First Night

June 30, 2007

Holly Cow today was so crazy! But, first I’ll start with a brief wrap-up from the last time I posted. We landed in Istanbul, Turkey had a three-hour layover and then we were off to Baku. After clearing customs and getting our luggage we walked out of the airport to a cheering group of PC staff and a few volunteers. We were loaded up on busses and taken up to a town a few hours north of Baku to an Olympic center where athletes live and train. For the next three days we learned very basic survival language, cultural skills, and a general welcome to PC Azerbaijan.

Today we loaded the busses again and took off for our new host families. Leading up to this I hadn’t been nervous just anxious to get started. However, as our bus pulled up to my new town I was finally feeling a nervousness words could never describe. As it turned out it was very chaotic (in my non Azeri speaking mind) as we got off the busses my LCD (Language and Cultural Director) told me she couldn’t get my family on the phone so I may go with another volunteer and his host family and they will drop me off at my new home. This made me even more nervous thinking how is this going to work with zero communication between us and the host families as neither of us speak each other’s language. And how was I supposed to tell my family all the things my LCD was telling the other families. Then all of a sudden she grabbed some people hanging around a car at the end of the road and talked to them in Azeri and told me here they will take you to your home. As I was riding in the car I felt the Oh crap what have I gotten myself into moment. We pulled up to a home got out and there was a group of people all smiling and motioning come come. At this point all I could remember from my crash course in Azeri language was Salom (hello). Everything turned to a blur as they brought me inside and to my new room. They brought out pictures I showed them pictures of my family and we began the hilarious attempt at sign language.

As it turns out the people I was sent away with were in fact my brother and cousin. At my home I was greeted by my mother brother and cousins. My family on paper said I would be living with a Host mother, grandmother and two brothers 16 and 18 years old. I was told that one brother was gone in the army and the other works in Baku most of the time. I found that my grandmother had died a month ago and my younger brother will be around I think (it took me awhile to understand through sign language that nana had died and wasn’t asleep in another room).

After the blur of meeting they left me in my room to unpack. All I could think was holy cow what have I gotten myself into, this is so crazy. But as I got myself situated my Ana (mother) came in and motioned to her mouth that we would be eating I went out and ate some delicious food and as time went some of my limited language started to come back and I carried my notebook which I had written other phrases and words in. After dinner they showed me how and let me shower. Then for the rest of the evening we sat in the living room looking at more pictures and I tried to explain how I have so many brothers and sisters and how no my dad doesn’t have two wives and then even more excitedly no my mom doesn’t have two husbands. This was a conversation I began to think should have been done when I had a better grasp of the language but then all of a sudden it clicked and they remembered the PCV they had last year had parents that divorced and remarried and then all the blank stares were gone.

As I sit here tonight in my room I know I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. It is hard to describe the feelings I have. I feel more alone then I have ever felt, but that’s exciting and exhilarating at the same time. I couldn’t be happier this is exactly what I was looking for. By that I mean the total chaos and never knowing what’s around the next corner. I have that feeling again that I’ve been searching for ever since I left the trail that every day is a new day.

I hope everyone is doing fine and please know I couldn’t be in a better place right now.

I hope all are well,

Donny