The Beginning!

So, I've decided to keep a Peace Corps blog after much hemming and hawing.  My departure is looming in 6 days and I figure it's time to give up on willfulness and see the bigger picture.
I worried that keeping a blog would be narcissistic, but instead it can be a way for me to share with people who are interested.
I am reluctant to digitize my relationships any further than they are, but it's becoming a necessity as I move around making friends who, in turn, spread across different continents.
Do I really want to share so much with everyone I know and maybe people I don't?  What would be the harm in doing so?
Can I possibly not work with such a horrible pun?

I've been home in Philadelphia for over a month before departure to Peru.  It has been strange seeing all these people who have known me growing up after leaving Idaho and then Montana where nobody had known me more than a year.
After hearing I'm going into the Peace Corps, several folks have said, "wow that's so generous," or, "you're going to heaven."  It's such a funny thought for me, because I see it as a somewhat selfish move.  Sure, I'll be working hard and, with any luck, will be helping people.  But it feels more that I'm dropping all my commitments and relationships for two years to go on an adventure.  It's jarring for people in my life.  I don't have many responsibilities to people, and I suppose most of my future years will be caught up in being beholden to others.  I should relish this freedom while I'm in my 20's with this lack of structure and maturity to take care of myself.  But sometimes the individualism of American culture is questionable to me.  What gives me the right to take off for so long?  I haven't done anything to earn it.  Shouldn't I be helping my family and trying to improve my own community?
Am I looking for commitment?  I don't feel ready for a husband or children or to settle in one place.  I wonder what form that satisfying commitment will take.
I'm hopeful that living in Peru with give me other perspectives on individualism vs. duty to family and community.  Maybe I'll start to figure out where I want to land on that spectrum.

Yikes, I apologize for the heaviness of this first post.  I've been doing a good bit of navel-gazing leading up to departure.  I promise that later posts will be like, "OMG I saw soooo many monkeys today!"  Or, "I only pooped my pants three times this week!"  I don't know how often I'll want to write here, but I'm going to make an effort because I think I'll be happy to have it later and I'm certain that at least my mom will read it.