The Big 30

August 6, 2007

Wow, what can I say I’m 30! I can’t really say I’ve been looking forward to this day but I guess I’m doing what I really want to do and that’s the important thing. My mom says it’s not hw old you are but how old you feel and I guess if I’m a combination of that and how old I act I should probably be about 12.

When I woke up this morning I got the first call from home since I’ve been here! First my dad called and then my mom! It was great to finally talk to someone from home. I know it hasn’t been that long since I left but it sure was nice to hear a familiar voice. After talking to each of them I had my language class followed by a youth development meeting where all the youth development people came together and they all sang to me. It wasn’t nearly as good as all my nieces and nephews but it was close. After the meeting we got mail and I actually got one of the packages my mom sent to me, which was really great to get on the actual day! (Great timing mom) Then, I went home and my host family had a big birthday dinner party for me!

My host mom invited my aunts, uncles, and a bunch of cousins over to celebrate the big day. She took the day off work so that she could prepare the feast. We had a bunch of salads followed by pomidor (tomato), badimcan (eggplant), and biber (pepper) stuffed dolma.

Dolma is the national meal and this type is my favorite. Normally it’s stuffed in grape leaves and sometimes cabbage. The stuffing from what I can tell is some type of ground meat (which ever type we have at the market that day I imagine) with rice and some spices. That is stuffed or wrapped and then cooked in a pan with considerable amounts of grease, oil or lard. After dinner which was more like 3 or 4 dinners one right after the other, they just keep bringing the food out until it’s gone, we had cake and AZ style ice cream. (I say that because it is ice cream but just… different?) Then we had glass after glass of cay (tea).

It wasn’t salmon on the BBQ with corn on the cob and my mom’s great chicken salad up at the lake after a hard day of waterskiing. But, if I had all those things it wouldn’t be as difficult to be here and the next birthday I have those things I’ll appreciate them that much more. In all I wouldn’t have wanted the day to go any different. I spent my 25th in Egypt and now my 30th in Azerbaijan I can’t wait to learn where I’ll find myself on my 40th?