Well, well, well was a song written by Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Well anyway, I just got back from a friggin' fantastic trip around parts of South Africa. I was hired to do sound booming for a tour video of some American students from Washington DC as they discovered Africa for the first time. These kids were between 14 and 18 and all part of the Black Student Union at Sidwell in DC. I first went in thinking it was just gonna be a chilled holiday, all expenses paid for me to carry around a boom pole. Wrong!

The tour group was taken to some of the most important historical sites in South Africa; the District 6 museum, Robben Island, Lesedi village, the Cape Peninsula and many more. With each stop, I learned more and more about the traumatic but heartbreakingly beautiful history of South Africa and its struggle and its people, beyond the age old stories of Nelson Mandela, PW Botha and the other usual suspects. These were stories of real people who lived through these real events that aren't just stories and pictures contained in a museum or textbook. I was so inspired by everything that I saw. It gave me a new respect and perspective on South Africa and what it means to be African. For those ten days, I didn't feel so alienated from this place anymore. For those ten days, there was something worth living for and fighting for in the world beyond our 21st century rat-race. Moments like this give me hope that my life will find its meaning someday. Moments like this make me less afraid to dream.
It was beautiful.