Surf. Success. CNN.

Yesterday was quite possibly the best day I’ve had since I arrived in South Africa. The morning was a little slow. I got to talk to my sister. Always uplifting. I sent out a whole bunch of e-mails to a whole bunch of people connected with Living Hope back in the states. Now that a quarter of my stay is behind me, I think it’s a perfect time to start getting the word out because this won’t end when I leave. I’ll go back home and begin to share this vision with others to further expand what can be done with the endless music resources we have available in Nashville.

At around 3, I left the station to go to Capricorn’s afternoon Kids Club (Living Hope has an office just across the street from the radio station. The Capricorn leaders work there and are generous in taking me when I can go). Instead, I was asked by one of the guys if I wanted to go surfing instead. Once a week, 8 of the older kids come to Muizenberg beach and get a chance to surf… for free. This particular surf school does what they can in giving underprivileged kids the chance to enjoy the excitement of surfing. I didn’t know I’d be going. I didn’t have a towel. I put on the wet suit. Backwards. They enjoyed a good laugh. I took off the wet suit and put it on the right way. Grabbed a board and headed to the beach. Remember, it’s winter here. The water was ice cold. I truly had a blast though. I was taught how to surf before I went out. What seemed very simple in concept was incredibly difficult in execution. I stood up a couple times and rode the waves for a few seconds, but mostly just wiped out every time I tried. What an experience though! I have officially surfed. In the Indian Ocean. In Africa!

On my way to the train station to go home, I had a mini-meeting with Avril and asked her a simple question which turned into a list of things I can work on for the music academy. Codes of Conduct. Family Night. The Audition Process. Registration Fees. A Reward & Discipline System. Instrument Drives. CCFM Advertisements. And so on. Half of it I got done last night. No matter what happens while I’m here (I only have 2 months left), my hope is to lay a successful groundwork that others can follow and expand while I’m gone. We want to start small. Capricorn is close by, so we’ll launch it from there and make adjustments for future ventures. Surely there’ll be something running there in the next two months. All we have to do is gather some instruments, get a teacher or two, find the kids with talent and begin. The other perks will come in time. The more that happens, the more excited I get and the more I want to do. It’s a cycle that is pushing this idea into reality and I am so thrilled that we’re weeks away from the humble launch.

Lastly, I waited until now to mention this because I didn’t know if it would indeed happen, but I will officially be on CNN this Saturday, June 7th. I wrote about it in my entry, “Just My Luck…” and thought they had given up on trying to contact me. They hadn’t. I was phoned on Friday and did a 10-15 minute interview with a very kind lady from CNN International. I sent in more pictures, most of which are on my entry, “Refugee Camp.” They will edit the interview, add pictures, spice it up and air it globally during a special iReport edition this weekend. I haven’t been given an exact time, but the website says it will be at 6pm in all United States regions. Prime-time. Do check your local listings though. I would love it if someone could tape it! They will stream it online a few days later.

I’m a week away from being here a full month. Half of it has been me trying to adjust. If the next two months can be even remotely similar to the first, I might accidentally lose my plane ticket home.