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