Picture Time!

2 and 1/2 months...I'm embarrassed, I admit it.  I really fell behind on my posting, and I have no excuse except that it's hot and getting decent internet requires a 20 minute walk in the sun.  Sorry, but again, I'm going to try my best to keep this up (again).  I think that whenever I am falling way behind on my posts, I'm just going to start posting pictures with little blurbs.  People like pictures right?

So lets start this.

This is me in an Peace Corps car.  Notice how I have a seatbelt? And space next to me? And it even had air conditioning!  Ahhh, Bliss.  The ride in this car was 4 hours of pure joy.

     This is myself, my counterpart, and my sub-director with my 5th B class.  Actually, most of the classes wanted pictures with me, even the ones I didn't teach!

Me and my puppies! Wookie (brown) and Chai (black). (Oh, and my host sister Minara, who is apparently giving Wookie bunny ears.)

My host aunt and her daughter came over, and my host aunt took off her hijab (head scarf) to do some work around the house.  As they were getting ready to go, she couldn't find her hijab.  After 15 minutes of turning the house upside down, we see her daughter frolicking in the garden with her mothers' hijab on her head!  After another 5 minutes of chasing her daughter around, we finally caught her and she had to give her mom her headscarf back.  As you can see, she wasn't very happy with being caught. 

*sigh* This is what happens when Peace Corp Volunteers get together.  TOTAL CHAOS!!

Another Volunteer (Parker) pleading before the judges (also known as Emilia and Luz) in regards to his inability to find the correct pan needed to cook meatballs.  As you can see, Judge Emilia is not impressed.

On the last day of school, we played lots of English games.  In this one, I blindfolded the kids, gave them an object, and they had to figure out what it was.  This one was a scrubbie, which the boys had no idea what it was.  (The girls were all laughing.)

Bread is considered sacred in Azerbaijan.  You don't throw it in the trash, if you see a piece on the ground you put it someplace higher, and if you drop it, you kiss it and touch it to your forehead 3 times.  That being said, I have no idea why a piece of bread is tied to a chair on the sidewalk.

My 1st and 3rd form students surprised my for my birthday!  They baked me a cake, and gave me presents!  It was great!

This is normally what happens in the evenings at my house.  Everyone gets together and plays soccer or volleyball, or some sort of ball game.

My 1st form students getting ready to perform "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes".  They dressed "American Style" for the song.  "American" being jeans, white button-down shirts, and "Cowboy hats".  

My counterpart Durdana and myself.  

This is an amazing shop in the Old City of Baku.  It's a bit out of my price range, but they have beautiful stuff.    I however, know another merchant who has much better prices and who I have gotten to the point of being able to sit down and have tea with him, which in turn increases my bargaining power, allowing me to get even  better prices.  I love bargianing!

For some unknown reason, even though we are the tenth group in Azerbaijan (AZ10's) the AZ11's got the 10 year anniversery at their swearing in.  I don't care what they say though, that 10 year anniversary it ours, you understand!  OURS!  AND NO ONE ELSE CAN HAVE IT!  

Me on one of the roads in Sumgayit.  I think it's a pretty picture anyway.

Baku...I'd be lying if I didn't say that parts of Azerbaijan remind me of Mos Eisley. 

     So that's what I've got for right now!  I've got decent internet for about a week, so I'll try and get another one or two up this week.  Take Care!

Azeri Transportation (or, How the H*** Am I Supposed To Get Anywhere?)

     I live in a village...a small village.  A village small enough that walking is the most reliable form of transportation.  I'm only 10 minutes outside of town, but those 10 minutes put a lot of distance between here and there.  In my first days here, I thought I was in the middle of nowhere, though I later found out I was only on the edge of nowhere, at the very far end of the village.  Now I was (and still am) a decent way from my school, and my host family would drive me to school every morning, and drive me back every afternoon, but if I wanted to get to school at a different time, or go to someone's house (not that I knew anyone at that point) or go to Agdash (the city), I was at the mercy of fate and Azeri time, both of which can drive a person to madness.  So, obviously, I needed to figure out transportation; and since then, I've had some enlightening and somewhat crazy experiences.

PCV's On A Bus!

   IN A CITY
If you happen to be in a city in Azerbaijan, you'r in luck!  You actually have transportation!  More than that, you might even have more than one option!  In Baku, besides having an airport and train station, you can get most anywhere using anything from the metro (subway) to buses, taxis, marshrutkas, heck, even bikes (if you're crazy enough to bike in Baku traffic).  In smaller cities like Sumgayit, you still have a number of options, and there are usually lots of bus routes, marshrutkas, and the inevitable taxi.  And there are usually enough of them that the wait is usually only a few minutes.  All in all, you are probably in the best position to be able to get somewhere if you are in a city.

A City (Baku)

   IN A TOWN
If you are in a town (or a small city) then you usually have less options.  Maybe 3-4 marshutka routes that cover the main part of the city, and a few marshutkas that run outside the town to villages.  If you need to get somewhere the marshutkas don't go, you can either catch a taxi (which are numerous) or walk, since the towns usually aren't incredibly large.  You might have to wait a while, (say 15-45 minutes or more) but you can usually get to where you are going without too much hassle.

A Town (Agdash)

   
     IN A VILLAGE
This is where I am, and the transportation options are pretty spare.  There are no taxi's in small villages unless they are dropping someone off from a nearby town.  If you are very lucky, you might be able to grab one on it's way out of the village, but this is rare and not to be depended upon.  The main way to get from one place to another is either to walk to go in a car with your family (should they have a car).  If they don't, well tough, you're going to need some good (mud-proof) boots, and preferably either a knee-length skirt or pants that end at least an inch above the ground. If you need to get out of the village, it's probably going to be a bit hard, and something you have to plan out in advance.  There might be a marshutka to the nearest town or city, but it likely only runs a few times a day. (I'm lucky in that the marshutka in my village goes to Agdash 6 times a day, but the last one is at 5pm)  So this is where all that guesting and networking comes into play.  The most common way I've found to get out of the village (and even around the village) is to know people, because in a small village, everyone knows everyone else.  I found out when the kids in my village catch a marshutka into Agdash, and will occasionally catch a ride with them; other times, I just go out to the main road and wait until someone heading into town stops.  I don't recommend this method for anything other than a small village, and not until you are known in the community, but once you are known, lots of people from the village will usually pull over and ask if you need a ride. (For women, proper young men won't stop unless they know you, so if a young man you don't know stops and asks if you want a ride, say NO.)

A Village (Dahna)

    INTER-RAYON TRAVEL

If you are in Baku, you can probably get just about anywhere using either the train or the avtovagzal (bus station) but all other areas have a pretty sparse schedule, (Only exception is if you are going to Baku from one of the larger cities, they usually have a decent schedule for that) There is no good way to know when a bus or marshutka is either arriving or leaving unless you have the driver's number.  If you can find a local who is able to call around and find out when, then that's your best bet.  However, something to keep in mind is that if you look on a map, and see two cities close together, that doesn't necessarily mean it's easy to get to.  For me, Agsu and Goycay are relatively close to me on a map, and it looks like there's a road connecting all three cities, but in practice, you have to catch a bus down to the main highway, then another one towards the direction your going, then another one going up to the city you're trying to visit.  Overall, travel is a lot more difficult here than in North America or Europe, but it can be done with some planning and patience.
 P.S. A note of caution: Don't travel around Novruz or Yeni-il if you can help it.  These are huge holidays here, and everyone is traveling.  Also, Azeri's don't line up, ever, if they are trying to get on a bus or marshutka they just rush the door, and with the crowds you get at Novruz and Yeni-il, if you want to get on, you have to literally elbow your way past all the others trying to get on and unashamedly claw your way into the vehicle.  It is not for the faint of heart.
  Keep Calm and Carry On,
      Aven

Pictures and Randomness!

So just because I can, here's a few random pictures from my life here, and some commentary on them.

So, 

My host mother's brother was coming back from Russia after 20 years, and during that time, their father had died.  So they threw a (very belated) mourning for the father so his son could attend.  This is a view from the women's room, with food laid out on a runner across the floor, and pillows for people to sit on.

Part of my 1st form class, waving to America.  :)

My host fam knows I like to take pictures, so they usually take me with when they think I might find something interesting.  In this case, it was collecting firewood.  I helped out, and my little host brother took pictures.

A traditional meal that I often get when I go 'guesting' at someones house.  I can never finish all the food they give me.

My host mom and I making dolma, (rice and meat wrapped in grape leaves) and looking at my host brother skeptically as he tries to take a picture.

Part of The Family over at the house.  The Grandmother really likes me, and you can see her telling me to stop taking pictures and come sit down beside her, heh. :)

My Consolidation Cluster, otherwise known as the people I will have to be with if Peace Corps has to evacuate the country.  We had a practice drill that was necessary but very inconvenient.  Though I did get some nice photos.

So yeah, that's what I got.  I'll put up more useful info next time, but this should tide (the 2 or so of you who read this) over until next time.  See ya!

Cause of Death: Not Wearing Slippers

     Let me tell you a little about one of the most interesting cultural fixations Azeri's have; fear of the cold.  I don't mean they are afraid of Winter or of it snowing, no, they are afraid of things like cold water, any food that might be below room temperature, and cold floors, hence the fixation with wearing slippers (or at least socks) in the house at all times, especially in the winter.  In fact, in winter, if you walk around the house barefoot, they pretty much assume you are going to die, cause of death: not wearing slippers!

Proper Azeri slipper-wearing

     Many are convinced that if you get sick, it's because at some point, you got cold.  You ate something cold, or maybe you took two showers that week, and it was too much for your body to handle.  All Peace Corps Volunteers have stories about running into this particular cultural barrier, and we all handle it a bit differently.  My PC neighbour during training was constantly told by her host mother that taking a shower every other day was bad for her health, but she ignored it and just made sure her hair was dry before heading out of the house.  I apparently have been given a waiver to the "cold will kill you' rule, as I have demonstrated repeatedly to my family that I can eat cold things and not keel over.  However, just because I can eat cold things, doesn't mean they can, and one moment that illustrated this perfectly was when I was eating a yogurt cup.  It was cold, fresh out of the fridge, and my family was fine with this, but when my host sister went and got the same yogurt cup and started eating it, she got yelled at for it being too cold.  She had to put it next to the peche (fire) to warm it up before she could eat it.

Certain Death!

     I can actually see where this came from, and it makes sense.  Back in the day, water running through towns and villages was dirty (most Medieval Europeans didn't drink water at all, for the same reason) and if you drank it, you got sick.  But someone figured out that if you made the water hot (boiled it), you didn't get sick.  Probably why tea is so popular.  However, that was carried over to the assumption that it must be the cold that made you ill.  Hence, today, even things like pop and mayo are warmed up before they are consumed, and every Azeri I've seen in the village is wearing multiple layers, a coat, a scarf, a hat, etc.., and they look at me all aghast when I take my coat off 'cause I feel way to warm.  They also think Americans are crazy for drinking water with ice in it.  (ICE! Certain Death Awaits!)  I am planning on eventually doing a basic health presentation in the village, and I think I will bring up the whole 'cold water will kill you' deal, and see what kind of discussion ensues.  Ah, well.  I'm off to tempt fate by taking a shower.  Take Care All! Stay Warm!

The Music of Peace Corps

   

Ah Beloit, you gave me so much good music

     Ok, this may seem like a strange topic, but I've noticed that music plays a really important part in surviving Peace Corps.  My mother, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal back in the late 70's, often told me about how she would always ask her sitemate (who had a guitar) to play Jethro Tull's 'Locomotive Breath'.  To this day she loves that song, and it reminds her of her time in PC.  For me, the two songs that so far are my "Peace Corps Songs", are 'Some Nights' by Fun, and 'Gangnam Style" by PSY.  

     I know at least some of you groaned when you saw 'Gangnam Style', but what can I say?  It's everywhere!  I see it on T.V. hear it on the news, on commercials, on telephones, and my host brother is obsessed with the song, and sings it constantly.  So yeah, I will always think of Azerbaijan when I hear that song in future.  'Some Nights' just feels like America to me.  I'm not very patriotic and definitely not nationalistic; but the fact remains that America is where I grew up, and that music makes me think of a warm summer night in the Midwest.  It makes me relax and just seems to say, "home", when I am anywhere but.  Anybody else have special travel/Peace Corps music? 

Planting Trees I Will Never Sit Under

  It's been a month, but I'm finally starting to get a handle on my classes.  How each of them works, which students pay attention and which would rather be somewhere else, and how my counterparts like to teach.  I have only just started getting a foothold in the classroom, and at the moment I'm mostly focusing on English games, but really hope to expand.  The problem that I am running into is that I am in a small village, near a big (ish) town, and that town has some very good schools in it.  Anyone who can send their kids to Agdash, does.  That being said, the kids I have in my school are enthusiastic, and most of them do try in class, but they just don't have the same level of English that you find in towns and cities.  Somewhat compounding the problem is the fact they they have been taught by the Grammar-Translation method; meaning that they only learn English grammar and translate text from English to Azerbaijani.  So they know our grammar better than I do, and can usually translate a decent amount of text, but they can't actually speak.  For example, They can translate "Tell me about your family.", but they can't actually answer, or talk about their family.

One of my 5th grade classes

     I've been studying each class to find ways to try and get students to start practice talking, and actually start using the language, and I'm starting to lay the groundwork that will hopefully bear some small fruit in 2-years time.  One of my younger classes has a fair amount of students who don't have books, so those students pretty much ignore most of class, since it's all from the book.  For them, I've been doing a lot of hangman, which is starting to draw those dispassionate students into the discussion.  From there, I hope to move to more movement-based activities, which aren't in the book.  That should make it a bit easier for everyone to follow along, and that class needs to be more physically involved; too many students just sit there until I bring in an activity. (Side note: The kids have never really done classroom activities that require them to move around the classroom, or work with others, or be abstract, so it's a bit chaotic at first, because they can't fathom what they heck they are supposed to do.  But they're slowly getting it, and it makes for an interesting observation)((God, I am such and anthropologist))
     Another class has been frustrating me for ages, but today I finally made a connection, and found out that they love competitive games.  Splitting the class into two large groups, and delegating a speaker for each group made them all work together, especially after I told them that if anyone besides the speaker yelled out the answer, the other team automatically got the question.  Again, it took a while for them to realize that they could all come together and talk to come up with an answer, but after awhile, they were all huddling together and madly discussing possible answers, even if the other team had the question.  It was a great class, and I will definitely do more competitive games in that class; eventually (hopefully) by the time I leave, I would like to be able to pose a question and have them answer in complex sentences.
     I keep looking at what other volunteers are doing, and so many of them are doing great and amazing things, and I wish I could do what they are, but I also know that I have a different situation than what they might have.  I don't have access to magazines, or empty school buildings, or even coloured paper and scissors.  My resources are the students, teachers, and my own mind, which admittedly makes things a bit difficult, (especially since I'm such an introvert) but hopefully it will also mean that whatever changes I make here will be permanent and sustainable, since it's going to have to come from the people, rather than something I buy or bring in from outside.  Only time will tell, but I can only hope that what I do here will have some kind of lasting impact for the better.  Guess it goes with that old saying, "Society grows great when old men plant seeds for trees they never expect to sit under."  We never know what seeds we plant, since we won't be around to see what our impact will be.  We just do our best and hope it all turns out better than it would've been.

The Week in Highlights

     This week I'm just going to give a few of the highlights I found in the multiple rounds of guesting and feasting that go with the holiday. Also, apparently if you are in the Peace Corps, you can't use the Peace Corps logo on your blog, and since one of my posts had the logo with it, someone came in and removed the picture from it.  So I will eventually be designing and putting up my own version of the Peace Corps logo so I can have some kind of representation of it on here.  Any input on design ideas would be welcome.  But moving on, here are the things that I found interesting this week.

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.