Goodbye 2011 - you've been the best in a really long time

Wowsers, it's that time of the year again, post crimbo excess, compiling New Year's resolutions etc, but I really just want to say  a massive thank you to 2011 for being the best year of the last four years. The absolute best. I feel so different, more together, more optimistic for everything and really feel that I'm on the verge of something great, dunno what it is, but just a feeling y'know? Anyway before dashing off to spend NYE with 'my sisters from white mothers' (i.e Ms Love, oops now Mrs Clibery and Ms Barrett) in Brizzle, thought it'd be good to bid  farewell to 2011 and say thank you, thank you, thank you for ALL the amazing experiences I've had, all the wonderful people who have made those experiences so amazing, all the food I've eaten, all the music I've listened to, all the concerts I've seen and the list goes on. Unfortunately it is not as fully visual as I would have liked but hey there wasn't a Kodak available for every precious moment and will do my best to show photos where they're available. See you round the other side kiddos.

Here goes starting in January - of course it was always going to be a good year when it started by welcoming it with Cally:

Then in February went to Italia for work and fell in love with lovely beautiful children, but for child protection reasons, here's a pic of the Montecastello di Vibio, the smallest theatre in the world instead (which I visited whilst in a picturesque village in Perugia)

March was the month of serious bacchanal, all night joverting and Puncheon fueled mass in Trinidad and Tobago, where I was truly in soca heaven for six days straight:

Then post Trinni high, I went to speak at a UN panel in New York. Scary stuff.....(I'm 2:27 mins in video link below) saw my beautiful family, saw a glowing pregnant Natalie Portman at the MET museum,  saw Morgan Heritage and  Mos Def in concert and heard Aurelio Martinez for the first time. Heaven.

http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2011/03/panel-discussion-global-teachers-conference-to-mark-the-international-day-of-remembrance-of-the-victims-of-slavery.html

I can't remember what happened in April or May, though sure lots happened and maybe that's when I saw the PHENOM Hugh Masakela and others doing a Mariam Makeba tribute concert with the lovely Ms E-J, and I saw the one and only M.E.T.H.O.D MAN and the rest of the WU-TANG Clan, but can't remember when exactly. Darn not having my scrapbook with me as I do this. Pretty sure Little White Lies, my first favourite film of the year was viewed around that time as well and of course my baby (this blog) was birthed.

Just remembered I ran the 10k race with minimal training and did pretty good:

Then the first wedding of the year. Luce and Dan and it was wonderful and perfect and could not have been any more beautiful AND I got to make my dj-ing debut:)

Anyway, the monthly breakdown clearly ain't working, so moving on with other favourite moments of the year, as Ms Baker sings, 'J'ai deux amour' - I LOVE Paris and would move there in a heartbeat. It was seriously one of the best things I've ever done, living and exploring that most beautiful of cities for the best part of a month, eating macarons and making lots of beautiful new friends and having lovely 'old' ones coming to spend time with me.

 

Must not forget my 4 day Ghana trip where I went to work and met a lovely new lifelong friend  and of course, there's the obligatory pic with 'smiling African children' - (African children being exempt from child protection issues and a bit of a free for all when it comes to taking their pictures can't believe that I'm guilty of that, but they were toooooo cute.

As soon as I landed in the UK, went to see the phenomenal Jimmy Cliff with Ms Miel and we had and UH-MAZERS time dancing the night away, with a wicked DJ playing proper old skool reggae and lovers rock pre-concert but I'm sure I cried at Many Rivers to Cross when Jimmy came on:

Then had a really good conference for work, which I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and the support I received from Ade, who took a day off work to come take pictures (actually meeting him in May was one of the highlights of the year as well and I've stalked him into submission into becoming one of my best friends and he's one of the most AMAZING people I've ever met).

Then post conference, off to Vegas for wedding number two, that of the lovely gorgeous Rachel - had an amazing time and met lovely new friends as well (especially the inspirational Michelle Rodley), and did a bit of climbing and alienated lots of people with my political views. Oh dear....

Then rounded off the year by liberating myself of hair (which I only kept on that long for bridesmaid duties :)) and went to Sierra Leone in my role as trustee for a small NGO, did lots of work, but spent time with my family and resolved to move back in the next couple years: (Hope Lucy does not read my blog as I'll be in big trouble)

Have to run to Brizzle now, but basically 2012, you got some big shoes to fill. Just saying, you know and my new fave Sierra Leonean phrase 'na for di bam bi oh'. (Meaning, you've been warned).
Over and out and thank you, thank you, thank you.