Two Years In, Two Months Out

The Plan of Attack

On September 24th I purchased my ticket home to Dallas.  As coincidence would have it, September 24th also marked my two year anniversary in Azerbaijan.  Two years ago, I arrived in Baku with my head as filled as my suitcase with ideas of how I would make a change in this country for the best.  26 months later, on November 16th, I'll be making a 20 hour journey home wondering how permanent those changes might be.

I certainly had big plans.  Recently I came across an Excel spreadsheet that made me cringe.  Written during pre-service training, it very neatly planned out my entire two years of service.  Dividing service into 6 month blocks it highlights the projects I would execute, the community members I would involve, even the life skills I would be teaching.  I didn't even know my community yet.  Its both a cute and embarrassing display of neuroticism and arrogance.

Really, as service closes I'm most enjoying the smaller items, rather than the larger projects.  I'm glad to make those giant checkmarks over things like PSN training or TEDx but I'm happier simply attending lessons and spending time with my teachers.  I certainly look forward to finishing the next to-do, but I look forward to the next dinner at Tamilla's or next game of Nard with Elvin more.

On a different topic, this week I also launched Top 3 Apps, my new iPhone app company.  My first app is a useful daily priority minder called 'Top 3: Track Your Priorities'.  I'm really proud of it and find it to be quite helpful (I use it everyday).  It's free to download and I'd really appreciate you checking it out.  I've been working on this project for a while and I'm excited to finally share it with the world.