we were aliens

drove the two and a half hours out to our 'lonesome desert road' location just in time to suit up, get made up, and eat lunch in our new actors' trailer (basically a 70's kitchen on wheels) before they informed us that there was a technical problem with the jeeps and we were not shooting any more. luckily scarlett and mark got some shots in before the trouble.

so we rode back, pausing at sundown at an outhouse-sized market in a little village for our driver to break his fast with three twinkies and a pineapple slushie in a bag. we actors made a heck of a stir in the village since we all still had our costumes on, which is pretty much safari gear, and our cameras and our loud voices. kids of every shape, size, and age poured out to the road and stood around looking at us as if we were aliens. which we are i guess.

we stopped fifteen minutes from our hotel at a mall named CarreFour that puts Hyper1 to shame. It's vast, and not only has a Pizza Cream but also a Chunky Fries.

i've stopped being alarmed at the driving. surely we are chancing death every time we ride these streets, but only now do i start to feel the rhythm of the driving here. there's no sense of security provided by strict speed limits and driving laws, or even defined lanes, for that matter. and there's no car insurance. instead people drive extremely alertly, unified by their common goal of making to their destination alive. we've covered a lot of miles here so far, and i've never seen a wreck or a sign of one, but every car is pocked up like someone's been hitting baseballs at it.

our current shooting area is in Fayoum, next to an enormous oasis of a salt-water lake that the Greeks used to call Crocodilopolis, and was a vacation spot for the pharaohs. it's pretty amazing to see such a huge body of water, complete with waves, in the middle of the Egyptian desert. even before the oasis, most of the drive is very pretty, chopped up in tiny acre-sized farms, and large lots that look just like old southern plantations. farmers work in the fields, or lounge next to them, women working too, in everything from jean skirts to full burkas, and kids riding around on little donkeys. camels, cows, goats, dogs and cats are everywhere, too.

it's only 8pm but i just took a sleeping pill in hopes that i can get some rest before our 4AM call. they promise that tomorrow we finally will get to shoot the scenes we're excited about- the attack of locusts, rescuing a goat, and my partner bill vomiting everywhere. yay!