Ana

  "I can't wait to get the stage all set

  So I can let the gypsy in me out."

  Be your own fortune-teller. 

  Then it's easy: just make it happen!

I think I can say this was probably the best summer of my life. After a disastrous end of April, a depressing May and a hopeless beginning of June, everything finally started to come together. I spent almost two months in LA and loved it. Even though I had to beg for a bed, a car and cheap stuff every other day, I finally realized everything I've been doing makes sense and that there's no way I can give up or slow down at this point. Then, I spent a relaxing week in Tunisia with my favorite travel companions: my parents and my sister. And after two years without coming to my island in the summer, I came here, had tons of fun and got beautiful footage. When I went back to the mainland, I surprisingly had a considerable amount of auditions for features, commercials and a soap opera and started working on my own project: a TV show that I want to host. It sounded like the perfect way of making and saving money before I go back to the States. In the meanwhile, I've been working on getting as much publicity as possible. So far, I've been interviewed in two TV shows, was the cover of the most important Azorean newspaper, had a magazine article about me, was interviewed on a radio station, was mentioned in a German arts magazine and was even able to be the target of some false gossip in a Portuguese newspaper. Great stuff for my Artist Visa, right? However- and the best of all news- I may not need any of this. I had mailed the Azorean Government and the American Consul of my town when I was in LA and, the day after the article about me came out in the newspaper, I got a call from the Government saying that they think it is, indeed, very important to the Azores to have someone like me succeding as an actress in Hollywood, so they said they would do what they can to help me out! 

In the last few days, I've been working on that with them; my TV Show was approved by the Azorean TV channel and it's in pre-production; I booked a series pilot that will be shot soon; I got a call back for a feature film that is going to be shot here in Portugal and directed by an American filmmaker; and I've realized I'm insanely in love. Great days! I just have to keep working hard and believing I deserve all this... and more!