I went back home last weekend to say goodbye to my family and friends and to grab some more things from my old room to bring overseas with me. It definitely wasn’t easy.

I’m a very sentimental person – I keep nearly everything that reminds of memorable moments. That is why when my family presented me with a photo album filled with pictures of me, my friends, and my family – from the times when I was a kid to even moments captured on camera that I wasn’t around to witness myself – it moved me.

The hardest part of my trip home was going back to my bedroom. I had to decide what in my room was important enough to take with me on this new journey, and which parts of my life weren’t important enough. To even think that there were unimportant parts of my life, it gives me pause.

But because I’m going to Saudi Arabia, I needed to also think about what was worth taking, that would definitely not be confiscated at the airport/customs because of their strict laws. I couldn’t imagine bringing with me something that meant a lot, and never actually seeing it again. I couldn’t risk it – I left nearly everything at home.

After this tour, I’m going to need to do a consular tour, but since I already finished consular training, between this tour and the next, I highly doubt I’ll spend much time stateside. So besides saying the difficult goodbyes to my friends and family, I also had to say goodbye to where I grew up and the culture I grew up in.

You guessed right. I’m talking about cannoli and Ralph’s Italian Ices.

New York City, it’s been real..

Better hope this doesn’t happen to you when you’re on a diplomatic mission.

I love living in New York City. It really is the greatest city in the world. Where else can stuff like this happen?