Well, anyone who is reading this may notice that I haven’t written in almost 5 months! It’s not because I’m lazy, bored, or losing creativity. I simply needed to stand back and gain some perspectives in everything that is happening. It’s been a pretty amazing year with arriving, having the Bali bombing, traveling, experiencing the Iraq situation from a Muslim country, and even everyday life. I believe some of my views have changed, and my perspectives seem a bit more “realistic”. This was my goal in stepping back from writing – I wanted a definite rift in my situation so that I could see some definite changes occurring.

I felt as though when I first arrived in Java, I was wide-eyed… everything was so amazing because of the complete opposites I was encountering in everyday life from that of America. You can see the posts from back in October, and the obvious excitement show through. I’ve been here about 10 months now – sufficient time to go through many phases. At times I love it here, other times I hate it. I guess it’s as though I’ve become more calloused and have seen the “true” sides of the country and its people.

Something I’ve grown to learn is that people are people – the world over. We may speak other languages and have differing customs, but after all is said and done, many of the issues and relationships between people correlate with all others.

I hope to begin writing again – it provides an interesting way for my friends and family to keep updated, as well as providing some interesting feedback from those of you who write me with responses and criticisms. So please continue to visit…