A Visit From Home...

Last month I was lucky enough to have my mom come visit me in Azerbaijan for a week. We had a great time; while we didn't have/make time to visit what others would consider the "touristy" (quotations because it's a stretch on the word touristy - tourism is not a highly developed industry here) parts of the country, she saw Baku and experienced life in my town.

Due to a late arrival (the suitcase later than her) we explored Baku on her first day in the country - walked the Old City, climbed Maiden's Tower, and even rode the metro (subway). After picking up the delayed luggage at the airport we headed to Ujar from the bus station, experiencing the normal patience building transportation schedule - "We will leave when the bus is full."

In Ujar it was a busy week. We had meals with my tutor, with the family who had me over for Novruz, with my Director and another co-worker, tea at multiple other places, and my cooking club made a full meal at my house. In between all of that were trips to the bazar, a tour of town and all my regular stops like the bank, post office, work, hair salon, etc., and the continual explanation of who the new foreigner was - although apparently it's pretty obvious we're related.

It was great to get a fresh perspective on my town and my experience here - things that a new Volunteer just arriving in the country notices are things that I don't really notice anymore, but she did. So the animals roaming the street (she may live on a farm in America, but that doesn't mean the animals roam free!), the trash and the lack of women on the street are just a few of the things that seem different to an outsider. She was surprised by how many cars are on the street - both in Baku and Ujar (apparently I made my town sound smaller than it is?) and by how bundled up people were - still layering clothing when we were wearing short sleeves (although if it gets to 110 degrees, I guess 70 is still kind of cool).

We returned to Baku via train since I was trying to give her as many different experiences as possible. It's a slightly different route into the city and you can see a lot more of the oil industry that dominates the economy here in Azerbaijan. We stopped by the Peace Corps office, did some introductions, saw a little more of Baku and then the next morning we flew to Istanbul, Turkey for a week of vacation...

The Going Rate For...

One of the things that we, as Peace Corps Volunteers, are required to do on a yearly basis is to complete an annual living allowance survey. This is then used by the country office to determine if our living stipend is enough to live at the local level, and then if it's not they can request an increase from headquarters.

So just this week I compiled my survey, and I thought it might be interesting for you to see a random sampling of what some things cost over here:

226.20 AZN is our monthly living allowance, which equals $269.53 USD. (Can any of you live on that?)

    .50 AZN,     .60 USD  1 liter Coke
    .10 AZN,     .12 USD  1 egg
    .30 AZN,     .36 USD  1 loaf of bread
  5.00 AZN,   5.96 USD  bus ride from Ujar to Baku (about 3.5 hours)
  6.90 AZN,   8.22 USD  1 kilo* cheese
  1.30 AZN,   1.55 USD  450 grams laundry detergent
15.00 AZN, 17.87 USD  1 month DSL internet
  2.00 AZN,   2.38 USD  1 kilo* tomatoes
    .70 AZN,     .83 USD  1 kilo* potatoes
    .20 AZN,     .24 USD  1 bunch of cilantro, dill or green onions
    .50 AZN,     .60 USD   snickers bar
  1.50 AZN,   1.79 USD  4 rolls toilet paper
  1.40 AZN,   1.67 USD  1 liter milk
    .15 AZN,     .18 USD   subway ride in Baku
  1.60 AZN,   1.91 USD  1 liter vegetable oil
  1.00 AZN,   1.20 USD  1 kilo* flour
50.00 AZN, 59.58 USD  1 month rent (definitely one of the cheapest) 

*1 kilo = 2.2 lbs

Interested in Helping?

One of the things that I've enjoyed the most during my service here is the time I've spent with teenagers. While there are definitely cultural differences between Azerbaijan and the US, there are also things that don't vary between countries - the desire to spend time with their friends, travel, listen to music and talk about celebrities, etc.

Last year I did a summer camp with my sitemate and it was a great experience. From a one day trip we took with the girls to another region of the country I had the idea to expand it this year. For a country that's the size of the state of Maine, it's amazing how little these teens have traveled. So I wrote what's called a Peace Corps Partnership Program grant - this is a grant that gets posted on the Peace Corps website and people back in the US can make a tax deductible donation.

Some basic information: there will be five trips (four day trips and one overnight trip), the funds from this grant will cover some of the following costs: travel, one hotel stay, various admission fees, and a few meals. The girls themselves (approximately 15 of them) will be paying a participation fee and providing sack lunches for four of the five trips. They will be visiting a UNESCO world heritage site, a city on the silk road, and a city embracing their history of metalworking, among others. The textbooks they use in school will be coming to life for them, and they will return to their homes and families with an experience they will be sure to share with many others - from stories about the cities to something as simple as eating in a restaurant, which is something that most of them haven't done before.

So how can you help, you say? Any donation, from $1 to $100 (or whatever your heart desires), would be greatly appreciated. Below is the link to the site where donations can be made. And feel free to share this information with your friends!

Click here for information about the project and how to donate...

If you have any questions about my project feel free to email me at wendysuewalter@gmail.com.

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.

Another Year Older...

Last week was my birthday. My 30th birthday. It was quite nice to spend it here - it's definitely not as big of a deal here as it is in the States. Although I don't know which birthdays are big deals here. But I'm beyond it - the majority of people my age already have kids and have had kids for quite awhile.

So I've been to a number of birthday parties during the past year for the girls that I work with. They wanted to return the gesture, so last week we had a birthday party for me. Now I don't have a fully functioning Azeri kitchen (no meat grinder, no supply of grape leaves, no accessories to make sure the table looks presentable, etc.), so reinforcements were called in. The day before the event we had a meeting and everyone left with their assignments: bring your own plates and glasses (I only have a set of 4, 12 girls were anticipated), one person was assigned the mixer, one the fruit bowls, another the grape leaves, and on and on. They determined who lived closest so they could just run over there and use the meat grinder and not have to bring it over. And I had my shopping list and the assignment to get a couple chairs from work for the day.

So the day came and I had a full kitchen. We had bowls of fruit, paytaq salad, dolma, cutlet, veggies, and finally, cake, complete with candles and sparklers. 

It was a full day that started with preparations at about 11am, eating around 3pm, then clean up and some games, with everyone heading out about 6pm. It makes me tired just thinking about it - both because it was such a long day and and because it was an overwhelming amount of activity in my normally quiet house. When we were eating cake I was even surprised with a present of a stuffed bear.

It was a great day and I'm so happy that I have girls that love to celebrate and have a fun time together...

The actual day of (the day with the girls was earlier in the week because of their school vacation) I had some PCV friends over for enchiladas and cards. Perfect way to bring in the next decade!