this and that

Hi everyone,

sorry it has been so long since my last post! I tend to do better keeping up with emails, so if you want to send me a message, you can do so at timrcone@yahoo.com.

On to the blog. School wrapped last weekend and to commemorate the year, my school had Son Zeng, which means ‘final bell’ in Azerbaijani. It is the equivalent of a graduation ceremony in America. Our school was decorated with balloons and flowers and had a band playing too. It was quite festive. Son Zeng celebrates the 11th form students’ completion of secondary school. School here finishes at the 11th grade. For the final bell, two of the 11th form students hoisted 1st form children onto their shoulders and the little ones rang the final bell for their upperclassmen, which was pretty cute. The whole ceremony lasted about an hour and a half and included speeches by many of the teachers including myself. Although I couldn’t understand a majority of the speakers, it was a good experience that left me on a high note going into next school year. After the ceremony was a photo extravaganza. I was approached by students and people I have never met just so they could get a quick cell phone picture with me. It was like I had fans. Kind of surreal, but I didn’t mind doing it. I’ll probably miss this sort of thing when I am just another person living in America, so for the time that I am here, I am enjoying it.

In other news, I moved into my new house. This one is a lot better than my old one and I am pretty happy with it. It is one big room on the lower and it has a large balcony. Squat toilet of course, but the view is really great. Looking out you see mountains in all directions, a mosque, as well as a cemetery off in the distance. It is really beautiful and my favorite part of my house. I go to the well daily for water, which is a humbling experience because I am so used to simply turning a tap. There are always ducks hanging out down by the well and they will come right up to where I am standing which amazes me. Doing laundry by hand is also an interesting dynamic never having done it before. I did my laundry by hand for the first time about a month or so ago, and my wrists were sore for a week. As a bonus I felt like Hulk Hogan after about 30 minutes of ringing out my clothes. Watch out world. I have also been taking a lot of bucket baths lately (welcome to Peace Corps) because the weather has been so warm. It’s actually pretty easy and I save a ton of water because I only use one bucket. There is a public shower in town which I have used a couple of times, but I am not the biggest fan. The men are allowed to go Tuesday through Sunday and the women only get Mondays, but for now I am enjoying the luxury of showering by myself in my backyard.

Here are some pics from my village that I really like and I hope you do too.

Miss you all very much.

-Tim