Saturday, December 6, 2008
Pictures
A 'line' in McDonald's, the maiden tower in Baku, salesmen and saleswomen in Azerbaijan, wild and crazy kids in San Fran (this was the day we lost our dear friend Ryan, but he was later found)
More Pictures
My host brother Isa and I playing around with camera settings, apple car in Sumqayit, and Lahic.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy late Thanksgiving
Friends! Sorry I have been so reclusive and withholding these past few weeks!
Ok so at the beginning of my blogs I try and answer any questions that readers might have about life in Azerbaijan. Ok so one question was, “what’s a typical day like?” Well usually there is language class in the morning from 9-1 where I and six others practice speaking, listening, and learning news words. We keep it silly, so it is not as if we are in a college lecture hall. After that, there are usually meetings in the afternoon that help the volunteers get prepared for their assignments (teaching English, youth development, or business) before we all go off to the different regions in the country. After this, I might have some tea or a drink with the other volunteers. I always eat with my host family which is nice, and I try and communicate the best I can with them in Azeri. During supper (not dinner, because here dinner is lunch) we usually always watch TV which usually includes but is not limited to Azeri and Turkish music videos, news, and of course soccer. Soccer is huge here, as you may have already guessed. At night, I might study language, play guitar, watch a movie with my host brother (I showed him Jackass 2 the other day) listen to music or read a book. On weekends I usually play soccer in the morning and then scrabble or dominos in the afternoon with the other volunteers. Pretty basic stuff I guess. It is definitely not a wild and glamorous lifestyle. Another question was “what do people wear?” The people of Azerbaijan all wear very formal looking clothes most of the time. There is no skin shown especially for females, although many of the girls wear tight jeans or pants. T shirts are rare, and shorts are unheard of. No one wears shorts, unless you’re playing soccer or something. You are not supposed to run for exercise in public, and if you do choose to, you have to wake up super early so no one sees you. Only then can you wear shorts. When I was in Baku, a beefcake European man was running near the beach of the Caspian sea with spandex shorts and everyone gave him the evil eye and/or laughed at him. He is lucky rocks were not hurled at him. Such is life in Azerbaijan. Men usually wear suits or sport coats with shirts and a tie. They also wear really shiny dress shoes with very pointed toes. Many of the school girls wear black skirts and what resemble Chuck Taylor’s. As an English teacher, I always have to be on top of my game when it comes to dress code. My dress shoes have to be clean, which isn’t always easy because there is mud everywhere. My pants cannot have dirt on them, or else the children will laugh. You have to be very careful not to get dirty. It is standard that I wear a shirt and a tie just about everyday to school. I don’t enjoy dressing up everyday, but I really don’t have the option not to. Good news is, when I’m not in school, I can wear pretty much whatever.
This last Friday, fellow TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) volunteers and I got our site placements! For the next two years, I will be living and working in the settlement Lahic. (pronounced ‘La-hij’). The settlement is in a northern region called Ismayilli which is located in the northeast of Azerbaijan. Lonely Planet describes Lahic: “With wonderful mountain hikes, horses to rent and a selection of homestays available, the quaint little coppersmith village of Lahic is a superb place to sample traditional rural life.” But get this, Lahic has its own language! Natives of Lahic speak Lahic. Crazy I know. I barely get by with the little Azerbaijani I know, only to be informed that Lahic has their own language! Should be interesting. Lahic is also a tourist town because of its history and beauty so it brings in many foreigners during the summer months. It is really cold there as well, but I think I can handle it. After the last winter in Milwaukee, I think I can live through any amount of cold/snow/gloom etc… Lahic is tucked away in the mountains, and the water comes naturally from springs in the mountains. There are water stations in the town where people fill copper jugs and haul them back to their houses. This is nice because this way I won’t have to boil and filter my water which can be tedious at times. There is also no gas in Lahic, so during the day it is very cold, but then at night we burn wood to stay warm. I will be visiting there tomorrow to meet my new host family and the English coordinators of the school I will be working in. Another interesting fact, there are a lot of elders in Lahic, and many of them live very long lives. The oldest woman in the village is 108! She was on the local news about a month back voting in the presidential election of Azerbaijan (the president is Ilham Aliev).
In other news, the traffic in Azerbaijan is terrifying. Mom if you are reading this, you would recoil in horror if you saw some of the things that I’ve seen drivers do. I am so very glad I don’t drive. The rules of American driving do not apply here. Everyone is constantly honking at one another, passing on the shoulder, passing in oncoming traffic lanes with less than 100 feet of space, and on top of it, not many drivers wear their seatbelts. The other day I was walking to school and I noticed a bunch of broken glass/headlight and a big paint streak on the brick wall that separates homes from the road. My host mother told me later that evening that a woman was hit by a car and killed on the same road I take to school. This accident happened at 8 am. I walked that same road at 8:45 am. It’s scary sometimes.
I visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan two weeks ago with my language class and LCF (language and cultural facilitator). Aside from terrible weather, the trip was pretty good. I couldn’t believe how many volunteers wanted to eat at the McDonald’s in Baku though! I took this opportunity to eat real Azeri food which was a great decision on my part, and I didn’t feel terribly ill 15 minutes later! Anyway, I went into the McDonald’s anyway just to see what it was like. It was exactly the same, but there is no such thing as a line. Everyone just pushes their way to the front to order. You have to be aggressive if you want cheeseburgers in AZ.
*Ok so this next part I wrote about a week later after I visited Lahic. So I just got back from Lahic, and it is indeed very beautiful, just as I had read and heard about. I am the only volunteer in my village which will be a big challenge because I won’t have the luxury of speaking English with other volunteers whenever I want. This is good though, because I will have to speak Azeri/Lahic to communicate, which will be good practice for me. Hopefully keeping occupied will not be as difficult as I think it might at times. My host family is really nice, and my host father is the head of the tourist information center in Lahic. He and my host mother are both teachers too. We all teach at the same school, and there is only one school in Lahic. My host parents have children, but they are older and studying in Baku and Istanbul. I was hoping for host siblings, but oh well. My counterpart (the other English teacher) is nice and runs his own internet café in town which was unexpected but such a bonus at the same time. Rural life will be difficult after having lived the last four years in a fairly large city. It will definitely take some getting used to. More to come on this.
Thanksgiving is not celebrated here, but some other volunteers and I had a pot luck dinner. Since my host mother rules the kitchen and won't let me cook (or clean anything for that matter), I was on juice duty. The juice is amazing here though. I came through with a plentiful selection including banana, cherry, and of course pomegranat. It was yummy and we played 'fact or crap' afterwards. Good times. Christmas is not celbrated here either, so send me some love.
Your friend,
Tim
Ok so at the beginning of my blogs I try and answer any questions that readers might have about life in Azerbaijan. Ok so one question was, “what’s a typical day like?” Well usually there is language class in the morning from 9-1 where I and six others practice speaking, listening, and learning news words. We keep it silly, so it is not as if we are in a college lecture hall. After that, there are usually meetings in the afternoon that help the volunteers get prepared for their assignments (teaching English, youth development, or business) before we all go off to the different regions in the country. After this, I might have some tea or a drink with the other volunteers. I always eat with my host family which is nice, and I try and communicate the best I can with them in Azeri. During supper (not dinner, because here dinner is lunch) we usually always watch TV which usually includes but is not limited to Azeri and Turkish music videos, news, and of course soccer. Soccer is huge here, as you may have already guessed. At night, I might study language, play guitar, watch a movie with my host brother (I showed him Jackass 2 the other day) listen to music or read a book. On weekends I usually play soccer in the morning and then scrabble or dominos in the afternoon with the other volunteers. Pretty basic stuff I guess. It is definitely not a wild and glamorous lifestyle. Another question was “what do people wear?” The people of Azerbaijan all wear very formal looking clothes most of the time. There is no skin shown especially for females, although many of the girls wear tight jeans or pants. T shirts are rare, and shorts are unheard of. No one wears shorts, unless you’re playing soccer or something. You are not supposed to run for exercise in public, and if you do choose to, you have to wake up super early so no one sees you. Only then can you wear shorts. When I was in Baku, a beefcake European man was running near the beach of the Caspian sea with spandex shorts and everyone gave him the evil eye and/or laughed at him. He is lucky rocks were not hurled at him. Such is life in Azerbaijan. Men usually wear suits or sport coats with shirts and a tie. They also wear really shiny dress shoes with very pointed toes. Many of the school girls wear black skirts and what resemble Chuck Taylor’s. As an English teacher, I always have to be on top of my game when it comes to dress code. My dress shoes have to be clean, which isn’t always easy because there is mud everywhere. My pants cannot have dirt on them, or else the children will laugh. You have to be very careful not to get dirty. It is standard that I wear a shirt and a tie just about everyday to school. I don’t enjoy dressing up everyday, but I really don’t have the option not to. Good news is, when I’m not in school, I can wear pretty much whatever.
This last Friday, fellow TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) volunteers and I got our site placements! For the next two years, I will be living and working in the settlement Lahic. (pronounced ‘La-hij’). The settlement is in a northern region called Ismayilli which is located in the northeast of Azerbaijan. Lonely Planet describes Lahic: “With wonderful mountain hikes, horses to rent and a selection of homestays available, the quaint little coppersmith village of Lahic is a superb place to sample traditional rural life.” But get this, Lahic has its own language! Natives of Lahic speak Lahic. Crazy I know. I barely get by with the little Azerbaijani I know, only to be informed that Lahic has their own language! Should be interesting. Lahic is also a tourist town because of its history and beauty so it brings in many foreigners during the summer months. It is really cold there as well, but I think I can handle it. After the last winter in Milwaukee, I think I can live through any amount of cold/snow/gloom etc… Lahic is tucked away in the mountains, and the water comes naturally from springs in the mountains. There are water stations in the town where people fill copper jugs and haul them back to their houses. This is nice because this way I won’t have to boil and filter my water which can be tedious at times. There is also no gas in Lahic, so during the day it is very cold, but then at night we burn wood to stay warm. I will be visiting there tomorrow to meet my new host family and the English coordinators of the school I will be working in. Another interesting fact, there are a lot of elders in Lahic, and many of them live very long lives. The oldest woman in the village is 108! She was on the local news about a month back voting in the presidential election of Azerbaijan (the president is Ilham Aliev).
In other news, the traffic in Azerbaijan is terrifying. Mom if you are reading this, you would recoil in horror if you saw some of the things that I’ve seen drivers do. I am so very glad I don’t drive. The rules of American driving do not apply here. Everyone is constantly honking at one another, passing on the shoulder, passing in oncoming traffic lanes with less than 100 feet of space, and on top of it, not many drivers wear their seatbelts. The other day I was walking to school and I noticed a bunch of broken glass/headlight and a big paint streak on the brick wall that separates homes from the road. My host mother told me later that evening that a woman was hit by a car and killed on the same road I take to school. This accident happened at 8 am. I walked that same road at 8:45 am. It’s scary sometimes.
I visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan two weeks ago with my language class and LCF (language and cultural facilitator). Aside from terrible weather, the trip was pretty good. I couldn’t believe how many volunteers wanted to eat at the McDonald’s in Baku though! I took this opportunity to eat real Azeri food which was a great decision on my part, and I didn’t feel terribly ill 15 minutes later! Anyway, I went into the McDonald’s anyway just to see what it was like. It was exactly the same, but there is no such thing as a line. Everyone just pushes their way to the front to order. You have to be aggressive if you want cheeseburgers in AZ.
*Ok so this next part I wrote about a week later after I visited Lahic. So I just got back from Lahic, and it is indeed very beautiful, just as I had read and heard about. I am the only volunteer in my village which will be a big challenge because I won’t have the luxury of speaking English with other volunteers whenever I want. This is good though, because I will have to speak Azeri/Lahic to communicate, which will be good practice for me. Hopefully keeping occupied will not be as difficult as I think it might at times. My host family is really nice, and my host father is the head of the tourist information center in Lahic. He and my host mother are both teachers too. We all teach at the same school, and there is only one school in Lahic. My host parents have children, but they are older and studying in Baku and Istanbul. I was hoping for host siblings, but oh well. My counterpart (the other English teacher) is nice and runs his own internet café in town which was unexpected but such a bonus at the same time. Rural life will be difficult after having lived the last four years in a fairly large city. It will definitely take some getting used to. More to come on this.
Thanksgiving is not celebrated here, but some other volunteers and I had a pot luck dinner. Since my host mother rules the kitchen and won't let me cook (or clean anything for that matter), I was on juice duty. The juice is amazing here though. I came through with a plentiful selection including banana, cherry, and of course pomegranat. It was yummy and we played 'fact or crap' afterwards. Good times. Christmas is not celbrated here either, so send me some love.
Your friend,
Tim
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Dig a hole, burn some wood?
Dear Friends,
It's me Tim! First off, a few answers to questions from friends to address: *There are many stray dogs and cats in Azerbaijan. There are animals everywhere really! My host family has a dog, a goose or two and chickens. My family's dog is really friendly, but most of the people here do not see dogs and cats as loveable creatures like we do back home. I've seen people throw rocks at dogs and cats in order to keep them away. It's really strange to see that kind of aggression towards animals we are so used to domesticating. When I get my permanent site, I am thinking about adopting a dog or cat. *The weather here is fairly comparable to Wisconsin weather. It has been nice recently, but soon it will all turn to cold and frozen dirt because there are no sidewalks in Saray (the village I live in). Since there are no sidewalks, I am constantly walking in a combination of droppings from the farm animals that roam the paths, and mud. It gets really sketchy when it rains. I try not to think about it too much. *The language is difficult to learn right now, I'm not gonna lie. There are a lot of sounds I am not familiar making with my tongue, but it's coming a little easier every day. Also there are a ton of suffixes in Azeri and those determine the tenses in which you are speaking. The suffixes are difficult to memorize, but with hours of language class everyday and talking with my host family, it's getting easier. *I'll have my permanent address in about a month or so, when I get it, I'll post it.
A couple weeks back, we all took a trip to Gobustan that has ancient etchings in rocks from cavemen that are older than the Egyptian pyramids. The engravings were fairly anti-climatic though. The day was saved when we visited the mud volcanoes! These were actually really cool.
This past weekend, a couple other volunteers and myself went to visit current volunteers in Mengechivir, which is a region in the middle of the country. It's the 3rd or 4th largest city in Azerbaijan, and it has recently been given funding for some reason and it is cleaned up and really nice. There isn't trash everywhere like in Saray and Sumgayit. (Sumagayit is the second largest city, next to the capital, Baku). My village has waste management, but people tend to burn their trash rather than let waste management take it. Once or twice a week, people will burn their trash in large piles on the sides of the roads. I know, this is terrible for the environment, but AZ doesn't have the greatest waste management practices and/or are uneducated/unaware about the effects burning trash has on the environment. There is garbage everywhere, and when it is burning and I'm breathing it in, I fear for my health. This happens daily.
The volunteers we stayed with were a married couple. They met in the Peace Corps and then got married. They were super-nice and hospitable. They cooked for us like 4 times including chocolate chip pancakes and burritos (separate meals), which were very tasty. Thanks Nate and Mariko! It was interesting to hear from them what volunteer life is like from their prospective. We did some fun stuff including: ate a lot of food not bathed in grease, butter, and/or oil, walked to the reservoir and walked along the stony beach, played softball with Nate's youth development group which included two young Azeri's, girls from Spain, France and Germany, and a guy from Iceland! It was fun to watch them take batting practice, because many of them have never held a bat, let alone seen a baseball game. Watched season 1 of The Office, and The Zohan (Adam Sandler movie that is absolutely ridiculous,), had many interesting conversations with Europeans, and wished I had my skateboard cause there was fun looking stuff to skate there. (I prolly would've gotten even more strange looks than I normally get if I would have had it, because no one skates here! Boards can be bought in Baku but no one rides them. People just carry them around like accessories which is kinda lame).
A couple weeks back, another volunteer and I were on our way home from language class when we noticed two very large tents set up in the middle of the street. Curious, we wandered over. We were greeted by many Azeri boys screaming, “What is your name?” and “How are you?” in broken English. Soon a couple of the older guys invited us to go eat with them. We said, “Ok” and were led into a tent. They served us great food and tried to get us to drink excessive amounts of alcohol. The big drink Azerbaijan is vodka (something to do with Russia) and the stuff they were drinking was like rocket fuel. I felt like I was in an episode of ‘No Reservations’. I looked on in horror (kidding, sort of) as some of the men drank shots at a very rapid pace. We soon realized that we were at some sort of bachelor’s or wedding celebration. I was glad that the other volunteer I was with knew a little bit of Russian or else we would have been sitting in almost silence with a ton of people staring at us watching us eat soup. After eating, it was time to dance! Dancing is so different here, but in a really cool way. It involves a lot of pointed toes and wavy hands. It's like riverdance in Azerbaijan. I’ve been practicing in my spare time when no one is at the house. By the next wedding, I’ll be ready.
Also, I’ve put some new pics up! Included are: my family’s pomegranate trees! (so tasty. And my host mom makes pomegranate juice which is amazing!), my first wa-wa (in Philadelphia), mud volcanoes, a soccer field by my school with a horse grazing (there is actually a little boy no more than twelve that rides this horse around the village all day. It’s so cool. He is the nicest kid too. He offered me a ride the other day!) And finally, the family dog Tuzik.
Before I go watch tons and tons of the Sopranos, I hope everyone has a really fun Halloween. I’m a little bummed I won’t be able to attend, but I’ll be there in true French spirit.
Big Hugs,
Your friend,
Tim
It's me Tim! First off, a few answers to questions from friends to address: *There are many stray dogs and cats in Azerbaijan. There are animals everywhere really! My host family has a dog, a goose or two and chickens. My family's dog is really friendly, but most of the people here do not see dogs and cats as loveable creatures like we do back home. I've seen people throw rocks at dogs and cats in order to keep them away. It's really strange to see that kind of aggression towards animals we are so used to domesticating. When I get my permanent site, I am thinking about adopting a dog or cat. *The weather here is fairly comparable to Wisconsin weather. It has been nice recently, but soon it will all turn to cold and frozen dirt because there are no sidewalks in Saray (the village I live in). Since there are no sidewalks, I am constantly walking in a combination of droppings from the farm animals that roam the paths, and mud. It gets really sketchy when it rains. I try not to think about it too much. *The language is difficult to learn right now, I'm not gonna lie. There are a lot of sounds I am not familiar making with my tongue, but it's coming a little easier every day. Also there are a ton of suffixes in Azeri and those determine the tenses in which you are speaking. The suffixes are difficult to memorize, but with hours of language class everyday and talking with my host family, it's getting easier. *I'll have my permanent address in about a month or so, when I get it, I'll post it.
A couple weeks back, we all took a trip to Gobustan that has ancient etchings in rocks from cavemen that are older than the Egyptian pyramids. The engravings were fairly anti-climatic though. The day was saved when we visited the mud volcanoes! These were actually really cool.
This past weekend, a couple other volunteers and myself went to visit current volunteers in Mengechivir, which is a region in the middle of the country. It's the 3rd or 4th largest city in Azerbaijan, and it has recently been given funding for some reason and it is cleaned up and really nice. There isn't trash everywhere like in Saray and Sumgayit. (Sumagayit is the second largest city, next to the capital, Baku). My village has waste management, but people tend to burn their trash rather than let waste management take it. Once or twice a week, people will burn their trash in large piles on the sides of the roads. I know, this is terrible for the environment, but AZ doesn't have the greatest waste management practices and/or are uneducated/unaware about the effects burning trash has on the environment. There is garbage everywhere, and when it is burning and I'm breathing it in, I fear for my health. This happens daily.
The volunteers we stayed with were a married couple. They met in the Peace Corps and then got married. They were super-nice and hospitable. They cooked for us like 4 times including chocolate chip pancakes and burritos (separate meals), which were very tasty. Thanks Nate and Mariko! It was interesting to hear from them what volunteer life is like from their prospective. We did some fun stuff including: ate a lot of food not bathed in grease, butter, and/or oil, walked to the reservoir and walked along the stony beach, played softball with Nate's youth development group which included two young Azeri's, girls from Spain, France and Germany, and a guy from Iceland! It was fun to watch them take batting practice, because many of them have never held a bat, let alone seen a baseball game. Watched season 1 of The Office, and The Zohan (Adam Sandler movie that is absolutely ridiculous,), had many interesting conversations with Europeans, and wished I had my skateboard cause there was fun looking stuff to skate there. (I prolly would've gotten even more strange looks than I normally get if I would have had it, because no one skates here! Boards can be bought in Baku but no one rides them. People just carry them around like accessories which is kinda lame).
A couple weeks back, another volunteer and I were on our way home from language class when we noticed two very large tents set up in the middle of the street. Curious, we wandered over. We were greeted by many Azeri boys screaming, “What is your name?” and “How are you?” in broken English. Soon a couple of the older guys invited us to go eat with them. We said, “Ok” and were led into a tent. They served us great food and tried to get us to drink excessive amounts of alcohol. The big drink Azerbaijan is vodka (something to do with Russia) and the stuff they were drinking was like rocket fuel. I felt like I was in an episode of ‘No Reservations’. I looked on in horror (kidding, sort of) as some of the men drank shots at a very rapid pace. We soon realized that we were at some sort of bachelor’s or wedding celebration. I was glad that the other volunteer I was with knew a little bit of Russian or else we would have been sitting in almost silence with a ton of people staring at us watching us eat soup. After eating, it was time to dance! Dancing is so different here, but in a really cool way. It involves a lot of pointed toes and wavy hands. It's like riverdance in Azerbaijan. I’ve been practicing in my spare time when no one is at the house. By the next wedding, I’ll be ready.
Also, I’ve put some new pics up! Included are: my family’s pomegranate trees! (so tasty. And my host mom makes pomegranate juice which is amazing!), my first wa-wa (in Philadelphia), mud volcanoes, a soccer field by my school with a horse grazing (there is actually a little boy no more than twelve that rides this horse around the village all day. It’s so cool. He is the nicest kid too. He offered me a ride the other day!) And finally, the family dog Tuzik.
Before I go watch tons and tons of the Sopranos, I hope everyone has a really fun Halloween. I’m a little bummed I won’t be able to attend, but I’ll be there in true French spirit.
Big Hugs,
Your friend,
Tim
Monday, October 27, 2008
update! (kinda)
Friends,
A brief note... Since this blog is a public domain, I have to get approval to post my blogs from the Peace Corps country director, which is taking a bit longer than I thought. I should have a post up soon. I promise. Here are some pics for the time being. I knew you'd understand. You're so patient, that's why we're friends.
Tim
A brief note... Since this blog is a public domain, I have to get approval to post my blogs from the Peace Corps country director, which is taking a bit longer than I thought. I should have a post up soon. I promise. Here are some pics for the time being. I knew you'd understand. You're so patient, that's why we're friends.
Tim
Friday, October 3, 2008
Ok here we go
Dear bloggers,
Salam! So after 3 days in Philadelphia, a drive to NYC, and a flight to
Frankfurt, I have finally arrived in Azerbaijan. We were greeted at the
airport by very excited LCF's (language and cultural facilitators which
are Azeri's working with volunteers through the Peace Corps) and current
volunteers in Azerbaijan. The last four days we have been having orientation in a hotel in Baku that has waterslides! I'm not kidding. The last night we got to see traditional Azeri dancing which was interesting. So there are sixty other volunteers both young and old besides myself. The other day I met my host family. They are really nice and fed me a ton. Just the other day I was fed six hot dogs, which is the amount I might eat in a year, but I know food is expensive (as it is everywhere)and ate it anyway. Besides the hot dogs, the food is really good.
We drink a lot of tea and eat a lot of bread. Since bread is older than
religion in Azeri culture, it is a staple at every meal. The language
is coming ok, but it is hard to communicate with my family. We use a
lot of gestures to understand each other. My host brother speaks a
little English which is nice. He likes cars a lot and studies business
at the university. My family's house is huge! Not what I was expecting
at all. I am very lucky to live in such a nice place. It is more
Western than I thought it would be. No squat style toilet (but those
are to come im sure), it has a shower, modern appliances, a flat screen
tv and a dryer! Just today, it was raining and I was driven to school
in my host father's very nice Mercedes (!!!) I was blown away. Plus my room is
almost twice the size of my studio apartment I lived in meer weeks ago. I went
am very happy to be living with such a hospitable people. Today we went
to the bazaar to buy a cell phone and other things. Little children like to stare and laugh at me and the other volunteers. Some know english and ask our names. There are farm animals everywhere. The other day on the way to school, I saw a herd of sheep crossing the road and a boy no more than five riding a horse. No goats yet though. Next week I will visit current volunteers that have been here a year and see what a 'real' volunteer's life is like. In other news, I heard the Brewer's made the post season!!! That is way awesome and I wish I could see the games, although I hear we are down 0-2. Internet is infrequent and I don't have a lot of time to update this blog right now with everything going on. More to come. (soon hopefully) Stay tuned.
Halalik,
trc
Salam! So after 3 days in Philadelphia, a drive to NYC, and a flight to
Frankfurt, I have finally arrived in Azerbaijan. We were greeted at the
airport by very excited LCF's (language and cultural facilitators which
are Azeri's working with volunteers through the Peace Corps) and current
volunteers in Azerbaijan. The last four days we have been having orientation in a hotel in Baku that has waterslides! I'm not kidding. The last night we got to see traditional Azeri dancing which was interesting. So there are sixty other volunteers both young and old besides myself. The other day I met my host family. They are really nice and fed me a ton. Just the other day I was fed six hot dogs, which is the amount I might eat in a year, but I know food is expensive (as it is everywhere)and ate it anyway. Besides the hot dogs, the food is really good.
We drink a lot of tea and eat a lot of bread. Since bread is older than
religion in Azeri culture, it is a staple at every meal. The language
is coming ok, but it is hard to communicate with my family. We use a
lot of gestures to understand each other. My host brother speaks a
little English which is nice. He likes cars a lot and studies business
at the university. My family's house is huge! Not what I was expecting
at all. I am very lucky to live in such a nice place. It is more
Western than I thought it would be. No squat style toilet (but those
are to come im sure), it has a shower, modern appliances, a flat screen
tv and a dryer! Just today, it was raining and I was driven to school
in my host father's very nice Mercedes (!!!) I was blown away. Plus my room is
almost twice the size of my studio apartment I lived in meer weeks ago. I went
am very happy to be living with such a hospitable people. Today we went
to the bazaar to buy a cell phone and other things. Little children like to stare and laugh at me and the other volunteers. Some know english and ask our names. There are farm animals everywhere. The other day on the way to school, I saw a herd of sheep crossing the road and a boy no more than five riding a horse. No goats yet though. Next week I will visit current volunteers that have been here a year and see what a 'real' volunteer's life is like. In other news, I heard the Brewer's made the post season!!! That is way awesome and I wish I could see the games, although I hear we are down 0-2. Internet is infrequent and I don't have a lot of time to update this blog right now with everything going on. More to come. (soon hopefully) Stay tuned.
Halalik,
trc
Friday, September 12, 2008
Pre Departure
Ok so this is the blog I've been talking about and I will try and update it as frequently as possible to keep everyone's interest in reading it. I got about a week left before I fly out to Philadelphia for three days and then to Azerbaijan for 27 months! So from Phila, we fly out to Frankfurt which is like an eight or nine hour flight, and then to Baku (the capital city of Azerbaijan) which is about another five hours or so I think. I've been reading some other volunteer's blogs and I guess there are like fifty or sixty of us volunteers going to Azerbaijan which is way more than I expected, but I am excited that there are many others going and experiencing this culture. For now, it's hanging out with friends and family and deciding what I need to pack until it's off to Azerbaijan. More to come on that. Since I am on the subject of travel, Me, Ryan and Jenna just got back from a wonderful yet short lived vacation in San Francisco. Among the things we did: saw Alcatraz, went on a four mile hike through the red wood forests, crossed the golden gate bridge, went to power to the peaceful music festival in golden gate park where Michael Franti played for free (!!!), saw Sarah Silverman standup, talked to some really cool dudes from Germany who reassured us that Europeans do not in fact hate Americans, ate a lot of really awesome food, walked a shit ton, tried to climb to the roof of our hostel but came back down because I realized I am afraid of heights, skated with Ryan, saw poopy pants on the street, watched Ryan drunkenly beg for change and fail miserably, slept in the hall one night because an old man in the bunk below me at the hostel snored soooo loud, wrote snoring old man a letter begging him to curb his snoring so I could fall asleep, had a conversation with a girl from France who had the same last name as me! (just spelled different, but still crazy), went to Haight/Ashbury, hung out with Nat and JP finally!, felt an earthquake!, saw a lot of cool graffiti, bought Jenna a can of Sparks because she looked tired, flew home, had fun.
Soon,
trc
Soon,
trc
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