Amanda Trull's 2004 World Refugee Day Experience

Original Co-Founder of Joliesnippleforum.com in 2004

Name on the forum: Amanda (formerly Jolieshero)

June 16th, 2004

I arrived in D.C. at about 7:00 AM June 16th. I got a taxi and went to meet Traci. We met at the hotel and walked to the National Geographic Center. When we walked in there was a guard and she was all scared to talk hehe so I was like hey we're here for World Refugee Day, and he told us to walk into the other building.. so we did. It was around 8:30 when we got there, and we were told that they would let people in at 9:15. I took this opportunity to look around at the exhibit. There were around 50 pictures displayed on refugees and 3rd world countries. There was one of a little boy - he wasn't crying - but looking into his eyes I saw so much sadness, despair, and grief. I felt as if he were crying out to me for help. (Here's a pic)

We sat on the bencn next to the door of the auditorium. It was now almost 9:10. I turned to Traci and said.. "Just think, Angelina is in this building." That was when we started to get nervous. I could feel her energy as we sat there staring at the door, hoping to get a glimpse of her as people walked in and out. We met a woman and her son who also wanted to meet Angie, and we gave her a bit of info about sticking around after the conference.

9:15 - We were told to go to another door to enter the auditorium. (This room was where Angie did that interview for BBC.) We walked through that room into an auditorium. It was kind of small, it probably held about 150-200 people, smaller than a movie theater I'm sure. They said to us that the right section was for the general public. Suprisingly, WE GOT FRONT ROW! I was elated everytime I stuck my foot out b/c I could kick the stage. There was a huge screen hanging behind the stage that was showing all the posters for the contests. The girl's that won (Tania) was amazing! There were 6 chairs, arranged in an arc center stage. A wooden podium, which had "Nationa Geographic" on the front, was on stage right (to the left of the audience) - the farthest away from where I was sitting.

A few minutes after 10:00 - time for the launch! We saw people standing in the doorway.. the door closest to the podium. As a small framed woman neared the door, a camera went off. Traci said, "Look! There she is!" My heart skipped. As the people exited the door, the silhouette revealed that she was Angelina. The room was silent. All you could hear was camera's clicking. She walked up the stairs (3rd in line) and across the stage to the chairs while saying "Everyone's so quiet! hehe!" She looked so beautiful. She was wearing a black pin striped suit with a black shirt underneath. She had on tall leather boots and her hair was pulled up in a bun. I felt like I couldn't breathe. She sat there, smiling, as the cameras went crazy. I bet she was blind for a while after that.

Angie was 3rd from the right of the 6 chairs, about 10 feet away from me. The senior public info operator took the stage. She introduced Colin Powell-. When she introduced Angelina Jolie - "Our Goodwill Ambassador" the public section went a little crazy. A few girls behind me did a "woohoo!". Angie smiled, and did a 'wax on wax off' wave hello. As Colin went to the podium, Angie turned her head to face him. Her legs were crossed and her hands were clasped in her lap. The pictures of her profile that I had seen do not do her justice. She looked like a panting - beautiful, and utterly perfect. I couldn't believe I was looking at, and less than 10 feet away from, Angelina Jolie. Colin went back to his chair. The UNHCR lady took the stage again… "Please welcome Angelina Jolie." She stood up and walked to the podium. I realized just how skinny she is. 5′ 8″, plus heels, and around a size 3.. if that. My God this woman is tiny.
She reached the podium. As she talked I realized - OMG… I'm hearing her in person. She sounds different, but the voice is recognizable. Here's her speech:

"Thank you so much. I am so happy to be here again commemorating this day at National Geographic. I said last year I've always been a huge fan so this is always very exciting for me, and Secretary Powell I am honoured to pay tribute to World Refugee Day again, with you, and thank you for your words.

When I travel to refugee camps, I always ask the children - What do you wanna be when you grow up? And they always say - 'A doctor.'; 'A teacher.'; 'An architect.' And I say why and they say - 'I wanna help my people, I wanna teach my people. I wanna rebuild my home.'
Many of these kids have never seen their homes. They were born on the run. Many grew up in refugee camps, and if the day comes that they get to return home, they will probably find buildings burned, homes burnt down, and all of their infostructure gone. They will have to start over, and build anew. And they can, with stable international support and protection until they are strong. But most importantly they will have their strength. They will not quit under the most unbelievable odds against them, and I've seen this. I've watched Cambodian land mine victims - some blind, some missing limbs - and I've watched them come together to physically build a house, and they were smiling and they were laughing how difficult it was.

I met Congalese boys, just 1 week after losing their parents - their mother was shot in front of them. I watched them just 1 week after having survived attacks by rebels and the treacherous journey across a border. I watched them gather their courage, and begin to build a home together. I watched the 16 year old, the eldest, I watched him - he forced himself to stop crying. He lifted his head and he looked at his brothers, and somehow he turned building this house into this silly game so they wouldn't see that he was so terrified, but he was so scared.

The overwhelming majority of refugees want to return to their own homes. They wanna be in their own country, on their own land, to live in their own culture, and to speak their own language. Some are fortunate to be able to do so. Right now there are refugee families returning home with the help of many countries like this one, United Nations and humanitarian groups. Since 2002, as Mr. Powell said, more than 3,000 Afghan refugees and displaced persons have gone home. Since the peace agreement was signed in 2002, some 218,000 Angolans have returned home, and so far this year over 40,000 Borungian refugees have returned home - many of them having been in exhile for over 10 years. And there are many more stories like that.
If they don't have their families they are holding on to their communities, and somehow they are finding a way to survive and rise above their situation. Refugees are some of the most amazing people you could ever meet. I continue to be in awe of their courage and their ability to go on despite the difficulties they face. So it's for that strength of spirit that we celebrate today. To all of them, and to all of you, happy world refugee day."

One more man did a speech. He was a refugee that came to America, and is now a world renowned author. He graduated from Harvard. The UNHCR lady came up again. She talked about more issues, including.. Angie donated $500,000 to help victims of rape, assault, etc. have attourneys. The crowed erupted in applause. She did the shyest smile.. she looked so selfless.
As she was saying something, Tracie clapped way to early. I was laughing so hard, and Angie looked at us and started laughing, raising her eyebrows. She then looked at me and I gave her a glare/smile. She flashed a smile (I almost fainted) and turned around again. She asked the press if they had any questions. Of course, all but 1 was for Angie. By about the 3rd question she said.. "I don't think I should be answering all of these questions." I love that about her! Alison Bock, the president of LandMines Blow! thanked her for her inspiration to start the site. She gave Angie a T-shirt and shook her hand. Angie asked her to go to Nairobi with her in November. Angie was laughing while saying "now I'm making plans." Another journalist asked her something about the worst thing she had seen… and as Angie started to cry the room suddenly felt dark, as if mourning her emotions. Her feelings are contagious. After this the woman donated money. Angie hugged her and gave a sincere thank you, and handed it to the woman at the end of the row of chairs.

The woman thanked us for coming, and said there would be a musical performance. Angie and the other officials went down into the left side of the auditorium, front row. 3 girls danced while a boy and a girl played some hand drums. About half way through I noticed Angie had stopped clapping, perfect timing! She looked at me, and I pointed at her. She raised her eyebrows in a 'huh?' and I held my hands out showing her, and mouthed 'clap'. She held her hands out and started clapping as if to say, 'See? I am'

After the music was over, we were dismissed. Everyone flocked toward Angie. I stayed behind because I knew that she was already smothered. I walked over in her direction, standing about 5 feet away. She answered some questions, signed an auto, and went out the same door she came in.

We exited and went into the lobby. The lady and son that we had met earlier had gotten to her, and she signed her book. Angie had asked if the woman had a camera.. she said 'No it's over there.' Angie agreed to wait but a woman said 'No time.' and pushed her through the door. Angie promised her she would be back. We wandered around the building for a while, no Angie. I went outside to smoke a cigarette and I saw the lady again. She had been escorted into a room and got her pic.

I went to the window of the room she said and I saw Angie sitting there doing an interview (the BBC one). I lurked there for a bit before getting scared that she would see me so I left.
Finally I got tired of waiting, and Angie's black SUV had moved somewhere else, so I made Traci leave with me. I was too bored. I went back to the hotel and took a nap. We left again at 4:30 to go to the screening. It started at 6:00, but we had to be there to pick up our tickets at 5:15, plus we had to walk.

We looked at more pictures and went back into the same auditorium as before to watch the movie. We sat in the back row, on the left side (I love the back row of movies hehe). We heard that Angie was delayed and the show wasn't going to start until she arrived. Then word came that she was there. I turned around just in time to see her again, probably 10-15 feet away, walking through the hall answering questions. She had changed now, wearing a black shirt and jeans. I looked down to the side door (since I knew she would be coming out that way.) I grabbed Jan's video camera and started filming. She walked out. I heard people gasping. She sat down in the center section, front row. Her hair was still up in a twisted type bun.
The movie was awesome. I cried through most of it. Afterward the director/producer man went on stage and was talking about it. I saw Angie taking pictures with her digital camera (which tells me she must own a PC).

We were dismissed and told the green ticket holders (ME!) to please join them at the after party reception, I gladly did. I walked in, they gave me a free book of the movie, and I went to the bar and got a Coke. I wandered around, no Angie. I got bored and decided to smoke a cigarette. I went outside, talked to some people, and stared at her black SUV for about 10-15 minutes. Word arrived Angie was coming.. I looked in the window to see her walking into the party. A couple of minutes later I walked into the room. As I was walking to the bar, I looked to my right and saw a 'Know Your Rights' tattoo. I walked within inches of her. Inside I was screaming like a Backstreet Boys fan. Thank God I wasn't stupid enough to stop right beside her, and of course that I didn't trip. I went back to the bar, now about 5 feet from her, and got a sparkling water with lemon, and walked back to where she was standing. Her back was to me, she had on stiletos, blue jeans with triangle buttons on the pockets, and a fuzzy black 3/4 arm length shirt. The neck part came down perfectly (purposly I'm sure) underlining 'Know Your Rights'. She turned toward me (OMG) and walked by. She smiled at me again and we touched (It was crowded) as she was wakling by me. I said, "Hi Angie." or something like that. She said "Hello!" and stopped a few feet away. She was meeting board members from UNHCR. She was also pounding red wine. It was so amazing being in her presence. I called Janine and was like 'OH MY GOD she's right there!' I was so nervous, but it didn't show too bad. I only found myself shaking when I took sips of my water, so I decided to walk back outside to smoke again. I was talking to Jan (a woman I had met earlier) about being close to her. I put it out and said I was going to go stare at her again. I walked in, and walked right up to her. She was talking to a lady about Chad, and then Maddox for about 4 or 5 minutes. The lady was standing to her right, I was directly in front, and another girl was beside me. OMG I was right in front of her.. she was talking to me. Angie kept making eye contact with me as she was talking. I nodded my head occasionally, and was smiling like a fool the whole time. The other girl said shyly, 'Will you sign this for me?' Angie said "Of course!" and signed it. She held her hand out for a hand shake, but the girl didn't see. She started to walk away and Angie grabbed her shoulder and strongly held out her hand, smiling. How sweet of her, she must have known the girl was shy. Angie looked at me, we were alone, standing there on the side of the room. 'It's go time! I thought to myself. I gained composure, put on my game face, and I stepped closer. I stuck out my hand for a shake as I said, "Hi! How are you?" Her eyes lit up, and she shook my hand. I introduced myself, and soon I heard my words were speeding up and my hand was shaking. I ended a sentence, paused, and took a breath calming myself down. I started talking again. We had a great conversation about human rights, Chad, Cambodia, her birthday, and new missions. She was very open with everything I asked her. I pulled out her book from my purse and told her how it changed all of my views and how I 'couldn't get enough of it.' She took the book from me and began to write in it. She leaned in about 3 or 4 inches from my face and said, 'Amanda, was it?' My name had never sounded so beautiful! I think I stared into her eyes for a few seconds before saying, hehe yes. She told me how she was kind of embarassed because she wasn't a good writer… my exact words were, "Angie, you are an amazing writer. It's real, raw emotion that inspires people. Not from your status, but you. It's a wonderful book, and you are incredible!" She looked at me like.. omg.. thank you. She didn't say anything, just kept grinning, and making that fucking eye contact, and handed the book back to me. As not to be rude and impatient I didn't look at it. I pulled out the 4 day journal that I had made for her and explained its meaning. (Phases of my life changing because of her and this event.) She held it, and said, "Oh God, thank you so much! I'll read it when I put Mad to bed, I'll treasure it.. that means so much to me!" Then we talked about Maddox for a few minutes and how adorible he is. I asked if he was here and she said yes that he was at the hotel (probably with Holly) I told her that she must be an amazing mother because he looks so happy all the time. She gave the biggest smile and said, "Yeah, I love him." I thanked her, shook her hand again, and walked outside… Oh my God I felt like I was going to faint. I smoked (again) and read the book. She wrote:

I wanted to cry. I had finally met her! I felt in my purse and realized that I had forgotten to give her the present from Mikara. I went back in to find her. I saw Traci talking to her and giving her some letters, and telling her about the star that was named after her. Angie looked so grateful auw! I found her again after she walked off. I giggled when I walked up to her and she was all like.. hey! you again! I gave her the present and told her about what it meant (so she has it Meeks!) She told me to pass a "Thank you SOOOOOO much it's so beautiful!" to you. We said bye again and I stepped back to give the other fans a chance. I called Janine again (freaking out, naturally… I think I told her I was going to tell Angie about her pillow.. haha), then I called my mom and ex-roomate Kathryn. I turned around and she was right behind me talking into a camera. She turned (facing me, again) and I said "aaand we meet again!" She laughed and said "Nice to see you, I keep hopping around here don't I?" We smiled and went our separate ways. About 20 minutes later, I saw Traci standing close to her, so I decided to mooch the action and join her. Some woman at the museum had been giving Traci a hard time so the woman with Angie arranged for them to meet again. I don't know why but all the officials were so nice to me! Even Angie's bodyguard backed off while were were talking. Traci asked Angie to sign her wrist because she wanted a tattoo of it, and Angie was like "Oh my God, the pressure! What if I don't do it right?? Let me practice." She signed a piece of paper, then, carefully, signed her wrist. It looked pretty good! Angie turned to us and said, "So are you guys gonna come to more of my events?" kind of smiling, and I said, "Yeah this girl Janine from California goes to a lot of them so I'm going to come sometime!" She was like 'auww that's great' and we saw the woman saying 'time to go time to go'. The overhead bright lights came on and we all squinted our eyes. Angie in bright lights… it was intoxicating! She said bye and started walking away. We followed a few yards behind. She stopped at the door and talked to some more people (all in the way). I walked up to the door that she was standing in front of, and waited for her to finish talking. As she was standing there, I took my left hand, squeezed her bicep and rubbed her arm with my finger. I said, "It was so nice to meet you, thank you so much." She smiled really big and said, "Nice to meet you too." And I walked out the door. We stood out front, where the SUV was, for like 10 minutes. The driver was really nice, he was saying how he's her driver all week. Then out comes Angie. I was playing in the water, so I quickly got up when I saw her. She walked by me, and we waved to eachother. She took a pic with Jan… Traci was being retarded with the camera so it took like 5 minutes to take a pic.. Angie was laughing with us about it. Here's the pics.. the girl didn't want me to show her lol so it's just Angie.

HOPE U ENJOYED JOLIESHERO'S EXPERIENCE! WOOOO!