Lay Me Down

I have spent a good part of the year traveling with two people creating a visually appealing story to go along with music. I couldn't have been paired with two more creative or talented people. Patrick is a Syracusian musician who spends all his time and energy into his passion of music. Marina Zarina, the videographer, I met through SU. She was one of those ghosts that you's see in class and you might catch wandering the halls every once in a while; but most of the time she'd spend hidden in a notebook, doodling endless ideas, working at a computer, or editing. The girl didn't stop, and that's what working with her was like. I got an incredible insight on how to go about working with a client and the whole process of shooting a video start to finish. Her process is sort of crazy but the end projects are beautiful.  

Patrick just released his newest song which has SUCH a good vibe to it. It just feels good to my soul. Patrick also asked me to photograph him for the release of the new song. It's been quite a year and I feel blessed being a part of this crew.

Photographs by Kristina Videography by Marina and Kristina Video Editing by Marina ZARINA!

Music by Patrick Breen. CHECK HIM OUT.

http://youtu.be/JHNXsDdd6kw

The Family at 22.

Tonight I had the opportunity to photograph an old friend from high school and her little family. We went to a local park and enjoyed the subtle sunset, the gorgeous fall leaves, talking to trees, and trying to sidestep the mud puddles. It was a lovely evening which reminded me of my love for photography. I've been  working so much taking photographs for school pictures which requires little thought and no knowledge of a camera. It pays bills but it is not the artistic outlet for me. Tonight capturing Xiao's little actions and expressions had me smiling all evening. I was glad to get my love back, just in time for Xiao to invite me over for dinner at house 22. He warmed my heart.

"Xiao, how old are you?"

"FIVE!"

Westpoint

Day 5 It's 2013. This year has been intense. Today I finally got to experience Ethiopian food. We took a walk to Ken's favorite place and sat on the porch. He pretty much ordered for us since we had no idea what to get. We got some meat dish and a vegetable dish along with some ethiopian coffee. The coffee was different from the lebanese. Still good, but I think I loved the lebanese coffee the most.

Please enjoy this demonstration of how to eat Ethiopian food by Ken Harper:

It comes out on one plate and there are no utensils. You use Injera, a sponge like bread to grasp the different parts of the dish. We learned there's actually a lot of protein in Injera?

Step 1: Tear off a piece of the Injera

Step 2: Grasp the food. (Can't go wrong, it all tasted good)

Step 3: Make a small pouch of said food that is able to be eaten in a bite or two.

Step 4: Make this face as you enjoy the deliciousness. Welcome to Liberia's Ethiopian food.

It's distinct flavors and textures and overall it was an enjoyable experience.

After lunch, Jess, Jim, and I called David and asked him to take us to various points around the city to scope things out and to start gathering some b-roll. David picked us up and took us to the first place.

It was a little hike down a rocky passage and it looked right out onto the cliff. We enjoyed the view and actually started taking some photos of some people that lived there. We met a woman and her two children  and we were able to photograph them. It was really incredible. I feel like all we have to do is just treat these people like they are humans. Living, breathing, real people. That's all they are. Just like myself. Just like your enemy, your president, your dentist. We feel the same things and we love the same way. So I don't understand how people can't see that. I also realized that I adore kids. I mean, look at his little face.

So we piled into the car and drove to David's second place: Westpoint. Westpoint is the poorest place in Monrovia. People live on top of each other all jammed into a section that borders the Mesurado River. There is only one road to get through and there are only a few strategic places a car can turn around. His little franken-car did incredible well driving over rocks and ruts.

David took us through the road and we were stared at mostly. The three of us are amazing at keeping our smiles up, encouraging people to remember that we are people too. Mostly we can get the kids to smile. They are excited to see us. We got out of the cab then and walked through some narrow allies where people were making bread, hanging clothes, washing babies and playing soccer. It's an area filled with the energy of kids and resilient faces on the adults. We walked to the edge of the river and the kids looked on curiously at us, not sure what to think. David climbed onto the colorful canoe that was tied up, floating in the river. Jim and Jess were a little more hesitant to step up there, so I of course climb up and start walking down it carefully balancing so my photo equipment didn't fall into the water and sink to the depths. The other two followed suit. I'm not sure if Jim let go of the mast the whole time we were on the boat, but I think we all enjoyed it because it was the first time Liberians wanted their photo taken. Two bold boys, maybe seven or eight years old, swam in the river and called out "FLASH ME."

We photographed them and they climbed into the canoe and started doing tricks and jumping off. I looked down into the water and drifting beneath us was garbage floating in the river; old tires, plastic bags, containers, just drifting silently under us only to be disrupted by the kids jumping and splashing into the river.

We shook hands with older guys and chatted with them. I laughed at the kids jumping in and was open with the people we met. As we walked off the canoe the kids on the land had warmed up and they wanted to be photographed too. So we all took turns shooting with our different lenses the different people. It was a crazy place and the kids were essentially playing in garbage, with garbage. They didn't care though. Boys swam naked still at an age where they are unapologetic to who they are. They gathered around for group photos and then raced  to us to look at them.

We spent some time with young fishermen, one of which tried introducing me to his mother. She ran away when she saw my camera. they were goofy and posed on each other and with us. Everyone we met there made us smile.

I hope my pictures can give you some idea as to what it was like. But like I have mentioned before, there's nothing like the real experience. It's an assault on the senses, I couldn't open my eyes wide enough and take everything in.

Finally David took us to the beach. We wanted to record B-roll of the sun setting over the water. There were a ton a people around us and we tried our tactic of allowing them to press the buttons and take some photos of us before we made some photos of them. These kids were super excited to show off their talents to us and see the different photos of each other. We got mobbed by all kinds of young kids talking to us.

I walked to the edge of the water and I remember thinking it was the first day of the year 2013. I started thinking about the different things I've seen in the 23 years I've lived and the opportunities I've been presented with. It was an introspective moment for me and I was very optimistic for myself and for the project we had agreed to tackle in Liberia. It's only the beginning.

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.

Ridiculous resolution and retina

So, I have mentioned before that I am currently in Africa. Monrovia, Liberia to be exact. It's been a little over a week and I feel as I am just getting the rhythm of life over here. On this trip, my school, who I'm doing this through/with, let us borrow some equipment to be able to work over here. We each got a Nikon d800 and some audio equipment. I was a little disgusted with the size of the RAW images that the d800 takes. (I'm not even sure if I was disgusted in a good or bad way) For example, I think one file for the d800 at the highest resolution was 75 mb. I suppose if you have the space, it doesn't really matter. So I was sorting through my photographs today and I came across this photo of this little boy Kwaku with a beautiful reflection in his eyes. I was in Lightroom, so I zoomed in 1:1. It was a crisp and clear reflection of myself. I zoomed in farther, 3:1 and was astounded at the clarity of the reflection. There I could see myself, my classmates, Jim and Jess, and my professor sitting in a chair. See for yourself.

The clarity is astounding and I was pleased for an example to give people who are thinking about investing in a d800. They are incredible studio cameras with the ability to blow up for large scale prints. I believe the image size for a tiff I was working on was 170 inches by 95 inches, and I know they can be much much larger in size as well. Once again, I agree with the statement that d800's make spectacular studio cameras. They might not be ideal for travel because they are heavier and slower that the d600 but I'm appreciating the full frame on this trip!

I would also like to take a moment and say I recently bought a new macbook this past fall. I was using one from 2007, a computer that wouldn't update nor would it run Final Cut X or some other programs. I kept having to borrow a macbook pro and I felt guilty always taking their computer. So this year I decided to invest. I researched the hell out of the regular macs vs the retina, the ibook vs the MacBooks, etc. It was a long process, but after looking at my blog, side to side, one with the retina and one without I realized I needed the one with. After all it's probably the most useful for people like myself who work on images, photos, or designs. This new MacBook Pro uses 2880x1800, which equals a more than 5 Megapixel image. In terms of sharpness, it figures out to almost 221 pixels per inch. It's ridiculously sharp. I can only describe it by saying my photos are so vivid and sharp they almost look wet on the screen. If you're a photographer, it's worth the extra money to see your photos on the retina screen, in my opinion. Maybe I'm just trying to justify this decision, but I'm happy with the one I made.

Anyways, I am in Monrovia until Friday just trying to soak all of this in until then. Internet here is like it was in 1999, so I haven't been able to upload large amounts of photographs. I encourage you to be patient until my return. These photos and stories are worth the wait. Hope everyone is enjoying their new year. It's a clean slate, so try and make your life a positive one! Happy New Year everyone.

Last Day of Mexico

I suppose I should wrap up this trip. I'm not really sure why it has taken me so long to post the last day. Maybe I dont want to give it up. Deep down I didn't want to go back home. For the first time ever I stepped out of my comfort zone and had an adventure. I succeeded. I won. I made friends, good and kind people! (a rarity for me). I felt beautiful inside and out when I was there. Going back home meant I was surrounded by others who could take photos or speak spanish way better than me. On the plus side, I was going home taking away this incredible experience. I have made plans to travel with Esme in Africa. I have an incredible friend and partner whom I can work with in the future, Oscar. I have talented kind people in my life I now call friends and have proven to be the same kind people in the few months that have slipped passed since this trip. It seems silly to think a two and a half week trip could change someone so much but it's as silly as a summer love. Those who experience it understand, and the others just think the rest of us are silly fools.

So on the last day we made a hardcore decision to actually drag our butts out of bed to make it to breakfast. We got dressed and walked out of Maria Jose's apartment making a right and walking by some new shops enjoying the rare rays of sunshine. We had walked about half a mile when someone realized that we were supposed to make a left outside of the apartment. We were almost double the distance we needed to be and on a time schedule of -minus 20 minutes until breakfast was over. We hailed a cab and hauled ass, because lets be honest, this was important.

Breakfast was a buffet of yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola. We all got different kinds of things including chocolate caliente!, hotcakes, omelets with interesting dips, and waffles. I'm pretty sure this breakfast made all the other missed ones worth it. Afterwards we went onto the roof of the restaurant where there was a bar and a big open seat that all four of us could lay on. We settled down there laying in the gorgeous sunshine while Melissa sipped on some sparkling drink and enjoying these last few carefree moments with each other before we separated.

© 2012 Esme Brandon

It took a little while to get motivated to move from this, but spot eventually we started making our way into a part of Mexico city that had a archeology museum surrounded by a park. We ended up walking there and taking photos and of course getting stared at. Walking through the park it was filled with families and kids, people selling things, face painters, vendors selling food. It was amazing. We decided to try something that looked like paper. It actually tasted a little like paper to. I can also describe it as a wafer like the host in church. Not surprising that I liked it.

We also decided to get fake eye lashes and wore those around as if we didn't stand out enough. They were incredibly fun and bizarre to feel your eyelids be touched every time you blinked. It started sprinkling and we made a run for the museum. Of course it happened to be free for all people that day because in Mexico the stars aligned for us. So we explored various areas. Some signs were only in Spanish but I got the gist of things. Mostly I missed Oscar and got really tired. (It wasn't the right day for a museum for me. Somehow everything we experienced these last two weeks were way better than statues and things that are in a building). But Esme and Melissa had a good time because their dad is into those things.

© 2012 Esme Brandon

© 2012 Esme Brandon

© 2012 Esme Brandon

© 2012 Esme Brandon

© 2012 Esme Brandon

© 2012 Esme Brandon

© 2012 Esme Brandon

© 2012 Esme Brandon

© 2012 Esme Brandon

We decided to skip some clothes shopping and hit up the market and get some souvenirs since that was going to close soon and I technically had nothing physical to show from this trip. We got to the market just as most of the shops were closing and the things I really wanted were outrageously priced. But that's okay because I ended up finding these incredible green blue square shot glasses. They are lined on my windowsill as we speak and I want to fill them with some decorative tall grass when that comes in season. (Go ahead and laugh that I'm not using them to take a shot of tequila. Maybe I'll save one to drink out of).

After losing Esme shortly, we ended up walking out and going to show her the big square and the church that Sarah and Melissa and I had already seen. We walked around photographing these graffiti walls and figuring out where we wanted to go for dinner. We settled on a place around the corner and I had my first ever TAPAS!

Tapas are like hour devours made into meals. So instead of having this giant meal and only getting to taste one thing from the menu you order a couple of small things and share. We also ordered drinks and watched this restaurant get progressively more awkward as they brought out a random DJ and like expected everyone to start dancing? We didnt stay there long because believe it or not it was a really freaking long day and we were still recovering from the past few days.

We went back to the apartment to freshen up and see if we could find a party. Now we had taken a cab back to the apartment and as we got out a guy was getting into the cab and just happened to invite us to his birthday party. We got his number and told him we might. (Like I said, anything we needed Mexico provided for us!). We sat on MJ's porch sipping wine and just listening to the city. We all sort of decided to stay in and relax and watch a movie instead of go out. Esme and I needed to be up early the next day for our flight. So we got popcorn and drinks and I'm not sure who mentioned 'Just Friends' was a great movie but we ended up watching that movie. (Okay, it was me. but Ryan Reynolds is a babe, can you blame me I look past the crap in that movie?).

Anyways there was laughter and I remember looking around the room trying to soak everything up. I was ready for this trip to be over because at this point I didn't anything to come up and spoil a perfect trip.

Goodbyes that next morning were so hard. We hugged for a long time promising to stay in touch and to do great things. Sarah was off to explore the rest of the world starting in South America, Melissa had a few free weeks before the chains of grad school held her down, and Esme had less than 24 hours until she was due back at work. As for me I had a few weeks before I started my last semester at grad school.

As you know it is November now. I am working on my capstone project. My topic is Mexico and I am looking to go back there sometime around March and work on a video and really show people why the four of us fell in love with this place and the people we met. My project will be part of a kickstarter that will raise money for the organization down there, FAI.

A lot has changed in the few months that I have been back. I really think I am a different person. There were a few weeks that I couldn't stand people bitching about their jobs when all I could think about were the 3 year old kids selling gum to the tourists. It's sort of hard to feel bad about the trivial things. I've had my friends tell me I am a more outgoing person now and that I don't complain so much. That's a personal goal achieved. I even have my next travel plans coming up in about six weeks. I can't get over the doors that this trip opened (really the doors that my school, S.I. Newhouse school of Communication have opened). I really feel like this is what I might want to do with my life.

However nothing is for certain. All we can do is live our lives to the fullest, take advantage of the time we are spending here, and understand how similar we all are. I think more people need to travel and understand that. Maybe there would be more empathy out there. Anyways I want to thank anyone who has stuck by this little travel section.

Keep checking in, I officially head to Liberia at the end of December. For now, ¡hasta luego.

Day Dieciséis

Today is the last day at Cerecaly and with the kids. It's a bittersweet day. All of us are exhausted yet so amped for the kids to see their hard work. As you know, last "night" ended around 5am. We awoke in the early morning light with no electricity, a noon deadline, and the men missing because they were off in town getting gasoline. We stumbled out of bed and quickly went downstairs to set up our stuff. The generator was hooked up and we went to work. While I worked on the video, Oscar took the musician outside to record the music for our movie. Esme was upstairs vigorously cleaning the area we had spent the last two weeks teaching the kids. It was filled with posters, markers, and our teaching outlines. She set to making the place presentable for the kids and their families. Melissa was helping set things up as well. However, she was also running into our work area asking if we needed anything, bringing us breakfast (hotcakes!), coffee, tea, anything we needed she was willing to get us so we didn't have to get up. It was truly lifesaving.

© Esme Brandon

©Esme Brandon

Sarah was putting the ending touches on her video. At around 9 some of the kids came. They surrounded around our work area and were a huge distraction. They were chatting to me, which I really don't speak Spanish still. They were talking to Oscar who was my main helper at this point with last minute touches and listening to the audio. His job was putting it into the movie. Melissa grabbed the kids and put them to work putting out the red carpet. Meanwhile I went outside in the rain to make some sound effects for the movie. We needed a sharp crack and a scream. I ended up wetting a towel and pistol-whipping the side of Cerecaly until it cracked. The scream wasn't going to happen because I was losing my voice, but we were pretty sure we could find something in a group of default sound effects.

© Esme Brandon

The time flew by really quickly, and the closer it got to noon, more and more people were showing up, coming into our room, chatting with us, and marveling at the fact we weren't done. For once in my life, I wasn't worried. It wasn't like we were slacking off at any point. The power going out was a freak accident, and we started working as soon as we possibly could once we got electricity. I know some of the others were getting frazzled but we all kept telling each other to keep going! I know I mentioned this before but this was such a positive place to be in. There were so many things that went wrong, but in the end, no one freaked out, everyone got everything done, and we were all really mature despite the circumstances. I can't tell people enough how great this group was.

Around noon, people were asking us to give them a time. This is the hardest part, in my opinion. I've had renders take hours, I've had them take minutes. There are a lot of factors that decide the fate of time. As Oscar looked over the other groups and finished checking our movie, I finally hopped in the shower and dressed up in my "formal dress." Oscar showered after me and I worked on credits, which was actually really hard. All the kids had four names, and the spellings were all different from what i'm used to, I was using a mac that has spanish symbols and the keys are slightly different. I didn't even finish half of the cast when Oscar came back and took over this as well. Sarah went to shower and dress up then, which left Oscar and I to export.

We put the Akosia bumpers in the video and did a few final touches. I think I reexported the video at least four times due to little things I had to add into the other teams video. FINALLY we were exporting.

© Esme Brandon

Meanwhile upstairs, Esme and Melissa were entertaining maybe 60 people that had turned up to watch the movies. It was past noon at this time, they had already had people talking, musicians playing, maybe some jokes, etc. Everyone came downstairs to eat as we were working on putting the exported videos through one more program to get them ready for the tv. The two sisters were incredible at keeping everyone entertained and in good spirits. I applaud them because that isn't easy to do.

After everyone finished with their snacks, we all went back upstairs to watch the movies. We handed out papers so the audience could vote on their favorite actors, movies, directors, props, etc. Some people stood up and talked and introduced us all, and then we started watching the other groups film. I filmed the audience reactions while watching. I think everyone was just surprised at everything the kids had accomplished. They did it all. They learned about storytelling, started creating stories and characters, storyboarding, casting everyone, directing, acting, videographers, makeup artists, location scouts, everything. I am still in awe of everything they accomplished and it was incredible seeing the audience's reactions to the first video. There was a roar of cheers and we brought that group up and introduced the characters and everyone's roles.

© Esme Brandon

Next was Oscar and my video. I stood in the back so I could stand next to him and soak up the moment. I swelled with pride at everything we had accomplished. I couldn't help but feel so blessed to have met Oscar and for him to be a part of this project. I learned so much from him, we all did. We stood as we watched our video play and the audience was horrified when the murders happened and laughed at some other parts. It was SO successful and so emotional to have it finally finished. We gave everyone a chance to fill out their votes and collected the papers to tally up.

The five of us went into the bedroom to get the "oscars" we made to hand out to the award winners and tally up the votes. About 15 minutes later we emerged. We told everyone we were so incredibly proud to work with these talented kids. Then we gave everyone a certificate for participating in everything. This came with a handshake of all the kids and a photo with each one. Some of the older guys came up and kissed us on the cheek, which got a lot of the kids in the audience hollering for their moxy. A few of us got emotional, not saying any names but it rhymes with jezme...and me of course.

© Esme Brandon

We finally got really for the other awards. We called out a lot of the specific roles from Esme and Sarah's group. They showed the most knowledge of the techniques and equipment. It was incredible watching the growth from those who really were interested in their roles. Although their team had most of those specific roles from their groups, our horror movie won most of the movie awards. Our main actor was the best actor, niño padré, and we also won best picture. It was so amazing seeing the kids' faces light up once they won their awards. At the very end we were thanked by FAI and we were presented with these wonderful presents. They were baskets with fans, some homemade remedies from Chuy, some amazing soap that has lavender in it, and a pen. It was so sweet of them to put something together like this to help us remember (though I don't think we'll forget their kindness soon).

And suddenly, it's over. We're filing downstairs outside and waving goodbye. We stopped to take some photos. Most of the little girls wanted a photo with me. I switched from being photographed to photographing and filming as much as I could. I wanted to stop time and have a second to talk to each of them, encourage them to keep creating, hug them, photograph everyone. Unfortunately, time doesn't work that way. I had a tough time saying goodbye. We promised them we'd stay in touch, and then they were gone.

© Esme Brandon

© Esme Brandon

  © Esme Brandon

The people of Cerecaly called us in for lunch and we met people from FAI and friends of Mauricios. But mostly, us five stayed together talking and laughing. We knew there wasn't much time left and there was finally no pressure of lesson plans, spanish lessons, or video editing. (I'd like to add that the power came on around this time, of course). We ate Chuy's delicious food and I was sure to give a lot of love to my love, Orpheus.

© Esme Brandon

© Esme Brandon

After "lunch" we all went up to our rooms to pack. People kept coming in and saying goodbye to us. Mauricio came by before he left and we said a really hard goodbye to him.

© Esme Brandon

About an hour later, Oscar came in to say goodbye. We all said how grateful we were to have met him and got to know him. I think it's safe to say I was the closest to him during this trip. I couldn't stop the tears because I knew it would be a long time until I got to see him again. He just cocked his head to one side, smiled, and said "Don't cry, we'll see each other soon." One last hug and he left.

© Esme Brandon

The rest of this post I want to just say I was depressed. Esme hugged me and slipped me some tissues and I didn't even want to think about saying goodbye to these incredible woman, although I'm more confident my future holds more adventures with them.

We finally had everything packed and we packed up the car. I chased Andrea around and hugged her. We found Aender, napping, and said a sad goodbye to him. We went to Chuy to tell her how much she meant to us and how important she was to us. I wish I could have communicated it better.

© Esme Brandon

© Esme Brandon

It was probably 5 when we left to go back to Maria Jose's apartment in Mexico City. For some reason, I wasn't that tired so I offered to start driving. We grabbed snacks and started our way trading everyones ipods to listen to their top 25 songs. The view was just as gorgeous as the ride down here. As always you can look around and see at least one massive rainstorm in the distant mountains. I am still in awe of Mexico's beauty. Probably 2-3 hours into me driving, I started getting REALLY tired. We waited in a toll line and Melissa and I quickly jumped out of the car to switch and she drove. It wasn't long after the switch that I hardcore passed out. I fell asleep for the rest of the car ride in the best sleep possible. Melissa safely (and impressively) got us back to the apartment and this time it didn't take 8 hours!

We got into the apartment, grabbed water, and pretty much went to bed. It had been such a long day and a long week, all we could really do was sleep.

Day Catorce

Today was a busy day and I was actually able to eat a little. We jumped right into work, Sarah and Esme actually took some of the kids who always arrive early and reshot some scenes while Oscar and I waited for our whole team to arrive. The kids started doing makeup again and as soon as we could wrangle them all up we started shooting for the day.

Now, it was mentioned that the other team had most of the older kids in it. They were amazing at their jobs and worked really well with one another. One of the challenges we had was in storyboarding our piece. It was really well drawn but there seemed to be some parts missing. So Oscar and I had sat down the night before trying to fix some of the problems. It worked out in the end but it also gave us more work to do.

The scenes we were shooting today were some murders and the green screening of the ghost. For that we brought out a blue table clothe and we took it outside in the brightest light we could find. We got a few kids (and myself) holding it taut against the wall as the ghost was filmed doing all sorts of things. (Later on in post-produciton Oscar would drop him into a scene that was already filmed using aftereffects.) This inspired me to take an aftereffects class this fall!

So the point of today was to get as much filming done as possible. The day involved sewing a head back on, helping the kids remember different camera angles, scratching dogs' ears, and filming, Filming, FILMING galore. It was at the end of this day with that kids that I was starting to see everyones capabilities for this project. Sarah and Esme worked with their group efficiently and confidently. They communicated with the kids well considering their spanish wasn't perfect. Their kids are really starting to get into their roles and the director is realizing that her job is more than just saying cut and action.

As for our group, I am continually in awe of Oscar. He's incredible at giving direction. The way he communicates is amazing because he knows what he's talking about but it's the way he talks with the kids and laughs with them that inspires me. Sometimes I feel useless because I can't speak and I'm still so new to all of this video stuff; but then Oscar gives me the reins and I make a few decisions. His confidence in my abilities moves me to be confident in myself. We continue working with one another and learning from everyone. I am still amazed at this experience. I'm writing this now, and it's been a month since we've been home and I am still enthralled.

After the kids left, we all had work to do. Melissa continues to do the paperwork each night, writing down our successes and stories for the day. The rest of us had editing to do. However, today we were to take a day trip to San Miguel de Allende. We were also supposed to meet with a member of FAI to discuss our experience working with their members.

Note: FAI is an organization that promotes sustainable development of water and natural resources focused on the active participation of those children. FAI and Akosia worked together to make this project a success.

We had to leave early to meet with the people from FAI. We got into the city around 4 and looked for a parking space. Oscar drove separately because he was taking Mauricio's friend in with him and there wasn't enough space in our little car. We decided to meet him somewhere in the town. While looking for a parking space, we pulled over to ask someone where we could park. Sarah rolled down her window, spoke the best spanish she could muster, AND... was pleasantly ignored. While we were laughing, a woman came out of a shop and told us that she owns apartments down the road and that we could park there. She then ran back into the store, grabbed her bags and then hopped into our car so she could show us (and she wouldn't have to walk back in the drizzle). This kind of thing happened to us where ever we went. We always randomly met people who somehow were able to fill our needs.

We walked around the town and found ourselves in this square. The square was filled with people, things being sold, and an interesting twist to a well known snack. There was a snack stand that was selling a bag of doritos, opened, with mayo, butter, corn, hot sauce all mixed in; it is eaten with a spoon then. It was such an odd mixture we spent a lot of time marveling at this concoction. We met with Oscar then who was with the two woman from FAI. After a quick cup of coffee we walked to the FAI offices and they basically asked us about the people at Ceracaly and any suggestions for the future. We talked about how accommodating everyone is. There wasn't really anything we could complain about.

We didn't stay there long, and afterwards we needed to find a place with internet so that we could start editing our videos, which was going to take a lot of time. We found a place that had a restaurant on the roof. So we walked upstairs, turned a corner, and saw the most amazing view. It literally might be the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. The one wall most mostly just glass, it looked down some mountains and on them was the city of San Miguel. To the right was a giant golden church; and to make it even more beautiful a storm was rolling in on the left of the scene as the twilight sky changed colors. I stared at it in awe as massive lightning bolts struck and I watched the rain downpour across the valley while the sky stayed dry above us. Everyone else was checking facebook, emailing, and Sarah had even started editing, but I just couldn't take my eyes off that scene.

Eventually I did get to work. I watched, still in amazement, as Oscar zigzagged around in AfterEffects trying out different things and creating the "ghost" in our movie. It was really amazing watching it transform and I was thankful to be able to watch someone who confidently navigated that program.

Much later the woman who let us park in her apartment area came to the restaurant we were at and introduced us to her husband and chatted with us for a while. They asked if we were staying in the town and offered us a room with them. We told them we were driving back, (I was driving and had passed on a drink). It's sort of funny but they kept pushing us to stay, they didn't think it was safe to drive at night. Of course we were perfectly fine and we had to go back to Ceracaly to teach the ninos in the morning.

We thanked them for their generosity and then made our way back. Everyone here seems anxious to drive at night, but we don't understand why. When we got back Oscar and I planned what we needed to shoot the next day and then we all went to bed.

Day Cinco

Day Cinco We slept in a little bit today and went downstairs for breakfast of eggs and sausage with tomato salsa, and beans on the side. Everything Chuy has made us has been delicious. After breakfast we dove right into work and planning. We found games to play and tested them out. We planned schedules, correlated our notes, and I drew up some flashcards. I learned a ton of Spanish but I’m not sure what has actually stuck yet. After a while we stopped and had some lunch. It was soup, rice, and more beans. The food is healthy here despite the cheese and carbs. It’s like China’s cuisine, better in the country than its version in the states. We went right back to working on stuff and planning. There’s so much to think about when teaching kids.

At around 8 we left to visit a town and get some dinner. We drove to Pozzo, this town that was supposed to be filled with art and museums and a great view. When we got there it looked more like a ghost town. There was no one out, it was already dark out, and nothing looked like it was open. We drove around and through the town and finally Oscar hopped out of the car and asked someone if anywhere was open for food. They said it was Sunday, and pretty much everything was closed.

We chalked that up for experience, saying that perhaps Sundays are better nights to stay in. Still we forged ahead and drove into another city, San Luis de la Paz, that was 100 times more lively than the last. Everyone was out, there were stalls selling cakes and corn on the cob, and everyone stared at us like we had stepped out of a space shuttle.

So the girls bought some cake and we walked around, still looking for a place to sit and eat, while taking photos of this lively little town. It was getting later and later with no luck, so we stopped at the grocery store and picked up some food to take back to Ceracaly.

Day Seis

Today is a long day and I actually took a ton of photographs. So I decided I would split the two events even though they are from the same day.

We thought that Monday would be our first day with the kids, but Mauricio mentioned that Monday was a fiesta day. We spent the morning continuing with planning for the arrival of the kids tomorrow. Part of today was also communicating with the people of Ceracaly why we were there. Six weeks ago I skyped into London and talked to Esme, Melissa, and Sarah. We trained on dealing with people and different thoughts and feelings. We all talked about our fears, hopes, and times we were brave. As a thank you for trusting one another, we all received a bracelet to remind us how courageous we all can be.

We were supposed to do this training with them, and I will respect everyone by not mentioning what they talked about. I do want to say that I was the youngest person there; and I'm not saying I've had a good or bad life. My life is what it is, but talking to these people opened my eyes to others problems and priorities. It made me reanalyze the hardships that people go through and it made me realize how much shit people can deal with. Everyone will have something go wrong in their lives, but proof that someone is a good person is all about how someone deals with those hardships and overcomes them in the end. The best thing about this project was asking some questions and having the people say "no one has ever asked me that." It made them think about themselves and reflect everything they have accomplished.

I loved watching the emotions on their faces. This trip is awe-inspiring. I can't believe I get to work with these people and be a part of this project. I hope the people that take the time to read this realize the hardships others go through to get where they are. I hope you see that the things you go through aren't stronger than you.

*Note: I am still sorting through my photos. I know I took photos from Day Cinco, but I just haven't found mine yet.

Day Cuatro

I'm happy to say I survived the night. We all did. We woke up to the bright morning light, stepped out of our room to see birds flying around the corridors,  dogs barking, and good smells coming from the kitchen. Melissa had already tried out the shower this morning and gushed at how amazing it was despite the fact that it was outdoors and there really wasn't any privacy for changing after the shower. We decided to walk back to our rooms for changing then and there (I only had a few awkward moments of walking past strangers in my towel while living there). However, a shower this morning was going to have to wait until after breakfast for me. We came downstairs where Chuy was there (the woman from last night). She was cooking tortillas with ham and cheese in them, there was a massive bowl of cantaloup and papaya, there were hot sauces, and a hot water with lime juice and honey. Melissa was downing those like there was no tomorrow because her voice had gone missing from the night before. We had breakfast with the other guy who greeted us yesterday, Aender, a man named Manuel, and Gerry, who helps out around Ceracaly and brings his wife and adorable one year old daughter.

Everything was delicious and we stayed and "chatted" with everyone for a little while. I say "chatted" because I basically sat there and smiled while everyone around me spoke Spanish.

Just at the moment I was going to shower, it was insisted that we take a tour of the place, so we saw the library, computer rooms, bathrooms, and the gardens where they grow all these different vegetables. Right after we got back inside, we met Mauricio. He basically was in charge of everything or anything we needed at Ceracaly. He's 28 years old and plays the guitar and smiles like a little kid on Christmas. We all instantly loved him. Not to mention he had the coolest dog ever named Orpheus. I'll keep coming back to Orpheus and I only have about a hundred photos of him.

During the meeting, we were brought a snack called Tuna. Tuna is the fruit of a cactus, it's magenta in color, and it's got a bunch of little pits that you just swallow. It didn't taste like much but we still liked it.

Anyways we went over our schedule for the first week with Mauricio and he told us a little bit about Ceracaly. After our talk with Mauricio,  after so many photos and meetings with all kinds of people, I was able to shower. We all got ready and packed up our things to go into Dolores Hidalgo to use the internet and get some supplies for the two week stay in Ceracaly. At this point we met the famous Oscar, who was the only person to work on the project last year and came back this year. We loaded into the car and Aender, Mauricio, and Oscar got into another car and we drove about 20 minutes to get to Dolores Hidalgo.

It's actually a beautiful little city filled with bright colors and we took some time to walk around and explore the little shops. People were selling all different kinds of food and there was also famous ice cream in this city that we were on the hunt for.

When we finally found a stand that sold ice cream we approached it and were instantly given all different kinds of free samples of the ice cream. I tried beer, avocado, chocolate, and some fruity ones. They were so weird, but the avocado one was surprisingly good. After some sightseeing we decided to get a drink and get some internet to contact home. We found a place that had two for one drinks and thought it was as good as any place.

Me and my beautiful friends.

At this point I had my first taste of mexican tequila. I had declined a beer because I'm not a fan of the taste. I like girly fruity drinks. So the waitress suggested a margarita. Now, I've had margaritas before; you can barely taste the alcohol in them because they are filled with different fruit flavors. I ordered one and it came without a fruit flavor. It was basically tequila. It was really difficult sipping it because it was really strong. We chatted around the table and then the waitress brought everyone their second drink. Remember, I mentioned it was buy one get one. Well I had forced the first one and I really didn't want the second. I offered it to Melissa who claimed she had to drive. No one else wanted it. I decided if I could just get rid of it fast it would be better. I took larger gulps of it, and voila, it disappeared…as did I a little.

We did some shopping and headed back to Ceracaly. It was about 10 when we got back and we played some cards and hung out with the guys a little longer before we sunk back into bed.