Am I Actually A Travel Photographer??

Day 11 - October 22, 2021

Breakfast was so good today! Also, the baby was angry because he is teething. We all held him and tried to make him feel better but he wasn’t having it. By the time we arrived at the lunch hour everyone was tired but him. He was running around in his little scooter thing, living his best life.  

After having a round with the baby, I spent the rest of the day contacting some local photographers and discussing local pricing for portrait sessions. It’s wildly different than in the states so I am trying to process the whole situation and come up with a plan. I also worked on a wedding album for one of my brides and booked another wedding for Spring 2022 stateside. Oddly enough I don't think I have a single wedding in Mobile, AL booked yet. I think all of them are destination weddings which is SO COOL! I know my bio says that I travel but I don't think I have ever stopped to think about how much I actually travel. I wrote about my feelings (that sounds so emo) regarding being on this photography journey on my most recent Instagram post.

There are millions of people in this country which means that there is a need for millions of jobs. Literally anything and everything can be a paid job. My host family employees a cook, a nanny, a beautician, a wash man, a driver, and a maid as well as a couple of guys who do odd jobs around the house. On top of that, almost everyone who lives here also has a job. So everyone is doing something all day but not all at the same time. I haven’t quite gotten everyone’s names together in my head yet but I am working on it. 

Before any of you freak out about the amount of people coming into this house to work remember that you also employ all of these people but in the US we leave the house to employ them. We pay restaurants, babysitters or daycares, cosmetologists, dry cleaners, and Uber. Same same but different. 

We left the house to head to an event at a children's home and on the way I made a note of some things. First of all it was raining and lighting like a Star Wars battle was going on in the clouds. Second, There were no street lights where we were so driving in the rain, traffic, and lack of western driving guidelines made for a very thrilling car ride. Thankfully it was a car because most people here have "bikes" (motorcycles) or "scooties" (mopeds) and they were getting soaked. At one point we tried to drive down a road where the cows laying in the road simply refused to move out of the way. My host called them "Speed Bumps" but we definitely didn't drive over them. He actually hopped out of the car and tried to herd the cows off the road. When he was unsuccessful a woman came out of her home and smacked them all with a stick to get them to move.

The end of the day included a visit to a children’s home where I will be doing some portraits later on but today served them treats and dinner. Their dinner was rice, boiled eggs in a spicy sauce, and a watery-gravy-like something else. I know that's vague but I really don't know what it is or what's in it. They repeat that meal every day but switch up the egg with veggies or chicken. For special events, like holidays or festivals, they will have specials meals. I was able to meet several boys and girls who grew up there and even heard some of their stories. The one’s I met tonight started their stories with the death of their parent or parents and then followed it with the reason they came to the home and how long they have been living there. Isn’t that heart breaking? All of these kids are very small not just short. One 14 year old boy I was talking to looked like he was 7 or 8 because of his height and build. There was so laugher, no chatter, no screaming or yelling…just quiet. I’m not sure if it is always like that or not but I hope not. Then again it was like being in a room full of little adults. I don’t know. Hopefully, I will be able to see some vibrant smiles when it is portrait time. 

I will end by telling you that I had some kiwi juice on the way to the house that had some chunks in it and although I finished it I am not sure how I feel about it. There are so many different textures here when it comes to food and drink that I’m still experimenting with new snacks.