Between Legs & Open Ears from sam sanchez on Vimeo.

so i said i will not blog on here anymore... i find that impossible, i still have people reading these blogs
for that reason, i will continue to update my blogs here. i have a more consistent blog here
with that said
i also do have a facebook, wordpress and virb...pretty rediculous
BUT
i have a new sweet blog at our difted site
if you wanna catch up with projects, please follow me there
but for all the people that will ONLY check this blog out, i will try my best to keep it updated
sorry for the MIA, i tried...but i still get to many hits here, to ignore it
thanks for caring about reading my crap

here is a short video my buddy elclinto.com put up on his blog
on our way from gitega back to bujumbura ( a day before we left)

day5 from elclinto on Vimeo.

the following are bits and pieces of ideas and stuff i written while i was in a no internet area. some of it i sent in an email to my beautiful wife.

its been a very emotionally tiring trip. you would think that after a few days of kicking in, you would fall in love with the people you are meeting and the culture you are engaging. on any other trip, by day 3, im usually in awe with what i am experiencing, and i can reflect on a few life lessons that i have encountered.
im laying in bed, frustrated, very tired, insecure, an overwhelming sense of hopelessness hovers me. i dont know what to do with it all. on one end i am experiencing some of the most breathtaking experiences, on the other i miss my wife, hate the way things are turning out, and just wanna get back home.
there is ALOT weighing on this video

the road from bujumbura to gitega is amazing. we’re talking from coffee bean, banana and tea fields, to women walking in a row with awesome laundry basket looking things (probably heavier), to a kid carrying a live chicken by his neck, staring at what we are shooting. oh...and a little girl climbing a banana tree with a machete looking thing, on the cliff of a mountain, absolutely beautiful. seth promised we would, stop and shoot all we want on the way back.

we’ve been treated with nothing but love and respect from both world relief folks and turame

the main thing ive been struggling with lately is the opportunity to resonate with people here. feel them out. understand their pain and suffering, have a heart for them, for some reason i havent. i would listen to peoples stories and situations and it did nothing for me.
this morning, i woke up to the sound of the islam call to prayer (muslim guy wakes everyone before sunrise and yells all this stuff in the megaphone)
as i lay there, the cry started getting weird and turned into a scary yell.
at this point i feel something rush at me from the door (you know those experiences i have sometimes that i dont know what to do with...very surreal and spiritual feeling), well that rushing thing happens....than on my right i see two guys....their silhoutes, moving around as if they are about to rob me, i lay there, frozen, unable to breath, afraid to blink. everything i thought could happen on this trip was coming true. i tried to scare them off and they stood their frozen, (i dont know why i would do such a thing). a few seconds passed and they were gone. i was alone
i crossed my arms behind my head, stared at the pitch black ceiling as my eyes began to flood.
it felt good
finally
i felt as if i was given a chance to cry for burundi. cry for the refugees. the widows and orphans who lose their fathers and husbands in civil war. i got up and prayed, took a walk and visited a group of refugees outside our gate. i just stood their at a distance staring at them. something was going on, they were making tons of noise. all i can think now is that its only 6 in the morning and they have a whole day of survival ahead of them. thats it. they survived the night, now they must survive the day.

today is our 2nd full day...i woke up to clint opening my door "7:25" (we had to be out the door by 8)
getting up too fast hurts my head, took a shower, drank TONS of water and felt better
so yesterday...
we shot all over the city, and several villages
people dont like it when you shoot, they assume your making money off of them. the police try to pull you over and find ways to get cash from you.
burund is beautiful
we took a trip up to the mountains and shot some stuff....its surreal, we had this little burundian guy walk up to the car, say some stuff in his language, and just laugh his head off.
we visited a village and hung out with a family that seth knows (our host)
we got there a day after a huge break in happened. one of the guys shared a story about how some rebel group broke into his home and took all his stuff, they woke him up at night by beating him up....


i cant imagie waking up to something like that


the fear


he has no idea how he is going to support his famly now, they took all his money and valuables, including the stuff he uses for his business




its simple yet crazy stories like that that remind me of the safety and privilege i have in life. i didnt do anything to grow up and be raised in the US. to the burundians we are walking money. literally.....they see us and they see money. over here we live like royalty. upper class makes 18-20k a year
we talked to the guy’s mom who said all she needs is 5 dollars to start her business, we asked her what she would do, she said she would sell charcoal.

on a side note, her village was probably one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen. never have i experienced community the way i saw it. we walked into her "front lawn" (block of dirt) and her whole family and friends walked out of the home. the home was a dirt block with holes that made up windows and dirt. probably about 30 people walked out; and a million little kids.

walking around a llttle more, we saw other homes and other familes. it felt like a movie set.
from a film making perspective, ive been struggling in finding a way to capture what i have seen and experienced. its difficult. for example. we drove down the main street in that village, it was cool- when we got off and took a quick walk to get a shot that we needed, the experience was totally different.
not having any protection or the abilitiy to drive off totally changed the experience.
a lens will not do justice to the smell of people and cooked eggplant with beans; the feeling of shaking hands and having kids grab you and follow you everywhere you go.

the people are beautiful, the climate is beautiful, the landscape is beautiful.

"right across the lake there is the congo....people are literally shooting each other right now", was one of the many things i learned yesterday during dinner (some of the guys that are hosting us from world relief and turame, picked us up) at a sweet burundian restaurant that overlooked the city.
he shared tons of stories, from being shot at while tring to cross into the congo, to being stoned for filming locals at the main market.
this kinda scares me, cause well...thats what we are doing here....we’re shooting a video for Turame, that will share how microfinancing works, and encourage people to get involved.
thats what we will be doing today...if you pray, pray, if you take moments of silence, be silent, if you believe in luck, wish us luck....we need everything we can get.
visit elclinto.com for pics n stuff

im on the second plane from amsterdam to nairobi. the trip from detroit to amsterdam was a mess
i had to pee too many times, and was stuck in the middle....ALWAYS my nightmare when riding a plane.
it was 8 hours of watching movies and trying to sleep (the sleeping part didn’t work)
as i put things into perspective, i realized its a good idea to take this as practice for simply, things just not going my way. i guess im headed to the poorest country in the world, i probably won’t be in control of too much. im so used to getting what i want, when i want and how i want it. and there i was at the mercy of northwest airlines.
we walked around the amsterdam airport for a couple hours and now i just woke up from a 5 hour sleep. my body feels good, i had 3 seats all to myself!
one more plain ride....we’ll see what happens next.

arrived
last night, 8pm - we landed in kenya.....the smell of nature took over my nostrils...its smelled like those cool hippie stores with the bags and jewelery made of hemp
we found a lounge at the far corner of the airport and basicaly hung all night.
watched about 3 films (never in their entirety) , tried to sleep (we were the only people there), jumped on another plane, landed in some other country outside of burundi, waited about 45 min. took off to burundi, now we are here.
we had lunch
i slept...kinda
showered....and low and behold!...out of all the problems/ issues i could have ran into..what do you think happen?
respond with a comment and we will find out later tonight, early tomorrow
o by the way...its 6pmish here and its 10amish there
-stik
check out my other filmmaker buddy who is shooting this...he’s gonna have pics and videos
elclinto.com

A lot of things surprised me at the porn convention, like clown boxes, teeth whitening and swinger watches. Out of all the things I've been asked, being invited to a wedding, by a stranger, at a porn convention, probably makes the top 5 weird list. The next day I show up to the booth (the wedding took place at the convention in a booth) and begin shooting. As I ask questions, I run into the groom, Jessie, and he begins to share his story. Being at the porn convention, I assume he is in the porn industry…..he's not, his wife is.
Jessie tells me, him and his bride to be, have been dating for 8 years. By the looks of the guys, I'm guessing they were high school sweet hearts. He says, a few years ago, they decided it was a good idea for her to be involved in the porn industry. Since than, their relationship has been open, yet one big secret. Jessie's wife won't tell her side of the family she is into porn. I ask him why and he shares that she comes from a Christian background. Immediately everything begins to connect and come to life. Here we have two normal people, who sure, they have a crazy life style, but at the end of the day, they have a family and God whom they are aware of.

Jessie gets pulled away by one of his buddies because the wedding is going to begin. Tons of fans come flocking to the booth. The flashing lights begin to get brighter and faster. Jessie and his wife are escorted by a priest to the top of a striper pole platform. The priest begins to share how he knows the couple and "especially" the wife (he mentioned he slept with her), and after a grope and kiss on the lips he lets her say her vows. She says something, but its drowned out by the audiences cheers and the music from the convention.The priest doesn't let Jessie say his vows. By this point, Jessie and his wife look embarrassed and confused, what do they do? Do they act like its normal and play along, or do they react to what is really going on in their hearts? After a few fake laughs and awkward moments they are pronounced husband and slut. They make out and come back down.

I go to Jessie and offer him a chance to say his vows on the camera. With his words he expresses how much he is thankful for me allowing him to say his vows to the camera, and with his eyes he shows me how much he is hurting. We exchange information and I head back to the booth to get them a Jesus Loves Porn Stars bible, and he goes stands next to his new wife as she talks with all her fans.

it's been a while since i've written anything
most know ive just been recently married...awesome
my latest project:
heart support

it helps people who deal with issues of depression, self injury, suicide, addictions and eating disorders.
you really can't separate the issues.
going into this, i thought..."is this really something alot of people around me deal with?"
sure enough....it is
we all, at some point, have fit into one of these categories. for most of us, one of these issues have
caused us to disconnect from the world we live in. disconnect from relationships, the earth and creator of it.
my hope is that, as an online communinty, we push these issues out into the open. talk about them EVERYWHERE
social circles, in the home, relationships, religious gatherings...anywhere where there might be someone who is looking for hope.
visit the site
share the videos
share the love
support the heart
if you or anyone you know is intersted in sharing their story, upload them directly to the site or give me a hollar
-stik

a couple weeks ago, we shot the kj52 video
here is kj's video blog, check it out, see whatsup,
i'll have the video up this week.
check out
his site
his myspace