Utterly Surreal...

It was March, and I was having an anxiety attack at the thought of not knowing what was going to happen next in my life. My time at People en Espanol had come to an end and Univision had not called me back--after two interviews-- so my head was spinning, you would have thought I had a hang over.

And then I get an email back from Ms. Gardner telling me there might be a position for me at the NYILFF, except the decision was up to the new Managing Director- Ms. Bravo. I was nervous --not going to lie, after all I had done my research and Ms. Bravo's resume was more than impressive. But when things are meant to be the road magically opens, and here I am ready to share with you my experience with the NYILFF.

From the beginning I knew it would be an amazing experience, my first conversations with Liz & Tanya were filled with laughter and story telling. One by one the staff walked into our cubicle space, and one by one I fell in love with their personalities and welcoming auras. I knew I was not just another employee, I new I was part of a team... and now I know I was actually part of a family.

From Tanya's requests at 90 mph (which I caught by the way, I'm amazing at multi-tasking), to my on going wit battle with Juan, there was never---and I mean never a dull moment in that office.

I had Aneudy to beat up (I know you loved it amiguito), Calixto to walk in and say something fabulous, Carmen to share her goodies (and by that I mean the tons of food/candy she brought in... I declined but maybe I shouldn't have haha), Sonia to steal my desk when I had just gone to the bathroom, Lyndon to tell me "you don't have to worry about that, I got this" (and he did), and Liz to be the encourager-- never did I go home without her saying " Thank you!" or "Great job you rock!"

Where else do you get such amazing support and love and honesty? Only at NYILFF.

The Festival came and went and I'm going through major withdrawal. I miss waking up to Carmen's laugh and Tanya's "GIRLS GIRLS WE HAVE A CALL WAKE UP!"... to Aneudy's "Yall want breakfast?" and Liz's "You guys are killing me over here..." when we were running late (SORRY!)... I'm missing April from SKA telling me exactly where whatever was when I called her asking for xyz (you're beyond amazing)...I'm missing Jessica's & Oscar's excitement to be interviewing people (thumbs up to you two), Sasha's magical fingers taking pictures and uploading them on to our Twitter for the followers to see...I'm missing the gazillion flashes from the gazillion photos we took on the green/red carpet, The Cell-- where during the day we were printing lists like mad women and at night we were down stairs talking up a storm and sharing stories. I miss the fact that we had no idea of time, and yet we were looking forward to the next day.

Every day ran as smooth as a river, every day the after parties were beautiful and well executed, every day I saw my family with a smile on their face-- no matter how much running around they had done since the morning.

I am beyond thankful to have met, worked and grown with such an awesome group of individuals who just wanted one thing: An unforgettable festival.

And you know what, from the way I'm feeling right now, I say mission accomplished.

Until next year.

Loving the NYILFF Team of 2010.

Como una estrella fugaz...

FanStar