I have some limited internet access until Monday night so I just wanted to fill you all in on whats going on. Been talking about and planning with my Meysen Friends about helping them with a special photography project in Burma next week. They had some issues getting my visa and ultimately I had to show up in person at the Burmese Embassy by 4pm on Friday to get it. Long story short, I didn’t have my passport in hand until Wednesday night (which is Thursday afternoon Japan time). There are certain limitations on purchasing international tickets (seems to be about 4 hours) advance notice. There was a flight leaving Maui Thursday morning at 630am, to Honolulu, and a Delta flight that would get me into Japan around 2pm. It would be close, but I thought there was still a good shot at going for it, its not everyday I get invited to go to Burma and I wanted to make this happen. I exchanged some emails with Paul, who had originally invited me and the decision was made around 1030pm to go for it.

I quickly packed, (submitted my Haiti book while I was packing, should be out in 2-3 weeks) and hit the sack at midnight. Got up at 4am, finished packing, etc, made my flight.Tomio (on the left), my good buddy from doing the disaster aid work 6 months ago met me at the airport, he was right there as I came out of customs. We jumped on the subway for about an hour ride, grabbed a cab and showed up at the Burmese Embassy at 330pm, with a half hour to spare. Got my visa and everything is lined up for our trip on Tuesday. I should be in country for a week and will have absolutely no internet access during that time, so my assistant Adam is going to do his best to help me keep things up to date. This picture was taken this morning before I left to come up to Sendai where I am staying at Grape City Studios. The Meysen staff treat me like a king and I am so excited to see them again.

There is also a chance we may be able to go visit some of the people we helped after the Tsunami on Tuesday. I will try to keep you guys posted as much as possible. Its late now but I will have some important posts to make- check back soon!