recap.

I'm not sure if anyone will check my blog anymore, as I've been back for a week now, but if you do read this, just know that when you ask me how my trip was and I tell you, "It was amazing," I am severely understating my summer.

As I look back to who I was six weeks ago when I arrived in Dallas to meet my team, I see a completely different person. This summer project was an intense crash course not only in filmmaking, but in my faith, my friendships, and my growth as a person. Since I came home, I've seen that the way I respond to life is different: I am more inclined to turn to God's strength rather than my own when faced with a difficult situation, and my hesitations are fewer when something seems scary or intimidating. I'm not worried about my future anymore - I have absolutely no idea what's in store for me, but I do have His promise that He has something planned.

I changed, but the change is still a process, and some changes require conscious effort. While in Africa, I saw people with less than I have doing more than I do with an equal amount of time - I would like to say that I haven't wasted time since, but old habits die hard. I met people who were willing to drop everything and be a servant to the American visitors - I pray that I will learn to give of myself so fully. I saw the power of prayer over even the smallest details of our lives, but have I learned to pray constantly yet? Nope! Thank goodness we don't have to master these things all at once.

There were many times when I walked through dusty streets and realized that what I was seeing was not much different from the world Jesus lived in - beggars on every corner, people sleeping on sidewalks, livestock everywhere and children with dirty feet - and I felt like I understood what He did a little bit better. The streets weren't paved, the people weren't all dressed in white with shining faces, and the cities didn't smell like lilacs, but He gave up Heaven to live with the least of these, lay hands on the sick and let raggedy children sit in his lap.
During our last week we visited two households in a village in Ziway, and were able to play with a group of children who gathered in the street. Half were barefoot, all were muddy, all had dirty faces and clothing that barely fit. One little girl, about six years old, climbed into my arms and would not be put down for anything, and I held her for half an hour or so while my group stood in someone's backyard playing with baby goats. Words can't express how I felt when she would sit back and look at me, then throw her arms around my neck again in a tight squeeze. I think I realized right then how we must look when we go to Jesus: broken and in tatters, muddy, not smelling that great, but willing to throw our arms around His neck and just love Him. And how awesome it is that He stoops down in the mud to hold us.

Our last week in Ethiopia was a lot more relaxed. We took a boat out on Lake Ziway and saw some hippos, and got to eat at a restaurant that had apparently been built on the residence of a group of monkeys. (The monkeys exacted revenge by stealing food off of people's plates.) We got to pet a baboon, and a few members of our group received a surprise lice inspection during our visit. And we were well prepared for our return to America, though the advice of our project leaders was easier listened to than put into practice. Our return has not been without frustration, exhaustion, or sorrow over saying goodbye, and it's easy to choose to wallow and forget about prayer and your family and friends, and just watch movies all day.

However, we have been called to greater things, and I know the Lord will carry us through it, just like he carried us through ten-hour flights, three short films and five weeks in a foreign country. I want to thank all of you for reading, and for all the support and encouragement that made this trip possible. I'm quite sure I will never be the same again. I recently told a friend how funny it is that we went to Africa expecting to change a small part of it, and though we might have in one way or another, it was really Africa that changed us.

God bless,
A Lionhearted Girl

return

Just wanted to let you all know that I made it home safely! More will follow soon, once I am over my jet lag - I wasn't able to update in Hawassa or Zeway, but I have much to tell! Thank you all again for your prayers and support. You might have felt very far away, insignificant, or unhelpful, but we know for a fact that those prayers were holding us up while we were on the other side of the world.

Film Festival, Ethiopia, 2012

And it's over.

I finished editing our film literally ten minutes before we set out for the festival, around four this afternoon. The past few days are just a blur, but thankfully not a stressful one. There was never a moment where I felt like I just couldn't do it anymore, or couldn't get through to the other side; it was just a matter of pressing on. And now the festival is behind me, and our films were received well. We had a great turnout - the room was packed full, and after each film there were questions for everyone to discuss amongst themselves. One of the questions was, "Have you ever attempted to do something beyond your capabilities?" and the little boy I wrote about before, who was cast in one of the films, got up and said, "Once I tried to give my brother a bath!"

It feels so good to be done, but strange that it's over, and we've done what we set out to do. Tomorrow we'll go out for a few last adventures - and last Chinese food! - before it's time to pack for Sunday.

The Laurens. Coincidentally, we are roommates, and we both ended up as the directors of photography on our film crews. 

The film track girls! Rachel, Sarah, Lauren, Priscilla, and me.

The door of the Sheraton Hotel. 

Our coffee ice cream with the sketchy prune.

Today, shortly after we woke up, a pair of pigeons launched themselves at our balcony and scared my roommate very badly. About fifteen minutes later they returned peacefully, and very calmly walked into our room through the open window. I tried to get a picture of them inside, but they flew off. 

I took pictures from the top of the TK Building before the film festival. 

This is Epherem! He was on my film team helping me set up lights and move things around, and he was also on my team when we went out sharing our faith near the university campus. I don't think I've ever met anyone who loved talking about Jesus more than this guy. He could also make an extremely good silent film actor. 

Our hotel prepared a coffee ceremony for us when we got back tonight! She roasted the coffee beans right there. So good. 

other places.

Physically, I have been in Africa for the past twenty-four hours. In my head, however, I have been many other places and have repeatedly forgotten where I am.

We went to a Mediterranean restaurant called Enya's last night. Enya (sadly, not the vocal artist) was a very kind older woman who hugged everyone like family. The ambiance in the place came from lights made out of cheese graters and strainers, even the bathroom was candlelit, and I had some of the best Greek food I've ever eaten. (Who knew I would find it in Ethiopia?) Priscilla and I split roasted lamb and potatoes - surprisingly, the most expensive meat around here is not beef or lamb, but chicken. Afterwards we went out on the balcony and watched the blinking motel sign across the way, and the only thing in sight that looked like Africa was the scaffolding made out of sticks next door.

When our bus finally arrived, we went to the Sheraton Hotel for dessert. I'm still not exactly sure why, because by then it was ten thirty at least and the bakery was closed. But we wandered around for awhile, just looking around - it was like a palace, and very out of place in the middle of Addis. The rumor is that Will Smith stayed there recently. There were chandeliers and marble staircases everywhere, high ceilings and an enormous swimming pool - oh yes, and we found out that there was a man in the men's bathroom whose job it was to squirt perfume on the guests as they walked out. I think more than a few of us were feeling uncomfortable by the grandiosity of it all, in light of the things we've seen during our stay here. It might have been the lateness of the hour, but our visit felt more like a dream than anything else.

There was a live band outside, but they told us that we had to be twenty-one to go into the bar area, or else we'd have to watch from some area far away that they vaguely directed us to. Back inside, Amy and I went up a staircase that resembled the one in Titanic and were approached by a man who asked too many questions about why we were there and what we were doing before saying, "So, you want to go out and have some fun?" We pointed hastily to a couple of guys on our team in the distance and ran off. Most people here are just curious, but every once in awhile you run into a creep.

We found everyone else in the restaurant area and ordered coffee ice cream. It arrived in a fancy glass topped with a little pink umbrella, a candied cherry, a prune, and a pecan cookie. Strange choices, to my thinking. It was quite good though, aside from the prune, which I did not eat.

And today I spent the entire day in the fourth floor lobby editing our film. The entire day. Except for when I was in our room editing our film. So much editing. I'm awake at one in the morning for the second time in a row, and I'm getting up in about six hours to edit some more. I feel like it will never end, but it has to be finished by noon tomorrow. The staff at this hotel are just the nicest people; we kept ordering up food because we didn't have time to go out, and then Sam knocked a chair over and broke a plate and they wouldn't let me pay for it.  They don't even like it when I carry my own cappuccino up the stairs; they always want to carry it up for me.

So my world today was the fourth floor of this hotel. I stuck my head outside once and saw a few kids in the street, and suddenly remembered I was in Africa. Not a good time to forget this, considering I only have a week left to enjoy my time here.

God continues to bless our teams; one of the editors lost his entire project twice but somehow managed to find it again, so we're all backing up our files repeatedly. No one's project is perfect, but there have been no major mishaps or missing pieces, and the three films are coming together. Our film festival is tomorrow evening, and we are praying for a good turnout. More people showing up means more people talking about the gospel!

pictures at last!

Einjera: our first authentic Ethiopian meal.

Their machiattos are to die for.

Packed in the bus.

The view from my balcony.

This is where we had a coffee ceremony and watched Ethiopian dancing. 

Joe, our cinematography teacher. We all miss him.

My roomies, Lauren and Rachel!

Lighting class outside.

A common sight around here.

The soccer field we filmed on.

Our favorite hangout!

rice and glitter.

So much has happened this week, and it is only Tuesday evening. A lot gets crammed into twenty-four hours around here.

Starting with Sunday: our bus was late picking us up from church, and as we were all quite hungry, a few people in our group decided it would be a good idea for all of us to walk to our favorite Chinese restaurant, which is (I think) in Bole. It ended up being around a two mile walk, we had to ask directions several times, and a few people lost their spirit of adventure and hopped in a taxi halfway there. Actually, I don't blame them: I'm surprised we made it okay. Lauren nearly got hit by a bus, we had to walk past the most disgusting dumpster I've ever seen in my life (complete with a hunk of something's leg on the sidewalk nearby), and we walked under the awning of the restaurant literally right as the rain started coming down.

But the part that made it all worth it: we walked through the nice part of the city and finally found the Lion of Judah statue, which I've been dying to see since we landed in Addis! I screamed and startled a few people when I saw it. It's amazing.

At the Chinese restaurant, my table made the mistake of ordering five bowls of rice, thinking that they were individual-sized servings. To give you a good picture of our situation, all eight of us could probably have been happy with one bowl for the table, maybe two if we were very hungry. So much rice. Five platters of rice. It was a plethora of rice.

Catching a taxi back to the hotel was another adventure. They wanted to charge us 250 Birr for all of us, and when we countered with 200 (which is still more than we normally pay) they tried to tell us that the driver was with the Ethiopian mafia. Mathison said, "Two hundred or pull over now," and they kept going. Oh, and the driver was listening to an Amharic soap opera on the radio that had the most dramatic transition music every two minutes; it was fabulous.

After dinner everyone went up to the fifth floor to watch The Lion King, which was a perfect ending to a perfect day. The hotel has been so kind, letting us have our parties and late-night game sessions in the conference room up there, in addition to the classes and prayer sessions that go on during the day.

We began editing yesterday, and after that was Women's Night (and Men's Night, separately). We went to one of the nicest places I've ever been to in my life; the first floor was a hair salon, the third floor did manicures and such, and there were restaurants and other things on the other floors. Most of the girls went up to get their nails done, but Sarah and I stayed downstairs and got our hair trimmed. It was the most relaxing experience. On the way there I'd been wishing I could have a Swedish massage just on my head, and that's basically what I got. She spent about fifteen minutes shampooing (twice) and conditioning my hair. It was all warm and golden in the back of the salon, even though it was cold and wet outside, and there was gorgeous artwork all over the place. And even though the guy trimmed my bangs a tad shorter than I would have liked, he did a fantastic job straightening it; my hair has never been as clean or shiny or soft as it was last night. Never expected to have that experience in Africa.

What was weird, though, was that the bathrooms were just stalls inside the steam room. Not sure who came up with that idea.

Yesterday was Aaron's birthday, and when Priscilla, Matt and I went out to buy "editing snacks," in the afternoon, Matt got two huge party poppers and a hat that said "Happy Brithday." (There are a lot of comical typos around here. Peeper steak, anyone?) Some of the girls threw balloons and streamers around his room while he was out, then we came up behind him with the poppers and surprised him. There was a so much glitter everywhere, and afterwards we couldn't find a broom, so my roommates and I swept it up with our hands so the maids wouldn't hate us.

I woke up sick again this morning, but managed to go back to the orphanage again and then get some editing done here at the hotel before it really hit me. At the orphanage, we separated into teams and led different stations. My station led the kids in "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and a few other easy songs, and afterwards we played in the yard 'til it was time to go. And I nearly had a whole scene edited before my stomach turned violently against me for no apparent reason: I pretty nearly felt like death for about an hour. Luckily one of my roommates didn't go sharing on campus with everyone else, so she went and got some medicine for me, and I mostly feel fine now. Just really tired.

Sadly, we only have four days left in Addis Ababa. On Sunday we're getting on a bus to spend the night in Zaway, and after that comes debriefing in Hawassa. Our project leader's wife, Lisa, told us yesterday, "You all have it so nice right now that you probably don't feel like you're in Africa. You are about to officially go to Africa." Apparently we're headed for the land of mosquito nets, hippos, and semi-occasional hot water. Time for the malaria pills!

Things I have been missing or craving, for understandable reasons or not: chicken strips, pinto beans, bathrooms with toilet paper, real cheese, Goldfish, vegetables, apples, and thoroughly clean clothes that have not been laundered with "washing powder with blue specks!" in the sink.

Too bad I never crave rice. That would have come in handy.

scene 1, take 56

Today was an adventure, an escapade, a fiasco; in other words, it was our first day filming in Ethiopia during the rainy season. But in all its chaos, it was also entirely marvelous.

I feel that we were blessed by the crew assigned to us. Not all of the Ethiopian students can be relied on to show up on time, but it seems that many of the more punctual ones are on our team. They all want to do everything they can to help - sometimes they can be overly helpful, actually - and they're all just so sweet and willing to serve.

We all met downstairs at seven thirty to load our equipment up and drive to today's location, which was a soccer field at a nearby orphanage. While we waited for our tripod and script supervisor to show up, we tossed construction rocks off of the field until Sam, our assistant director, found giant ants in a very unpleasant way. (About ten minutes later he split his finger open on his pocket knife. He had a wonderful day.) Our first few shots went well, but we had to redo them because our sound man had been pressing the wrong button. Things went well for a good while after that, until the camera overheated. So we broke for lunch...and then the storm clouds rolled in. So we went out to get as many shots in as we could before it started to rain.

We stayed out as long as we could; Ephraim, our gaffer, held a black cloth over my head, and one of our grips held a big pink umbrella over that so the camera wouldn't get wet. It was coming down somewhere between a sprinkle and a shower when Sam asked, "Wait...has anyone seen lightening today?" And I had. So we ran for it, and about forty-five seconds after we made it to the classroom building it started to hail.

Ephraim took the opportunity created by our rain break to share the gospel with all three of our actors, and by the time he'd prayed with them the rain was over, and everyone else was out playing soccer in the puddles. After the field dried up a little bit we were finally able to finish shooting, but everyone was so damp and muddy by the end of it.

All in all, it was a good day. A wet day, but a good day. Holding the shoulder rig for several hours was exhausting, and my arms feel like noodles, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute nonetheless, and for reasons unknown I'm looking forward to shooting all day again tomorrow.