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Sunday, July 7, 2013

Elise Doganieri: Taking 'The Amazing Race' To Africa

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Elise DoganieriEmmy award-winning producer & co-creator of "The Amazing Race"

GET UPDATES FROM Elise Doganieri Like 3 Taking 'The Amazing Race' To Africa Posted: 03/19/2013 7:00 am Follow

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There is something very special about the continent of Africa. The show I work on, The Amazing Race, has gone to nearly 20 African countries in the past 22 seasons and the diversity of geography and culture is like no other place on Earth.

This particular leg of the Race we went to Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa that is 70% covered by the Kalahari Desert.

For this episode, we spent time at the Royal Tree Game Reserve outside the city of Maun. It's easy to feel at one with nature when you're sleeping in a wonderful tent under the stars on a private reserve on the banks of the Thamalakane River. The night sky is vast and mesmerizing; and due to the remote location we were in, every star and constellation in the Southern Hemisphere was clearly visible like tiny diamonds dancing across the sky.

Africa awakens your senses; the sights, sounds and smells are unique. This happens when you fly on a little bush plane, land and take that first step. It's something I look forward to when I return; it's welcoming and warm and there is something very pure about the experience. There is a silence and calm and you are instantly transported back in time.

At night at the safari camp there is such peace -- no sirens, car horns or radios blaring -- but what you do hear are the sounds of the animals around you -- like a lion walking by your tent! And hearing the sound of his roar for the first time can be a bit unnerving. In the morning, you'll see their tracks right outside your tent.

Botswana is home to The "Big 5" -- the lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. Seeing animals roaming unrestricted in their natural environment is a spectacle. Most of us are used to seeing them in cages in zoos. Here, you're in the cage -- your vehicle -- while they wander around freely; it's amazing. In fact, I always have to fight the urge to get out of my safari vehicle when I see an animal close by because they are so beautiful, you just want to get close. Obviously, they're wild animals and you should never do that, but it's hard not to feel a connection when there's so little separating us.

In many ways, Botswana is a country frozen in time. We had our contestants meet with the local bushmen and learn how they live their everyday lives. The things we take for granted are tasks they have to perform every day to survive -- from things as "simple" as starting a fire and getting water from a well to hunting for food.

What the bushmen can do in minutes took an hour or more for many of our contestants.

We take pride in the fact that the Race takes contestants and viewers to places they've never been, or even seen, before. In fact, most of the contestants had no idea where Botswana was. It's fascinating how the contestants and the African bushmen were awed by each other's cultural differences.

That's really what we strive to achieve with the show: treat viewers to a cultural experience, not just bombard them with tourist landmarks. We want the contestants -- and, by proxy, our viewers -- to really get a sense of what it's like to live in the places we travel to.

FOLLOW TRAVEL Like 33k Get Alerts #ad_bottom_article_text {margin-bottom: 15px} Africa Adventure International Destinations Africa TravelThere is something very special about the continent of Africa. The show I work on, The Amazing Race, has gone to nearly 20 African countries in the past 22 seasons and the diversity of geography and ...There is something very special about the continent of Africa. The show I work on, The Amazing Race, has gone to nearly 20 African countries in the past 22 seasons and the diversity of geography and ...

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Jennifer Ball: I'm A Divorced Mom, And I'm Taking Christmas Back, Dammit

Jennifer Ball: I'm A Divorced Mom, And I'm Taking Christmas Back, Dammit HPFB.init();

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Jennifer BallProud mom, writer, teacher

GET UPDATES FROM Jennifer Ball Like I'm A Divorced Mom, And I'm Taking Christmas Back, Dammit Posted: 12/25/2012 3:40 am React

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Christmas 2012 will be the seventh Christmas I've spent as a divorced mom. Normally, this time of year sends me into a psychotic, eating-drinking downward spiral. My usual reaction to hearing Christmas tunes and seeing all of the commercials on TV with perfect families opening perfect presents is to mentally curl up in the fetal position and hide until December 26th.

But no more. Not this year, not ever again.

I'm taking Christmas back.

As I look back on the past six Christmases, I am filled with a sloppy mixture of grief, joy, regret and a weepy nostalgia. They were all so different, and yet... so alike.

There was the Big Money First Post-Divorce Christmas of 2006. Our divorce was finalized on December 6th and around that same time, my ex introduced our four kids to the woman who had helped take down our marriage. I was devastated and a bit insane. The alimony and child support had just kicked in and I spared no expense for the kids. We not only had a lovely Frasier Fir in the living room, we had one in the family room as well. Just because. I had my neighbor/photographer take pictures of the kids and I for a Christmas card and composed a "Hear Me Roar" Christmas letter announcing the new lightness and happiness we were experiencing in our home. he boys had a new Wii and a new Xbox, and my daughter had pretty much every single thing available on the American Girl website. I thought that having a mountain of gifts under the tree would help ease their pain, at least for a little while.

There was the Pauper Christmas of 2010. The year I finally lost my house after the child support and alimony abruptly stopped when my ex abruptly quit paying them. Our first Christmas in the rental house. The only way we had a tree and some presents under it was due to the absolute kindness of some lovely "strangers". A man I had never met, and have never seen since, dropped off a bag of gifts on Christmas Eve, all wrapped and labeled with my kid's names. I cried as I placed them under the tree we got from a Christmas shop set up by the local food shelf.

Our Christmases have been varied, that's for sure, but all of them have had one thing in common: I faced each one with a sick knot in my stomach. I was haunted not only by the ghosts of Christmases past, but also by the ghouls called "What Could Have Been" and "What Should Have Been". I lived in the past and dreaded the present.

I'm a slow learner, folks. It's taken me this long to realize that it's not Christmas I hate. I hate how I react to it. Whether I want to admit it or not, my piss-poor attitude towards the holiday and all it encompasses has done some damage to my kids, and has definitely damaged me.

I have let my bad feelings leach the goodness out of the season, and in turn infect it with moroseness and gloom. I've allowed my circumstances to dictate the feel of Christmas, to orchestrate every moment of it. I started feeling it again, a few weeks ago, when I turned the corner at Target and saw their Christmas section, all cluttered and festive and red and green. That old familiar knot started forming, just below my heart. I think I may have actually uttered, "I hate Christmas" to myself.

But then, something happened. I can't pinpoint exactly what, or when it hit me, but it did. And hard.

My kids are getting older by the second. In a few years, they'll be grown -- off on their own adventures, living their own lives. Do I want their memories of Christmas to be of a sad-faced mom, crying into her coffee as they open their gifts? Or do I want them to remember their mom embracing the season, grabbing it up in a big bear hug and telling melancholy to step off?

I think they want the latter. So do I.

So I'm taking it back. I'm not only going to survive this Christmas, I'm going to love it. Love it hard, like I used to back before the divorce, like I did when life was seemingly perfect. Because you know what? It's still perfect. It's changed, that's for sure. But it's perfect in its own way.

I'm still broke, and there still won't be a ton of gifts. There won't be laptops or cars with bows on them. I had to wait until mid-month to start shopping, because my first paycheck had already gone to my landlord, my gas tank and school lunches. But I got out the decorations, I'm playing Christmas music and we're going to make cookies in the shapes of snowmen and trees and Santa.

The biggest, bestest gift I'm giving my kids is the gift of a happy mom. A mom who will no longer cringe when someone says Merry Christmas. A mom who may not be able to get them the coolest things but can definitely give them something priceless: love. Love, and a lesson.

Life can be hard. It can be awful and mean and it can hurt. But you can't let it scar you so badly that things which are beautiful and simple and meant to be enjoyed become dark and painful. I want to show my kids that life is good. Even when it feels like it's not.

You what's funny? I started out writing a very different blog post: a divorced mom's guide to surviving the holidays. Here's the kicker: I couldn't write it. I couldn't write it because, honestly, I don't know how to survive the holidays. I only know how to endure them.

Maybe next year I'll be able to write a post about the holidays... but not only about surviving them. About enjoying them.

Follow Jennifer Ball on Twitter:www.twitter.com/happy_haus

FOLLOW DIVORCE Like 7k Get Alerts #ad_bottom_article_text {margin-bottom: 15px} Holidays Marriage Problems Life After Divorce ChristmasChristmas 2012 will be the seventh Christmas I've spent as a divorced mom. Normally, this time of year sends me into a psychotic, eating-drinking downward spiral. My usual reaction to hearing Christma...Christmas 2012 will be the seventh Christmas I've spent as a divorced mom. Normally, this time of year sends me into a psychotic, eating-drinking downward spiral. My usual reaction to hearing Christma... More in Divorce...

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Suellen Dosch 1 Fans 4 minutes ago (10:19 AM)This is good...Suellen_Dosch: This is good...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Suellen_Dosch/im-a-divorced-mom-and-im-_b_2318851_216529547.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

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IsameldinAbdelr 5 Fans 24 minutes ago ( 9:59 AM)Sure you will enjoy holidays next year self-inspiring and the- likes-inspiring brave womanIsameldinAbdelr: Sure you will enjoy holidays next year self-inspiring and the-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/IsameldinAbdelr/im-a-divorced-mom-and-im-_b_2318851_216527244.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

Loading comments… happyclam88 37 Fans 4 hours ago ( 6:34 AM)Great blog! This is my first Christmas since filing for divorce and while the soon to be ex bought the kids mountains of expensive things I was only able to afford small things, like books and magazines and dvds. It hurt, no doubt about it, when they returned on Christmas Eve, all excited and laden down with presents. But today we opened our little presents early, we're having another family over for Christmas lunch and while I'm a little sad and have shed a few tears I'm ok. We're already talking about doing something completely different next year to make new memories.

Thanks for writing this and being so honest. It's hard to let go of all the old traditions and build new ones, particularly if you're still in the throes of the divorce. You've given me hope and a lot to think about.

Merry Christmas.happyclam88: Great blog! This is my first Christmas since filing forhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/happyclam88/im-a-divorced-mom-and-im-_b_2318851_216509983.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation.

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