My life resembles ...

... "Groundhog Day" as I form fill (!) for a visa, wait for the call for jabs and confirm a flight back to Bangladesh.  Yes, I'm going back ....  Flight next weekend.

As for how long - we shall see.  The conversation that I had about the duration went "four weeks" yet the email confirming was "five weeks with an option of an extension" ...  Last time that happened the one month became 18.  In theory I'm back around Christmas - but best laid plans of mice, men and Marys.  As I said, we shall see.

This time I will endeavour to post on this blog on a fairly regular basis - along with some photos of something - not sure what - but something.

And Alison (C) and Noel - apologies, looks like this will be 2012 for meeting up.

Also - since I may not be back at Christmas - I suggest, this year, Christmas cards are given a miss.  But, since you are reading this, it means you have a computer so all those letters that come with Christmas cards could still be forwarded?!

This means that I will have managed half of my night class term - but that's better than nothing.  Think I may have mentioned that we seem  to do loads - in the first three weeks (of 90 minute classes) I have (in theory) learned

numbers 1 - 20
vowels 11
other vowels 10
consonents 40
pronouns
7 days of the week
10 general words
several sentences
some greetings
a tiny bit of writing (numbers)

And realised that my brain is mushy and soft and not learning very easily.  I shall continue - I will not be defeated - -but I fear I may never be good.

Off now to sort out something else - and the decorating needs completing ...  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Mx

The learning is easy ....

.... but the remembering and recalling is bl**dy difficult .....

Tonight was week 2 of my nightclasses.  I decided that the work seemed to be erratic until the end of the year and that meant I should invest some time into doing/learning something new .... 

It all sounds rather posh - Modern Language Centre at King's College, London ....  There are only a very few places that teach students outside a school environment and this was the one that ticked the most boxes (nearest to home, standard of tutor, class size, cost, etc).

The other thing that was attractive about the course was that - even though it lasts for one year - you can book it in terms - which is great for me since I'm not sure what I'm doing next week let alone next year!!

Maximum class size of 10 (we have 1 male and 9 women).  Tick.  And everyone gets to repeat everything out loud in class.  It's quite relaxed but we seemed to do a lot of work for our 90 minutes.  But - because there is always a but - HOMEWORK!!! 

There's a part of me that's rather proud that I'm hanging in there - especially since I left school 30 years ago and so the academic learning ground to a halt around then. 

But we shall see if the recalling improves as I punish my brain cells ...

Mx

Kiev - NOT the home of "chicken Kiev" .....

Hello

Nearly at the end of my week in Kiev (or Kyiv as it is written here).  The weather has been stable and mild and so lots of opportunities to walk around.  Yes, finally back into the swing of walking again after two jobs that were rather sedentary.   

So far "Mary's Masterclasses" have been attended by all 27 students on every day ....  Last night's (Wednesday) ended with a round of applause - which is encouraging and sad in equal measures since the lecture for the evening was "FORM FILLING"!! 

My Ukrainian is progressing at a dead snail's pace - so far I can do "thank you", "no", "yes" and "goodbye" and, of course, "marvellous" ....  Recognising more words but they don't seem to be attaching themselves to receptive brain cells.  This is a problem if you are taking jobs that travel around the world.....

The television in the apartment has over 130 channels - yet I still haven't managed to find one in a language that I can understand.  I was amused by one of the channels that appeared to be all about business and the economy - yet its name is "pervy delovey" ....

Food, so far, has been very good - last night was a grilled chicken and pork with roasted vegetables and tiny potatoes.  Not sure what this evening will bring.

Today was also the day for sightseeing - and Alina (from the office) had arranged for me to go on a tour around the city.  Despite a city that goes back for many centuries, many of the buildings have been rebuilt to the original designs.

This statue is supposed to bring luck - you touch different (specificed) parts of the statue and it give you health, wealth and/or happiness wishes.  We shall see!

Alina and I walked around the arts part of the city - a glimpse of the house where Mikhail Bulgakov lived ("Master and Margarita").  This area is being renovated and the main road is in pieces.  The cobbles are "interesting" and probably form filling-worthy in the winter months.  There is an incline which leads to the witches' steps - and Alina was reluctant to take me there (even if it would be home from home).  Hence no photos!

The Opera House is the same design as the Paris Opera House but this one was first (a fact that I haven't checked but the tour guide was adamant that it was first!). 

                                                   

As you walk along the main street, the next influential building is Vladimiskiy Cathedral - a rather canary yellow cathedral with seven domes.  A wedding party were just arriving as I arrived, so no chance to go inside. 

The Golden Gate, the site of the first entrance to the city, is the next major landmark.  Originally built in the 11th century, it had been destroyed by 1240.  The photos are from the 1980s reconstruction which is supposed to be faithful to the original. 

           

Then it's on to St Sophia's Cathedral; this one built in 1031. 

Then you cross the courtyard - past the man on horseback (Bogdan Khmelnitsky - who lead the defeat of the Poles) and towards the statue of Princess Olha flanked by Saints Cyril, Methodius and Andrew and through the entrance to St Andrew's Cathedral/Monastery.

And then, on a more random note, the University - it is allegedly painted this colour because "it is painted with the blood sweated out by the students at the university ....."

Back in the UK on Monday - for a while it seems - so no more excuses, the decorating must be completed!!

M

Silence is golden ....

Hello everyone

Haven't been ignoring the blog - but trying to get some semblance of order into my life ....  This is taking some time.  Perhaps the diversions of Whipsnade with Alison and Sophie and a day at the beach with Hazel and afternoon tea that spanned 7 hours and other similar activities might be the reason it's taking so long??

Still, I've nearly finished the decorating - which is a bit of an exaggeration - I've nearly finished the living room, done half the hall (there is a reason for this, despite it sounding mad) and loads of the boxes have been unpacked and discarded.  Adam has moved on to a place in Brixton with a garden and cats and was lovingly heard to say "I've hated living there" when talking about his six years in the flat.  Luckily I'm not too sensitive!  Darin has moved in and introduced minimalism to his room.  I've noticed that he steps into the hallway and has that rather pained - "she's clearing stuff out but how can I persuade her to make it even more clean lines and minimal?"!! 

The past couple of weeks has seen Vivi's mum visit from Brazil and the build up to Vivi's visa renewal/rejection.  At the last minute (Friday afternoon, visa expired Saturday) she has been given an extension and is planning how to reorder her bedroom!  Her mum was very pleased that it's extended, but not so sure about her being away from home for another 3 years.  In true South American style, she took over the kitchen and has been cooking a storm during her stay here - so I've been treated to loads of Brazilian food.

As for me - the last two filming days for "Ice Bear" have been and gone.  A long day with Mark at his studio where we filmed him creating and did a raft of interviewing.  He's just completing a commission for two tiger statues and I'm very envious.  They are life-sized, as usual, and absolutely beautiful.  Too heavy and large to have smuggled out with us!

We also interviewed an impressive man at Cambridge University on Thursday - who was rather sweet as he pointed out of the window and explained that he wasn't interviewed that much and people usually came to interview Stephen Hawking who was in the building opposite! 

And so to my next jaunt.  I fly off to Kiev tomorrow for a week and some work with a new series.  A 24 part drama spanning over a century and dealing with the major events in Ukrainian history - from the Crimea via WWI and through Chernobyl to the present day.  The good news is that I already know the Russian for "marvellous" as it's the same as Bulgarian!  (Chew-des-no ... no prizes for my spelling).

So off to do some packing and some planning - get off the plane tomorrow and go straight to my first "lecture" so will be interesting.  Will try to add some photos to the next one.

Mx

Croatia is coming to an end ....

.... just in time for me to experience the end of the British summer .....

So this time I'm going to tell you things about Croatia that I didn't know before I got here. 

The Mayor of Split is planning to build a statue on top of the mountain - that looks like the one of Christ in Rio.  The story here is that his outstretched arms will point you towards the hotel in one direction and the shopping mall in the other - both of which he owns .....

In rural areas or in traditional families, the protocol at your wedding reception is to stand for the Croatian National Anthem and then say Grace before starting the meal.

The Croatian for "cream" is "slag".

A mistranslation on one of our pieces of paper made bureaucrats into biro-crats ...

The annual recorded rainfall for this area has increased since I've been here.  Perhaps this was arranged to make me feel at home?

So much packed into just one week ...

Hello

So last week ended with my return to the UK for a wedding.  Now I'm under strict instructions that there will be no wedding photos, no mentions, no stories, all very "if I told you, I'd have to kill you" - so just a couple of photos - anonymous wedding cakes (carrot cake and coffee and walnut cake) and a picture of me (sorry).

 

Then off to Spalding for the weekend to see mum and to go to the cheap outlet shops - except wasn't in the mood to shop so that took the thirty minutes between the two buses! 

Went back to London just in time for the riots - very quiet in our postcode - except for the sirens rushing up and down the street - but they do they normally so not much difference.  I hadn't realised how many people I know are living in Hackney ...

And then back out here, Croatia.  Two more weeks and then back to London and job hunting. again.

The drama is now trailing on the tv - it's called Ruza Vjetrova, which means "Wind Rose" or "Rose in the Wind".  http://www.rtl.hr/televizija/programi/serije/ruza-vjetrova/.  The TX date is soon - and the press launch is next weekend so have to dress up!

"Bishaash" (the Bangladesh drama) starts to transmit again on BTV at the beginning of September.

Lunch time today, Saturday, brought the sad news that Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier, along with their driver and two production staff, were killed in a vehicle collision.  Tareque's wife, the artist Dhali Al Mamum and his wife Dilara Zaman, along with two more production staff, were all being treated in a Dhaka hospital.  Tareque and his team were responsible for Bangladesh's most recent international success, the Cannes award winning Matir Moina (Clay Bird).  Obviously tragic for their families and friends - and also devastating for the tv and film industry in Bangladesh.

Sightseeing - Split city centre

Hello

So - the past week has been rather impressive - thunderstorms, more road flooding and not much venturing out.  However, yesterday it was sunny and hot again - so I wandered into the centre.

Kiki has joined the writing team from Germany for a few weeks and we met up for lunch at a restaurant on one of the piazzas.  Grilled tuna and a salad - as the temperature picked up.

A couple of photos of architecture, the old and the new, and a statue - more about that in a minute.



"Gregory of Nin" 1929 - by  Ivan Meštrović

Off to walk along the beach!

Thursday is Cake Day

Once again - it's going to have a rather heavy food theme.  Thursday was my birthday - and it's always an experience celebrating abroad.

There were presents from the team - bouquets of yellow roses and a traditional floral arrangement. 
 

 

A basket of lush lavender products and a rather enormous bottle of extra virgin olive oil.  And then there was cake.  Well not just cake, 6 enormous, chocolate or tiramisu or fruit or meringue or ice-cream cakes. 

Enough cake perhaps!

After work we went along to "Ghetto", a beautiful courtyard bar in the centre of Split.  Good music, chilled atmosphere and warm weather.  Probably the first birthday in decades where it hasn't rained!

That, however, changed this morning.  It rained; hail stones the size of golf balls, roads flooded.  The crew shooting the titles sequence are currently trapped in the studio (which is on an industrial estate) because the access road is flooded.  At least Tina planned ahead - she's trapped in the bakery!

It's stopped now - so guess I should venture out before the next deluge.

But it's all about the work ....

So, it appears that some people are unhappy that I've been showing off Split and not paying enough attention to the job in hand.

So, to why I'm here.  RUŽA VJETROVA (Rose In The Wind) is a 190 episode drama series which starts to transmit some time later in the summer.  The actual first transmission is under wraps as there's a competing drama being created in the same city.  No-one films here and then two come along at once!

I'm here to lend a hand - support - interfere - consult - whatever is required.  For these first two weeks it has been making charts!  Lovely, multi-coloured charts for the script teams and the post-production.  There's something comforting about a nice chart! {Sara and Hazel stop laughing!}.

It's been a while since I've been at the beginning of something on this scale - and it's interesting to watch how another country sets it up.  The cast are great, the team have been welcoming and put up with the vast amount of questions I ask.  I've also been extended for a couple of weeks - so due back at the end of August {sorry, Piu, Alison and Kimberley and Susan - once again, Plan B}.

And for the Cambodian and Dhaka teams - the word for "marvellous" in Croatian is "prekrasno".

Can I go back to the sunshine yet?

Yesterday I went for a walk along the sea front and to the old part of the city - sunshine with a gentle breeze - and back in the room before the "mad dogs and Englishmen" time of day.

Especially for Catharine and Sallyann - You were there in spirit.
  

At 10 am the beach was just getting started - although the volume carries for miles.  During the day it's families and fun and in the evenings it's parties and late night swimming.

The walk to the centre takes about 15 minutes - as long as you remember to follow the directions given by the hotel receptionist .... Oops.  A nice walk along the front and then wandered off towards the markets and into the centre.  It's a mixture of old and very modern.

       

I stopped off at a beautful art gallery - the E Vidović Gallery which exhibits the work of Emanuel Vidović.  A mixture of still life, religious art, cartoons and portraits, it was an interesting exhibition and in a lovely art space.  The gallery has recently been remodelled - taking into account the old building but incorporating new features for modern day exhibiting.

Then a brief stop in the church - trying to find the name - which has a stunning Madonna picture over one of the side altars.

This was where the ice-cream came in.....

A wander back along the front - some lovely souvenirs.  Now souvenirs present a bit of a problem ....  This Croatia is new (I think 20 years old) and it hasn't yet decided what souvenir represents the area.  The team told me to take back anything with a donkey on it .... 

My treat for the evening (a birthday advance treat) was to try out the (only one month old) health spa in the hotel.  A bamboo and hot stone massage followed.  Darin - you would love this - a bit of pain from the bamboo and then the warmth of the stones.  Yummy.  Feel very very relaxed this morning - even after she wrestled with the alignment of my neck!

Just wandered along the front and found lunch.  It's a really nice temperature - cos we've established that I'm trying not to go crispy.  The breeze as you walk along is gentle and warm and smells of sun cream ....

Okay - it's back to work now - have a massive story conference tomorrow so need to do loads of reading.  And one last look at the pretty chart!

Croatia - it's all about the food ...

Despite stating that I wasn't going to talk about food all the time - here we go again.

The restaurant at the hotel where I'm staying (Hotel Park) allegedly has the best restaurant in Split.  It was time to venture out into the unknown.

This was confirmed when the waiter asked if I wanted my usual order (calamari and salad with a pot of tea).  Hmmm.

He brought along a complimentary fish pate whilst they prepared my salad.  The salad arrived as a mound of rocket, cherry tomatoes, prawns and shaves of parmesan with a little drizzle of balsamic accompanied with a glass of champagne if I wished.

Then the main course - roasted aubergine and courgette with spinach in garlic to accompany a local grilled fish.  All rather yummy.  In fact so yummy that I forgot to order tea!

Not long before I go back to my hotel and work out whether Wednesday night is pizza night!

Other inconsequential things ....  The soap in the toilets at the studio smells like 'Playdoh' despite the picture on the label being peaches.

The view from the offices overlooks the mountains - see below.

 

 








Yesterday was the highest temperature recorded in Split since records began (a measly 37 in the cold part and 43 degrees in the shade and 50 degrees in the sun where I am).  My factor 40 is now being applied as emulsion factor.  Not attractive, but I'm not crispy either.

Lastly, but not leastly, any thoughts on Kiev?  Had a call about some potential work in the autumn and I'm very aware that this breaks the pattern of only working in places ending in "a"!  (Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Romania, Dhaka, Croatia).

So - off to look for pizza and gaze out over the sea (sorry, that's worse than talking about food!).



Live from Croatia ....

Hello Everyone

Rashed has very kindly set this up for me - and so now I have my very own blog .... 

You may have noticed the title.  It means that wherever I am in the world, for you, there is no escape ... 

Apparently I can add photos - so going to give that a try in a minute.



View from the coffee shop to the sea

What am I doing?  Well today was a leisurely
walk along the sea front, a drink shaded in a café overlooking the blue sea, reading a book and then a little further along for a large pizza.  Found it difficult to do - but I'm the woman to do nothing for the day!

It's the Dalmatian coast (so let's get all the jokes out of the way).  And anyway, I've only seen poodles and shitzu.  Temperature today was going to peak around 100 degrees and I'm trying so hard not to go crispy - which I achieved very easily a couple of weeks ago just by sitting in Hazel's garden.


The hotel (Hotel Park, Split) is shabby chic - the locals say it should be a location in 'Poirot'.  Comfiest bed I've slept in for ages (must buy new mattress when I return).

Food - because I always manage to mention food - well lunch at the studio this week has included vegetables - which is good.  But it appears they can only be served if they are a consistancy that can be eaten by a baby - so lots of mush.
Anyway, I'll endeavour not to make this one of those annoying blogs where I tell you what I'm eating all the time (oops, failed already ... twice) and keep it interesting - or at least not mind-numbingly dull.

Now to try and upload it - and then work out how you access it remotely ....  Technology (off to hum "I will survive" ...).

Mx 


Terrace at Hotel Park, Split