I wrote this on the way to Atlanta but it's a back tracking kinda thing

The first day of our trip started off kinda rocky. We got to the meeting location for the bus to discover there was no bus. Instead there were two passenger vans- for 26 people, their luggage and all the film equipment. Another van was found and we left, a few hours behind schedule but excited none the less to be on the road! Our first stop was to an in and out burger.
When we arrived in Phoenix we found our bus waiting for us. The best thing about the bus? The twinkie lights hung around the seats. So pretty. The worst thing? The non functioning toilet. The broken toilet has added too many hours to our journey and I’m pretty unhappy with the bus. The promised bathroom and stereo/tv has not happened and considering how much we’re paying for the bus…. But here I am as producer, holding the wallet, growing new grey hairs, maybe an ulcer, who knows. But it gets us where we need to go. And we get the group camaraderie, which has been amazing, especially considering the various frustrations of traveling like this- crossing the country, doing the play in 8 cities in 8 days, getting four hours sleep a night and having a film crew document every single time I freak out, break down or say something inappropriate. I've brushed my teeth in trucks stops across America.

New Orleans

We ordered pizza an hour ago and now I'm sitting here waiting for it so I can go to sleep. it's almost 1 am and the bus leaves at 6. This has been an insane schedule but everyone is keeping up so far.

I'm so glad we made it to New Orleans. The aftermath of Katrina is still everywhere and we were all pretty blown away by the damage we saw. Being here for real - seeing the closed stores, the construction everywhere, was a good reminder. We did our show here tonight for a small group or around 20 people, and afterwards I spoke with a social worker. He said that everyone has changed since Katrina- that people are different- depressed, scared, they don't want to leave their houses. He says he's lost friends because he feels they've changed. It was an effect I hadn't been considering, that people would change to such an extent that frienships would end. But the 20 that made it out to see the show tonight were so grateful and moved by the performance. I don't think I can make anymore sentences make sense so I'm out.

The Gift of Peace

It's week two of 17 hour days, I am so tired I can hardly function. I am thinking of just pulling an all nighter and sleeping all the way to Phoenix. i can bond with everyone later. I have 8 days, right? The problem with this is that I've lost sight of what I'm doing this for. The Peace cause has kind of been swallowed by details and emails and phone calls and frustration. I hope that once I get on the bus I'll feel the energy and excitement that I know eveyone else is feeling. I am excited. I'm just overwhelmed.