the beginning

i am sitting at home in idaho falls with my parents on the eve of my flight back to south africa. i am starting this blog in order to journal my time in south africa this summer. i named my blog "amandla" which is Xhosa and Zulu for "power" because i want to capture the power of individuals, of this country, and of experience. we are shaped by the people and environment around us, and i hope this blog will help track how the people and the country shape me. i also hope that this blog will help show everyone who reads it another side of the world they may have never seen and that this side of the world may have the power to shape even those who are not experiencing it first hand. amandla!