Arrival in Yaounde

I love it here.

I love the heat and the humidity.

The moment it truly hit me that we were somewhere I've never could have imagined on my own was when we were flying over Alger and the sun was setting. The mountains looked like hundreds of smashed spiders and everything was red. Everything. It was so gorgeous that I now see how little this description captures it's finesse.

The only thing I didn't feel I prepared myself fully for are the bugs. There are so many and they come in a much bigger size here. They used to scare me so bad that I wouldn't go to the bathroom because of the spider above the toilet but now,  I find it slightly endearing that the cockroach still guards our bedroom door every night. He's an obvious protector.

I already have gorgeous pictures  even though I've been a bit camera shy since arrival. I'll try and upload some soon.

I woke up yesterday with a 5 year olds face right up close to mine. We shook hands. His name is Ragi. Guy and Mirelle's kids stick by our side whenever they are home. They don't know a lick of English but we appreciate the company.

The power goes out a lot which was hard for Dave because that meant that we had to sleep last night without the fan on. He sweats twice as much as the rest of us so I can only imagine how he felt.

I believe in jetlag.

Today, We Leave.

We are leaving the negative degree weather and by the end of the month, Dave and I will have gone to Vegas, Paris, Africa and New York. I could make promises of pictures and posts throughout the sabbatical but have no idea our internet situation so we'll have to play the updates by ear. If you don't know why we are going than you can read this post but in short, I'm living my dream and making a documentary in Africa.

Photo Cred

My worries (since you all ask:)
-I have had severe back pain
-Safety. As excited as I am, I cannot help but constantly think about my film equipment.
-The only phrases I know in French translate to be: Good evening, How are you? and the girl eats. None of which will help me in most situations
-That I will forget something crucial, my hard drive will crash or our luggage will get lost.
-Our planes are only giving us breakfast. I'm gonna need more food than breakfast on a 26 hour flight.
-That we will never be able to show how grateful we are to my in-laws Ron and Tina Fesler (and all the others who have supported this trip.) They made this happen, they've caught my vision and we kept seeing blessings show up on our door that hold their signature.

I'm excited to:
-Go to Africa. (When I was a child I dreamt of going there because of the wildlife and the nature, now, I want to capture it as best as I can.)
-Meet new faces
-Try new foods
-Feel warmth on my skin again
-Being able to be with Dave for 3 weeks straight
-Pay my dues to the dirt
-Spend a lot of time with Children
-To work and play at the same time
-Just everything about my near future

I believe in exploration.

Noorlanders

Today is our last day with the Noorlanders, all of the kids are acting as if they are dying after today. We've loved the time we got to spend with them this season. Here are some of my favorite Noorlander shots.

I believe in love.

Bold

Maybe it's because of the stark contrast of a warm, smooth, billowy sunset accompanying the dead black tree but that evening I could picture myself climbing up and tasting the sky.

I believe in burnt orange.

That's it?

There are two questions that I dread the most in this world: "That's it?" and "Why are you here?"

-I should have been an ostrich because when "That's it?" is said to me, I want to bury my head deep into the ground. Thankfully, this has changed but once upon a time, if you wanted to break my heart it was that easy.

I remember when I was interested in Music Composition and the high school band teacher said I had a knack for it. I'd write songs for extra credit in his classes and one time he said that he'd have the whole band perform my most recent piece if I'd write out the different parts for the different instruments. I decided that if my teacher liked that song so much then I'd give it a chance and perform it for a friend (which I usually didn't do.) There I sat, in my favorite practice room, a place I spent many school lunch periods when I wanted to get away from the madness of the hallways. My fingers hit the notes perfectly, although shakily. I came to the end of the song, looked over and my friend said, "that's it?" I felt my entire body sink low and immediately hot blood rushed up to my cheeks displaying my pure humiliation. I haven't written a song since.

Coming into the film program, I was rightfully worried about this issue of pleasing others with my work. One thing I learned from that first production class was how to take criticism and my attitude about this situation has completely revamped. Now, when I happen to hear a co-worker or an opinionated relative express their views of my insignificance, I want to prove them wrong. Often, I think about what they say until I make another film with adaptations and I usually find the advice very helpful. I don't give up my signature for them though, I like it when my films still gives you a certain feeling I don't know how to describe but provides a liaison between souls.

-"Why are you here?" are four words that seems to bring on an evaluation of my life no matter where I hear it. My initial response will always want to be "I DON'T KNOW!" and running away. Even when asked innocently but that's mainly because I start thinking deeply about how I became the person I am and what I plan for my future. I also have a fear of imposing; I long to be around others but feel that I'm often more of a burden than much else.

So there you have it, some sticks and stones. Quite the career path I chose in relation to these but I've always loved a good challenge.

Happy New You!

The snow was falling. The pants put on. The frying pans used as sleds. Some kids were sick, a few just with frozen fingers. The backyard was designed specifically to play in and we took full advantage of it. I've been on a filmmaking frenzy. If you can't tell.