The Alphabet Party

A few days ago I was invited to School Number 3’s Alphabet Party (the English version). Now I had absolutely no idea what this was (I’ve had very little exposure to the schools), but I was available so I went. It turns out that it was an event to demonstrate the English that they’ve learned so far. Other teachers, the School Director, mothers, grandmothers, a musician and cameraman were all in attendance (but no fathers or grandfathers). Apparently they learn some basic English before 5th form (grade) but 5th form is when they start learning the alphabet and grammar. So I heard the alphabet, the seasons and months, and then some songs, poems, and a story, all in English, performed by the 5th form class. I’ve never been to a school program before, but it was definitely more elaborate than I was expecting – props and multiple costume changes included. Near the end people began to speak – the School Director, etc., and then all of a sudden I was asked to speak. And while the rest of the day was entirely in English, everyone else was speaking in Azeri, so that’s what I did. Off the top of my head I said thank you for the invitation, how it was interesting to experience Azerbaijan’s culture because we don’t have a day like this in America, and that if you want to learn English the basics are important. Apparently it was mostly correct – but I kind of wish I had known ahead of time so that it could’ve been better. Oh well. Then the day concluded with tea and cake with some of the other teachers – one of whom I’d actually met before through my sitemate. And while I have a feeling that some of the speaking was just memorized, it was still a neat experience to see what they are learning and doing in class.

  

An Apprehensive Visit To The Dentist…

We’re now halfway through our actual service (the two years didn’t actually start until training was over and we were sworn in as Volunteers – December 10, 2008) and the mid-service things (like dentist and doctor appointments) are starting. Last Friday when I was in Baku I had a dentist appointment scheduled. In general, I don’t like dentists. I’ve had a lot of dental work done and some of it left me with bad memories. So suffice it to say, I did not have great hopes for this dentist. Other Volunteers had said good things, but in my head I was trying to be overly pessimistic, so that hopefully my visit would exceed my expectations…

And oh my, did the visit exceed my expectations! When I walked through that door I may have well walked through a portal to America. America in the future even, as this dentist was more modern than any I had been to in the States. I was greeted in English (although I did hear both Russian and Azeri during my visit) and asked to complete a form in English. I heard other patients speaking English in the waiting room (and they were not other PCVs). The cleaning room I was taken to was spotless, and while part of the cleaning seemed familiar, part of it also seemed new and high tech. Then I was taken to an x-ray room and when the technician took the x-rays they immediately showed up on the computer screen in front of me. No lighted box with the developed x-rays in front of it, but on the computer screen with the technician saving them to a disc to be included in my file. Then the dentist came in and reviewed everything, and I was on my way, discarding my plastic shoe covers on the way out. And while yes, I do have a cavity that will be filled later this month; I am definitely at ease with the thought of going back there.

Disclaimer: This is the service that PCVs receive, and it is not representative of the general population. While we do live at the level of our communities in terms of our living stipend, our medical care isn’t included in that. The PC Azerbaijan office has two doctors on staff and when dentists and hospitals are needed, they are generally the same facilities that Embassy employees and expats use.

Welcome!

http://en.trend.az/news/politics/foreign/1596971.html

Today was moving day! Yesterday 64 new Volunteers swore in (see the local news article - sorry, I couldn't get the link to work; you'll have to copy and paste) and today they lugged all of their stuff to the regions to meet their new host families and organizations. No one new came to Ujar, but I have new neighbors in some closeby towns. PC Azerbaijan is now 119 strong!!

Back To Training...

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a training session for the AZ7s, the Trainees who arrived in October and will swear in as Volunteers next week. The session that I helped with was called “What To Do When There’s Nothing To Do (Problem Solving)” and I was there along with another Volunteer. We brought very different experiences to the session – she had almost too much work to do right from the very beginning while I definitely experienced a lot of downtime in the beginning. We talked about our experiences – what our challenges were/are, how we solved problems, what we did upon moving to site, and much more. It was almost more interesting to just answer their questions. They all have their permanent site assignments and are getting an idea of what their next two years are really going to be like. Before receiving site assignments it all seems a bit hypothetical – there’s really no way of knowing how they’re going to use all this information that is being given to them. For example, the other Volunteer that I presented with lives in the second largest city in Azerbaijan, has multiple English speakers at her counterpart organization, and very rarely uses Azerbaijani, whereas I’m just the opposite since I’m in a smaller town, without English speakers at my counterpart organization, and I rarely use English. But that’s something that is specific to each Volunteer, the city/village they are placed in, the organization they will work with, and the community projects they will undertake.

It was kind of surreal to be back in the familiar environment of Sumgayit – going to the same internet café, eating at the same restaurant (even recognizing employees from those places), etc. But there were obviously new things there too – different Americans, a new bus station, and of course, I understood much more of what was being said. Due to the travel time necessary I stayed in Sumgayit for two nights, which made it a great time to get to know the new Volunteers. I stayed with one of the Trainees (at her host family’s), chatted with the Trainees before and after the session, had tea with one who wanted some more discussion because he’s going to an organization that’s very similar to mine, and even went to a conversation club that a couple of the Trainees were participating in. It was a great addition to the Thanksgiving weekend (I went to straight to Sumgayit from Baku) and I’m excited to get to know these Volunteers once they move to their permanent sites and they’re in the “real” Azerbaijan out of their training environment. They are super excited to move to the regions and get to work, and hopefully that will help to reinvigorate the rest of us as we, the AZ6s, move into our final year of service. Due to the time it takes to integrate and increase language skills, most Volunteers say that their second year is much more productive than their first…so let’s see what we can do!