[Edit - This happened in November 26th 2011 and was sitting in draft mode on my phone. Still worth a read]
I strike up conversations with other surfers all the time and yesterday I was reminiscing about one fellow I met a couple of months ago.
He was curious about my background, origins and how I got involved with this sport considering how I stick out like a sore thumb in the lineup. When he discovered I was from Kenya, he went on to rattle out names of musicians that he loved. Tabu Ley Rochereau, M'bilia Bel, Papa Wemba, Kanda Bongo Man, Madilu System, Femi Kuti, Franco, Les Wanyika, Koffi Olomide...and he went on and on.
This middle-aged Caucasian was more African than me! He was fluent in English, French and Lingala. So I took the bait and asked him, 'no offence but how....why..do you seem so African?' His response, 'We are all Africans my brother just different shades but all Africans'.
I will never forget that conversation. Suffice it to say, I haven't seen this African since then.