Baku Visit

Last week we had our first outing to Baku.  Our guides were current Peace Corps Volunteers. We met at the local bus station and traveled to the big Baku bus station, where we transferred to a bus to the city center.  First stop, the Peace Corps office.  There is a lounge there for volunteers that I will be able to access once I'm sworn in. Then on to the train station that is across from the world's largest KFC.  I went in. It has two red curved staircases that go up to the second floor where you can get beer along with your fried chicken. No fried chicken for me today.

From the train station we went to the Metro and took Metro to the old city and then a bus to Martyrs' Lane, a memorial to Azerbaijans killed in during the struggle for independence. It is a very moving site. Last to Old Town.  I bought a scarf for my growing collection. I plan on going back to Baku and exploring more.

We went to a restaurant owned by two ex-pat couples.  It is a "Mexican" restaurant.  I shared a pulled pork sandwich and chicken nachos with a friend. Not exactly like home but familiar flavors.  I really like the food here but a taste of home is always welcome.

Wandered around for a hour then back to the bus experience for a trip back home.  We have to be off the roads between sites before dark.  I feel a little like Cinderella. My host mother was a little worried and called looking for me.  I had just turned the corner to home around 8:30.  It is both nice and a little odd to be watched out for this much.

I'm trying to add pictures, but for some reason the majority of the picture is being cut off.  I'll find someone to help me fix.

I will soon have regular access to the internet and hope to post more frequently.  Only three weeks to swearing in.  In four weeks I'll be at site.  I've been assigned to work with a local organization that provides health services to lower income individuals across Azerbaijan. The office is located in a suburb of Baku, so it will be easy for me to travel all over Azerbaijan.

Patti

This  blog does not represent the views of the Peace Corps

Gobustan Redux

Gobustan – Saturday, April 27^th

 

 We went to Gobustan National Park, which is also declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the quality and number of its petroglyphs.  It was our first real trip outside Baku and Sumgayit, which is a suburb like Bellevue is to Seattle.

We piled into a large bus, all 27 of us along with Peace Corps staff, a friend or two and some children.  At Gobustan, we split into two groups for a private tour of the museum that opened last year.  It is very nice.  The tour guide ran us through the two floors in record time. Then we went a short distance to another guide who took us on a path that gave us access to the petroglyphs.

After lunch we got back on the bus and drove to the mud volcanos.  The driver got lost, but got directions from a local and after driving on a dirt side road with ruts so deep that if wet would have been impassible.  We then had to hike half a mile up a hill to the volcanos.  One girl was standing on the edge of one and it collapsed and she got sucked into her waist.  Another girl, pulled her out and rescued her shoe which was sucked off.  Later a small mud fight ensued but I stayed out of it.  I had brought a change of shoes but not clothes. 

 

 

Back on the bus to Sumgayit and home.

This blog does not represent the views of the Peace Corps

Language Proficiency Interview (LPI)

Last Saturday we had our first of two LPIs.  It was fifteen minutes of answering questions in Azerbaijani.  Of course the questions were in Azerbaijani too.  First you had to understand what the person was asking you and then figuring out an answer.  Since we have only had a total of 16 language classes, can only talk in the present tense and only string up to five words, at most, together, you can imagine how proficient I am. 

The Azerbaijani language has a totally different sentence structure.  The subject is first and the verb last.  Words have vowel harmony, which means that the nine, count them, nine vowels have up to four different forms of endings and there can be multiple endings on a word.  Since my knowledge of English grammar terms is limited, which I blame on my middle school changing the methods they taught English three years in a row, you might be able to imagine how I doing trying to figure out what the teacher(s) mean when they grammar terms are used.

Conceptually, I understand what I’m supposed to do but when I try to speak it comes out all garbled.  Adding in my poor pronunciation, it’s a miracle that anyone understands me.

I am getting tutoring on top of my language classes, but I will probably need to up that from 1 day a week to at least 2.  I have joined a Conversation Club that meets on Sundays.  Today was the first day I attended and it is going to help a lot.

Tomorrow, I will find out how my interview went.  The good news is that the Peace Corps doesn’t send you home for not passing the LPI, even the one at the end of the training period.  Instead, they provide tutoring to help you gain the necessary language proficiency to be able to complete do your job.

I got my score - novice mid. I was told that I have the ability to learn.  Already a week later I see progress.

This blog does not represent the views of the Peace Corps.