Hello all!
It's been a wild few days.
We launched yesterday. What a feeling to finally be on the road. After weeks of training and booking, 20 teams began their trek across the country to bring this conflict to an end. We left San Diego at about 11am and arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah, at 1am last night. This morning we drove three hours to Pocatello, Idaho, where we have our first screening tomorrow!
Being on the road yesterday was incredible. I got to drive , the first leg, from San Diego to Las Vegas and it felt like driving on another planet. Never in my life have I seen more open space. It was like something from a movie, and the mountains....oh my, the mountains. This is the America that I've never seen; this landscape is the most unique and incredible I've ever seen. We stopped at what seemed to be the only sign of life for hundreds of miles, a small little store with a incredibly friendly cashier named Dan. Dan had never heard of us or Kony, and after seeing our t shirts, he was so intrigued. He was so encouraging. These were not the only great interactions we had on our first leg of this journey. It was just what we needed to start off; support right now for IC is so encouraging.
Right now I'm sitting in the Rude's living room, a legendary host family, writing this. They've been hosting roadies since 2009, and welcomed us with open arms. I'm grateful to be here. Today has been a bit overwhelming. I think for the first time I realized how real this is. We're in Idaho right now, just a little over 24 hours removed from all being together in San Diego. It's safe to say I'm going to miss everyone incredibly much. Also our first screening is tomorrow, which has brought about a little nerves quite honestly. With everything from launch, saying goodbyes, driving thirteen hours yesterday, three more today, being in charge of the first week of promotion at our screenings and now getting a small taste of the excitement, nerves and fast pace that will be my life for the next ten weeks, I'm feeling the craziness. But what's so beautiful about this is that this isn't new. Legends have driven these roads, slept on these same floors and inspired thousands before me. They have been on the roller coaster that the first few days bring, they have experienced the challenges of the road and they have walked away having set out what they intended; giving it their all, working harder than ever before and learning immensely, all in the name of justice and peace. And that lesson still applies to me right now, and really all of us on the road. This tour has launched. We are now scattered across North America, the match has been lit. It is our job to give this movement oxygen, to stoke the embers and create a blaze. If we do this, we will be successful, and this tour will be successful.
It has taken a lot for many of the people I've met over the past month to get here and work for the organization behind Kony 2012. And that is why this class of interns and roadies is incredible. We are still standing, and this movement is very much still standing, we are running, in fact. And we will until this conflict ends. Sacrifice, humility and energy define this job. It's tough work, especially when all you want to do is sleep all the time, but no. We are here for bigger reasons, reasons we may still have yet to see. We are going to move mountains this semester. It will take trust in our leadership, in ourselves and in this campaign, and it will be incredibly hard at times, but it will be worth it.
Thank you for letting me process things as I write, and being willing enough to read those thoughts. The road has already been so kind to me. The Mountain West is beautiful and I couldn't be more excited to tour this region. Tomorrow is our first screening, can't wait.
Week one is in the books. Crazy to say that out loud. A week ago, 20 teams cruised down Mt. Soledad and dispersed across the country. We've had some really good presentations so far, a lot of people we've met just want to know more and want to know how they can be more involved. We've presented at two Paul Mitchells, Blackfoot High School in Idaho and Utah Valley University. It's been a challenging week as I try to adjust my life to the business of the road as I am constantly faced with situations where service and humility may not be the easiest route, but it certainly is the best one. It's been humbling to learn and hear stories from past roadies that we've stayed with and makes my time doing this now so much more unique and treasured. It has also been pretty tough to hear Patricia speak each day, at times I just want to shake my head and ask myself "How many more tours until this ends?" "How many more films must we make until Kony is captured?". That's probably been the hardest part, just being heartbroken by the realness of this conflict.
