Mbabne, Swaziland, April 2012.

As I unpack my trip to Swaziland and Mozambique, as well as my upcoming trip to East Africa, I am most excited about BEING in these countries.

I do not want to be a spectator, but I want to just be in the cities. These cities are not by Western definitions beautiful, charming, or memorable, but to me they are a part of history that I want to absorb.

Addis Ababa can not be compared to Paris, Nairobi is not Chicago, and Dar es Salaam is no damn London, but they are real, they hold power, prestige, history in the air and the buildings, in the laughter, and the cultures. I want to be part of that for the short time I am in each city.

I want to walk away feeling like I was in that space, I traveled and saw and listened to those spaces. That is all.