reflection
it's probably not common knowledge but i started a journal the night before i went on my trip to sudan and kept it up until the day i got back and every once in a while i open it up and read about the thoughts, events and conversations of the experience i deemed worthy of documenting. sometimes i just pick it up and look at it and hold it and find myself lost in an array of quirky, dramatic, mundane and inspiring memories of that whole experience. anyways, after reading over the first entry i wrote the night before leaving for the trip i have deemed the thoughts recorded on that evening worthy of being released into the lj community.
07-05-02
this is it, the night before you set out on an eye opening journey. in a few days time you'll be a completely different person from who you are writing this. the question of why exactly your going on this trip has been floating through your head for weeks. you've rationalized it a hundred times, a hundred different ways but you still don't know why for sure. you think you know what to expect but you don't. seeing an image on television or hearing about it on the radio is nothing compared to seeing it in front of you. are you going to be able to handle not having the option of changing the channel when you feel uncomfortable? we'll soon find out. just remember this one thing, no matter how bad things get out there you'll be coming home whereas most of the people you'll be seeing will be stuck, forced to stay and endure with no hope of things changing. i figure you keep that in mind you'll be okay.
07-05-02
this is it, the night before you set out on an eye opening journey. in a few days time you'll be a completely different person from who you are writing this. the question of why exactly your going on this trip has been floating through your head for weeks. you've rationalized it a hundred times, a hundred different ways but you still don't know why for sure. you think you know what to expect but you don't. seeing an image on television or hearing about it on the radio is nothing compared to seeing it in front of you. are you going to be able to handle not having the option of changing the channel when you feel uncomfortable? we'll soon find out. just remember this one thing, no matter how bad things get out there you'll be coming home whereas most of the people you'll be seeing will be stuck, forced to stay and endure with no hope of things changing. i figure you keep that in mind you'll be okay.