It's A Beautiful Day For Beautiful Spaces!

Black Swan Banned In Barbados

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 I can't believe that this is actually true.. but the island of Barbados has banned the movie Black Swan. I've seen the film and in my opinion it is one of the best movies I've had the pleasure to watch in a very long time. It's sad that such oppression still exists in our World today. Just when it seems like we are making strides forward in terms of equality and freedom, things like this just take us back to the 1940's and 50's! Needless to say the group that banned the movie in Barbados, the local Film Censorship Board, is in some hot water at the moment. This story has gained momentum not only in the island itself with talks of a March happening, but CNN has also run a story. I doubt this is the type of media coverage the island hoped for, or maybe they will just ban this too? Here's hoping something changes... soon.

To join the protest please visit this website and sign the petition for an appeal on the Boards decision.

**UPDATE**
The movie is now being shown in the local theatre with a R-rating. Seems the islanders cries have been heard!

Housing, Apartments, and Dorms Part II

Seems like a bunch of you latched onto the earlier post I did on Apartment and Dorms in the States, so I decided to do a post numero dos and cover some more things I skipped over earlier.

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Safety was one of the first things on my parents minds. We really wanted a gated community and the area around the University only had three places that had the feature, so it was pretty easy to make a decision when all of a sudden our options were cut down from fifteen to three. Talking to some of my classmates I had no idea how much a small gate card was increasing my security. My next door neighbors were having break-ins and police posted in their driveways, something I can never imagine taking place around our apartment, and which to a year later.. still hasn't and probably won't. Positioning too can be very helpful! If you can, request a second floor apartment further away from the entrance. We are on the second floor, about half a mile back from the entrance with a grassy tree-filled area on one side which puts us in a pretty quiet, peaceful area. Having a little oasis of safety makes such a difference.

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Paying rent is an issue some people have. My and my roommate have it set up so at the end of one month I'd pay the full rent along with water, and at the end of the next month she'd pay the whole rent along with water. The energy and cable are split every month. Around graduation time we'll tally it all up and make sure it's 50:50. She and I both trust each other and are dependable when it comes to rent, so this works for us. This goes without saying that saving your bills is super important! For the most part your cable/internet and rent are fixed numbers, but water and energy will be different so make sure those bills are filed away for the future. *Side note* I have a little filing cabinet in my desk and it is crazy helpful. The bills, receipts, important documents, and all other such items are filed away and it makes such a difference when it comes to finding things. Definitely a must!

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Over at boarding school in Vancouver, rules were super important to having a healthy bond with your roommate. I shared a room with another girl who has become like a sister to me, which definitely would not have been possible if we didn't set the boundaries and follow the house-cleaning rules the houseparents set for us at the beginning of the year. Even though it may be awkward because you've only just met your roommate, you have to sit down and lay out what's good and what's not. Neither of us are huge partiers, but if either one of us is having people over we let each other know before-hand. There's definitely been a few times when one of us would forget or people would drop by last minute, and when you don't know someone's in the house it sucks to walk in on a stranger. Same goes for sleeping over. You learn as you go along! We always have our place spick and span, having a clean area is a must. It makes such a difference to have a clean, nice smelling apartment! Don't take it for granted, make it happen!

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Because A College Student Reads Books. Occasionally.

Hello Hello Hello!

Glad to see you made it through Valentines Day in one piece and not a big pile of mush!

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I put off buying these Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series for quite a while. I mean everyone was reading it, and for a while although it never got as bad as the Twilight epidemic, it was crazy the attention these books were getting. So I thought I'd be cool and not read them. Jesus I'm an ass. THEY ARE AMAZING. And I mean that. Target was selling them for like $6 so I just decided on the fly to grab the first two, and it was the best decision I've made in recent times. So worth it. They are captivating, new, keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat, can't-put-down kind of books. They are based on an extraordinary girl, heroine if you will, that although is the opposite of every heroine we've had in recent times, you can't help but root for her the whole way. Amazing writing, very brisk and to the point, but still very detailed and meticulous. I recommend!

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Another lovely one to spend the evening with is Water For Elephants. A little PG-13, parents decide, but it is another amazing hard-to-put-down story. Centered on the circus, an elderly man in a nursing home tells his 'life story' if you will, through his day dreams. It captures a circus traveling through America in the time of the Depression, which you can imagine, is a little harsh at times, but still managing somehow to maintain that 'dream' some of us have of running away to join the circus.

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Right now I'm currently reading a memoir of a young girl seeking asylum in America after being forced to marry a man nearly twenty years her senior, the same man who requested she be circumcised before she enter his house. I'm about halfway through and it's been a real eye-opener so far. I had no idea about the "female genetic mutilation" as they call it in America, and never really thought about the idea of asylum either. The book is called Do They Hear You When You Cry, and if you would like some more insight on the detention centers in America, along with life in Africa as a young woman this memoir is for you.

paperbackswap.com

Banana Ice-Cream

As a college student.. your going to eat ice cream at one point yeah? Well I've got an excellent recipe that you can try out with just 2 bananas and a blender.

First of all this goes without saying that it's pretty darn healthy. What your going to do is choose out some 2 medium sized bananas (or three depending how big your craving is) and your going to cut them up sort of in 'coin-sized' pieces. Pop those in a container of sorts and leave them in the freezer till they are frozen solid, I think around 2 hours should be good. Then just pile them into your blender and chop them up! You might need to pause at some points to stir it around, make sure it is thoroughly blended. You can put them back in the freezer after, as they might have sort of lost their 'frozen-ness'.

So there you are! It's pretty nice and cooling when the day is hot :)

ourbestbites.com

El Supermarketo

That's probably not the right spelling is it, oh well, it's MASTERPIECE MONDAYS GUYS!

Hah I just made that up. 

Alrightey let us get crack-a-lackin'. I went to the supermarket yesterday, not really a big hippity-do because I go every Sunday.. and sometimes Saturday too, but! Normally Sunday's are reserved for my supermarketing. I'm touching on this oh so interesting subject not just because organics may be polluted as we speak by GMO's but because the supermarket isn't normally the first thought on a person's mind when they are moving to a new college. Well it wasn't on mine... Not sure about you crazy kids.

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Anyway, it was on my mum's however, so she made sure I was situated right next door to one. Guys.. it's necessary. Not just to be close, but to go once a week. I know so many kids, well pretty much 97% of my classmates go maybe once a month, the rest of their cash is spent on the numerous fast food places on campus. And you know hey! Maybe that's works for you, but it definitely wouldn't work for me. First of all because I detest fast food like no other, but also because preparing dishes at home has kind of turned into a routine for me that I couldn't live without anymore. There is so much freedom! It's fun.

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So, this isn't just a PSA for international students, but just college kids in general! I can guarantee you that shopping at the supermarket not only puts you in a position of a 'healthier' diet, but also you kinda save money guys... I know, crazy thinking! Hope you can handle it :)

Housing, Apartments, and Dorms

When planning for Canada, I knew I would be sharing a room. The school was nice enough to provide a bed, nightstand, desk, and cupboard space for each of the kids they accepted. Each room also had their own bathroom... Fairly sweet set-up when compared to the University next to us that had to share a bathroom between about 20 people!

Oh goodness.

Well that left us with having to buy very little by all means furniture wise. So my only crisis was picking out a bedspread, which at the time I didn't even care about. I was just worried about my parents leaving me in this strange place filled with moose. (I've actually never did see one, shame eh.)

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Anyways, so as you can see we were all flying high in Canada. Now fast forward two years and I've stepped onto American soil and a completely new ballgame. As I've mentioned before, my new University does not provide dorms of any sort, rather they help us find an apartment around the area. They provided pretty precise booklets that listed price, size, distance.. pretty much anything relevant. That booklet completely saved my life, as did YouTube. No joke. Guys YouTube is also good for finding little videos on apartment complexes, who knew.

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So! After finding a perfect apartment, I also found a great roommate and I was set! Moving to the States was pretty easy, I just packed basically every article of clothing I owned into three very large suitcases (maybe not every article) and hopped on a plane with my family. Arriving at the completely bare apartment was a breath of fresh air, I could for the first time in my life decide every last bit of detail in my room and kitchen and dining area. It was crazy.

IKEA became my best friend. Not going to lie. Target had some pretty sweet deals on desks at the time too. But IKEA is like crazy amazing. I think that was my first time in that store, and it blew me away. I wish they had a better online shopping thing going on, but oh well, it's probably for the better hey.

My tips for moving into an apartment? Make sure you have a good means of transportation for moving everything in. I mean IKEA is pretty sweet making a bed fit in a tiny little box, but you can't always count on that. And buy some tools! You'll find a few things around the house might need fixing up. Make a list, and if your apartment's management is as amazing as ours they'll send someone over to deal with it. And at the end of your term you won't have to pay for things you didn't break! Win win right? Above all! Plan out and keep track of all the things you've bought. Especially if you were like me and moving into a brand new empty space, new University and all that jazz.. your going to be buying a ton of stuff. Make sure it all fits! Put love in the space yeah :)

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