Posted July 8, 2009 - 8:26pm by Betsy J. Blosser
This week, upon arriving back from Mumbai, we finished up the last of our shoots - a major shoot of the Mission Education program, and some additional B-roll. We had our last production meeting on Monday, where we tended to details like evaluations and plans for getting the equipment safely back to San Francisco. Additionally, the week has been full of running around, making last purchases of gifts for friends and family, and seeing those monuments that eluded us in the midst of production. The Smile Foundation hosted us for lunch on Wednesday, and presented us all with gifts, including a Smile tee-shirt for all. We attended another dinner - at the home of some of Vinay's relatives - last night. It was a bit of a last-night-in-Delhi celebration, with folks from Smile, some of Vinay's college classmates, and a former SFSU student, now living back in India, in attendance. It was a bittersweet time - the end of a terrific experience and a group that enjoyed being together, but the beginning of new adventures and the chance to get away from the heat and pollution of Delhi.
A number of the students have plans to travel after the end of the class. One left early to visit an SFSU friend in Korea. Three went north to land in Darjeeling, and arrive in Varanasi for the solar eclipse. Another three went south to enjoy the beaches in Goa and explore parts of the south, but will meet the others for the eclipse. Two others will depart for Viet Nam and Korea from our layover in Seoul. And the rest of us will go straight home, and return the production equipment on Monday. Students will continue to work on post production for the next month or two, with student Veronica Bretzer in charge.
It's been a great experience! We have set the date for the screening of the Smile Foundation video for Thursday, October 1, at 7:00 PM. Do join us in Studio One of the Creative Arts Building on that date! Namaste!
