Andy

Thursday, April 16, 2009
Over the Atlantic Ocean Somewhere Between Dakar, Senegal and New York City
Middle of the Night

The flight attendant walks by and brings over some orange juice. Andrew sits next to me and he grabs some. I do the same. Fifteen seconds go by. I look over at Andrew who has returned to watching "Blood Diamond" and he is holding an empty glass. He returns my stare with a sly knowing smile. He knows exactly why I am looking at him and why we are now laughing. And that is the thing about great friends: inside jokes and inside honesty.

It was so awesome experiencing all this with Andrew. I had been planning the trip for months, and it was only a few weeks before I left when I found out Andrew was coming. I'm realizing how lucky I was that he was able to come, because I can't imagine coming to Zimbabwe without him. And I can't imagine making this movie without him. He is mostly definitely the producer, and he earned every bit of that credit. This movie doesn't exist without his help and work and energy.

Inside jokes. In the midst of the madness, who else can I laugh with. Who else can I relieve the tension with because he knows me outside of the madness, and instead of focusing forever on the suffering we can laugh together about something that we did three years earlier.

Inside honesty. In the midst of the madness, who else knows when to stop laughing and be real with me. Who else knows when it is time to talk about something serious, and to focus forever on the suffering, and more importantly, who else knows me enough to dialogue, and allows things to process, who realizes that every word is not surface.

Strangers, or people who don't know you that well are unable to do that. And that is part of the power of great friends.

I'm really happy that Andrew and I went on this trip. He is incredibly intelligent, really funny, easy to be around, and up for anything. He often describes us as having different personalities. The ball goes up in the tree, and he starts to climb it and I'm on the ground preparing to catch him, scared out of my mind that he is going to fall. But I think we are more the same then different. Like we are both the color red, but just different hues.