The luxury of coffee and popcorn (Ethiopia: Day Four)

Shooting after lunch at the Hilton wasn't as exciting as I had hoped. We drove around the city and looked for good subjects of poverty, despair, and hopelessness. We did visit other ministry organizations like Hope and SIM, and we spent a little bit of time in the massive marketplace. We got some good shots overall, and the day was fun.

The next morning we packed up all our stuff, checked out of the hotel and made our way out to where we will be "based" when we go out to visit the remote villages. The drive was a good three hours, but that was a lot shorter than I thought. For some reason, I had the idea that it was going to take six to eight. I was very relieved I was wrong. On the road, if we saw a good scene to do some shots, we would stop the car and set up the cameras. One time we even asked if we could shoot a couple farmers plowing their fields with the oxen, and we got some great shots.

Once we got to our destination and checked into the hotel, we had a "quick" lunch and then headed out to a village where the first church planters established a church. Several men who planted churches around the area met us there and welcomed us with hugs and big smiles. We spent a good deal getting shots that fit our script. A lot of the neighbors came out to see what was going on, and we even had to traffic some of them out of the shots because it looked weird.

The highlight of yesterday, though, was after shooting one scene. We were invited to sit down and have coffee with the villagers there, and so we did. We all gathered in small hut and drank coffee. I never thought I'd be in that situation. At least, not so soon in my life. It was very exciting, but it was also incredibly humble. I don't think I have to explain how this was so.

We were done shooting around 6, and got back to the hotel around 8. A little more mellowed out dinner was eaten since half of us were completely exhausted, and then we headed up to our rooms to end the day. Ini, Bob, and I did watch Miami Vice before we went to bed, though. Man, what a snoozer!