Don't Drink and Blog

Well, it's 3:05 a.m. in California, and the last of my friends just left the house after nine and a half hours of partying, dining, drinking, cake-eating, night banana-ing and cliff-playing. It's crazy to think that in two hours, I'm waking up and boarding a plane that starts an entirely new chapter of my life. Honestly, there are no words to describe the feelings of anxiousness, hope, dread, expectations and nausea that are in my head right now, although I think the many servings of beer, vodka and Moldovan wine have helped me dull some of the sensations. I know that it kept me from openly weeping tonight like I thought I would.

I know a lot of people will be reading this in the next few days. I just want to thank everyone for supporting me this far in my life, for inspiring me to take this next step, for calling or e-mailing me today or any day in the next two years, or for being a friend of mine any time in my life. A person is very much defined by his environment, and you have all made me who I am.

That's all I've got for now. Tomorrow I fly to Philadelphia. On the 8th I fly through Istanbul to Chisinau, and training starts. So commence the whirlwind.