How To: Eat Pomegranates

I’ve said to many people that I have a new favorite fruit after living in Azerbaijan: the pomegranate. And I get the same quizzical look from most of those people, the look that means how do you eat a pomegranate? They’ve recently become popular in the States for drink flavors and bath product scents, but not so much for eating (at least I had never had one before I came to Azerbaijan, and I know many other people that have never had them). Pomegranate season is in fall/early winter (unlike most food in America that you can buy during any season, I couldn’t find them when I was there in June). So here are your directions:

Step 1: Buy/pick the pomegranates. According to Azeris you know they’re ripe when they’re big and make a hollow sound when you tap it (kind of like checking a watermelon to see if it’s ripe).

Step 2: Tear the top (the stem) off – it will leave a small hole.

Step 3: Cut two shallow lines extending from the hole made in Step 2. Make the cuts deep enough to cut through the skin but not so deep that you cut the fruit inside.

Step 4: Place pressure near the top (near the hole) with your hands and then pull your hands apart, thus breaking the pomegranate in half.

Step 5: Pick out the pieces from the inside and eat as many as you want at once. Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary!

This week marks one year that I’ve been in Azerbaijan (along with the rest of the AZ6 group). While the experience as a whole is definitely different than my expectations, it’s still a great experience that I wouldn’t change for the world.

Here are some highlights:
- Meeting and interacting with all of the other great American PCVs who are also here to give of themselves.
- Sharing a Thanksgiving experience with a local family.
- Having our entire group of 61 Trainees survive training and swear in as Volunteers (apparently this is extremely rare).
- Trying new foods (if you know me, you understand that this is an accomplishment).
- Demonstrating how there are multiple ways of achieving the same result – I may cook differently than you, but in the end it’s still an edible meal…
- Surviving a summer where it’s above 100 degrees on a daily basis (and that’s considered mild).
- Being able to carry on full length conversations in Azeri without help (granted, some hand gestures, drawings, and synonyms are used).
- Celebrating new holidays like Women’s Day (Anyone need some perfume? I have plenty!) and Novruz (Why don’t we have a holiday in America that includes jumping over a fire?)
- Making do with what’s available – no take out, no delivery, and no pre-made meals.
- Not having to go through a summer without a camp experience.
- Appreciating inventions that I never really appreciated before – like long underwear, my -20 degree rated sleeping bag provided by PC, and water filters.
- Taking an amazing trip to nearby Tbilisi, Georgia with even more amazing friends.
- Meeting people who are challenging the norms and traditions of the local culture.
- And finally, knowing that I am truly making a difference. I know that I have touched people’s lives just as they have touched mine, and even though it may not always be in a concrete way, it’s still just (if not more) as valuable. And there’s still over a year to go…

Normal Chores Just Take Longer…

And laundry is one of them. The majority of people don’t have washing machines, and the few that do usually just have agitators (an electric machine that essentially just moves the laundry around – no spin, rinse, etc.) that they only sometimes use. So here’s the process:

Step 1: Determine what laundry is actually dirty (no use washing something that’s only been worn once).

Step 2: Fill a tub with water and add soap. Swish it around until it’s bubbly and add the laundry.
Swish the laundry around so the soap is mixed in.

Step 3: Let the laundry sit for awhile.

Step 4: Return to the laundry and wash any stained clothing in the exact spot needed.

Step 5: Rinse and wring out the laundry.

Step 6: Hang the laundry on the line to dry.