Just a little more time...

27 months is a long time to be out of America. It's a long time to dedicate yourself to one place, to one job, to one group of people. I've never held a job this long in my life, and past high school, never lived in one place this long either. I've either moved from one place to another, or there's always been another home. At NYU, I always had Cleveland. In Cleveland, I was always going off to NYU.

It's been a challenge for me actually, to sit still this long. I like to move, I like to travel, I like to bounce around. But it's forced me to slow down. The pace of life in NYC was killer, and here, I just have to take things day by day. I enjoy sitting in my garden drinking coffee. Or just sitting there, thinking. Things move slower in Azerbaijan too, meetings don't start on time, they start when everyone gets there. Classes get paused for families, plans get rearranged when it rains.

Sometimes, I really like it. It gets frustrating at times from a very Western-OCD worker, but it helps with priorities. And of course, what I like most, is the people. I've made some of the closest relationships I've ever had in this country, with Americans, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Russians...it's surprising. And somehow not surprising that as my 27 months comes to an end in December - and all of my AZ7 mates talking about what they're going to do and how they are so excited to go home - I find it difficult to think about leaving.

I've never done super well with transitions. (See former blog entries). But this one is going to be especially hard, and I've been fortunate enough to get approval from Peace Corps to stay for another 6 months. That makes my new COS date June 9, 2012. It'll give me time to finish out the school year, and end on a positive note - instead of just not showing up to school one day...

After coming back from America, I had some second thoughts about seeking the extension. I realized a lot of things when I was home - some very difficult things - that made me question the need to stay pass my contract. I have given my time, so maybe it's time for me to focus on taking care of myself (the medical stuff alone I've dealt with might warrant just taking some good 'ol R&R)...but on the other hand, I genuinely do want to stay. I have more work to do - granted, there will always be more work to do - and I have people here I really care about - and yes, they'll always be difficult to leave - but this buys me just a little more time...

It isn't going to be easy. I'm already finding myself in this weird middle place with not too many people to relate to. Fellow 7s are planning on leaving Azerbaijan, life after PC, graduate school, travel plans, talking about seeing their families and eating Chipotle. To the 8s, I'm still a Senior, and I am still a little futher ahead than they are when it comes to my own planning and my own mindset. Fortunately, there are about 4 of us 7s (that I know of so far) who are staying, and that's a comforting thought. It's going to be good. It's going to be hard. Never one to take the easy road, I'm looking forward to the challenge....