We meet once again.

So, I'm going back.

I am not sure if I will write much this time, but if nothing else it seems like a good way to keep family and friends updated. Maybe they'll have banned Blogger by the time I get there, who knows.

I feel it's kind of necessary to put it out there that I volunteered for this. I also want to put it out there that "volunteering" does not equal "wanting" to go back. Different. Not the same. It's complicated. I don't really expect anyone to understand. It's not the money, either. I could have landed a perfectly respectable career in the nice, friendly, safe U.S. of A. making a respectable living after graduation. Actually, I'm not even sure I understand why I am doing this. Something about camaraderie and "sense of duty" or some such thing.

Or maybe I am just searching for direction and the familiar is somehow less terrifying than the unknown, even if the familiar lies in a war that doesn't make any sense.

Hopefully I will use this experience to better myself. Three main goals:

1) Keep things in perspective
2) Maintain a good attitude
3) Retain my sense of humor/sanity

After all, we're all just human, aren't we? Blips on the radar. Might as well learn a few things on our way out.