40 Day Funeral
July 7, 2007
Today after language lessons I went over to my uncles where I was able to participate in part of the Azeri culture. My Nana died 40 days ago today and here in Azerbaijan when someone dies you throw a big feast 40 days later.
By big I don’t mean your extended family and a few family friends I mean massive. They had a tent set up in the road out front that blocked the entire road making people turn around and find a different street. In the tent were three rows of tables about 30 meters long. Then the massive courtyard was filled with rows of tables, and there were people spilling out all around the tent.
You would think it would be difficult to feed all these people. I have to tell you Azeri Women are amazing, they would put any military chow line to shame. Everything was family style on the table and things that needed to be hot were hot and things that needed to be cold were cold, which is pretty impressive for a 100+ degree day. Then after everyone was done all the dishes were collected washed and about an hour later I was called back to the table and we ate again. This happened over and over again all day long no joke. We went through 1 cow, 2 sheep, and more cheese, vegetables and bread then I’ve ever seen. In between the rounds we would drink tea and eat this stuff everyone says is “very very healthy for you” it consists of oil and sugar! And no they weren’t being sarcastic.
Something kinda funny about this stuff. I was sitting next to someone that spoke about as much English as my Azeri. Between our language abilities or lack there of I was trying to figure out what it was made of and for about an hour I had thought I had just eaten a cremated nana! He told me ah sugar oil and pointed at it and said nana and shook his head and then everyone at the table shook their heads and said ah, nana as they pointed towards the mystery substance. Finally someone with better English skills showed up and assured me that no I had not just eaten our dead grandmother but that this is a dish you only eat when someone dies and they were trying to tell me the reason we were eating it was because nana had died. Assured but still a bit freaked out I stayed away from it the rest of the day and night.
I’m still having a great first week with my family. It’s hard to believe I’ve only been in my town a week tomorrow! It feels like it’s been a month. As I think about it though I’m happy it’s seems so long. In the big scheme of things when life is easy time seems to fly by and you wonder where it went. I’m happy things are uncomfortable enough to help me realize that I’m alive every day. I hope and wish everyone can experience life like I am in there own way. I challenge each of you to go about there and do something outside you comfort zone everyday I think it will help you live a richer life.
Ok I’ll get off my soapbox now. I did warn each of you in my first post that things could go anywhere. These are just some thoughts and feelings I’ve had the last few days.
Other interesting things:
4th of July my site got together at one of our host families house and they made BBQ chicken and BBQ beef spare ribs with a couple of beers for s to share. It was a great gesture on there part to make us feel welcome.
I found out that I’m already 30! In Azerbaijan they count that when you are born that is your first year and so on! Not sure I know how I feel about that yet! I thought I had one more month more to come to terms with that one!
Well I hope all is well back home,
Donny
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
THe Other Side Of The Wall
July 3, 2007
I’ve had a couple really good days. Last night I went to my Uncle’s house for dinner. We had some great food and tried unsuccessfully to communicate. When I got there I greeted them in Azeri and told them my name and that I was from America, which is the extent other than a few random words of my language abilities. However, I think because I said a few words in Azeri they thought I could understand everything they were saying to me. When all they got were blank stares they tried to talk louder and slower. After still receiving blank stares we all had a good laugh. It really reminded me of my family when we had exchange students and of how our conversations went the same way, if they don’t understand just talk louder and then they’ll understand. It didn’t work then and I can attest that it still doesn’t work today.
What I really enjoyed though was that I accomplished literally not yet figuratively one of the reasons I joined Peace Corps. In all the different places I’ve traveled I’ve seen the outside of peoples worlds. You drive by in an air-conditioned bus at 60 mph and say “wow that looks like a dirty or hard place to live, how do people live like that.” But you never really see inside. The place I went to yesterday and where I live would look like that from a bus. The dirt streets are littered with garbage, animals picking through the trash for anything edible, and all these bare walls with modest homes inside them. However as I was sitting in one of the most beautiful clean courtyards surrounded by a picturesque fruit and vegetable garden I realized I was on the other side of the wall. I know I’m not even close to knowing these wonderful people and I look forward to that day. I am just glad I was cognitive enough to realize the moment. It’s amazing where your mind will take you when it’s not filled with mindless chatter.
Today we had our first cluster meeting. This is where all the Youth Development volunteers, three groups of five from different sites, come together. We learned a bit more of what we’ll be doing as YD Volunteers and I couldn’t be more excited. For the next 9 months we’ll be directing English-speaking clubs in an attempt to earn trust in our communities while we learn the language. During this time we will develop relationships to find where our skills can best be used. I’m really excited and optimistic about the potential for our program I could tell our permanent PC staff person responsible for YD really has her heart in the program.
I hope all is well at home,
Donny
I’ve had a couple really good days. Last night I went to my Uncle’s house for dinner. We had some great food and tried unsuccessfully to communicate. When I got there I greeted them in Azeri and told them my name and that I was from America, which is the extent other than a few random words of my language abilities. However, I think because I said a few words in Azeri they thought I could understand everything they were saying to me. When all they got were blank stares they tried to talk louder and slower. After still receiving blank stares we all had a good laugh. It really reminded me of my family when we had exchange students and of how our conversations went the same way, if they don’t understand just talk louder and then they’ll understand. It didn’t work then and I can attest that it still doesn’t work today.
What I really enjoyed though was that I accomplished literally not yet figuratively one of the reasons I joined Peace Corps. In all the different places I’ve traveled I’ve seen the outside of peoples worlds. You drive by in an air-conditioned bus at 60 mph and say “wow that looks like a dirty or hard place to live, how do people live like that.” But you never really see inside. The place I went to yesterday and where I live would look like that from a bus. The dirt streets are littered with garbage, animals picking through the trash for anything edible, and all these bare walls with modest homes inside them. However as I was sitting in one of the most beautiful clean courtyards surrounded by a picturesque fruit and vegetable garden I realized I was on the other side of the wall. I know I’m not even close to knowing these wonderful people and I look forward to that day. I am just glad I was cognitive enough to realize the moment. It’s amazing where your mind will take you when it’s not filled with mindless chatter.
Today we had our first cluster meeting. This is where all the Youth Development volunteers, three groups of five from different sites, come together. We learned a bit more of what we’ll be doing as YD Volunteers and I couldn’t be more excited. For the next 9 months we’ll be directing English-speaking clubs in an attempt to earn trust in our communities while we learn the language. During this time we will develop relationships to find where our skills can best be used. I’m really excited and optimistic about the potential for our program I could tell our permanent PC staff person responsible for YD really has her heart in the program.
I hope all is well at home,
Donny
Sumguyat
July 1, 2007
Today I woke up well rested. I had worried that I wouldn’t sleep at all the first night. However I fell right to sleep and then never woke until a few minutes before my alarm went off. After waking I went out and my Ana (mother) had breakfast waiting for me. It was the same spread I’ve eaten every morning here. It had bread, hard-boiled eggs, tomato, cucumber, basil leaves, cheese, and tea. I really like it and it was all fresh from the garden or freshly made. After breakfast my host brother walked me to school.
At school I met up with the other four volunteers in my site and we jumped on a bus to go to Sumguyat to get some supplies and a cell phone. It’s interesting how in many areas of Azerbaijan they don’t have running water and electricity 24 hours a day but they do have cell phones and satellite television. The new technology has leap-frogged the need for some of the infrastructure. Peace Corps has made it mandatory for each of us to get a cell phone, and while I was proud I didn’t have one while I lived in the states I am actually happy Peace Corps provides it for our safety.
Sumguyat is great it’s the second largest city in Azerbaijan and a suburb of Baku the largest city. In the bazaar you could get just about anything just in a different way then most people in the US are used to. For those of you from the Portland area think, Saturday’s market but huge and with things you actually need on a daily basis rather than just things you would give away as gifts. It’s a bit overwhelming at first but I think after getting your bearings a city like this would be fun to live in someday.
We first went to the cell phone store, which our LCD Vafa got us to before the rest of the AZ5’s (Azerbaijan class 5) she rocks. We got our phones and then headed to the Bazaar where we got power regulators, shower shoes, money exchanged and saw all sorts of cool little shops I want to go back and explore through. Then we headed to the Internet café, which I only had the chance to leave my address here and send a quick email to my mom. I had written my last post but as I was copying it to my memory stick my battery died. After that we went and had lunch and then headed back to our town about a half hour away.
When I got back I had another great meal and played real life charades. I really feel fortunate to have been placed with such a great family. We have no idea what each other is trying to say but we all have a good laugh.
As for the address and mail please don’t feel obligated to send anything it’s kind of expensive, but if you have nothing else to do, a fair bit of cash, and would like to send me something from home there is a flat rate box you can get that costs about $34 and you can send anything you can fit in it up to like 70 pounds (kinda funny because when you look at it, even if you filled it with lead it probably wouldn’t weigh 70 pounds) I haven’t been heard how much it costs to send letters but I’m sure much cheaper so feel free to send just a note or even an email would be great just to hear how everyone is doing back home.
I hope all is well,
Donny
Today I woke up well rested. I had worried that I wouldn’t sleep at all the first night. However I fell right to sleep and then never woke until a few minutes before my alarm went off. After waking I went out and my Ana (mother) had breakfast waiting for me. It was the same spread I’ve eaten every morning here. It had bread, hard-boiled eggs, tomato, cucumber, basil leaves, cheese, and tea. I really like it and it was all fresh from the garden or freshly made. After breakfast my host brother walked me to school.
At school I met up with the other four volunteers in my site and we jumped on a bus to go to Sumguyat to get some supplies and a cell phone. It’s interesting how in many areas of Azerbaijan they don’t have running water and electricity 24 hours a day but they do have cell phones and satellite television. The new technology has leap-frogged the need for some of the infrastructure. Peace Corps has made it mandatory for each of us to get a cell phone, and while I was proud I didn’t have one while I lived in the states I am actually happy Peace Corps provides it for our safety.
Sumguyat is great it’s the second largest city in Azerbaijan and a suburb of Baku the largest city. In the bazaar you could get just about anything just in a different way then most people in the US are used to. For those of you from the Portland area think, Saturday’s market but huge and with things you actually need on a daily basis rather than just things you would give away as gifts. It’s a bit overwhelming at first but I think after getting your bearings a city like this would be fun to live in someday.
We first went to the cell phone store, which our LCD Vafa got us to before the rest of the AZ5’s (Azerbaijan class 5) she rocks. We got our phones and then headed to the Bazaar where we got power regulators, shower shoes, money exchanged and saw all sorts of cool little shops I want to go back and explore through. Then we headed to the Internet café, which I only had the chance to leave my address here and send a quick email to my mom. I had written my last post but as I was copying it to my memory stick my battery died. After that we went and had lunch and then headed back to our town about a half hour away.
When I got back I had another great meal and played real life charades. I really feel fortunate to have been placed with such a great family. We have no idea what each other is trying to say but we all have a good laugh.
As for the address and mail please don’t feel obligated to send anything it’s kind of expensive, but if you have nothing else to do, a fair bit of cash, and would like to send me something from home there is a flat rate box you can get that costs about $34 and you can send anything you can fit in it up to like 70 pounds (kinda funny because when you look at it, even if you filled it with lead it probably wouldn’t weigh 70 pounds) I haven’t been heard how much it costs to send letters but I’m sure much cheaper so feel free to send just a note or even an email would be great just to hear how everyone is doing back home.
I hope all is well,
Donny
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
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
Sunday, July 1, 2007
just a quick post
I'm here at my site for the next 3 months i don't have any time today to tell you all about it but i will as soon as i can if you would like to mail me anything my address till sept 12th is:
Donald Stevens
c/o U.S. Peace Corps
PO Box 77
Baku, Azerbaijan
AZ 1000
Donald Stevens
c/o U.S. Peace Corps
PO Box 77
Baku, Azerbaijan
AZ 1000
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Staging
I’m on a plane again. This time I’m somewhere over the North Atlantic watching the sun rise only an hour and a half after it set. Staging went really well for everyone we learned a few things but more importantly we had a chance to spend time in a comfortable setting while getting to know the 54 people who we will come to depend on over the next two years.
When I arrived in Philly I had a great plan to save a few dollars and take the public transit. I thought $5.50 on the train sounded much better than a $30 cab or $15 shuttle ride and hey I’m a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) and I need to start living on a limited budget. However, what I didn’t take into consideration is that the hotel is a bit closer to the train station on a computer than it is when your lugging a backpack on your back with an overly stuffed daypack on your chest and a full duffel with the strap strewn over the backpack allowing the duffle to hit you in the but every step of the way while walking in a much more humid climate right through the center of a college campus. Needless to say I received a few glances, and by the time I got the hotel I was dripping wet.
After I took a cold shower and changed I went down to the bar and watched the beavers beat NC State in the first round of the College World series. (for those of you that are wondering I can root for the beav’s in baseball since the ducks have no baseball team Yet!! Hopefully Killkenny will change that) After the game I was heading up to my room and ran into some other west coasters who came in a day earlier and we went out to check out the town.
After a much later than expected wake-up I went down stairs and met up with a bunch of other volunteers. That afternoon we had registration and then the start of the staging program welcoming us to our PC adventure. That night I went down to the hotel bar again and watched what turned out to be the final College World Series game as the beav’s swept the best 2 out of 3 series. A note on how spectacular this was the beaver’s lost all but two of their position players from their national champion team from a year ago and then barely even made it into the series after having a losing Pac10 conference record. But when the series started they hit a streak and didn’t lose a playoff game.
The next day (Monday) we had classes all day and then a big group of us were led by our Rockstar Vietnamese volunteer on the subway into Chinatown to some great Vietnamese food. All day Monday I was trying to figure out how I was feeling. I am really excited but I haven’t really had a true oh crap moment. I guess that’s good but just thought it would feel a bit different. I think I may still be in that preparation stage and inside feel like this is just another step in getting me to country. I think the first oh crap moment may come while I’m trying to fall asleep the first night at my host family’s.
Today we woke up loaded the busses and drove 3 hours to the JFK airport. I really enjoyed the chance to drive through New Jersey and then New York. I’ve never been to this part of the country and liked seeing the difference in landscapes from home. When we got into New York it was pretty hazy and hard to see Manhattan I could only pick out a few buildings but did find the empire state building. It was interesting going through the Bronx and seeing people living in such high density. It is much different than what I’m used to the sprawling west coast, which was predominantly built after the automobile.
I learned that the next few weeks I’ll be out of contact with everyone. We are going to be getting into country and then spending a few days at an in country orientation then we’ll meet and move in with our host families. They tell us we will be split up into small clusters of 5-6. We will do most of our training within these clusters and then when needed get together with the other people in our program area to learn more specific program information. Then occasionally we’ll meet with the entire group. We will do this and if everything goes as planned swear in as official PCV’s in the middle of September. During this time they say we should have access to the internet about once a week. I will try to update this as often as I can.
I hope all is well at home,
Donny
When I arrived in Philly I had a great plan to save a few dollars and take the public transit. I thought $5.50 on the train sounded much better than a $30 cab or $15 shuttle ride and hey I’m a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) and I need to start living on a limited budget. However, what I didn’t take into consideration is that the hotel is a bit closer to the train station on a computer than it is when your lugging a backpack on your back with an overly stuffed daypack on your chest and a full duffel with the strap strewn over the backpack allowing the duffle to hit you in the but every step of the way while walking in a much more humid climate right through the center of a college campus. Needless to say I received a few glances, and by the time I got the hotel I was dripping wet.
After I took a cold shower and changed I went down to the bar and watched the beavers beat NC State in the first round of the College World series. (for those of you that are wondering I can root for the beav’s in baseball since the ducks have no baseball team Yet!! Hopefully Killkenny will change that) After the game I was heading up to my room and ran into some other west coasters who came in a day earlier and we went out to check out the town.
After a much later than expected wake-up I went down stairs and met up with a bunch of other volunteers. That afternoon we had registration and then the start of the staging program welcoming us to our PC adventure. That night I went down to the hotel bar again and watched what turned out to be the final College World Series game as the beav’s swept the best 2 out of 3 series. A note on how spectacular this was the beaver’s lost all but two of their position players from their national champion team from a year ago and then barely even made it into the series after having a losing Pac10 conference record. But when the series started they hit a streak and didn’t lose a playoff game.
The next day (Monday) we had classes all day and then a big group of us were led by our Rockstar Vietnamese volunteer on the subway into Chinatown to some great Vietnamese food. All day Monday I was trying to figure out how I was feeling. I am really excited but I haven’t really had a true oh crap moment. I guess that’s good but just thought it would feel a bit different. I think I may still be in that preparation stage and inside feel like this is just another step in getting me to country. I think the first oh crap moment may come while I’m trying to fall asleep the first night at my host family’s.
Today we woke up loaded the busses and drove 3 hours to the JFK airport. I really enjoyed the chance to drive through New Jersey and then New York. I’ve never been to this part of the country and liked seeing the difference in landscapes from home. When we got into New York it was pretty hazy and hard to see Manhattan I could only pick out a few buildings but did find the empire state building. It was interesting going through the Bronx and seeing people living in such high density. It is much different than what I’m used to the sprawling west coast, which was predominantly built after the automobile.
I learned that the next few weeks I’ll be out of contact with everyone. We are going to be getting into country and then spending a few days at an in country orientation then we’ll meet and move in with our host families. They tell us we will be split up into small clusters of 5-6. We will do most of our training within these clusters and then when needed get together with the other people in our program area to learn more specific program information. Then occasionally we’ll meet with the entire group. We will do this and if everything goes as planned swear in as official PCV’s in the middle of September. During this time they say we should have access to the internet about once a week. I will try to update this as often as I can.
I hope all is well at home,
Donny
Leaving on a Jet Plane
I’m on the plane heading to staging right now. For the next few days I will be in Philadelphia meeting the other 50 or so volunteers going to Azerbaijan with me. I’m surprised at the feelings of calm I’m having. I thought I would be freaking out a bit more right now. I don’t know if it’s the early wake up, the fact I was running late, or the chance that I might actually be ready for this.
I’d like to give everyone a brief synopsis of the last few months leading up to today. I first started the application process in September. I had my first interview up in Seattle the first week in January. About a week later I had a second interview over the phone. About a month later I received my nomination from my Peace Corps recruiter. This began the long process of getting my medical, dental, and legal clearances. After proving I am healthy and not a criminal I received an invitation to work in youth development in Azerbaijan. Throughout the process there were many set backs and frustrations which made me think Peace Corps made it this hard to weed out anyone who wasn’t really serious about this, but now as I sit here with all that behind me it doesn’t really seem to have been too bad.
I want to thank everyone who came to my going away party last night especially my mom who put so much work into it to make it run so smooth. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an evening before I leave than with friends and family with a good ole American BBQ.
I’d like to give everyone a brief synopsis of the last few months leading up to today. I first started the application process in September. I had my first interview up in Seattle the first week in January. About a week later I had a second interview over the phone. About a month later I received my nomination from my Peace Corps recruiter. This began the long process of getting my medical, dental, and legal clearances. After proving I am healthy and not a criminal I received an invitation to work in youth development in Azerbaijan. Throughout the process there were many set backs and frustrations which made me think Peace Corps made it this hard to weed out anyone who wasn’t really serious about this, but now as I sit here with all that behind me it doesn’t really seem to have been too bad.
I want to thank everyone who came to my going away party last night especially my mom who put so much work into it to make it run so smooth. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an evening before I leave than with friends and family with a good ole American BBQ.
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