Monday, April 26, 2010

Back home

I made it back to Vancouver after narrowly making it out of Europe by a mere 30 minutes. The volcano in Iceland put a stop on all air traffic leaving Europe almost immediately after my flight! Phew! So lucky.

I am so happy to be home. Fresh air and vegetation everywhere, and cars that I know will stop for me as I cross alley ways and lunge into the streets. Thank you for stopping, dear Canadians, and thank you for not smoking. Next time I go to Greece I will be spending more time on the islands. Most people seem to think modeling is so wonderful because you get to see all these amazing countries. Granted you do get to have amazing experiences in places you might not otherwise make it to, it is rare that you get out of the main city unless you book a job that will take you out of it. Castings and jobs on weekends don't really allow you the time to get too far when you do have some down time, so I am so pleased to have at least made it to one island. The good thing is that I will have a good idea of how to get around if I ever go back.

So. Back in Vancouver. What to dooooo! I have had one job for an editorial. Hopefully there will be lots of work here, and many castings coming up. Who am I kidding. Vancouver is the land of free- where everyone works for photos. Unfortunately, I can't buy bread with photos, and even more unfortunately, I am a model who NEEDS bread.

WedLuxe Shoot with kickass makeup artists Sonia and Marianna from Theyrep

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Greester!

That is, Happy Easter :)

Today, after one whole month, I finally felt like I am in Greece. Athens doesn't quite live up to the images I had in my mind of this beautiful country. After navigating ourselves through cobblestone allies and unlevel, tiled sidewalks with many incoveniences day after day, I think our impatience with Athens was starting to show. The hotel owner where the models stay, must have seen it all over our faces because he offered to take my friend Soledad and I on a day trip (I like to call her Lunadad though, because she prefers the moon), to an island called Evia for Easter Sunday. We were the only girls left because all the others were smart and left during this extremely slow time. We would go for a traditional Greek celebration with food and dance. It was fantastic to exchange the graffiti-coated concrete and second hand smoke for salt-coated sunglasses and the taste of the Mediterranean breeze. We departed from a port in Rafina; it was a short ferry ride of about 45 minutes to Evia.


Once we got off the ferry we went straight to a sea side home. It was breathtaking - basically my dream home, complete with a perfect garden, H2O-view terrace, dogs, trees, sunshine and the smell of amazing food in the air. The men at this gathering, now in their sixties, are from a very famous Greek rock band, and one of the other fellows had owned a famous Jazz club where they hosted acts such as B.B. King. The lady of the house visits India often. Really cool to meet them.


Lunadad and I trudged around the fields stopping to take in the ocean-view, enjoy the flowers, pet the horses, check out the ant farm we stumbled over in the field, taste the homemade lemonade, and sip white wine on the terrace all while soaking up the rays of a near-perfect day. One of the girls collected fresh herbs and veggies in a wicker basket to include in their dinner as we gazed at our surroundings.


After a short visit, we went to another place by the sea. This was a summer home, full of family for Easter weekend. The view was incredible. Food for miles and a sweet 8 year old girl named Zenya who was very helpful when it came to serving the meals. She was even trying to teach me Greek...I am terrible at Greek! She was so sweet, and even ran up the driveway as we said our good-byes to open the gate for us...10 minutes before we even got there. They were such great hosts. Amazing meal, complete with traditional Greek dance (Luna and I were so awkward when they tried to get us to join in, and unfortunately there is video somewhere to prove it). Plates were being thrown by their feet and the whole family was singing at the table, while ouzo, beer, wine and traditional Greek sweets were passed around the table. It was a day I will not soon forget!
The table of tapas
A pretty little church we stopped to visit
We left by 4:30pm to sip espresso at a cafe. I had a Freddo Cappucino - one of Greece's specialties - and I had them add hazelnut syrup. We had a sea-side table with a view of many fish in the crystal clear water. We then caught the 6pm ferry home, bellies full and ready for a nap, despite the caffeine wizzing through my body.

Yiamas!
(Cheers! or "to our health." Fully, you would say Stin iyia mas which means to our health. it's like saying drink to our health)

Some more shots from Fashion Week:


Me with one half of the design-duo "Mi-Ro" immediately following the show. I love his expression... it really captured the moment.
Lovely people and lovely clothes :)


Me and Luna....finally done!!!!