yeah, i've been to africa.

               it's 2:22 in the morning. i should be in bed, but because i know myself so we'll i tend to do the stupid thing, and stay up just a little bit longer, you know... see how further into the night i can go before i just crash. so here i am, taking a step back into what seems like another life when i traveled across the sea to africa.

               it's strange. this picture is really of no importance. it's just a normal wednesday night in ghana, africa on the beach enjoying our weekly reggae night. my buddy tyler is most likely punching in his american digits into his new ghanaian friends phone, waiting for the five cedis calling card to kick in some time in the future. apparently, im in deep thought while kicking it with my close friend from the trip, sirus, who owns a drum shop just down the road along the sea. everyone is in the moment, and we are all acting completely normal, no big deal. we kind of forgot the fact that we were in africa. this particular moment was not just some out of the blue night, it was a common thing i did during my life at that time, and that is what is so strange to me.

              people ask, "hey, have you been out of the country much?" (this is before my parents moved to england) and I'd say, "surprisingly no, but i have been to africa." what? just hearing me say that statement alone still makes me step back today and think how unreal that is to me. sometimes, maybe, i make it a big deal that i've been to africa. but i've got to say... it's not a common trip people take, and i've seen things in my life that a lot of people only hear about on the news or see in national geographic and by no means am i boosting about my experience, but im more so in awe over the fact that till this day, i still can't take it all in.

             honest to goodness, being in africa during july and august of 2009 was the best place i could have been. i don't think any other time in my life from here on out can out do what i did in africa. if someone offered me a trip to say, i don't know, thailand... i feel obligated to politely turn down the offer because i can't one up my trip in africa. obviously, i'd never turn it down, but you get my drift.

           since that adventure, every person who i introduced myself to, whose photo i snapped, whose hug i was able to embrace and whose story i was able to learn of, continues to impact my life today. i have never felt as alive as i did while in africa. it's like a whole other life i've lived. and im very grateful for that opportunity of going over to ghana. so when i look back on this candid shot in twenty years from now, i will still catch myself in awe, saying, "weird, that's just me, hanging out in africa. that's all." why? because the things i saw and the people who changed me will never fully settle in and feel like something from the past. every memory i have of them is an initial reality check of life and how it should be lived and whom you're life should be lived for and who you should focus on other than yourself. now i'm not saying im this perfect selfless person because im far from that. but i thank my dear friends in africa for their life long reminder and example of every lesson in life that should be learned of. and to them, i say thank you.