Now We’re The Veterans…

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, AZ7s, the new group of Volunteers, have arrived. They arrived on October 1st and have been in training since then, and will stay there until they swear in as Volunteers (now they’re considered Trainees) in mid-December. Well, with the exception of the past few days. They had their Volunteer site visits and I was lucky to be able to host two new CED Volunteers (this is a great change from last year, where we visited random Volunteers instead of Volunteers in our same sector – CED, TEFL or YD). They arrived on Sunday afternoon and left on Wednesday morning, and the purpose of the visit was to see what life is like as a Volunteer in the regions, outside of their training “bubble” where they can still speak English everyday and have a set schedule. And while there’s not much to see in my town (it’s not one of the few tourist locations that Azerbaijan has) we had a great time. We had social time with Kevin (my sitemate) and the Trainees that came to visit him, explored the bazaar, made normal PCV visits to places like the bank, post office, multiple stores, cooked non-Azeri food and they also came to work with me on Tuesday. I know one of the main things I came away with from my own site visit last year was how much I would really use Azeri once I moved to site, and I think that’s true for them too – I only use English for a couple classes that I teach and then every other interaction I have is in Azeri – at the bazaar, the post office, with my Director, etc. They also bombarded me with questions about my experiences and got answers that will hopefully help them as they prepare for their service. Some of the questions were the following: What/who helped you when you moved to your permanent site (learning your way around, starting work, etc.)? Can you buy peanut butter anywhere in Azerbaijan? How much do you communicate with the Peace Corps staff once you’re at site? What’s your money situation – is what you’re given enough? What are the conferences that happen later in our service? What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about Azerbaijan/your site/Peace Corps? How can I influence my site placement? And on and on. But that’s okay, my group was exactly the same way last year. Now they’ve returned to their training environment and I’m sure they’re all comparing notes on what they learned and experienced on their site visits (along with where they want to end up, I’m sure)…

And while this site visit is mainly for the benefit of the Trainees, it was great on my end too. The Trainees really re-energized me as I look towards the remainder of my service and what I want/need to accomplish by then. It was kind of surreal today to talk to my Director – he had an application for a Volunteer (a different organization that he knows the Director of) that was too late for this year, so it will be considered next year, and while I was telling him this he told me that we’ll want to apply for his organization next year too – and if approved that person will replace me when I leave! That kind of brought it home for me how fast this time has gone and how quickly the rest of the time will go…I better get back to work!

House/Living Arrangement Number ? Since Arriving In Azerbaijan (Another Move)....

#1 A hotel just outside Baku for the first few days after arrival in country.
#2 PST (Pre-Service Training) host family until swearing in in mid-December.
#3 Permanent Site host family for the first four months of living in Ujar.
#4 Finally able to live independently; so I moved to what I thought would be independent housing.
#5 Due to unrealized expectations in #4, moved to another house last Saturday.

Housing can be a challenge (an understatement) in this country. Once we move to our permanent site the only involvement that the Peace Corps plays in this is working with our counterpart to determine our host family and approval of independent housing should we choose to live on our own (some Volunteers stay with a host family for the entire two years). And living independently is not as easy as you might think – there’s no rent.com or classified ads. There’s the old saying of “it’s all who you know,” and that pretty much sums it up. Both of my “independent” housing arrangements have been found by my Director/counterpart (partly because he’s wonderful, partly because it’s very helpful because it’s a male dominated society). The first was supposed to be great. The landlord was going to be moving to Moscow within a month of me moving in, so it would be exactly what I wanted, which was to live alone. Well, that month came and went. I heard a few excuses and delays and then it was time for me to go to America on vacation. I tried to have my landlord teach me about the house because she would probably be gone when I returned (the gas, the water, etc.) – every house in this country works just a little bit differently – but she said she would still be around when I returned. So I went on vacation and tried not to think about it. But when I returned she finally gave me the definitive no, she wouldn’t be going to Russia. Very frustrating, since that was why I moved there in the first place. I thought I’d try it out and see how it was with her still there, but that didn’t last too long. Once I found evidence of her going into my room when I was gone (amongst other things that I’ll leave out of this) I was ready to find a new place. So my Director and I went looking (and he went talking to his friends). Found a great place and had it approved, it just took awhile to finally move in. And last Saturday was finally the day. One of my co-workers came with a friend and his car, helped me pack it all up, cart it to the other side of town, and drop it in my new doorway. I am now on the first floor of an AMAZING house and eventually there will be someone in the second floor, but right now it’s empty. And even though it’s a house, there are separate kitchens on each floor, which was my main goal – a kitchen of my own. Yay! So I have a kitchen, bedroom, living room (with a tv my landlord left that even has an English channel!) and bathroom facilities. I’m at least settled in the kitchen, and slowly getting unpacked in my bedroom. Let’s just hope this is my last move…

Life Without The Letter W

In the Azeri alphabet, there is no W. And, as suspected, this makes life quite interesting for someone whose both first and last names begin with W. It invites double takes and long looks at my passport, with local officials trying out different ways of saying my name. And once they know how to say it, everything is fine (it’s a lot easier to pronounce than the “th” sound, which also does not exist here), but that doesn’t solve the problem of how to write it with a keyboard that doesn’t have Ws. And due to my location in the country and its proximity to the train, that’s how I usually travel going to and from Baku. So my collection of names from my tickets is as follows: Vendiy, Vendy, Venim, Vendu, Vendi & Vende. Which unfortunately just prompts more looks, because now my ticket doesn’t exactly match my name in my passport. Oh well. Life with a different alphabet.

Other Volunteers also have their own stories. Sue chose to go by Suzanne while here because her name means “water” in Azeri. And it must take forever for Kim to explain her name, which means “who” in Azeri. This is my friend Kim. Who? Kim. Who? Kim? But that’s the nature of the world, interacting with others and learning about their cultures through the names used – whether they are American names and how they rarely (in my experience) have other meanings or Azerbaijani where names routinely have other meanings – flower, kind, child, we found (finally having a boy after multiple girls), enough (girl after multiple girls), truth, dream, etc. Interesting, huh?

The Chance To Go To America…

This past week I took a neighborhood student to a test in a nearby region, one of the six test locations offered throughout the country. This test was sponsored by the FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) Program. It was the first step in their selection process to spend the 2010 – 2011 school year attending high school in America and living with an American host family. The first step consists of 16 multiple choice questions. The next step, which occurs the next day, is a pre-TOEFL/essay test. Next is an official application and individual/group interviews, followed by the final selection. Each step must be passed to move on to the next step. From previous years’ participation it’s estimated that over 2,000 students took the first test – and only 45 students will end up as exchange students.

My student, Fidan, did not pass the first round. She was definitely disappointed but seems to have bounced back a bit since the test a week ago. The eligible age range is a span of about 2 1/2 years, and she’s young enough that she’ll be able to try again next year. I think taking the test was a good experience for her, and now she’ll know what to expect next year. Hopefully this will also provide some motivation for throughout the year; this year was kind of a last minute decision. Now more preparation can be done on a regular basis, increasing her English knowledge and confidence. And while the odds will probably be about the same next year, the opportunity doesn’t stop there. There are undergraduate and graduate exchange programs available. And English is becoming increasingly important in the business environment, especially in Baku. So her thirst for English will hopefully only help her in the future…

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!