptionists amidst much gushings of gratitude. A small price for the misery and inconvenience a lost purse would have caused.
I finally managed to get in touch with my friend who brought me a copy of the Starbroek News with my article in, showed us around Starbroek Market, and gave us a guided tour of the area while helping us to find somewhere to eat. This was followed by a tour of the Allbouystown area, ending the evening in a lovely bar. We talked about so much, including my interview at Mix 96 fm yesterday, which was a great success.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Mix 96 fm meeting
When I went to the lovely studios of Mix 96 fm yesterday it was to discuss an interview to promote Dare to Love. I was bowled over by the warm welcome I got from an amazing crew, Russell, Annie, Sheldon and Omar. As A Course in Miracles practitioner, I'm always conscious that any interaction can be used to spead love, and help to bring peace to the world. Despite this, I was still amazed by the conversations I had with Sheldon and with Russell. 'The Secret' practioners are everywhere, it's good to connect, to share, to support.
Omar suggested promoting the book in Trinidad, as they have a thriving arts culture. As I have no contacts there, he's going to share some of his with me when I go back for the interview tomorrow. I'll be on the Stokely Murray show at 5 p.m. Thursday, 27th. Looking forward to it.
I got a great email from Marcelle, the reporter on the Starbroek News in Guyana, offering to do a follow-up piece when I get there. She also offered to organise a tour of major places for us.
The only fly in a very sweet ointment of a day was the operator at my bank who froze internet banking because I could not answer the exact date I opened my account. I realised, even as I was doing it, how pointless it was telling her how screwed I was by that. My wonderful husband has been a knight in shining armour.
Omar suggested promoting the book in Trinidad, as they have a thriving arts culture. As I have no contacts there, he's going to share some of his with me when I go back for the interview tomorrow. I'll be on the Stokely Murray show at 5 p.m. Thursday, 27th. Looking forward to it.
I got a great email from Marcelle, the reporter on the Starbroek News in Guyana, offering to do a follow-up piece when I get there. She also offered to organise a tour of major places for us.
The only fly in a very sweet ointment of a day was the operator at my bank who froze internet banking because I could not answer the exact date I opened my account. I realised, even as I was doing it, how pointless it was telling her how screwed I was by that. My wonderful husband has been a knight in shining armour.
Monday, 24 October 2011
TV Interview
Went to Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) for a radio interview which turned out to be a TV interview. It was a great experience. The interviewer, Sandy Deane, very effectively put me at ease, assured me I need not worry about my clothes, and conducted an easy going interview with wide ranging questions. I then read a couple of extracts from the novel, which she said would have the team vieing to be the first to read the book. The edited piece will be broadcast across the Carribbean and parts of North America next week.
I finished early enough to have a wander around Bridgetown, take some pictures and film of the marina area and marvel at the beauty of the shimmering mirror created by the sun on the water. It was great to hang out with a friend for a hour.
I rode the Sam Lord's Castle rammed bus back from the bus station to Oistins. I could have continued another couple of stops to Thornbury Hill, but needed air and space to stretch out.
I finished early enough to have a wander around Bridgetown, take some pictures and film of the marina area and marvel at the beauty of the shimmering mirror created by the sun on the water. It was great to hang out with a friend for a hour.
I rode the Sam Lord's Castle rammed bus back from the bus station to Oistins. I could have continued another couple of stops to Thornbury Hill, but needed air and space to stretch out.
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Starbroek News article
Through Google found that the article in the Starbroek News was published yesterday. My friend in Guyana says its a full page spread, with the heading Romance novel explores Barbdian, Guyanese relationship.
Only a snippet was available to read on the web, but a pparently its a good article.
Only a snippet was available to read on the web, but a pparently its a good article.
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