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

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.

Closing 2012

Day 4 It's New Years Eve. We slept in once again. I have a feeling once we actually need to start waking up early, it's going to be rough. We had a lunch meeting at 2 so we took the time before that to try out some audio equipment and practice our interviewing skills on one another. It was a good idea because we all made mistakes, so now we just need to learn from them.

We went to a hotel to meet and eat with the Fellows and we were starving since we had yet to eat that day. However we had to wait for the others to get there so it was about an hour before we got some food in us. I had lebenese coffee which is, to date, the best cup of coffee i have ever had. For my meal I had hummus, olive oil, and pita bread. It was incredible.

So we finally met the main female journalists that are the focus of our stories. There's Wade, we met her the other day, Mae (my story), Teetee, and Teecee, and also Chase the graphic designer was there as well. We talked with them all about their stories and their lives. I really connected with Teetee I think. She was excited for 2012 to be over, she said there were too many deaths this year. Most people who want 2012 over are upset over the end of a relationship or a bad grade or two. These woman have dealt with some real issues and it's inspiring being in their presence.

Mae is quite a character. She sort of ligths a room with her presence. She's loud and opinionated but i like that about her. She's got some fire in her soul. I'm excited to work with her and learn from her.

I talked to Chase a lot during the lunch because he and I both have fine arts in common. It was an enjoyable meal and we got to share some of our stories with the woman and let them see who we are and trust us.

After lunch, we walked to the grocery store to pick up some waters and maybe snack or something.

There was a whole congregation of people outside there asking for money, some couldn't walk.

Ken is an incredible person and he almost always tries to buy an extra bag of rice to give to someone less fortunate out there. This time it was a guy in a wheel chair who started eating the rice raw out of the bag.

That made me stop and think.

Teetee was going to be on a news show that recapped the top stories of 2012 and invited two of us to come and watch the recording of it. Meanwhile Jim was asked to hang out with Wade and take some photos on the beach with her. So we split up with David taking us across the city. On the way there were say a giant fight break out in the middle of the road that we were supposed to go down. I saw people wailing on each other. David put the car in reverse and just started driving backwards down the street until we hit a side street and then we went around the giant fight.

On this trip we saw a lot of garbage on the streets and people out partying for the new year. Jess and I finally made it to the tv station and we got to sit in and watch Teetee. She was articulate and professional. It was really amazing watching her and we also got to go behind the scenes and see the men working in the back. We were there for a little over and hour and a half and at the end we talked to Teetee about new years in Liberia. They go to church that night for about 4 hours and bring in the new year in church. Then they all go out dancing and partying. Rodney says the party lasts for days into the new year as well.

Afterwards David picked us up and took us to "Miami Beach" where Ken had met up with a friend of his and some of her friends. We introduced ourselves and sat around a table on the beach listening to the ocean and musing about life. It was an hour into the night when I found out that Ken's friend Nora, her boyfriend is the most famous rapper in Liberia, Takun J. We were also hanging out with another famous musician in the group, but not as famous as him. People kept coming up to him and kissing his hands. Turns out the music playing at this beach was his new album and everyone was jamming out to it. It was a pretty surreal night.

At midnight I yelled it out and we all got up and hugged each other. Jess said she was going to run into the ocean and I told her I would come to. We literally ran down to the ocean and starting running into the water. I was marveling at my life at that point. It was kind of amazing to bring in the new year by dancing in the atlantic ocean, in Africa. The water was ridiculously warm too.

I just have to add that I also lost a flip flop in the ocean.

We stayed a little longer and then I hopped back to David's cab so we could go to the hotel. I finally got to talk to my parents and wish them a happy new year.

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.

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 Quince

I have to apologize, I have no photos from this day. I'm ashamed. I wish someone had taken some, it was just a very busy, stressful day. It is a crazy adventure, so please read!  

Thursday: The last day to film, the last day to edit, and by far the craziest day we have experienced so far.

I hate reminding everyone this, but it's important to the day, so I wanted to say I barely slept the night before because of my stomach. I was still sick. I woke up in the morning and felt completely awful. I couldn't stomach anything and as the morning progressed I was in complete pain. Esme and Melissa told me a trick that helps their stomachs: boiling rice and drinking the rice water. So they asked Chuy if she could make this and she did for me.

Esme and Sarah started the day talking to the kids to motivate them while I sat there doing anything I could to help; which was designing some things that Melissa would make for the kids. When it was time to start filming, Oscar and I had our work cut out for us. We were to film the ending, refilm some of the middle parts, reshoot a few of the green screened shots, and have all the kids' parts organized so we could write out the credits. Not only did we have a lot of work to do with the kids, but we also needed to work with Mauricio's friend who was the musician and record and let him know the kind of music both movies needed.

So as we started to film the ending of the movie, our cameramen decided they didn't really feel like working. We convinced them to stick around and shoot a few things, other times, Oscar took the camera and did a few shots. However, as I sat to the side going over the shots we needed to do, Oscar was doing some of the shooting, most of the direction, communicating with the actors, and still making sure I was alive. It was ridiculously stressful as kids would walk in on the scene, or not feel like working. We understood that it was the last day and everyone was just ready to be done, but we needed to get through today. We got to the ending just as our ghost decided he didn't want to be our ghost anymore. So we quickly recast someone from Esme and Sarah's group. Then we had to reshoot all of the other ghost scenes with the new actor, which took up more time.

Chuy later made some herbal tea for me. She had told us around the first day that she knew about herbs and natural cures. It was amazing to see her figure out the problem and procure a solution to my stomach. Although I didn't eat lunch, the pain stopped, so I was somewhat happy. Around three we finished filming everything. Exhausted, but so proud we dismissed the kids and told them to get ready for the big debut of their videos tomorrow. We had so much to do and on top of everything else everyone at Ceracaly wanted to throw us one last hurah. So we had to plan food, a time for the party, people to invite, as well as finish the movies tonight.

I knew we had a lot to do and I also knew we'd be up most of the night so I went to catch an hour nap before the craziness began. When I woke up I found Oscar and we started working on our video. Sarah was working on hers, Esme went back and forth between helping Sarah and Melissa.

We worked for a few hours as people started to head over to the party. Around 9 we decided to pack up our things and head over. The drive was about a mile down the road to the place where we swam in the natural springs and as we slowly drove down that dirt road, insane lightning lit up the sky. It was highlighting the dark night in every direction and we were in the perfect place to watch. When we arrived, we greeted everyone that we had come to know and love during those two weeks. It reminded me of those movies where the main character meets everyone they had met throughout their journey. There were also new people, friends of Mauricios there to help celebrate. Food was being cooked on this MASSIVE grill, beers were given out, and everyone laughed and talked with one another.

The storms prevented us from having a pool party when we arrived, but after a little while, the water was turned on and they set to filling the great tub up with water. I believe they got it a third of the way full, and had some people swimming in it before the water was turned off due to the storm. It was a shame we couldn't stay and swim, but we were all also aware of all the things we needed to do for the films. Dinner was incredible grilled meat with guacamole, and cheese. At this point, I was running low on energy from lack of food, and it was the last night there, so I sort of just ate and enjoyed it. I'm so glad I did, because the memory still makes my mouth water. It wasn't long after eating that I wanted to get back to editing. I thought since I wasn't drinking and I was done eating, I might as well start while the others enjoy themselves. I set up in the dining room and Sarah joined me soon after. She was working on some cool effects for her movie  and needed Oscar to help her. So I set to color correcting the entire film, working on audio levels, and working on completing the story.

We worked like that for a few hours, looking up every once in a while at the party, smiling and laughing at everyone having a good time. Some people thought we were working too hard, Julio brought us some grapes to snack on and told us to come back to the party. The house was open, so it's not as if we were isolated from the party, just in the next room. I made sure to throw limes to the dogs and enjoy their company as well.

Around 1 I knew I didn't have a lot left to do without the help of Oscar or the internet, I wanted to work on the title page and browse some typefaces, and Oscar still had work to do with aftereffects. So I decided to pack it up and go back to Ceracaly to use the internet. Now for those of you who have never worked with video, you don't know how long it takes to pack everything up. We have to save files, safely eject the hard drive, wrap cords, unplug from outlets, close down computers, pack them into bags...the works. Not to mention we had to say goodbye and express our gratitude to everyone who came.

It was around 1:45 when we got back to Ceracaly. We got inside only to realize that the electricity was out once again. It was extremely frustrating and a little ironic that we started and ended this trip with the power out. We huddled into the kitchen to talk about our options. I could work on the computer for a little while but the battery in my mac was funky and it would be no time at all before it just died. Then someone got the generator up and running! So we set up shop just off the kitchen, unpacking everything, and plugging things into the generator. The room was lit by candlelight and we set to work. If you've never worked off a generator, let me tell you, it's loud, it smells like gas (because that's what it runs off of), and it's a little hard to work on audio stuff when it's blaring in your ears.

Either way, twenty minutes later the generator shut off. There wasn't enough gas in the tank to keep going. So we started packing up again and discussing our options. Sarah and I decided to go back to the place where the party was and check to see if there was electricity. We were pretty sure there was because it didn't go off when we were there for the party. So everyone went up to our room and we started packing overnight things. I knew I wanted warmer clothes, maybe a blanket to nap while the video rendered, etc. We went into the car, drove the mile down the road and saw the house lit up with lights. We went up to the door, with Mauricio close by and stood in the pouring rain as we knocked. The guy who hosted the party had had a little too much fun and was most likely sleeping it off. So we banged on the window, called his name, I even did my terribly loud whistle. We waited to see if anything would happen. After standing in the rain for 15 minutes, we gave up and drove back to Ceracaly. At this point we didn't know what to do. The men of the group, after much discussion, decided they were going to try and siphon gas out of the gas tank to put into the generator. I think everyone tried, but for some stubborn reason, no one could get it to work.

So here we are, it is 5 in the morning, we have no power to work on our movies, a massive amount of work ahead of us, and we were all extremely exhausted. I don't know who finally came to the conclusion, but no one argued with them. It was decided we would sleep for two hours and at 7 someone would drive to the gas station to get some fuel for the generator.

I collapsed in my bed, I'm pretty sure I was fully clothed and passed out for the few hours we were allowed. Such is the life of a filmmaker.