Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
July 27, 2008 - We're home! Made the road trip from Antigua to Guatemala City with no problems, caught all flights on time, flew through customs with no issues, and - finally - arrived safely at our respective homes: Marie, Valerie and I in New Orleans and Lee in Portland
Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Friday, July 25 - I'm writing this from our hotel in Antigua, Guatemala. It's just after midnight and I'm sitting at a bench outside my room. All the other guests have retired to their rooms and the hotel staff has left for the night. It's breezy and the mosquitoes are light. I guess it's a sign of our times that a weak wi-fi signal now constitutes "roughing it."
Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Thursday, July 24 - Long day. Not as close to being done as we thought! Started with a final camera setup with a teacher to record simple responses, moved into a lengthy walk through town to videotape and photograph specific locations, and ended with a raucous "good-bye" meal with our teachers.
Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Wednesday, July 23 - Smooth sailing today. We set up and shot in four different locations, including the home of a local family. The last was a "tour" of the home to illustrate the rooms of a house. It could have been one of the more difficult sequences but actually proved to be one of the easiest.
Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Tuesday, July 22 - The primary reason we travel to Guatemala for this production is because this is where the kaqchikel language speakers are. We take advantage of the lake, the town, the lush foliage and all the rest of the beautiful surroundings, and include as much of it as we can in the production, but our focus is the language. So, after days like today, you wish you could move the whole works into a sound stage. Forget the breathtaking volcano vistas. I want quiet!
Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Monday, July 21 - We picked up today where we left off with the teachers on Friday. We started by resetting the hotel common room as a classroom again. We had previously spiked the position of the cameras, the light, and the furniture so we knew where everything belonged. Except for the sunlight (afternoon vs. morning) I think we produced a passable reproduction...
Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Sunday, July 20 – A slow morning turned into an afternoon quest for the perfect rain shot. But not before we took a camera around town and documented several locations, all vocabulary words for this module. We even made a new friend along way - but ultimately, it was all about the rain...
Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Sat, July 19 - Not much production work today. The teachers have all left town for the weekend and there's not much we can do without them. It also drizzled on and off all day. Ironic, because we have a weather module to produce this year and "rain" is one of the vocabulary words but it never rained hard enough to show up on camera - at least not in a way that sells the word "rain." We now find ourselves in the untenable position of hoping we get enough rain to photograph but not enough to wash us out. Good luck on that!
Derek's Flickr Feed for today| Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Fri, July 18 - First day of production and all is well! Unlike last year when we shot everything on the grounds of the hotel, our very first shoot this year took us to the streets and - ironically - to the teacher's hotel. We turned the spacious room where last night's dance was held into a classroom - or at least enough of a classroom to pass for purposes of our production.
eKaqchikel Project Site | http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=ekaq2008&w=76298498%40N00&s=rec&z=t"target=_blank>Marie's eKaq Flickr photos | Valerie's eKaq Flickr photos
Thur, July 17 - Our first full day back to Guatemala is usually spent confering with the teachers, firming up the scripts and laying out the schedule for the week to come. And while Marie and Valerie did this mental heavy lifting this morning, Lee and I did a thorough equipment check to make sure that we remembered everything and that it all made it down with a minimum of damage. Fortunately, it did.
