Lost in Translation

Note: I am very tired.

Spelling and grammar will be awful in this post.
Read with caution.

DAY 2:

After night one when I stayed up until 5 am the next day’s wake up call at 10 am was a bit rough. I found a letter under my door letting me know that I would have a car pick me up at 1pm to take me to my fitting. After returning from breakfast I fell back asleep and woke up at 12:45 and still hadn't heard from production. I called Nick, the AD (Asst. Dir.) and he said there had been a bus accident with the extras so we were short on transportation guys so everything ended up getting pushed back. So, around 2pm I finally left to go to my fitting and ended up at the production office where they asked me what I was doing there. I said that I had simply gotten into the car they sent and went where he took me. After some discussion in Arabic I was carted over to the Costuming Dept., which is housed in a converted furniture store.

Here’s the thing about driving here. I honestly fear for my life almost all the time when I’m in a car. A lot of the cars don’t have seatbelts, no lanes, and seemingly no laws. There is this unspoken understanding between drivers, which I of course don’t get because I’m not a local. They tailgate so severely that the emergency brake is pulled at every stop so they don’t roll back 5 inches and hit the car behind them!! Anyway, I’m off track. So I had a very long and scenic drive to the costuming department.

Here are some pics from that drive:

There I met George, Moira and Dan. I was fitted with camo pants, a beige shirt, boots, a jacket, vest, and helmet, all very heavy and very warm. After finishing my fitting I was driven to the set to see Kathryn, the director, and Mark, the writer who I had not seen yet. They were shooting in the middle of a neighborhood. It's interesting because there are civilians everywhere and real military people too. Hard to tell sometimes who is in costume and who is actually military, not to mention all of the Jordanian extras who look American. I then came back to my hotel and headed out for dinner. I decided to venture out by myself and happened upon a Turkish Restaurant, which was quite nostalgic, I have to admit, making me miss my days in Ankara. I took a picture of the menu when I had another lost in translation moment.

Look at the sixth item on the menu:

This is the night club I see from my Hotel window:

After wandering around a little more I ran into Fadi, Jeremy and Malcolm who were headed out to a bar. We went La Calle, which was a balcony bar looking out over the city. Pretty mellow and not too late of a night, which was nice, considering I had a 7:30 am call the next morning.

DAY 3:

6:30 am wake up call, breakfast and I off I went to set. Christian and I got into costume and went through make up and hair. Make-up consists of dirtying us up. We went over to the set at around 9:30 and until 1pm shot in the beating sun. The make-up assistant, Elizabeth, fainted and was sent to the hospital. Both Christian and I were used but said no audible lines today. I was also given some script changes written on the spot by Mark. We, however, did not get to them. Lunch was a 1:30pm and after that I pretty much slept until I wrapped at 5:30pm. I think jet-lag is starting to catch up with me. It was both exciting and weird to actually be on the set. I am playing a Lieutenant in charge of several men, many of them much older than I am, and all of them of course bigger than I am. Oh well, I’m used to being bossy! I’m realizing how hard this job can be sometimes. I had a fairly cushy day today sitting in the air conditioned trailer but all the guys were out there in the beating hot sun for hours on end. They’ve been here for 5 weeks away from their friends and family. With all the good comes the weirdness of having no real home base other than a hotel and being in a constant state of change. Ok, I'm off to bed.