July 9th – July 20th
Week Three is at an end and finally the days have begun to pick up speed. Last weekend I traveled to Gəncə to visit a PCV’s and I learned the following things:
I can live for days without having stomach cramps – they’re not just from “being in Azerbaijan”
I’ll get out of Peace Corps what I put into it (just like everything else)
If I don’t get the language right away, it’s okay, charades is cross-cultural
It will be very difficult to find an apartment, but it is both possible and likely (but it is also likely that I will be kicked out at some point for doing “American Things” like being a woman and having people over and thus will have to begin the search again)
I WILL learn to live in Azerbaijan with all of its quirks and I will likely be safe
We began English Conversation Clubs last week and held two sessions thus far. There have been between 16 and 25 youth (14-24 yrs old) in attendance. I’ve never done anything similar to this and wouldn’t have expected it, but I’m truly enjoying it. The youth are eager to learn and excited to meet Americans. It’s also nice to feel like I’m interacting with the community and providing something of use instead of just learning the language and doing exercises (which I know are important). We now have enough students to hold groups individually and I am looking forward to it.
Next week I’ll meet with my Program Manager to discuss where I would like to go for my permanent site. This means a rural location or city, hot or cold climate (though it’s similar everywhere), with or without site-mate(s) and what type of organization I want to work with.
I wish I could say what I want most, but I just don’t know. There are positive and negative aspects to everything and I am at a loss as to what’s best. We find out our permanent assignments the week of July 29th. (yikes!)
****A note about blog postings – the internet is REALLY slow. Therefore, I will not be able to post pictures in the near future. I have sent some home to Mom and Adam, so hound them if you are curious.
Also, the webpages are in RUSSIAN. I don’t know how to change this, and it is a miracle anyone has been able to post anything but I will not be able to respond to comments or change my blog in any way. Therefore, PLEASE only post culturally sensitive comments. Peace Corps periodically monitors blogs and I don’t want to make mine private and sign-in only. If you want to say something risquÈ, email me. Also, I will not be able to list any information about my current location for safely purposes, so if you’re curious, email me or ask Mom or Adam.
Joe (my site-mate) said something last time we were in the internet cafÈ that I felt both obvious and telling. He said, “A month ago I was reading, ‘Jenni’s Life at the Moment’ and today I’m sitting in an internet cafÈ in Azerbaijan next to Jenni as she types her blog. Oh how far (literally) we’ve all come.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
July 1 – July 8
Week one is over and I’m feeling fine. My body continues to adjust to new sights, tastes, sounds and attitudes. After battling sickness for a few days, I bounced back and am feeling well. The spectrum of my experience and what’s to come is sinking in. Having my phone helps, though it’s expensive to call home (I’ve made a total of four calls – each lasting one minute and used up 800 of my 1000 kontours*. Needless to say, I won’t be making very many phone calls. One the up side, it’s free for me to receive calls, though there’s been some trouble and confusion as to how to do that inexpensively.
I found the post office. It will cost about 2 manat** to mail letters, so I’ll be sending them in bulk (we get paid just over 1 manat a day for regular work days). For the past week the post office has been out of stamps, but I’m hoping they’ll get some in early next week so I can send out my first written correspondence.
On July 4th the PCT’s went guesting at Scott’s house. Scott’s lives in a villa. It’s nicer than most American homes I’ve visited.
For dinner, his Ana served us:
- Orange Juice
- Pizza (no kidding, she made pizza and it tasted just like pizza)
- Chicken kabob
- Bread
- Beef tenderloin kabob
- Roasted potatoes
- Some crepe like yumminess
And a host of other foods I can’t think of at the moment. He has a washing machine, dishwasher and indoor western toilet and bathtub (a REAL tub)! Needless to say, the other PCT’s enjoyed July 4th together. It was extra special because it’s the first time we’ve all been together outside of school (which we attend 6 days a week).
I learned how to say foods that I like and don’t like and my Ana bought LOTS of fresh fruit and vegetables: apples, plums, tomatoes, eggplant, and potatoes. I tried and figs, which my town is famous for (and for good reason!).
My typical day of PST is as follows:
- 7:00 am wake, stretch, listen to the roosters and contemplate the new day
- 9:00 am arrive at school for language lessons
- 1:00 pm walk home for lunch, which is always delicious. (I’m even getting used to drinking hot tea when it’s 100 degrees!)
- 2:30 pm walk back to school for Youth Development training
- 5:30 pm arrive home, have tea, supper, shower, spend time with family, talk to Adam about life and how many times he had to call before he got through , talk to my mom about life and how many time she had to call before she got through , write letters, listen to music, etc.
- 11:30 pm fall asleep after contemplating where I am in the world and what it means to be here.
My new week will begin with my first Azerbaijani party. A friend of the family’s son is returning home from the military. We also received an invitation to a wedding (in which 300-400 people will attend!) later this month. Weddings are a pretty big deal here and my host sister “said” she wanted to style my hair for the wedding (I think they don’t like my everyday ponytail as much as I do) and I’m looking forward to my first Azeri hairstyle.
This weekend we will be traveling to the regions for a few days to visit current PCV's and get a better picture of the Peace Corps experience long term. I'll be about 6 hours away from my present site, so the bus ride should be interesting.
This week is also the beginning of our English Conversation clubs. This is our first assignment and I am looking forward to working with the community to get a better sense of where I am and what I may encounter while working with community members in the future.
We continue to be well taken care of while everyday brings a new experience in which we acculturate and communicate a little better. Even when illness strikes, we get together and talk about the most intimate of subjects with strangers who become better friends every day.
*1 kontour translates to about 1 second. There are no phone contracts, only cards with kontours
**1 manat is about as much as a euro, which is stronger than the dollar and thus does not go as far
***supper is dinner, dinner is lunch.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
June 27-June 29
Salam! I made it! After about 30 hours of travel we finally arrived at the Quba Olympic Complex in Quba. We were spoiled. I shared a room with two other girls, had access to 24-hour running water and 24-hour electricity. The toilets are “regular” toilets, not squat-style. The scenery is beautiful, rolling hills and lots of green and though it is hot, the air is dry so it is not so bad – and there is air-conditioning!!!
The food is amazing: Breakfast = bread, honey, butter, some sort of cream, tea, juice, and goat cheese.
Lunch = bread, goat cheese, soup, tomatoes, cucumbers, cherries, sour green crab apples, soup, two types of salad (beat, potato, bean, slaw), juice and meat.
Dinner = bread, goat cheese, two types of salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, juice and meat.
There is no snacking generally and no one drinks water and no one uses ice (but it is supplied for Americans).
What did the countryside look like on the way to Quba? Bare, brown and full of oil pumping stations (I don’t know the proper word for them). There were also half-built walls that appeared out of nowhere and a few huge new housing developments. Cows, goats, donkeys, chickens wandering about. There were lots of people standing about – I should say lots of men because I didn’t see hardly any women except a few here and there. And I don’t want to make value judgments, but the driving is NOT AT ALL like in the states.
On the way we stopped at a kabob stand where I had my first experience with a squat toilet. Not bad. Like some places in Europe – we paid to use the bathroom. Besides smelling strongly of urine and being dimly lit, it wasn’t bad at all. There was even toilet paper (Azeri’s don’t typically use toilet paper, but it’s available for purchase).
One exciting thing that happened was we got our host-family placements! I will be living in a town of 14,000 that has a history dating back to the 9th century!!! One of the trainers used to live there and she said they have regular electricity and the water is not so bad, though it will have to be boiled. We haven’t begun malaria medication, so I’m assuming there’s not malaria there – though I will still be using my mosquito net and OFF.
I’ve heard some sites have Internet access, which mine does not – but I figure I didn’t join the Peace Corps to be totally connected. There’s always letters I keep hearing cows moo which I always seem to mistake for my cell phone vibrating. Funny, I don’t have a cell phone yet.
My family will have a father, a mother who is an English grammar teacher, two sisters (16 and 17) and one brother (11). I’ll be moving there Saturday afternoon.
June 30
Salam! Today I arrived at my destination for the next three months. I can finally unpack! I am close to the Caspian Sea, where my host Ana (mother) tells me we will soon go. She says she will take me everywhere! Weddings, Parties, “Guesting”. My elation and excitement are difficult to describe. Her English is good and she is more than happy to translate and help me with grammar, which will help considerably in the coming months.
My room is larger than I imagined. My bed is comfortable. There is a “shower” but because of a water shortage in the summer, we are not using it. Instead it is like a sponge bath without concern of getting the floor wet. The bathrooms are like the true meaning of the word “washroom” Everything gets wet. The toilet is not “pit-style” but it does not have a lid and there is no toilet paper (I brought my own. No toilet paper is a custom it will be difficult to get used to.) The bathroom is on the outside of the house, down a corridor and in a separate concrete building.
My first evening was spent with grape leaves, bread, cherries, tea, tomatoes, cucumbers and beef (not in that order). I then took a bath, which I turned cold and though it felt great, after I turned off the water I immediately began to sweat. Now that it’s night it’s cooled down considerably and is comfortable. My host Ana warned me to be careful not to get in front of the fan while wet because I might catch cold. It’s over 100 degrees here.
The bus ride was long and hot but it was exciting to see each group get off, all dazed and anxious to see what comes next. I was in the third of six groups to get off and the first of my group to leave. When it was my turn I thought, “well, here goes nothin’” I waved to my fellow PCV’s, whom I will see again tomorrow morning, and took a deep breath. Like jumping off a diving board in the dark into the ocean – you don’t know idea what’s down there, but you know you can swim.
My Ana told me I could either rest or come out with the family, which was nice because it is strange for Azeris to grasp the notion of “alone time”, but she totally got it and encouraged me to take the time and space I needed. She even stocked the fridge full of cold water! Consequently, I got bored in my room, found my photographs and gave my gifts of UNO cards, a Michigan Cookbook and a Michigan post-card. My sixteen-year-old Becı (sister) was really interested in the pictures of my friends and family and said Aunt Janet had beautiful eyes. Blue eyes are an extreme rarity here; though it amazed me she could see them in the photo. Then she showed me photos of her family and told me she was fat. She is not fat. I guess there are some things you just can’t get rid of. Perhaps it’s because she spends time watching American music videos. Ugh.
On the bus ride I thought about all of the people who have told me that Peace Corps is their dream and wish they would have or could do it. To those people I say, “DO IT!” It’s scary and crazy and exciting, but once you’re in, you’re in and there is every kind of person here – there is no “Peace Corps type of person” We are all who we allow ourselves to become.
Salam! I made it! After about 30 hours of travel we finally arrived at the Quba Olympic Complex in Quba. We were spoiled. I shared a room with two other girls, had access to 24-hour running water and 24-hour electricity. The toilets are “regular” toilets, not squat-style. The scenery is beautiful, rolling hills and lots of green and though it is hot, the air is dry so it is not so bad – and there is air-conditioning!!!
The food is amazing: Breakfast = bread, honey, butter, some sort of cream, tea, juice, and goat cheese.
Lunch = bread, goat cheese, soup, tomatoes, cucumbers, cherries, sour green crab apples, soup, two types of salad (beat, potato, bean, slaw), juice and meat.
Dinner = bread, goat cheese, two types of salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, juice and meat.
There is no snacking generally and no one drinks water and no one uses ice (but it is supplied for Americans).
What did the countryside look like on the way to Quba? Bare, brown and full of oil pumping stations (I don’t know the proper word for them). There were also half-built walls that appeared out of nowhere and a few huge new housing developments. Cows, goats, donkeys, chickens wandering about. There were lots of people standing about – I should say lots of men because I didn’t see hardly any women except a few here and there. And I don’t want to make value judgments, but the driving is NOT AT ALL like in the states.
On the way we stopped at a kabob stand where I had my first experience with a squat toilet. Not bad. Like some places in Europe – we paid to use the bathroom. Besides smelling strongly of urine and being dimly lit, it wasn’t bad at all. There was even toilet paper (Azeri’s don’t typically use toilet paper, but it’s available for purchase).
One exciting thing that happened was we got our host-family placements! I will be living in a town of 14,000 that has a history dating back to the 9th century!!! One of the trainers used to live there and she said they have regular electricity and the water is not so bad, though it will have to be boiled. We haven’t begun malaria medication, so I’m assuming there’s not malaria there – though I will still be using my mosquito net and OFF.
I’ve heard some sites have Internet access, which mine does not – but I figure I didn’t join the Peace Corps to be totally connected. There’s always letters I keep hearing cows moo which I always seem to mistake for my cell phone vibrating. Funny, I don’t have a cell phone yet.
My family will have a father, a mother who is an English grammar teacher, two sisters (16 and 17) and one brother (11). I’ll be moving there Saturday afternoon.
June 30
Salam! Today I arrived at my destination for the next three months. I can finally unpack! I am close to the Caspian Sea, where my host Ana (mother) tells me we will soon go. She says she will take me everywhere! Weddings, Parties, “Guesting”. My elation and excitement are difficult to describe. Her English is good and she is more than happy to translate and help me with grammar, which will help considerably in the coming months.
My room is larger than I imagined. My bed is comfortable. There is a “shower” but because of a water shortage in the summer, we are not using it. Instead it is like a sponge bath without concern of getting the floor wet. The bathrooms are like the true meaning of the word “washroom” Everything gets wet. The toilet is not “pit-style” but it does not have a lid and there is no toilet paper (I brought my own. No toilet paper is a custom it will be difficult to get used to.) The bathroom is on the outside of the house, down a corridor and in a separate concrete building.
My first evening was spent with grape leaves, bread, cherries, tea, tomatoes, cucumbers and beef (not in that order). I then took a bath, which I turned cold and though it felt great, after I turned off the water I immediately began to sweat. Now that it’s night it’s cooled down considerably and is comfortable. My host Ana warned me to be careful not to get in front of the fan while wet because I might catch cold. It’s over 100 degrees here.
The bus ride was long and hot but it was exciting to see each group get off, all dazed and anxious to see what comes next. I was in the third of six groups to get off and the first of my group to leave. When it was my turn I thought, “well, here goes nothin’” I waved to my fellow PCV’s, whom I will see again tomorrow morning, and took a deep breath. Like jumping off a diving board in the dark into the ocean – you don’t know idea what’s down there, but you know you can swim.
My Ana told me I could either rest or come out with the family, which was nice because it is strange for Azeris to grasp the notion of “alone time”, but she totally got it and encouraged me to take the time and space I needed. She even stocked the fridge full of cold water! Consequently, I got bored in my room, found my photographs and gave my gifts of UNO cards, a Michigan Cookbook and a Michigan post-card. My sixteen-year-old Becı (sister) was really interested in the pictures of my friends and family and said Aunt Janet had beautiful eyes. Blue eyes are an extreme rarity here; though it amazed me she could see them in the photo. Then she showed me photos of her family and told me she was fat. She is not fat. I guess there are some things you just can’t get rid of. Perhaps it’s because she spends time watching American music videos. Ugh.
On the bus ride I thought about all of the people who have told me that Peace Corps is their dream and wish they would have or could do it. To those people I say, “DO IT!” It’s scary and crazy and exciting, but once you’re in, you’re in and there is every kind of person here – there is no “Peace Corps type of person” We are all who we allow ourselves to become.
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