Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve! I forgot this morning that it was Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve and Christmas always get me excited at home, but I guess it just feels different here. The weather, for one thing, isn't what it should be around Christmas. And I'm not at home with my family, so it doesn't feel the same.

We did get to use the internet today though, which is exciting! MacDella was having trouble with the transfer of money from her bank in New York to the bank here, so we had to wait a few hours until her bank in NY opens. She wanted to come and check her email in the meantime, so here we are at the Royal Hotel again. This is the hotel we went to our first day here. Tammy and I ordered pancakes this time. Yum. Two big pancakes are only $2! (Britney Spears is playing on the radio right now. The Christmas music kind of helps put me in the Christmas spirit, but I think I need to listen to some traditional Christmas music on my iPod tonight.)

After we used the internet yesterday, we went to a community center to pick up some papers with more children’s feet drawn on them. Then we went to another orphanage, Phoebe Gray. We stopped at a restaurant right on the beach on the way. It was nice to see the beach. MacDella says the water is really warm but that she doesn’t go all the way in it ever. She just dips in her feet. The orphanage was back towards the airport. Before we went in, I was getting a shot of the sign outside, and the children who lived across the street started yelling to me and waving. They loved when I turned the camera towards them, and they gathered together and stood close as if they were posing for me. Even later when I went over to the gate of the orphanage yard to get some shots of the street, they started waving and standing together. They were so cute. Leila and Belle, two of the girls who live with MacDella, were waving to them, too. Leila was waving while I was taping so that I could get them on camera, but Belle needed me to pick her up so she could see her new friends across the street.

When MacDella first walked into this orphanage, the children ran over to her and started hugging her. Tammy says she got a few hugs, too. The children at this orphanage didn’t give me tours like the children at the Children’s Rescue Mission on Saturday. I was taping a few girls running around and throwing a plastic bag in the air, and I noticed that someone was looking over my shoulder. I turned around, and there were about 10 girls behind me trying to see the viewer on the camera! When the girls were done playing with their bag, a few of the girls behind me ran and took their place on screen. One girl kept popping up on the screen no matter what I was filming. Other children would stand together until I turned around and saw them smiling up at me. So I would ask if they wanted to be on camera. Usually they just kept smiling at me until I held up the camera and asked them their names.

We didn’t do much else today, but we were all really tired when we got back. Tammy and MacDella were falling asleep in the car. I was in the middle of the back seat trying to get footage out the window whenever the car was stopped in traffic. MacDella let me sit up front for some of the time we were driving today, so I got some good shots whenever I was up there.

We sat out on the balcony when we got home. We took some pictures and movies of the street before it got dark. I have a picture of the street where we live, and there’s also a picture of a photo studio across the street. I think they'd like to hire you, Justin.

Then we finished matching up the shoes with the drawn feet, packed them in backpacks, and wrote the child's name on the outside of the backpack with marker. It was hard work, but we got it done eventually. MacDella had the three little girls that live with her, one of her scholarship winners, and me and Tammy helping. It was like a little workshop.

We do a lot of driving here. We pass by so many people walking and selling things on the streets. I feel like every day here is all about making enough money to get by. Everyone seems to be selling something. MacDella was telling us about NGOs that bring in second-hand clothes and then sell them. She said she was given a hard time when she first tried to bring in her donations for the orphanages because they suspected that she might just be trying to sell them. I wish I could get out of the car and walk around the streets and film things, but I would stand out and everyone would probably be staring at me with my camera. The best I can do right now is film out the windows. I get good shots for the documentary at the orphanages, but I wish I could get some good shots of other parts of Liberia, too. Each street seems to be completely different. Some have little stores along the side. Others have houses close together with clothes hanging out on the lines. The streets in the main part of town are where everyone seems to be selling something and the women are all carrying boxes and bags on their heads. Side streets have vendors set up with their products all set out.

Everything we hear on the radio in the car is interesting. They have commercials asking "Do you feel like you need to get your life back on track?" or "Do you feel that your efforts are hopeless?" They have other commercials telling listeners to tune into programs to learn about all of the services that are available to them that could help them get their lives back together. The music is very inspirational, too. You can tell that everyone is trying to rebuild their businesses and their lives.

That's it for today. I don't think I'll be back tomorrow because we have the Christmas party and then we're going out to dinner. So have a Merry Christmas, everyone!! Thanks for reading. :)