Visiting Front Page Africa

Day 3

It was a day of relaxation. (sort of) We woke up around 11 and got ready to go out. We walked to a hotel and had some food from there. I had a kebab and it was different from the kebabs in Germany and Austria. Jess had hummus and it might be the best hummus I've ever had. I also had mango juice and Ken and Jess had this Lebanese coffee or something like that. apparently it was really good.

This is our new kitten friend. we take turns tossing him french fries. So sweet!

We hung out there for about an hour and a half until we found out they don't have internet. So we walked over to Dona Maria's, the pizza and ice cream shop.

We did some research on the journalists and picked people we will be following around and getting more of their story. I have Mae who is incredibly famous in Liberia. She's had to go into hiding a few times because of the controversy of her stories. We had "ice cream" at Dona Marias, but it looked like gelato and it tasted like the most fake strawberry thing I've ever had. like a lip balm and ice cream mixed together.

At around 5 we left to go to Front Page Africa and meet people and take a look around.

We met Rodney Sieh and Wade Williams, another journalist. We got to see the printing presses and shake hands with a lot of people who work there. We got an idea of what their days are like by talking to Wade. She's an awesome and inspiring woman who raises two daughters and works 10-14 hours a day a few days a week. She likes to do stories on governmental issues. Rodney has gone to jail a few times for various stories as well. Both are really inspiring.

After we stood and talked to them for a few hours, we left and stopped at a place for some food. They got my order wrong, so I'm not sure what I ate but it was chicken and potatoes and garlic wrapped up. it was delicious. We ate with David, our driver. Dinner discussions ranged from religion to New Narratives. This is a really good, insightful group that I'm with. After we got back to the hotel we went through our audio gear and tried to figure things out and synchronize everything.

Fingers crossed I don't screw up the audio. I'm a year ahead of the other two in school despite me being younger, so I definitely feel like it's on my shoulders.

We have stereo mics, zoom h4ns, lav mics, and a shotgun mic. We have the stuff, we just have little to none training. So I guess we'll see how everything goes.

Mental Photographs

There are a few things I want to explain before I go on further. The next day or two there aren't any photos. This is because Liberians do no like their photo taken. They are a post-war country and they had so many things taken away from them that many only have control over their image. Some think if you take their photo, you're going to go home and become rich on their image while they don't necessarily have the basic necessities.  

Therefore we all decided to take a day or two of exploring Monrovia without our cameras, of getting a feel of the people and the place.

Day 2

Woke up pretty late in the day today. Either 11:30 or 12:30. I showered* and we paid for our rooms. Ken told us to kind of set aside some money we'd spend for the day and then layer it so we're not opening our purse or digging for the money.

[*showers are a little different here. They are only cold water, which doesn't really matter because it's 90 degree every day and humid. There's a four inch lip on the shower that you have to finish washing before it overflows. There are no long showers at this place. I started showering every night to at least be able to sleep clean and every night heat just poured out of my hair. It's definitely something you get used to quickly, the speedy showers, the cold water mixing with your body heat as they run down your back together]

We walked to lunch down the road at Dona Marie's, a place that makes pizzas and ice cream. Jess and I split a medium vegetable pizza. We sat in there trying to refuel a bit before our long walk we were about to take.

Then we just started walking. We walked down the main road which was busy with businesses and people. We traveled by the University of Liberia. We talked to a few students around there. Everyone dresses  up when they go to school. I originally thought we were passing a church when we saw all the people dressed up but then I realized it was for school.

We saw the river. We saw lizards. We walked and saw kids that chanted WHITE PEOPLE! as they danced up and down. We smelled various things that will never be able to capture the scene we were in.  sometimes we saw signs that said only dogs can peepee here. There are people selling all kind of things here. little girls carrying these giant buckets on their head that contain fruits or water or milk.

I'm telling you all of this because right now, I have not taken any photos of the culture. it's a delicate situation. Right now we are just adjusting to the culture, figuring things out, and seeing what comes of it.

Therefore, I'll have to describe walking down a road and having people stick out their hands and touch us, talk to us, or just stare at us.

As we started walking towards the Atlantic Ocean, we were sort of stopped by a group of drummers and dancers. It was this really cool african music. There was this guy all dressed up head to toe dancing and apparently warding off bad spirits. They were looking to be paid a couple of bucks so ken gave him a few and we tried to walk away but there was this guy who stood in front of us and started putting nails in his nose. Then he opened his mouth and showed us a razor blade and he quickly started hitting his tongue with it and then contracted the muscle in his tongue and it started bleeding. He was sort of playing with that blood and at this point I wanted to get away from him so Jim gave him a buck and we quickly walked out of there. That guy was a creep and he definitely left an impression on me.

At this point we had walked miles in the heat and I was paying for it. My stupid legs weren't used to working this hard in the winter and they had burned and swelled in the heat. I paid for that over the next few days.

We were growing tired so we walked to this ocean hotel to view the ocean and the sun and to eat sushi. The view was gorgeous and we talked about weird things and ate really good sushi.

These are nuts, but they call them dirt peas. One of my favorite names even if I didn't get to enjoy them!

We watched the sun set. Each night that we witnessed this event the sun disappeared before the horizon. Such a beautiful sight.

A breath of Liberia

This place is amazing. Sitting on the second floor and it's completely open, like a treehouse. A breeze is blowing and you can hear the buzz of commotion below as people commute to work. A sign says feel free to read, offering books and there are games too. To my left, I look to a rooftop where a young man helps his mother hang the wash on the line. The sun is bright so it won't take long for the clothes to dry.

It's a quiet time. I'm not rushed to lug my back around the city following Mae and her stories. I'm not running to ingest images that I've taken of the day. Right now, time is paused and I am enjoying my cup of coffee in a grown up tree fort.

Day Trece

Today we were back with the kids. It was a day we had planned to be full of filming, and since we were behind schedule from Friday we decided there should be no english lesson. Once everyone came, we split into the two groups and instructed everyone to finish storyboards, handing out roles, sorting out props, and location scouting. Things got really chaotic with people running to the bathroom, girls changing their outfits for the films, kids running around looking for places to film. It was nuts.

Around 11 everyone was mostly ready to shoot, and all of us coaches were very eager to start shooting because we know how long it really takes. Esme and I talked about working with both groups and basically having Sarah and I switch back and forth with Oscar and Esme so we would always be with someone who spoke Spanish really well. In the end, Oscar and I went with the group doing the horror movie. Once we got working with this group however it was really hard to switch to the other groups. We knew what things needed to be shot and we knew the story really well. Therefore Oscar and I became the producers of the terror movie and Sarah and Esme worked with the kids on the drama movie.

It took a little bit of time to get started shooting because we were working with a much younger age group. They had shorter attention spans and a lot of the young girls wanted to draw on the white boards or wander off. Eventually we set up a policy that if they weren't directly active with the movie scene, they were to go help Melissa with the signs and CD cover drawings.

The first day we actually got a lot of shooting done, as in 9 scenes. It was amazing doing the very first scene though. With the silent films, they kids pretty much shot each scene once. However, with these films, we did the first scene once. Then we did it again at a different angle. If something was off, we did it again. It the acting wasn't perfect we shot it again. I think the kids appreciated the amount of work that goes into filming that first day.

We finished with the kids on time and sent them home. We went to eat and I believe I went to go take a nap. I hadn't slept the night before. Today was the day we were supposed to go horseback riding. Unfortunately I talked to Fernando at lunch and he told Oscar and I that the only horses available were race horses, therefore we wouldn't be able to ride them.

Which ended up being a good thing because I was still sick.

There were some things that we needed from town, so the girls went out. I stayed in. Esme and Sarah's group needed a time lapse of the sunset and there was no guarantee I'd make it back in time so I stayed, set my camera on a chair overlooking the countryside and did a time lapse. I'm actually mad that I didn't do this sooner, or for more days. By the time we thought of it, I really only had one night to do it and sometimes it can be hard to guess what area is going to have the best lighting, clouds, colors, etc. It was such a beautiful 'moment,' the sunset. I'm glad I captured a piece of that night.

(Photos with myself in them were taken by Sarah Wann © 2012)

Post Script, I'll post the time lapse when I get a computer that can edit video, which should be soon!

Day Once

Today I technically went to bed around 6 am. And technically we had to leave the house before noon. So I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. My stomach had started to hurt around the early hours and it didn't get better. I figured I had just had too much fun the night before and what I needed was water and a nice meal. We went to a restaurant in the square and sat out in the sunshine to eat. I decided to take it easy and have a coffee and a large bowl of fruit for lunch (and some bread that came on the table).

It was a really nice long lunch. We talked about what we wanted to do for the rest of our time there. We were supposed to go to Leon which is a city famous for leather, but Guanajuato seemed to have caught the eyes of the ladies and they were eager to explore this city. Oscar and I said we would think about splitting up and maybe visiting Leon for a few hours.

 (photo by Esme Brandon ©)

After lunch, we started walking around a little bit. We saw an alley that is famous because of a story. Basically the story is about forbidden love. A girl and boy meet. They live across the street from one another and the street is so narrow they could kiss across is while standing on their balconies. So they fall in love and the father of the girl catches them up there and tells the girl she'll kill her if he catches them together again. Kill…his own daughter. Anyways, he catches them again and does kill her. The end. It was really awesome seeing the place and hearing the story from Oscar.

(photo by Esme Brandon ©)

(photo by Esme Brandon ©)

(The rest of these photos are Esme's and Sarah's because I wasn't strong enough to keep lifting my camera. pathetic, but look how beautiful this city is)

Thankfully Oscar took my camera as we walked a little further. After a bit more shopping, I was feeling awful, and I thought if I went back to the car I might be able to rest a little and feel better. I walked through the tunnels to reach the car (which took about 45 minutes. there's a vast amount of tunnels and the car was farther than we thought.

Once we got to the car, my stomach started being incredibly talented and it was break dancing. I swear I felt like I was in the movie Alien and at any moment something would tear right through my stomach lining. I promptly fell asleep while poor Oscar charged his phone and basically waited patiently for me. We drove back to the house to take a nap before dinner while the girls continued to take in the city. They had an incredible time walking through markets and eating on the rooftops that overlooked the entire city.

I slept some more and woke up close to dinner time feeling somewhat okay. We were to go to the fanciest restaurant in the city (Remember how I said earlier that most of our meals were around 100 pesos, well this place's most expensive dinner was 260 pesos). Even the most fancy place was barely $25 and it had incredible food.

Melissa had been talking to one of the photographers from the night before who said he could get us into a movie premier and after party, after dinner. I decided to just see how dinner went before I planned the rest of my night. Oscar was still napping and opted for sleep, so for dinner it was just us four girls. We went just as the sun was setting, it was a gorgeous view from above as we looked down on the city that was littered with a dark blue from the sky and twinkling lights. The inside was softly lit and had really elegant soft jazz. Sarah and Melissa ordered the steaks, Esme ordered this fancy pork stew, and I got a small dinner salad. They also had cactus appetizers, wine, and a cornbread dessert. Everything was delicious.

I decided to go home after that, because I was still super sick. We cabbed it back to the house where I found Oscar still sleeping, and he decided the continue to sleep than go with the girls. I almost watched a movie, but it wasn't long before I was curling up in the fetal position and trying to sleep.

NOTE: This was the end of my night… However I probably missed one of the coolest things. The girls got into another VIP party where Melissa was hanging out with one of the top Mexican Actors (his name might be sebastian zurita?). Esme and Sarah were dancing around with other men. They ended up staying out until 6 am and coming back into the house loud and happy. It was a disappointment to miss, but I couldn't even be mad because there was no way I could have gone out.

Day Diez

Friday! We had a lot to do today, but the reward is getting the weekend to ourselves and enjoying a small mexican road trip for the weekend. Today was the day where we actually split the group into two separate groups and they were to pick a story, storyboard, and maybe even start filming. A couple of the kids actually brought in stories they had written, and surprisingly they were incredible.

First we showed the kids their silent films from last night. We talked about the importance of storyboarding because if you don't then the editors don't know exactly what you want with your movie and it might come out completely different. Luckily, Oscar and I were pretty spot on with the stories.

new friend who wasn't sure what to think about 32 kids.

There was a lot of disorganization with the kids today and one girl ended up having a panic attack when she wasn't being heard in her group. Esme got her and Mauricio, and they sat her down and got her a cup of hot water and a warm taco to put on her chest. That's what she said her mom does for her because she's had heart problems before.

We ended up voting on the genre of movies and had one group consisting of mostly older kids who wanted to do a drama and a huge group of younger kids who wanted to do a horror movie. Then we made the groups get together and decide on a story. This took forever. Pretty much the rest of the day was filled with discussions on how to create a story (who was the main character? what was the problem they had to overcome? what was the resolution? and so on).

During all of this, Melissa came upstairs and told me that there had been a shooting in the US. She said it had been in the midnight premier of Batman but she couldn't remember which city or state it was in. Since my boyfriend was at the midnight premier, I was freaked out and I went to go check the news, email my family, and check in on everyone.

Thankfully, no one in my family was hurt, despite me having cousins in Colorado. Unfortunately, I was pretty distracted by the news.

So we ended the day with the group having a story and asking the kids to work on storyboards at home.

The five of us had lunch, packed, and then jumped into the car to drive to Guanajuato! Basically we had to drive up and down a mountain. It was narrow roads, sharp curves, crazy people passing us, and the most beautiful views.

We arrived in the city about 50 minutes later and drove through it. It's a gorgeous city built on and around a cluster of mountains. The city is famous but it's amazing because it doesn't look touristy at all. Theres a Starbucks and a dominoes pizza, but they are sort of hidden, there are no traffic lights, and no neon signs. It's gorgeous and colorful. We drove to Oscar's cousins house which houses travelers. It was small, but we didn't need anything extravagant.

We settled in and Esme and I explored a little with our cameras. Then we got all dressed up and went out for a night on the town. Melissa, Sarah, and Oscar discovered that the Guanajuato International Film Festival was this weekend which was pretty amazing, and also there was a tunnel party that we HAD to check out.

We went to a place that had loud music in a populated square and ordered some drinks and small things to share. I had a piña colada and a blue hawaiian. The drinks tasted okay, but the food was like ballpark nachos. It was really crappy. Later we learned that this place had awful food that was really cheap and it was the sort of place for extreme tourists.

It didn't matter, it was late when we finally left there, so we started towards the tunnel party. We met a ton of people that Oscar went to school with, and we left him to wait for more as we went into the party. It was a tunnel that went through the mountain and cars drive through, but a portion of it was closed down for this massive party. There were so many people in there and there were bars set up. It was an awesome party. There were flashing lights in all different colors, loud music, and a ton of people staring at us. We danced for a little while and then Esme decided to go back with Sarah to the house and sleep (they hadn't gotten much sleep and were exhausted). I wanted to stay a little more with Melissa.

We got some refreshments and kept our eyes open for Oscar or his friends. A couple of people stopped and talked to us. We also saw a really famous Mexican actor. We kept being approached by these photographers who kept taking our photos and talking to us a bit. They offered to get us into the VIP area. He gave Melissa a bracelet and then I just walked in. I was stopped, but I took some of my acting skills, made my eyes really big and acted like I had no idea why I couldn't be let in. Eventually they said "oh she doesn't speak spanish" "what harm could be done?" "She's fine" and I got in. Drinks were free here, the people were classy, and we were feeling good.

We danced and attracted the same photographers who were over eager to talk to us and lead us around. Finally we found Oscar and acted like we hadn't seen him in a while so we could go talk to him. It took about four attempts to get away from the photographers and hang out with Oscars friends and just dance alone. We stayed for a few hours and then left around 5 am. It was crazy and so much fun. I'm not really a party person at home, so I probably appreciate a night out more than the regular kid.

Both Melissa and i were given flowers on the walk home by boys and she even was given a pair of sunglasses and was told to drink a shot for this random dude and think of him. I can't emphasize how nice and accepting everyone here is. At no point do I feel like I'm in danger or scared. I feel safe with the group of girls and even more so with Oscar. Mexico keeps getting more and more beautiful and amazing.

Day Nueve

Today was one of the most beautiful days I've ever experienced, but first, the kids. The kids came at all different times in the morning, so we played games waiting for everyone to get there. The california boys were back as were all the new kids from yesterday so we had a ton of people today. While everyone went into their english lesson, Sarah and I set up for teaching the kids about the flip cameras, setting up the TV to watch short clips, and teaching them about storyboarding.

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The kids came upstairs and we brought them together by playing a quick game that would allow them to practice their acting skills. It's called 'Wink Murder.' Basically a murderer is chosen at random and without anyone knowing. Then their job is to look around the circle and wink at people. If you've been winked at, you have to act out this dramatic death. The kids had some trouble with this game and most of them just knelt down on the floor when they were murdered. So Melissa was the murderer for the second round and she sort of let me know that she was so she could wink at me and I could demonstrate what a good murder was. So she winked at me, and I was strangled, and cried out, and fell to my knees just before completely keeling over. There were a lot of laughs, but people didn't really get anymore dramatic (and to top it off I had some pretty spectacular bruises blooming on my knees).

i wish that game would have worked more, I think we should have done more acting lessons with the kids. Other acting games were trying to keep a straight face while someone else was making you laugh. This one was really successful and I think a lot of the main actors were people who were good at this game.

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Then Sarah, Oscar, and I talked about different kinds of shots, how it's important to do different angles, and try new things with the cameras. We showed them my demo reel that I had made last fall which demonstrates a ton of different things you can do with a camera.

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Sarah then went through the specifics of wide, medium, and tight shots. After that we went over the specific camera buttons. I'm not sure if you've ever used a Flip, but they are the size of a point and shoot camera and they are VERY simple. Basically there is a small digital zoom (which should never really be used), a record button, a playback button, and a delete. Everything on it was super simple and it was really easy for the kids to pick them up and start recording.

We kept the technical stuff to a minimum before their eyes glazed over. I know the older ones took away more from this teaching than the younger ones but we also were ready to work hands on training with the Flips once they started filming their stories.

The kids had the task to split into groups and film one object at all different angles. This way everyone was able to hold and play with the camera and we could show them all the different types of shots and angles.

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We were also able to show the kids storyboarding and a video made from my storyboard. In Syracuse, I worked as a group of three creating a super simple story. We had about two hours to storyboard, shoot, and edit these stories. Luckily I was working with two very talented women, one who was a great actress and the other who was a wizard at Final Cut 7. We storyboarded a story about a girl who has to use the bathroom and there wasn't one open on campus. We had a subject, a problem, and a solution. I drew out the storyboard and then we set to shooting it, thinking of different angles and different positions. We showed the kids the final product so they could see what it would become.

https://vimeo.com/30031503

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Then it was everyones jobs to form 4 groups and write and storyboard a story and then shoot it. It was really chaotic, and it was even more difficult that I couldn't communicate with the kids. I ended up helping Melissa explain to a group that even though they wanted a truck in their video, it might be better to act one out. The other groups worked with Esme and Sarah and did really phenomenal jobs because they made them shoot it several times and get a bunch of angles so we had more to work with as editors.

Today was a really difficult day and we had more problems with the california boys, but it was still incredibly productive and we were all proud of them.

The girls wanted all of us to ride home with them so we did and Esme, Melissa, and Sarah got to see the beautiful countryside. About halfway there, we got stuck in this GIANT lodo (mud) puddle. We all jumped off and I took off my hoodie, shoes, and nice shirt, stepped barefoot in the mud and tried pushing it out. A few others joined in but it was super deep (something I found out when I took a step to my left and my entire leg went under. (Good thing I wasn't wearing my white shorts, oh wait). I also was the dog rescuer because one of the Ceracaly dogs had gone with us, gotten tired, and was in the truck. When we got stuck he was too scared to jump off. So I lifted him up and carried him off (and then back on when he was being too silly to get in the truck). After everyone got to the front of the truck and pushed, we finally got it out of the mud. Needless to say it was a very interesting afternoon, I ruined my white shorts, and we got the entire thing on video! So worth it! (screenshots from the videos)

Yes, we did do this on the way back home...

Later on after lunch and planning, we were invited to a friends house to swim. He lives about a mile down the road and was trying to explain he had these hot springs in his yard. Then he said he had a pool. So we changed into our swimming trunks and drove down there. It was this gorgeous place with an elaborate stone entrance and a massive empty pool. Fernando was just starting to fill the pool up with crystal clear bright blue water. It was gorgeous. After laying in the sun for a bit the pool was finally full. I dipped my toes in and it was the most glorious temperature of probably 100 degrees. It was like a massive bath tub which felt amazing seeing as the air has only been around 60 to 70 degrees. It was a glorious way to spend the evening, swimming in this Godly water, which was all natural, sipping refreshing tomato juice and spices, and hanging out with my amazing friends. (Pool photographs by Sarah Wann ©)

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We went back a few hours later and drove around because we were locked out of Ceracaly. Esme and I watched the sun set over the mountains riding on the back of the truck and talking about our traveling. The rest of the night Oscar and I edited the silent films while everyone else did the work for tomorrow's lessons. It was such an intense day, but it was also one of the most beautiful ones I've ever experienced. I love seeing the beauty around me and one hundred percent appreciating it in it's entirety.

Day Tres

Day Tres Today was the day we were leaving Mexico City to finally see Ceracaly and meet the staff we'd work with for the next two weeks. So we packed up and got breakfast across from the apartment.

After half an hour, Maria Jose graced us with her presence. She's been working nonstop for the city ever since the elections and it was really great to see her and thank her for everything she had done for us. She did the unthinkable and offered up her car to us, which really saved us a lot of suffering later on.

I had my first taste of Chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) and papaya with limes. I ordered a spinach omelet that came with hot sauce. We talked and got to know everyone a little better. We went to pay and we saw the fire inside Maria Jose when the waiter swiped her credit card twice and did nothing to fix his mistake. She got really angry and it was kind of awesome to see this petite woman stick up for herself. She's got a lot of spitfire in her. We also met MJ's dogs. Paco was one of them and he was adorable. The other one had walked down to the market, which he does frequently. He either comes home or she has to go pick him up.

We left around noon starting on our journey. It was a gorgeous car ride. We were constantly seeing different rainclouds and storms. There were mountains all around us. We all took turns listening to one anothers iPods and talked a lot about ourselves. Melissa started out driving which gave me time to watch the scenes of rain evolve. A couple of times we hit some really bad patches of rain and it was unnerving; but Melissa was an incredible driver through it all (and I can't forget to mention the amazing Esme taking on the navigating role!) We traveled well as a team and around 4 decided to stop for some food at a place on the way.

I just want to say, it was Friday the thirteenth. We stopped in a bewitched city. It's nicknamed the wizard city because of the spirits in the city. It was rainy and we walked around the little town scoping it out. There was this massive gorgeous mountain that looked over the city. It was really beautiful. Everywhere we went we were stared at, and it was a little ridiculous. I'd like to say I got used to it by the end of the trip, but that's not true. I'm not used to standing out so much.

Anyways, we ate at a little place that had amazing guacamole and of course el baño. This was the day I learned to ask for a bathroom in Spanish. I won't try and spell it yet, but I am teaching myself Spanish.

We spent about an hour and a half in the town and then started back on our way. By the way, MJ had told us it would take three and a half hours to get to Ceracaly, Melissa's friend had told us it would take five hours. If you can calculate we've been in the car for about three to four hours and we still have a bit of a trek ahead of us. I started driving at this point, which was another accomplishment, driving in another country. I had no idea how fast I was going because it's in Kilometers. It seemed to get dark quickly because of all the rainclouds. In no time I was driving in the dark. About 30 minutes away from Ceracaly, it started DOWNPOURING. So we were driving around trying to find signs and see where we were going. Around 9:30 we found the dirt road that I almost jumped a curb to get to. We drove around the holes in the road that were rapidly filling up with water. Luckily, my boyfriends driveway is pretty bad and I happen to be an expert on avoiding potholes.

We came across a sign that said Ceracaly, and there was a little house next to it. Sarah was convinced that this was the place, she had seen it in a video. So Melissa stepped out (into a massive puddle), i honked my horn a few times, and this small mexican man came up to the window of his house as Melissa shouted a jumble of Spanish and he just waved us away. It was awkward, because Sarah was still convinced that this was the place, but Esme told me to keep driving a little ways and see what we came across. About a mile down the road there was a building on the side of the road. People were outside and we asked them if they knew the place we were looking for. They said this was it, so we walked inside, into this dark building. It was still pouring, there were places where there was no ceiling in this building, so it was raining inside. The people who were waiting for us, said the power had gone out. So we took a few candles, got our sleeping supplies, and pretty much went straight to our room.

We found out there was no cell phone reception, there was internet, but not without the power, that the power might not come on until Monday morning, and that the first night in Ceracaly without light, is very creepy. Melissa decided to really freak me out by putting the flashlight under her chin and talking about creepy schools at night. The best part is that she scared herself and she couldn't sleep that night. I slept with a small flashlight, ready to bash any ghosts, and we slept with furniture in front of the doors just to make me feel better.

*note: This post isn't finished. I'm awaiting more information and hunting down some photos!