My Biggest Lingering Cultural Challenge...

I'm comfortable in my life here. I know my way around town. While I'm not fluent I can communicate in my daily life. I have some work to do. I have local friends who, while they may not know me as well as my American friends do, they are definitely friends and not just acquantainces.

But one challenge lingers. America is a very scheduled, ask permission type of environment, and it has been ingrained in me from a young age. You should ask before you just stop by someone's house. You should be cognizant of the time before you call someone on the phone in case they might be asleep. And on and on.

Those thoughts don't exist here. It's completely normal to just drop by someone's house and end up staying for a few hours - chatting, drinking tea, or even staying for a full meal. Or for the phone to ring at 1:00am. And that's been hard - I have to push myself to stop by people's houses "uninvited." Because to them, I'm not uninvited. When I see someone in town that I know, they'll ask me: "Why haven't you come by?" It's not a proper response to ask when I should come, because the invitation has always been open. I could go anytime.

Cultural acclimation is not instantaneous. I'm still working on it, but I think I'm happier being in a continuous state of learning and growing instead of being fully conformed to Azerbaijani culture. I'm still me, still an American, and that cultural exchange and learning is part of what makes the Peace Corps experience a valuable one.