Friday, April 17, 2009

skype

Dear all,

just used skype with a couple of friends and it worked ok, so if anyone is interested... For those that don't know about skype, it is a program that lets you talk anywhere in the world from computer to computer/phone. I get to Baku maybe twice a month or so and that is the best time that i can use it. Lemme know and we can work something out. It's free too.

t

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Georgia pics and other stuff

Dear Friends,

Sorry it has been a while since my last blog. I recently went to Georgia with a couple volunteers and it was a great time. I included some pics of Tbilisi and Telavi. Check em out.

News as of late: I have moved out of my host family's house and into a place of my own! It's a only a temporary stay though because next month I am moving to another place. My new place will be much smaller than the place I have now, but it has a huge balcony and a great view of the mountains which I am excited for. The place I live in now is big, but the only place I can get water is from a tap in my bathroom. Consequently, I do my dishes next to my toilet hunched over which I am not a big fan of. The other place I am interested in doesn't have a tap at all-I have to retrieve water from spring next to the mosque if I want it. Cooking is another issue. Since my new place will not have a kitchen, I will use a gas balloon to do all my cooking. Sounds fun, huh? This summer, living will be pretty easy though. I am looking forward to it.

Other stuff: Summer vacation is only a month or so away, and I am getting pumped about projects I want to help contribute to. Softball, environmental groups (so important), ABLE camp (Azerbaijani Boys Leadership Experience), and a photo club are some of the things I will be providing my community with/helping out other volunteer's communities with in the coming months.

Aforementioned was the environment and how it's really important that nationals in this country learn safe and sustainable practices in regards to waste management, recycling, and reducing. Some of you may have already heard that Azerbaijan doesn't use the best practices when it comes to the environment. Burning trash, dumping trash, and damming all rivers are just a couple of the things that the land base here is suffering through. The village I live in, one of the most beautiful places in the country if not the world is heavily polluted and its once awesome river is now dammed and has become a dumping site. Also, Azerbaijan only has a handful of recycling centers around the country, which equates to more dumping and burning of things. A lot needs to be done about this as you can already tell. Earth day community events are coming up next week. In about 5 or so of the different regions, there will be trash clean ups and garbage art contests which is encouraging to see. It's a start.

More stuff: Istanbul. This summer.

More to come,

trc