principe
-
🎄 We made it! We made it to the other side of Christmas! Not before a lot of packing, another batch of cookies (told you!), and a whole day of cartoons. We then went to my parents, had dinner with them, and my brother’s family. Gifts were exchanged. tinyMovieStar was overwhelmed with the whole thing. We were as well. The whole thing is exhausting. We get to meet the family, and spend days together, but we do it pretty much every weekend. This is basically the same, but with presents, and a lot of food.
-
🧁 Too. Much. Food. For days!
-
🇺🇦 Miguel, my best friend, is back in Ukraine, and he’s already sharing stuff on his Instagram, complete with Stories. Also on the paper’s site.
-
📰 Just before leaving for Ukraine he subscribed to the Washington Posta. and was offered another one to give away. I got that one. So far I’m really enjoying the gift. Great app too.
-
💻 This was also the week when I finally managed to set The Monitor up. Fun times. Props to Adam for everything he keeps doing with omg.lol. Another feature he launched is the referral program, where we get free time for every new member we referred. I thought about turning my free time into gift codes, and did another giveaway.
-
🍿 We watched a few movies this week: The Queen, Shrek the Halls, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. And we also had time for an incredible Portugues show, available on HBO, Causa Própria. Incredibly good, that’s how I’d rate it.
-
🇸🇹 We’re going! movieStar has bought the tickets already, and we’re now entering the preparation part of the trip. Only two weeks left, and a ton of things to take care. I don’t even have a passport at the moment, it expired while covid restrictions lasted. tinyMovieStar is about to have her first one too! It’s going to be a very different trip altogether, not even remotely similar to any of the previous ones. I won’t be working, I’ll be on daddy duty 24/7, and our favorite hotel, the one that would make our life a little easier, is undergoing maintenance, closed. The island can be challenging to start with, and going there with a toddler is just adding another layer of messiness. Still looking forward to it. We’re meeting our dear friends again, after 5 years apart!
-
🏡 Also time to start finding a new tenant, as my friend who’s staying at our place finally got tired of the stupid neighbors upstairs. A suit has been filed, but things take so long over here, she’ll just leave. This will be a huge headache for us.
🇸🇹 One week to go. I hope we recognize all the kids, they must be huge by now!
🇸🇹 T-8. Getting close!
Say hello to Clara.
🇸🇹 9 days to go, no progress has been made regarding travel arrangements…
thingsThisWeek 34
🇸🇹 In two weeks I’ll be able to see my godmother again. She’ll meet tinyMovieStar!
🇸🇹 A couple of weeks away…
Saudade
While taking care of my non-paying client’s request, I came across a photo from the island we miss so much. It’s been too long without a visit.
🇸🇹🏝
If I could, this is all I’d be doing for the rest of my life: travel notes for places I love.
São Tomé and Príncipe Travel Notes 🇸🇹
(Work, as always, in progress)
Happy Place
I’ll keep this on my mind today. It might help…
🇸🇹🌴
Tchiloli
One of the most unique things I’ve ever seen.
São Tomé and Príncipe, an archipelago on the Equator, boasts one of the most curious performances of popular imagination. Tchiloli is the fruit of cultural (and at times violent) encounters and creolisation. It is a delightful ethnodrama/ethnotheatre that unites music, movements and 16th century texts in one ceremony.
Solemn Gestures on the Sandy Ground. Tchiloli in São Tomé and Príncipe
On one of the visits we were lucky to be able to watch, and photograph, a Tchiloli performance.
Today something movieStar did reminded me of that day.
I miss the islands, and the people who live there, and all the things that make it such a special place.
🇸🇹 🎭