The camera can photograph thought. ~Dirk Bogarde
Up to this point, you all have been subjected to my raw amateur flip camera videos.
Bad news: I will remain, (for the most part) my own photographer for this blog. Good news: Today I started to learn how to edit the video so you don't have to watch all of my bungling, shakey moves.
I decided to work with video I took from the Mayan home we visited a couple days ago near Coba, Mexico. I think it's pretty fascinating. (Or I'm just making you watch my boring vacation movies!)
There's basically one cement floor room with sleeping hammocks, a cooking fire, some jewelry and wood trinkets for the tourists. Animals of every sort roam freely in and out.
I felt awkward and uncomfortable going on this part of the "tour" and watching these lives on "display". The trade off, I'm sure, is the little bit of money we left behind in exchange for some homemade crafts.
I was told the children in this family don't go to school. The country doesn't require it. The family basically hunts and eats off the land. No electricity or running water. Amazingly, we were told the life span of the typical Mayan living like this is well into their 80's. The medical doctors on our tour were stunned. Healthcare is generally taken care of by the village spiritual leader.
A world away from the finest resorts just miles down the road.
Anyway, that's my little educational travel video for today.
Hopefully, new, improved, edited videos on oneyearoffirsts coming soon for your viewing pleasure.
Lu Ann Cahn is an Emmy award-winning journalist who's been in the biz for more than 30 years. She's survived motherhood, breast cancer and chasing down bad guys. Now, Lu Ann's trying to complete a year of "firsts." Can she do it? She'll be posting daily here on NBCPhiladelphia.com.
