Sunday, August 26, 2007
Photos
Here are some pics from zaqatala! the first is looking down the main street in town. the next is looking out the window in my office at the street next to the park. the last is looking to the mountains from my office. on the otherside of those mountains is Russia, as the crow flies it's about 20KM!
Catch Up
August 26, 2007
Well I apologize for the recent lack of posts. I’m not dead or seriously ill we’ve just hit the tough part of Pre Service Training. We all seem to be completely exhausted. We aren’t doing anymore than we were before but we just don’t have any energy. I think it’s just the fact that in the beginning we were running on the excitement of everything being new, and now that’s worn off a bit. I also think the training is starting to get to everyone we are treated like children and at first it was ok, it was just kind of funny, but now it’s really starting to get old. Things will be much better once we get to our sites. With all we have done it’s crazy to think that we haven’t even started our two-year service yet!
Since I wrote last the only major thing that has happened has been my site visit. I went up to Zagatala for a few days to see where I will work and meet my new host family and community members. I can’t explain how excited I am to be going up there! The town is absolutely beautiful. It’s a little mountain community and in a way it actually feels a bit like Ashland. It’s a smaller community, people go there to vacation, they are much more modern than any other town other than Baku, and they have a park that goes up into a valley kind of like Lithia park.
I’m also really excited about the work I’ll be doing and the people I’ll be working with. My director is supportive and maybe even a little excited that I want to create more equality for women through sport. I work across the street from the brand new Olympic complex. Azerbaijan has all of these complexes throughout the country where “sportsmen” go to train to hopefully some day compete in the Olympics. It’s kind of like a really nice massive YMCA. The great thing is that I will have complete personal access to it and it has a brand new weight room and swimming pool! I’ll let you all know about the family situation through email.
Again sorry for the lack of posts I’ve just been a bit tired. I do think however that the motivation levels are going to start rising fast as we approach the end of this training. Also a side note hold off on sending any packages now. We are two and a half weeks from moving to our sites so the package would sit at the Peace Corps office for who knows how long. I will post my new address as soon as I get it.
Well I apologize for the recent lack of posts. I’m not dead or seriously ill we’ve just hit the tough part of Pre Service Training. We all seem to be completely exhausted. We aren’t doing anymore than we were before but we just don’t have any energy. I think it’s just the fact that in the beginning we were running on the excitement of everything being new, and now that’s worn off a bit. I also think the training is starting to get to everyone we are treated like children and at first it was ok, it was just kind of funny, but now it’s really starting to get old. Things will be much better once we get to our sites. With all we have done it’s crazy to think that we haven’t even started our two-year service yet!
Since I wrote last the only major thing that has happened has been my site visit. I went up to Zagatala for a few days to see where I will work and meet my new host family and community members. I can’t explain how excited I am to be going up there! The town is absolutely beautiful. It’s a little mountain community and in a way it actually feels a bit like Ashland. It’s a smaller community, people go there to vacation, they are much more modern than any other town other than Baku, and they have a park that goes up into a valley kind of like Lithia park.
I’m also really excited about the work I’ll be doing and the people I’ll be working with. My director is supportive and maybe even a little excited that I want to create more equality for women through sport. I work across the street from the brand new Olympic complex. Azerbaijan has all of these complexes throughout the country where “sportsmen” go to train to hopefully some day compete in the Olympics. It’s kind of like a really nice massive YMCA. The great thing is that I will have complete personal access to it and it has a brand new weight room and swimming pool! I’ll let you all know about the family situation through email.
Again sorry for the lack of posts I’ve just been a bit tired. I do think however that the motivation levels are going to start rising fast as we approach the end of this training. Also a side note hold off on sending any packages now. We are two and a half weeks from moving to our sites so the package would sit at the Peace Corps office for who knows how long. I will post my new address as soon as I get it.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
More photos
Here are some more pics (it wouldn't let me post them all in one) This is me and my friend katie in baku, my aunt, and my cousin and i at her birthday party. Sorry i don't have an entry this week. i think we have hit the point where the honeymoon is over because we have all been really tired. i need to find my stride and get myself in some sort of routine for the next few weeks. i think the waiting game is starting to get to everyone and we just want to get to our sites and get started doing what we signed up for. I'll try to get a post sometime this week with a little more thought hope all is well at home.
Photos
Here are some pics that i wanted to send last week. sorry i got down here and realized they were full size and that would have taken hours to upload! the first is of me pointing on the map to where i'm going. then the rest are of my birthday. i've got one with the extended family, me and my ana with the cake she made for me, the dolma we ate, then my uncle and cousins son.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
The Wonderful Doner
Aug 11, 2007
I don’t know if any of you have ever gotten sick from food poison but I tell you what it’s not a very pleasant thing. Before Thursday I had only gotten it once. It was when I was a freshman in college and I remember calling my mom crying thinking I was going to die or wanting to die one or the other or both. I think it is probably the worst feeling I’d ever felt. That was until getting food poison in the AZ a few days ago.
I was down in Sumgayait I’d just left the internet cafÈ I had that high we all get after hearing about things back home, I really didn’t have a care on my mind. I saw a few friends at a Corner doner shop and decided to stop and enjoy one of my favorite treats with them the wonderful doner.
The doner is a sandwich from turkey. It is made by shaving chunks of meat off a massive conglomerate of meat with an equally sizeable sword. Then the meat is stuffed into a fantastic piece of bread that was cut like a pita but bigger and much better. Then they throw in some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes with a little sauce and mayo, and all this for only 40 cents it’s really quite amazing.
Well, still excited about reading new emails and seeing some friends I stop to grab a doner with them. All is good in my world. That is until I see him scraping the sides of this mayo jar to get the last of the mayo out of this jar that had been sitting in the sun all day with the normal flies buzzing about. Before I go any farther I should note that it is well know that we will all get sick from the food here it’s never been a question of if but more of when. So we all know that we should be precautious and not put ourselves in situations, which increase this already apparent risk. So I get this doner and in my head know that I should pay for it, walk away, and drop it in the next trash I see… but I did mention there were these friends of mine. Well, one of them I kind of find a fair bit attractive so I don’t make the smart and logical choice I choose to sit and hang out. I know what many of you are thinking and yes I am aware that this isn’t the first time I’ve made a dumb decision because of a girl.
Well things went well we all sat and talked for a few hours and then decided we’d better get home and all was still well in my life I was now even more excited than I’d been after leaving the internet cafÈ. I got home studied my language a bit and went to sleep. Then about 3:30 in the morning I woke up to the worst stomach pain of my life and ran to the bathroom.
Without getting too graphic (this is the second time I’ve written this the first was much funnier but after reading it I felt it was a little too nasty) for the next day I had was relived of everything inside of me from both ends simultaneously. I was actually eating bananas because they tasted the same when they came back up and that was much more pleasant than the alternative. It got so bad that my host mother who didn’t have a clue what was wrong with me got out the yellow card. The yellow card is the card that PC gives to host families and on it are instructions on who to call if I were not to wake up one morning, or was hurt and unconscious and was not able to call for medical help myself. Needless to say I was a hurting unit. But as bad as something like that is in the states just for a moment try to imagine what that is like in an unfamiliar place in 110 – 115 degree heat with different bathroom and toilet situations! If you need help I could forward you the unedited version of this in an email, but I’m sure you’ll never look at me the same.
However I’m glad that I can now announce that I am alive and well with all systems working properly, and on the bright side I can think about how some people pay a lot of money to purge their systems and I got mine done for 40 cents, a great tasting doner, and good conversation with a beautiful woman! What more can a guy ask for? Things are great in the AZ!!
I don’t know if any of you have ever gotten sick from food poison but I tell you what it’s not a very pleasant thing. Before Thursday I had only gotten it once. It was when I was a freshman in college and I remember calling my mom crying thinking I was going to die or wanting to die one or the other or both. I think it is probably the worst feeling I’d ever felt. That was until getting food poison in the AZ a few days ago.
I was down in Sumgayait I’d just left the internet cafÈ I had that high we all get after hearing about things back home, I really didn’t have a care on my mind. I saw a few friends at a Corner doner shop and decided to stop and enjoy one of my favorite treats with them the wonderful doner.
The doner is a sandwich from turkey. It is made by shaving chunks of meat off a massive conglomerate of meat with an equally sizeable sword. Then the meat is stuffed into a fantastic piece of bread that was cut like a pita but bigger and much better. Then they throw in some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes with a little sauce and mayo, and all this for only 40 cents it’s really quite amazing.
Well, still excited about reading new emails and seeing some friends I stop to grab a doner with them. All is good in my world. That is until I see him scraping the sides of this mayo jar to get the last of the mayo out of this jar that had been sitting in the sun all day with the normal flies buzzing about. Before I go any farther I should note that it is well know that we will all get sick from the food here it’s never been a question of if but more of when. So we all know that we should be precautious and not put ourselves in situations, which increase this already apparent risk. So I get this doner and in my head know that I should pay for it, walk away, and drop it in the next trash I see… but I did mention there were these friends of mine. Well, one of them I kind of find a fair bit attractive so I don’t make the smart and logical choice I choose to sit and hang out. I know what many of you are thinking and yes I am aware that this isn’t the first time I’ve made a dumb decision because of a girl.
Well things went well we all sat and talked for a few hours and then decided we’d better get home and all was still well in my life I was now even more excited than I’d been after leaving the internet cafÈ. I got home studied my language a bit and went to sleep. Then about 3:30 in the morning I woke up to the worst stomach pain of my life and ran to the bathroom.
Without getting too graphic (this is the second time I’ve written this the first was much funnier but after reading it I felt it was a little too nasty) for the next day I had was relived of everything inside of me from both ends simultaneously. I was actually eating bananas because they tasted the same when they came back up and that was much more pleasant than the alternative. It got so bad that my host mother who didn’t have a clue what was wrong with me got out the yellow card. The yellow card is the card that PC gives to host families and on it are instructions on who to call if I were not to wake up one morning, or was hurt and unconscious and was not able to call for medical help myself. Needless to say I was a hurting unit. But as bad as something like that is in the states just for a moment try to imagine what that is like in an unfamiliar place in 110 – 115 degree heat with different bathroom and toilet situations! If you need help I could forward you the unedited version of this in an email, but I’m sure you’ll never look at me the same.
However I’m glad that I can now announce that I am alive and well with all systems working properly, and on the bright side I can think about how some people pay a lot of money to purge their systems and I got mine done for 40 cents, a great tasting doner, and good conversation with a beautiful woman! What more can a guy ask for? Things are great in the AZ!!
My Counterpart
August 7, 2007
Just a quick note. I met my counterpart today and I couldn’t be more excited about where I’m going. He speaks a little English but understands quite a bit. At the conference we had an opportunity to get to know each other the best we could with our limited language abilities. Mainly we talked about our families, which always gets interesting when I try to explain how I have 6 sisters and 5 brothers. People here aren’t used to the idea of split families. Then we tried to talk about why I’m 30 and not married. The usual first conversation talk over here.
After all the formal talk we were able to get down to talking about what their expectations are of me and what they envision me accomplishing during my service. He explained that they were completely open to any new ideas and would support almost anything I could bring. He explained that there are tons of youth wanting to attend English conversation clubs (which I thought the best use of my time would be to build a program where I teach the older youth how to run conversation clubs rather than me running clubs that will be gone when I am or when PC is done). Currently they have a bunch of soccer teams as well as some judo and wrestling all for the boys. So I think I’d like to focus some of my time on creating opportunities for girls to participate. One of the NGO’s that have come and talked to us told us about an area that started ultimate Frisbee teams and because it was a new sport gender roles weren’t already established and they got boys and girls to play together which is a completely different concept here. I’ve thought that would be tons of fun, but I won’t really know what they want or need until I spend some time in the community. I’m just excited that they are open and willing to explore new ideas.
Just a quick note. I met my counterpart today and I couldn’t be more excited about where I’m going. He speaks a little English but understands quite a bit. At the conference we had an opportunity to get to know each other the best we could with our limited language abilities. Mainly we talked about our families, which always gets interesting when I try to explain how I have 6 sisters and 5 brothers. People here aren’t used to the idea of split families. Then we tried to talk about why I’m 30 and not married. The usual first conversation talk over here.
After all the formal talk we were able to get down to talking about what their expectations are of me and what they envision me accomplishing during my service. He explained that they were completely open to any new ideas and would support almost anything I could bring. He explained that there are tons of youth wanting to attend English conversation clubs (which I thought the best use of my time would be to build a program where I teach the older youth how to run conversation clubs rather than me running clubs that will be gone when I am or when PC is done). Currently they have a bunch of soccer teams as well as some judo and wrestling all for the boys. So I think I’d like to focus some of my time on creating opportunities for girls to participate. One of the NGO’s that have come and talked to us told us about an area that started ultimate Frisbee teams and because it was a new sport gender roles weren’t already established and they got boys and girls to play together which is a completely different concept here. I’ve thought that would be tons of fun, but I won’t really know what they want or need until I spend some time in the community. I’m just excited that they are open and willing to explore new ideas.
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?
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?
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