People

I have a tendency to underestimate how much I depend on the people closest to me. In this case, I'm only now (T-minus 2 days) realizing how difficult it will be to live in a war zone--an already challenging situation--without the people who mean the world to me. Obviously I will miss my family, but that's nothing new for someone living 3,000 miles from most of her relatives. Over the last five years, I've developed an East Coast family made up of my closest friends, and this is the longest period of time I've been away from them too. I've never gone two months without seeing MHG or IVK in the last five years, and I'm not really looking forward to the idea of it. Even since I've moved down south, I've had a relatively easy 4-hour drive to see most of my closest friends, and after a bad week I've been able to sprint straight into OFH's arms.

And as much as I complain about the new city, there are at least a few people I'll miss here too. KH, MC and AK have kept me sane for a whole year, and I'm still counting on MMS to help do it for the next year. I never thought I'd hear myself saying I'll miss this city, but there it is. There's a William James quote that says "Wherever you are, it is your friends who make your world," which sum up my feelings about my current locale exactly. By that logic, I suppose I can handle Baghdad too. I'll be putting uite a few minutes on that international cell phone, though.