The New Normal...

Different no longer seems that different. I’ve been here long enough that things I would’ve noticed a year ago I no longer notice – they’re just part of the normal, everyday environment that is my life. That is, until I see something that before coming here would have been normal, but now the absence of it is normal. A few days ago, I saw a woman driving a car. Not only was she driving a car, but she wasn’t alone, and her passenger was a man! Shocking! In my town I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a woman driving a car. So many people are surprised to learn that I know how to drive a car, and that I did so on a daily basis in America. Here driving is a man’s world. I’ve never seen a female taxi driver, and there are as many taxi drivers as there are men standing on corners eating sunflower seeds (and that means a lot). Even when I do see women in cars, the majority of the time they are sitting in the backseat, even if it’s a family member’s car. It’s just tradition, how it’s done. When I go somewhere by car, sometimes I get put in the front seat and it’s odd how I can feel people looking at me – granted, I’m probably being put there so I don’t have to sit next to a man I don’t know, but observers don’t know that. It makes me wonder what else I’m no longer noticing…

(As time goes on, interesting blog entries get more difficult to think of for the above reason – if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to let me know!)

Spontaneous!

I am not normally a spontaneous person. Things like moving, finding a new job, adopting a pet, etc. are usually fully researched so I can know what I’m getting myself into. When I arrived in Azerbaijan, one of the things that I decided I would not do was to adopt a pet. It takes away some freedom to travel because they need to be fed, there’s the problem of what to do with it once my service is over, and many other things. If you can’t already tell where the point of this post is going…well, read on. So last Saturday I moved. Later that day I made a quick trip to the bazaar for some extension cords (my outlets are located in the most inopportune places) and as I turned down the road, I saw a little fluff ball on the corner. Now, I should have known better and not even gone up to pet it. But I did. Now, it’s at my house, eating a random diet of things like apples, bread, leftover chicken, etc. and following me wherever I go. It seemed like it was meant to be – I’m finally in a perfect place for an animal and there’s even room for it to live outside (I really don’t want to housetrain a dog). Just look – how could I have refused this face?

Moving Again...

As I mentioned in a recent post, I had to find a new place to live. My last landlord, when I moved in, asked me how long I would be staying. I said that I would be there until December 2010 and he seemed fine with that. A couple weeks later he went to visit family in Iran and came back with the news that they will be coming to Azerbaijan in March and living where I lived. The one good thing that I can say about this is that I had plenty of notice, which is not always the case for Volunteers. Being in a country where much of its population works outside of its borders (usually in Russia) it’s not uncommon for Volunteers to be living in a house whose landlord is living in another country. It’s not even uncommon for them to return and need to have their house back within the week. So for the notice I was very grateful. You may ask, but it’s only January, why did you move already? Well, housing is a precarious situation – there aren’t exactly rental communities with apartments that are always available – what’s available now may not be available next week or next month. So since a place was found I decided to move immediately – both because of availability and because knowing that I’d have to move in the future is unsettling, and it’s nice to not have that uncertainty about not knowing where I’ll be living. Not to mention that it’s a better deal than my last place! So I packed my things up Friday evening, my Director and a co-worker came Saturday morning with a car to help me move, and an hour later everything was unloaded and sitting in the middle of the floor. A day later everything had been put away and mostly organized. I still have some things to learn, like how to pump the water (apparently a part needs to be replaced), and my borrowed refrigerator will arrive sometime this week, but the moving process is over. Now my only question is how I’ve managed to accumulate so much stuff in the small amount of time I’ve been here…

My Own Personal Shopper...

Shopping here is something to adjust to. There aren’t many supermarkets and grocery stores like in the US. It is not self-service. Most stores are small and are pretty much an open area with counters and shelves behind them. You just talk to the salesperson and he/she gets you whatever you want (too bad they don’t deliver). And it’s the same in the bazaar. So while the freedom to choose what you want is definitely limited, it cuts down on the spontaneous purchases. It’s hard to stand in front of someone who has multiple customers and not know what you want, so it’s easier to go prepared. At first, it was just necessary to explain that I was looking – unlike the familiar grocery stores; here the options can vary greatly from store to store. So now that I know what’s available at each place, I can plan. Shopping can be time consuming – the bazaar for fresh fruits and vegetables, a certain store for chicken, another store for cheese, etc. And since most foods are not available frozen or packaged, it’s necessary to go much more often.

In my town we do have one “American style” grocery store – complete with aisles and grocery carts. The selection isn’t much different than the rest of the stores in town, but when you don’t want sales pressure or want the feel of home (not to mention the air conditioning in the summer) it’s where I go. But I also enjoy the local shops. I have one place that I go regularly and have come to know the two storekeepers. Different than I’ve ever experienced before, it’s nice to have a conversation with them (as opposed to massive amounts of continually changing employees at American grocery stores). We talk about what I’m baking (since most times it’s different than Azeri food), work, and just general conversational things. It’s also nice to be known in the bazaar – the more known you are, the better chance you have of not getting ripped off with the foreigner price, and instead getting the local price – and on a Peace Corps living stipend, that’s a necessary thing!

Who knows? I may just seek out those small little mom and pop shops when I return to America – that is, if there are any left...

Looking Back Instead Of Ahead...

Does it ever seem to you that some people look back at situations they used to be in with rose colored glasses? In Azerbaijan many people are poor and many people are unemployed. But when they talk about their standard of living, they say that they would gladly go back to living in Soviet times. In my small town alone there was a cotton factory, a milk factory, and a fruit preserve factory, none of which are currently operational - they all closed down about the time the Soviet Union dissolved. That is the main comparison that I hear - people had jobs then, and now there is nothing. Utility costs have also skyrocketed. The family that I was talking about this with earlier this week is currently employed, but would be considered underemployed. For example, the father drives a motorcycle/cart like vehicle that makes deliveries from the bazar, from house to house, etc. I don't know if this is a common view throughout Azerbaijan, or one that only exists in my town due to the tremendous loss of jobs over the past 15 - 20 years. But it is something I've heard from more than one family. When you compare Azerbaijan today to what people experienced in the Soviet Union - the corruption, the laws, etc. - the common citizen doesn't feel better off. They still have corruption. The press is government owned and run. Were there things back then that weren't that great? Probably - I think most people in most countries would say that there are things about their government they would like changed. But what tilts the scales in the favor of one time over another? How can it be improved? Is it enough to just have a job? Or does it have to bring in a certain amount of income? Or personal satisfaction? And how do you empower people to make these changes themselves?