This Is How The Weeks Can Fly By..

I tend to turn off during vacations.  I barely return texts, hardly keep in touch with email, never ever check a voicemail.  Maybe you can call it a bad habit, but I think its an expression of desire to truly escape whatever binds me during all those other, non-vacation, days.  As 2011 turned to 2012 I had one of those vacations where I was able to escape Khachmaz for a bit and then come back to an ascetic retreat of early bedtimes and increasingly creative/desperate recipes saving me from leaving the house.  All celebrities need their alone time.

There is a double edge to your alone time and that is falling behind on your projects, job responsibilities, and social obligations.  Personally I think its worth it for a true vacation, but the week following is pretty busy and this one was no exception.  As Sunday night came I decided I needed to man up and face the harsh reality of what my upcoming (this past week) was going to be like.  If it was going to be a busy week it might as well be productive.

And it was busy.  Between school, delivering late 'Happy New Year' wishes, and various projects, most days I would arrive back home to cook myself dinner at 8 or later.  But, it was also incredibly productive.  I finally finished the budget details for a grant I've been working on for a couple months, began discussion about how we'll be running Summer Camp this year, and began meetings with a counterpart again about upcoming trainings in the Khachmaz region.  I was even able to get most of my meals taken care of through frequent guesting.  By the time Wednesday night came around, I was ready for the week to be over, but I stayed true and plowed ahead through the remaining work week.

I welcomed the weekend with open arms and gave myself an appropriate award on Saturday when I met up with two friends, Elsean and Movlan.  Both of them work in the Ministry (government) and they happen to be my only drinking buddies in Khachmaz.  Now, what I mean by drinking buddies is: I clear out 6 hours in my day because we are about to drink multiple bottles of horrible vodka.  But after 15 months, the horrible vodka isn't so bad anymore, and it definitely gets a lot better after the first bottle-and hey, this is how I do business with Elsean!  Afterwards I attended my first Azerbaijan Rap concert which is (and will be) a post in itself.  Goal number 6: accomplished.

Well, Sunday comes around and once again I'm staying indoors, though more for avoiding bright lights rather than people.