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!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This past weekend was Thanksgiving for the Azerbaijan Peace Corps Volunteers. We all gathered in Baku, staying with hosts from the US Embassy and USAID, and had our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday afternoon at the American Embassy's Deputy Chief of Missions' house. I arrived on Friday and got to know my host – she actually went to my college’s biggest rival, small world, huh? Saturday morning we did some walking around town as she just came to this post in September, so we all learned new things about Baku. That afternoon we all gathered, and I think everyone but 3 or 4 people were in attendance. It was great to see everyone, some of whom I hadn’t seen since we swore in almost a year ago! Our dinner was potluck style and it was fun to have a combination of American classics like apple pie, turkey and stuffing along with Azeri salads and vegetable dishes. Following dinner we had a talent show which included everything from lip synching to air guitar and drums, push-ups to singing. That evening was filled with a free phone call to America and a Wii tournament. The next morning we went to a Christmas exhibition at a German center downtown – there was everything from children singing Christmas songs to gingerbread houses. It was our own little Black Friday :) Then it was to the staple of every Baku visit: CitiMart, an amazing grocery store where you can buy things that you can’t get in the regions, even if it is super expensive. So I picked up a few things, had lunch, and headed out of town. And even if there was no football to watch it was still a great day filled with friends, food, and lots of things to be thankful for.

So this was the first time I had stayed with an expat in Baku. I rarely come in just for fun and when we come in for official Peace Corps business we’re put up at a hotel. All I have to say is wow! There was really no difference between her apartment and facilities in Baku and what you’d find in America. We live as Volunteers with just our living stipend and it becomes hard for us to remember that Baku is actually in the same country we’re serving in – it’s like another world – but that’s partly why no Volunteers are placed there (there’s money, thus development, in Baku). So many things that Volunteers don’t have, things that can easily be taken for granted in America, were right there in her fabulous apartment (you know, things like flushing toilets, showers and amazing heat). While I could never live like that in my region it was a nice break from the reality of life for a couple days. Now if only I could’ve taken her washing machine back with me…

My Ever Increasing Patience...

My patience has grown by leaps and bounds since I arrived in Azerbaijan. Here's an example of that from last week.

Last Thursday I had an errand to run. I'm working with some youth who want to plant some trees at their school and I arranged through a fellow PCV to get 75 free trees. The only thing was that I needed to go two hours west to pick them up. So the Director of my organization volunteered to take me/go with me (he has a friend with a car) even though the project isn't affiliated with my organization (how amazing is he!). We left the office at 10:30am and travelled as planned to Ganja, two hours west. There we picked up the trees and headed back east. We stopped quickly before we left the city for doner, a cheap sandwich-like meal that is sold on the street in the larger cities, and then headed for home. We travelled great for a little while, until we came to a road block. So we followed the detour. Now, there are not many main roads here, so we went very far out of our way for this detour - at least 45 minutes. Then we came back down on the east side of the city where the detour began. Unfortunately at that point the road was still closed. So the driver and my Director were out talking to the road patrol, and we were eventually allowed onto the road. By this point there is also car trouble; the car I was riding in had to be jumped to start. So we thought we were ok - we had gotten on the road. But after we drove for a short bit we were diverted into a gas station parking lot, where we sat for at least a half hour while they cleared the road so the presidential motorcade could pass. This was why the road was closed. I would guess that at least 15 - 20 kilometers were closed at a time. When we left the gas station the car had to be jumped again, and nothing electrical was working (lights, wipers, etc.) so we stopped by a service station. This was another long wait - at least 45 minutes - while we waited for the correct person, while he checked out the car, while he searched for and found the part we needed, and then finally while he installed and tested it. From there, we were finally able to get back to my office, unload the trees, and be done for the day at about 6:30pm. Have I mentioned that it rained all afternoon? I also got a call that I had a package waiting for me at the post office and I didn't get back in time to pick it up. But these things were out of my control and I just sat in the backseat patiently waiting for the issues to be resolved. There was nothing I could do and being impatient wouldn't have made a difference, except for maybe making the time seem even longer. This is just one of the many changes I have noticed in myself since I began my time here...

So I Ate Pizza With Carrots On It – And It Wasn’t Even That Bad…

One of the social activities for women here in Azerbaijan is cooking – they love having guests and feeding them. And apparently this starts at a young age. They cook much more than I did as a teenager. I have a group of girls that comes over every couple of weeks and we cook together. We have made everything from mashed potatoes to salad and pizza (an American version and an Azeri version) to cake. And I love it! I’m exploring new food (I’m growing!) and giving these girls a place for social interaction (and I thought there was nothing to do in Northern Michigan). There’s no special focus on English, we just spend time together and speak whichever language they want – there’s one girl who knows a decent amount of English so she usually speaks it with me, while the others know very little English so we speak Azeri. We spend a couple hours preparing everything, we eat together, clean up, and then end the day with tea. And thrown in the midst of all that is an insane amount of picture taking. I love the fact that the more time I spend with these girls the less I think of them as Azeri and more as just teenage girls. Everyone has their thing, but it’s not related to their nationality – there’s the one who’s always in charge, the one sneaking a bite before it’s ready, the one trying to escape the work, the one taking pictures, and the one who goes along with everything…. Now if only I could get them to try the American food that I bake…

Peace Corps Volunteers = Cultural Exchange Agents

Being that I am 29, single, and living in Azerbaijan, a question that I am repeatedly asked is if I will marry an Azeri. While I’m not so close-minded as to rule out the entire Azerbaijani male population, the odds are quite low that this will happen. First, I haven’t become fluent in the language or met a man who is fluent in English (at least in my region) and I think that’s kind of important. Also, the division of family work is very different here. Women do pretty much everything related to housework, cooking, family rearing, etc. (even when they also work outside of the home). The parts that I have seen men participate in are house maintenance (plumbing, electrical, etc.) and farm work. So this means I have very entertaining cultural exchange conversations relating life in America to life in Azerbaijan. What, men cook in America? Yes, men cook in America and they also clean and do laundry and help with the kids. By saying that I would like to marry someone who will share those things with me has brought some Azeri men (co-workers in their early 20s) to laughter. But it’s true – I remember being a kid and my mom would mow the front yard and my dad would mow the backyard. My mom would cook some vegetables and my dad would cook the meat and that would be dinner. If my dad was in town and my mom needed something from the store, he’d stop and pick it up. If my mom was busy and there was something involving me or my brother, my dad did it. So while this is all true, there is also an ulterior motive behind these conversations – afterwards people are not quite as insistent about trying to set me up. (Herein lies some of the pros to being a married Volunteer, no set ups attempted and the locals can see these things in action.)