One Week Back

So today marks one week since I've been back in the U.S.  It's been a crazy week!  In some ways I feel like I have been here for a long time already.  Most likely because so much has happened in the last week.  We rang in the New Year and I have gotten together with so many friends and family to catch!  It has been great to see everyone.

Sometimes I feel like everything here is just as how I left it.  Everyone & everything looks the same for the most part.  My house is still the same with the same room & I have all the same amenities that I had when I left.  But there is something different.  I think that I have changed.  And now some of you who have already seen me might say that I'm the same, and that's probably true.  I'm still the same Jeremy that is loud and has a loud laugh and everything, but I know that I'm a different person.  I continue to change even as I come back into American culture.  It's difficult at times being back.  As those of you who have maybe traveled to other countries, especially developing nations, may know, coming back to America can be very "weird".  Our mentality of some everyday things can be drastically different.

I think I have an overall different understanding of the word necessity.  I look at the things I thought I needed before, and realized that I've actually lived without them and did just fine.  With my work in Cambodia, I learned more than I'd really like to share in a public blog.  I have a broader view of what the world is like.  Some things good and some things not.  But also a realization that in many ways, we can be just the same here in America.  Not at all to say that I dislike America for any reason.  This country is such a privilege to live in.  I think I might see that more now.  But at the same time, I see our habits and our culture and have a new perspective on things.

I know this is quite vague and maybe even confusing, but I don't think everything is meant to be said somewhere so public.  And quite frankly, I'm still learning from the things I experienced in Cambodia.  I might be six months down the road and still learning.

So I just wanted to let you all know that I'm safe and sound, and that overall my trip was an absolute success on so many different levels.  Thank you all for your support in so many different ways!  I will continue to periodically update you all on my projects that I am now doing back home, and anything else I feel need to be shared.  So stay tuned!