1. Family Interactions - I went guesting so many times, I believe my record now stands at 7 different houses within a 3 day period. So I met lots of family, most of whom I still don't know. But there were some good moments that came out of that. My extended host family trying to teach the little kids to call me "bibi" (Aunt) is so far my favorite. Following close behind that is the 'Battle of the Paklava (Baklava)', where they tried to get me to say which person's paklava was better, my host father's first wife's, or his current wife's. I refused to answer until it was made clear that I had to if I ever wanted them to let me up from the table. So I told them...in English. I had the whole table rolling with laughter (and some frustration) as they tried to get me to admit which one was better, even calling in people who knew a little English (like my host sister) to try and figure out what I was saying. I just spoke fast, and refused to answer in Azeri. My family still is trying to find out what I said. (Though as we left, I whispered the answer to the wife I thought made the best paklava, and she burst out laughing, then acted all innocent about what I had said. *grin*)
2. The New Years Celebration - In America, New Years usually means New Years Eve on December 31st (to party), and New Years Day on January 1st (to recover). Here, the celebration only starts on December 31st, and then it goes for days. Mostly this means lots of guesting and tonnes of food. Though if there are younger kids, going out to get their picture taken in front of the New Year tree with Shaxta Baba (Santa Claus) and Qar Qiz (Snow Girl) is pretty common. There's also staying up 'till midnight on Dec 31st, as most people seem to do 'round the world, and setting off fireworks. In my house, this also included shooting off a double barreled shotgun (flares and buckshot), which greatly amused my family since I don't like guns, not at all. They have found out that I won't allow anyone to aim a toy gun at me or pretend to shoot me with their fingers, and if they ask why, my basic response is, "Americada choxlu adami va usaqlar olub. Cox pis." Which basically means that lots of people die from being shot in America, and it's very bad. So of course I stand far back out of the way when the gun is loaded, and my host fam laughs but usually says that it is good that I am careful.
3. Decorating My Room - Pretty much everyone in my family (and my good friends) know that I need to decorate my room. I have done everything from covering the walls of my dorm with maps, scarves, and Christmas lights, to painting my room to look like an Indian Palace (complete with a painted 'window' looking out into a starry sky) and having a sari hung over my bed. So it shouldn't be a suprise to anyone that I brought 6 framed pieces of art, a wall scroll, a T.A.R.D.I.S. magnet, a Japanese doll, my kayaking Santa ornament, some calendars, and my Chinese box (with my ink pad and name seal) to Azerbaijan. For the longest time, I didn't have anything up because the paint here is so brittle, any form of tape will pull it off. But this week, I finally decided to put everything up! I had to put everything on the windows (and windowsill) and door because the tape wouldn't damage the wood, but I am quite pleased with the result, and feel much more at home now that the room reflects a bit more of my personality. (And my little T.A.R.D.I.S. magnet on my door handle just makes me happy!)
An example from my last room; Sparkle Cthulhu sitting in the Holy Grail.
(Yeah, my rooms are like that)
4. Spiders - I hate spiders. No, I take that back, I hate spiders that are on me, near me, or just look downright freaky. Unfortunately, there are lots of spiders in my house, as in, I see at least 5+ a day. Most of them look kind of like daddy longlegs, and I'm fine with those as long as they stay off of me. But then there are little (or big) black spiders with a big body, thick, short legs, and huge fangs that have a habit of hanging down from the ceiling and looking incredibly scary to me. A few nights ago, my host ana (mom) asked me to brush a spider off the wall. I did, but didn't kill it since it was the longlegged kind that I wasn't afraid of. My host ana then pointed at my coat, and said I should take it off since I was inside; however, what I thought she was saying was that there was a spider on me. I screamed. And also threw my coat across the room. My ana, after a second of shock, started laughing hysterically, and didn't stop for almost 5 minutes. My host ata (father) later said I almost gave him a heart attack. My host sibs were just laughing. Thus they discovered my arachnophobia. In fact, the next day, I killed two of the little black buggers in my room by throwing books at them, and squashing them on the wall. The loud "BANG" of the books hitting the wall brought my host sister, who again, doubled over in laughter, but helped me remove the squashed spiders. (I've been told that is Islamic culture, spiders are seen as protectors. I said they can protect me from outside my room.)
5. Language Problems - This one is a bit unique. There is a family friend who stops by often, and he likes to practice his English by talking to me, and somehow was also was given my cell phone #. Anyway, he is a decent enough guy, though he tries to talk about God, humanity, philosophy, and basically lots of things that are way beyond his level of English. So of course lots of things that he tries to say get garbled and lost in translation. Well, I woke up one day to find a text on my phone from him, and it read like this, "to you most beautiful my present yourself give to yourself"...which made no sense. But it did raise a fair amount of wariness on my part (this combined with other things that he had said). So when he came over later that day, I avoided him. In fact I managed to avoid him pretty successfully for several hours. Unfortunately, in Azerbaijan, there is no way for you to say, "Oh, I don't feel so comfortable by that person." without everyone asking why, and usually pulling the person over while telling everyone they can that you don't like that person (It just gets more awkward from there). So when my host sister came and pulled me out of my room and said, "Here, Abdullah." I really couldn't get out of it. So I sighed and grabbed my computer, pulling up Google translate. He wanted to know why I hadn't texted him back, and why I kept 'running away' from him. Well, long story short, I used Google translate to outline why I was avoiding him, and my thoughts, and my response if that was the case. After much explanation, he finally understood what I was saying, and backed way, way, off. He apologized profusely, and said he never meant to say anything of that sort, and etc... Anyway, now that has been settled, though it did lead to another awkward conversation about sexual innuendos and why you shouldn't say some innocuous-sounding phrases (ex. turned on) because of the cultural context. Needless to say, he has studiously avoided all such phrases since then. (Though I still don't know what he was trying to say in that text.)
7. Gifts - This one is just flat out strange. Apparently giving someone underwear (even lingerie-type underwear) is an acceptable gift between two women. I have personally received a pair of with sparkly flowers (from my host mother), and another pair with bows and lace (from my female counterpart). Other female PCV's have received similar gifts, and even though we agree there isn't anything improper about it in this culture (apparently), it's just seems so weird to us. Soooo, yeah.
No comments:
Post a Comment