Homeward Bound

Today I started my journey back to the States. Six months sooner than anticipated. As a member of the last group of PCVs in Azerbaijan for the foreseeable future, it was an interesting experience. I've learned almost as much about the United States as I have about Azerbaijan.

My Azerbaijan family sent me off with a glorious meal that I will remember. Good food and friends.



Goodbye Meal

 

I am currently at the Doha Airport in Qatar waiting for the second of my three leg trip. I will arrive in Philadelphia tomorrow morning heading to Michigan to spend the holidays with my Mother, my sister and her family.

Seattle is in my near future but don't have a definite timeline yet. I am looking forward to seeing everyone.

One week to go

I continue to wind down in Azerbaijan.

Last night I learned how to make red lentil soup from my host mom. It is a popular soup here in Azerbaijan and every cook has their own way of making. I like her soup because it is not smooth in texture but also not chunky. It also has a bit of a kick to it. I told her that I would be making it next week in America.

Yesterday, I also did my last load of laundry. The water was good and there were no clothes in the machine so I jumped on it. I had to leave for work before it was done, but my mother hung my clothes on the line for me. I took them down while they were slightly damp and finished drying them on the radiator. Almost smelled like they had been run through a dryer.

I have been thinking about what I will miss when I get back to the states. Here is a short list. I'm sure that it will change when I get home.

• I will miss the bus service. Not so much the crowded buses, but the fact that they all the time and usually the wait is no more than 10 minutes between buses. So if you see one passing before you get to the main road, you know that another will be along shortly. 
• Sitting in the kitchen with the women. Talking and cooking.
• The gardens with fruit trees and vegetables. Also, the chickens running around.
• The canned items from the gardens. Pickled cabbage, tomatoes, tomato and pepper sauce, pickled eggplant. And the olives that have that buttery taste.
• How you can come home and there is almost always one person there and there could be twenty. I think that I have come home about three times when there wasn't anyone there.
• How when my family occasionally fusses with each other; when they are done they are done and quickly switch back to joking with each other. I know that the discussion is pretty much over when my mom says "besti" basically telling everyone that that is enough.
• How my mom knows to start a sentence with "Patti" when she wants to talk to me. She knows that my Azerbaijan is not so good and when sitting with a group, I tune out. 
• Mostly it will be the people I have met. My family, people I've worked with, neighbors, my local market workers, the Peace Corps staff and the other volunteers.

Final Countdown

Well I have ten more days to go, so today I'm going with counts

• 4 more days of work
• 12 thank you notes to write
• 9 more nights
• 16 PCV's left (4 leave this week and 10 next week; the final 2 by the end of the month)
• 8 puppies (the street dog got pregnant again)
• 8 more walks on my muddy streets
• 2 close of service interviews
• 3 flights to get home

It has been a wonderful adventure, but I am ready to head back to the States and see what is next.

Thanksgiving

Last year I worked on Thanksgiving Day. This year I decided to take the day off and prepare a meal for my host family. The day was wonderful. My host sister and mother work at the same school. Nunu, my sister, is a first year teacher of Azerbaijan language and literature. Yesterday, she taught an open lesson that was observed by the other teachers and a curriculum specialist from the local school district. Of course, her class was marvelous. Normally, Nunu teaches in the morning and my mother teaches in the afternoon, but because of this open lesson they were both gone most of the day.

So, I had the house pretty much to myself all day. I slept in a little later than usual, then got up, prepared my coffee and began my cooking. I had decided to make sweet rolls with grated orange filling, apple crisp and a roasted turkey. I started with the cinnamon rolls and then moved on to the apple crisp. In between, I was able to take a shower and get a load of laundry done. The shower was a little odd, because the hot water heater kept turning on and off due to the water pressure changing. (In order for the gas to fire on the instant hot water heater, the water pressure has to be strong enough) I just used cold water for the laundry so no problem there.

Around three o'clock, someone started banging on the door. My room is in the back of the house so I tried to ignore it. I wasn't sure if the knocking was at the gate or the door, but who ever was out there wasn't looking for me. Finally, I got up and went to the door. It was one of the students Nunu tutors at home. I managed to tell him that she wasn't home and sent him on his way. At 3:30 to more students showed up. I sent them off and then got a call to have them come in and wait. Pretty much the only disruption to my day. My Azeri is not terribly good and I really didn't know where Nunu was, so it was a little comical. However, I am usually able to get my point across and understand based on circumstances.

Nunu and my mother showed up pretty much as the rolls were coming out of the oven. They were a little too soft for my mother, so I put them back in for a bit. I asked when I should have dinner ready and was told 7:30. I was also scolded because I bought onions and potatoes for dinner and of course, there are large bags of each in the cellar. I was told that "they took offense" A minor rebuke. Dinner was done at 7:30 but Nunu was still tutoring so we waited until she was done. In the end, dinner was a success. Can't really go wrong with chicken and potatoes, but you never know.

In spirit of the holiday, we said what we were thankful for. A lovely day.

30 days

As of today, I have 30 days left in Azerbaijan. This little adventure has been interesting, challenging, fun, awkward, long, short, enlightening, infuriating and I'm glad I went on it. Even though I am leaving early, due to the closing of the program, I feel that I have gotten a lot out of the experience. I am also ready to start the next stage of my life, though I have to admit I'm not sure what I am doing next.

Last week I completed my SPA grant. This is a small grant program available to Peace Corps volunteers to fund projects in the organizations and communities. My organization, a health care clinic and I created a Vision Healthcare Activity book. My office mate lead the project that resulted in 1,000 activity books being printed. We are now distributing them to patients of our clinic and mobile eye clinic. My co-workers didn't quite get what we were trying to accomplish, but now that the book is printed we are getting rave reviews. One of my co-workers gave the book to her nine year old grandson and they spent an entire evening working on the activities.

Last weekend, I visited one of my Peace Corps friend's at her site for the last time. She has the second best host family in Azerbaijan. My host family of course is the best. I have stayed at their house several times and every time have felt welcomed.

Next week, the remaining Peace Corps volunteers will gather for a Thanksgiving celebration. When I arrived there were over 100 volunteers in country. Now there are 26. After December there will be four.

On Thanksgiving day my plan is to prepare dinner for my family. I plan on preparing a roasted chicken instead of a turkey. I find it to daunting to prepare a turkey in the little red over. I am debating whether to make an apple pie or apple crisp. Nathan loves my apple crisp and I may make that in honor of him.

Soon I hope to see many of you. Inshallah

Home for the Holidays

It has been awhile since I have posted.

In June, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce decided to cancel the agreement with Peace Corps for the CED (Community and Economic Development) of which I was a volunteer. After almost four months, this was clarified to mean that we needed to leave the country by the end of the year. So, I will be ending my service six months early and will be heading to Michigan to spend the holidays with my mother, my sister and her family. Then I plan to head to Seattle.

In the meantime, I have made a couple of changes to ease/begin my transition back to the States.

First, I cut my hair. Just about a year ago, I had about three inches cut off my hair. At the time I thought that that would be my only haircut. At the end of September, I visited a friend and her family in Belgrade. I went to her stylist and got a shorter doo. The direction was to go for a more modern hair style, which I believe was accomplished.

Before

After - same lovely pajama top 

Second, I have moved back in with my host family. Story is a little to long to tell, but I asked if I could come back for the last month and a half and I was welcomed with opened arms. So, yesterday I walked my stuff back across the street and down three houses. There are many benefits, not the least spending more time with my family. An added bonus is that I now have reliable internet that is on 24/7.



However, my beautiful view of the lake is shrinking. The government has decided to fill the lake in and so it is shrinking on a daily basis. The current plan is that it will become a park with a culture center. I will not be here long enough to see. The ducks don't like the change.


Last year

Today

Wedding in three parts

I went to my first and likely only Toy (wedding) last Tuesday - here is my story

Part One - Pre-wedding activities 

My host mother, sister and aunt had appointments scheduled at a salon. I was told to be dressed and ready at 4:00 but of course at 3:20 was asked where I was. I quickly took a shower and dressed and was at their door in ten minutes. I digress for a minute, I washed my dress but before I could rinse the soap out, we lost water. I took it to my host family's house and using water from their secondary source, it was rinsed and spun in the washing machine. At 3:00 I was told it was dry and to pick it up. We piled into my uncle's car, a four door Mercedes. Two in the front and four in the back. No seat belts in the back. About 30 minutes later, we were dropped off at the salon. First up my host mother for an updo. For the next two and a half hours I watched my family members and a whole bunch of others get done up. My host mother has very curly hair and first it was blown straight and then done up. This took a considerable about of time so the other two were only able to have their hair blown straight.

I watched two women in evening gowns and a variety of others get hair, makeup, facial hair removed and at least one facial. At least one person had three people working on her at one time. Salon hygiene is slightly different in Azerbaijan. Implements are not cleaned in between clients. Towels are reused after drying only. The combs and brushes are "rat tailed" and stuck in the stylists hair when not in use. If hair is cut, it is swept up whenever.

About halfway through this experience a woman came into the salon with a bag of new bras and panties. I didn't know that bra and panty sets were packaged in shoe boxes. At one point almost every worker in the salon came and removed items from the bag and/or packaging and held up the items and checked out their stretchiness. Quite a lot of business was transacted. It certainly was a more comfortable environment then the underwear on a table in the bazaar where the vendor is male. Another woman came in later and was selling toothbrushes, hair dye and lotion. Amazing to watch.

Hair was finally done around 6:30 and off to an aunt's house to change.

Part Two - The wedding

Weddings start at 6:00. We arrived at 7:00. The bride is picked up at her parents' house by the groom and his family members. After certain rituals are performed, the bride and groom are driven to the Wedding Palace. The car with the bride and groom has flowers on the hood and/or door handles and the rest of the cars have red ribbons. Honking is involved in the procession. Since we arrived late, I don't know what happened when the bride and groom arrived. The bride and groom sit on a raised platform by themselves for the entire party. There may be food on their table, but the don't eat. They watch the party and guests come up to give them good wishes and have their pictures taken with the couple.

Happy Couple

Guests are seated at tables with much food; 3-4 kinds of salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, sliced meats, cheeses, chicken, mushrooms, potatoes, meat and nuts. Later kabob comes out, fresh fruit and a special plov (rice dish). There are many beverage choices, including wine, vodka, champagne and beer. But only for men. The women drink water, lemonade or juice. Tea of course is also available. There were about five hundred people at this wedding. There was also a band with two singers who played Mugan music (Azerbaijan's contribution to the music world) at an incredible loud volume. In between the music a master of ceremonies invited guests to voice congratulations to the couple and families. After the toasts, different groups would be invited to get up an dance. According to my host sister, you don't get up to dance until you are invited. At one point the couple danced and then retreated back to their seats. There was also a slow dance that couples danced. This is supposedly an import of a Turkish tradition. It was more awkward than kids at a high school dance, back in my day. All this is captured on video. There was at least one hand held camera and one on a boom. All project live on at least four big screens mounted on the walls and in the lobby.

Boom camera and screens

This particular couple had known each other for four years. They had met in University. They talked to each other throughout the wedding and even smiled at each other. Many couples don't know each other, the marriages being arranged by family members. The bride wears white with a red ribbon around her waist signifying purity.

I enjoyed my wedding experience but can see why they can be boring. Basically all weddings are pretty much the same. I did dance a couple of times. Once I danced more like the men and provided amusement for the other guests. The men's dancing is much more fun. The women's dancing is fairly simple and not necessarily done to the music.

My host mom

Part Three - After the event

We left as the cake was being cut at about 11pm. Another imported tradition. My host mother had hurt her ankle, so the decision was to take her to a doctor. First we had to drop something off to someone. This involved going behind some apartment buildings while talking on the phone to whoever was getting whatever. A little odd. Then we went to see the doctor at another apartment complex. My host mother's hair was also giving her a headache so we picked up a knife someplace to cut the rubber band that was causing the pain. This apartment complex was close to a relatives, so a chat also took place. Then on to another apartment complex to pick up a cousin. More chatting. Then on to home. Host mom was prescribed a lotion made of honey, an acid (lemon?) and a specific type of sea salt and then wrapped in a bandage. Since it was so late, I slept on the fold out sofa.

Another adventure successfully completed.




Puppy follow-up

Last weekend I visited a friend for two nights. On Friday, I went to feed Mama and her puppies. I was accompanied by a few the boys in the neighborhood. They are assisting me in my feeding efforts. I still had a half of bag of dog food and asked that they take care of the dogs while I was gone. There was really only enough food for one day. I also gave them the bowl that I use to give the dogs fresh water.

I came back on Monday and resumed my feeding chores. Since the boys still had my bowl, I only provided food. I was accompanied by one boy that night and he was very concerned that I wasn't providing water. In talking with my host sister, I found out that the boys had pooled their money and had purchased sausages for the dogs and bread. When asked by their parents why they were buying food for the dogs, they stated that they had promised Patti that they would take care of the dogs while she was gone.

Last night I found out that they have named two of the puppies. The mostly black one is Max and another is Rex. Perhaps they will tell me the third puppies name tonight.

I think that this is my best experience story to date. I am so proud of "my boys"

Two medical adventures

First - rabies shots don't hurt

When my group first arrived in Azerbaijan, we were given the first three in a series of five rabies shots. There are a lot of stray dogs in Azerbaijan. I have been feeding stray dogs on and off during my service. My neighborhood has a mother with three puppies. I have been feeding them for the last couple of weeks. Last Friday, a close friend visited and I asked if she would like to go feed the puppies with me. She agreed so we took some cut up hot dogs. As you may know, puppies have sharp teeth and instead of putting the food on the ground we feed the puppies directly so that each would get some food. As you may have guessed, we both got our fingers cut with sharp puppy teeth. So off to the office and now we have the final two rabies shots.

Two of the puppies and mom

 

Second- Mammovan

At the halfway through service, volunteers have a mid-service exam which includes a physical, teeth cleaning and for the "seasoned" woman volunteers a mammogram. For reasons that I don't fully understand, there is not an approved facility in Azerbaijan for a mammogram, so the decision was made to send us to Tbilisi. So on Monday, a group of four women were driven in a Peace Corps vehicle, which was nicknamed the "mammovan"  to the "Red Bridge" where we walked across the border and took a taxi into Tbilisi. The trip involved two overnights, one on the Azerbaijan side and the second in Tbilisi. Two volunteers are staying to enjoy Tbilisi for a couple of days and two of us crossed back to Azerbaijan this morning, met up with the driver and headed home. A short but successful trip. I must say that traveling by car is much more pleasurable than by bus, but perhaps a little less colorful.

Spring musings

As we inch into summer, my first summer living on my own, I find that this is a season of utility management challenges. Fall and spring seem to have few utility challenges, with winter and summer having more. As this utility season starts, I remember the issues from when I lived with my host family, but they were already prepared and had several ways to mitigate. Primarily a secondary cooking source and a water cistern. I have neither of these so need to keep my water management up to date and have food available that I don't have to cook.

Water seems to be the easiest to manage since it is somewhat predictable. Water has good pressure until around eleven in the morning, then the water pressure either drops or there is no water at all. Water seems to return in the evening between five and six, but usually low pressure until ten. I think this has a lot to do with the watering of gardens that seems to begin around six. Lack of gas and electricity seem to be quite random but frequent. There is a lot of construction going on. Baku is hosting the first European Games next year and it seems that no matter where you go something is being dug up, paved, torn down and constructed.

Sunday's utility schedule was as follows: 9:00 am took sheets and towels over to my host family's house to use the washing machine while there was good pressure (a load takes just under two hours), water cut off just about then. Back home, hoped to make another cup of coffee - no gas. Read and finally made coffee, but no water. Went to the store and bought a chicken to roast for my upcoming week's protein. Got the chicken ready, no electricity until just before 9:00 pm, popped chicken in and ate just after 10:00. Since I had clean sheets, I wanted to take a shower and wash my hair. Initially no water then really low pressure. Took my shower anyway but washing and rinsing my hair took 3-4 times as long.

The chicken came out great and I went to bed clean. As the saying goes; all's well that ends well.

P.S. While I was washing my clothes, I asked my host mother for some potatoes. The potato crop is in. So off to the garden we went. First we hit up the tut (marionberry) tree and noshed a bit there, then on to the potatoes, red basil, cucumber, green beans, apricot, cherry tree and some fruit that has a stone and is tasty but I have no idea what it is. I came out of the garden with two small plastic bags with all of these items and she threw in four eggs. Cut down on my shopping list. Later there will be pomegrande, apple, figs, pears, carrots, tomatoes, and eggplant. The garden is large and a huge amount of work, but it provides lovely food.

A typical day - #3 update

I went home last night and decided to try to figure out why the water to the sink in the house didn't run. After getting out my leatherman for its pliers, I unscrewed the faucet head and found it to be crusted with sediment. The dirt here has a lot of clay. I basically had to pry the encrusted clay and minerals off this plastic piece. Then I ran a sharp knife around to get into a small channel. Rinsed off the screens, put it all back together and voila, I have water in my house again. A little peeved with myself for taking so long to work on it, but alls well that ends well. This will reduce my water management time a lot.

A typical day - #3

On Friday, June 14th I will mark the one year anniversary of my service. So I think it is time to go over a typical day. No day goes exactly the same, but this is a good example of a typical day.

8:30 - 9:30 -  I start each day making coffee with my french press. It has become a ritual that I enjoy. My current coffee selection is coffee I bought on my recent trip to Italy (another pending post). I drink it with milk and a little sugar. I usually eat yogurt and muesli for breakfast. While I eat breakfast, I finish getting dressed, collect the items I want to take for the day and pack any food I need for lunch.

9:30 - Head out for work. A thirty minute walk. School is out and sometimes I see more kids playing in the road, but it really depends. Temp is currently in the low-80's when I head out. Usually listen to music on my IPod and often sing along. I pretty much know all the songs on my shuffle.

10:00 - 1:00 - Arrive at work Say hello to Mysick (English spelling of a Russian word) the clinic's dog. She is about 7 months old. A little nervous. Sometimes I have hot dogs to feed her. Head into the office and say hello to people I see and join my office mate, Sabina. Put any food that needs to refrigerated into the fridge and get a cup of instant coffee. Check email and news. I successfully applied for a SPA grant (small project grant) for a vision health care activity book. The end result will be the publication of an activity book to give to our younger patients. This should be completed early next year. I am still working on building databases and reports. Also, will begin working on updating financial report.

1:00 - lunch - I have been making pita bread about every three weeks. My typical lunch is half a pita with chicken/tuna/egg salad with vegetables and/or fruit. Yesterday I added a bag of chips. I'm still drinking Coke Zero and used to start one at lunch, however, it has become more difficult to find, as of late, so I save that item for when I get home from work.

1:30 - 4:00 - Continue working.

4:00 - Head home. If I want to go to the store on my way home, I either walk an extra ten minutes, catch a bus or a ride. I have a favorite market about a ten minute walk from my house. If it is really hot, I will buy an ice cream sandwich (dondurma) and eat on my walk home. Now that it is hot in the afternoons, I walk a little slower home.

5:00 - Put my groceries away and start the ritual of my evening coffee. Usually read for a little bit then start my evening chores. I have a few flowers that I started from seed, so I water them. They look a little on the sad side. Last night I decided to do some laundry. Whites, so I soaked them in bleach water and will finish tonight. Also, cooked chicken and made barbecue sauce for pulled chicken sandwiches. Water continues to be problematic. The water into my kitchen doesn't really work. I think it is plugged due to the dirt in the water. A chore for tonight. So I have to get water from the bathroom, which is close but still a hassle. With the weather getting hot, I need to make sure that I keep my drinking water supply up. This is a three step process, boil, cool, filter. We have Britta water filters, which are plastic, so I have to cool the water before filling. I also did dishes and made egg salad last night. It doesn't sound like I did a lot, but the time it takes to do each of these items is two/three/four times as long as it would take in the states. I listen to music and read during the wait times. I took a shower last night too. I currently don't have hot water so a shower can be a two step process, hair first than a quick shower. It is amazing how fast the evening passes. Some nights I head over to my host families for a chat, tea and frequently dinner.

9:00 - start to get ready for bed. This sometimes involves a batch or two of popcorn. Read a bit in bed and a game or two of solitaire or hearts and then off to sleep.

The pace of my day is slow, but they don't drag. Weekends often include a trip into Baku to meet with friends and have a cup of coffee. You can tell I'm from Seattle, coffee is an integral part of my day.

Cultural moment and animal stories

Cultural moment

Over the last three weeks, my organization has been attending a four session leadership training class. The trainers are native English speakers with some awesome Russian and Azerbaijan language skills. They have been assisted by one of the best translators I have yet to meet. One of those incredible people that you want to listen to even if you don't know what they are saying. So each day of training we had two-two hour sessions. The first session was delivered in English and translated into Russian. My organization's administrative language is Russian. Services are primarily in Azerbaijan. The second session was primarily in Russian.

At the second to last session, we were discussing our personal work goals. One of doctors, who is in his early 50's, stated that it at this stage of employment is the time to rest and let the younger workers take the lead. Retirement is around 55-60,depending on your employment. I was aghast, since I plan on working into my mid-70's and feel that I still have a lot to contribute.

Then I realized that our cultural norms are very different in this area and while I feel that I inhabit this culture in a fairly comfortable way, this is still a different culture and I will likely get a bit of  reverse culture shock when I return to the States next year.

Animal Stories

I woke up a couple of days ago to some activity outside my house. I figured it was one of my landlords out in the yard and went back to sleep. Soon I discovered what the earlier activity was about. Outside my bathroom is a small chicken coop which when I first moved in housed several chickens. They were moved in with the turkeys in a larger coop across the yard in early winter and during the snow were moved up to the vacant second floor of the main house. Well the early morning activity was a single rooster being returned to the small coop. Now I wake up at all hours to his crowing. I think he likes to let the chickens in the big coop know that he is still around. There appears to be some "twilight bark" effect to his crows. Even the male turkey lends his voice from time to time.



Mr. Rooster

This morning I was walking to work and saw this single cow walking down the road with her minder. Now that it is spring, I see an occasional small herd walking down the street or munching in a vacant lot, but a single cow is not common. She was a little concerned about me and crossed over to the far side of the road to avoid coming in contact. You'll have to blow this picture up to see her, since she is off in the distance.

Ms. Moo

Bits and Pieces

Spring now appears to be in full swing and I thought I'd write a few bits and pieces since last time.

It snowed on March 30th, the first time it has snowed in recent memory after the first day of Spring, which is celebrated by the Novrus holiday.  I will post more on that holiday later. Other than an unusual thunder and lighting storm last weekend, the weather is quite pleasant.

March 30 snow

I am gaining new baking skills.  I make a mean Banana Sour Cream muffin with nutella filling. I am also perfecting my pita baking skills. As I indicted earlier, my oven, which is called a red pec, is basically a little larger and slightly more robust Easy Bake oven. In order to make a good pita, you need to have a really hot oven. So I crank that baby up to its highest temperature and let it rip. Each pita bakes by itself for 2 minutes the first side and 1 minute the second. A batch makes 8 pitas. I think I have the whole process down to about 2 1/2 hours. I freeze most of them and then take them out one at time.  I'm mostly filling them with egg, tuna or chicken salad. If I take it out on my way to work, it is defrosted perfectly by lunch time. It is so much better than buying bread. While bread is inexpensive, I can't eat a whole loaf before it gets stale or moldy. When I do buy bread I usually by a flatter bread called tandoor.

Pita Bread

Some expat-women volunteered to update my organization's kids area. It is beautiful.

Children's Zone

A bit of unfortunate news - a new group of trainees was expected to come to Azerbaijan earlier this month, unfortunately circumstances arose that necessitated that their arrival be cancelled.  Peace Corps hopes that next year a new group of  volunteers will come. As we say in Azerbaijan, Inshallah.

I have been busy at work; attending a series of leadership trainings (half in English translated into Russian and half in Russian translated into English), working on a grant application, creating a small database in Access and working with the organization on strategic management and financial reporting. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. It has been amazing how much of the training in Russian I have been able to follow at times. Many business/technical terms are similar and if you know the general topic and catch a few words here and there, I can pick up the gist of the conversation. But I'm glad that it is translated. All the staff of my organization speak Russian, for some it is their first language. But not all speak Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has only been the official language since the early 1990's, when Azerbaijan gained its independence.

Till next time - Patti

Chore Day

So far it has been a pretty eventful year.  It started out slow and just keeps building.  Highlights include "Yeni Il" (New Year) which I celebrated with my family but I was tired and headed home at ten. Then lost water for four weeks; a combination of utility work and a snow storm, followed by freezing temps. Very little in insulated so water lines froze in homes. My organization was visited by the authorities and has been closed to patients for the last four weeks.  We hope to get is sorted out shortly. I have things I can work on so I'm keeping busy. It was a little disheartening but was tempered by a one week vacation to Budapest, where I connected with Jessie and Dan on their way home from a five week vacation in East Africa, culminating with them successfully climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.  By the way, Budapest is lovely. Back to Azerbaijan and a leaky hot water heater.  Something burst during the freeze that didn't present until the water came back on the day I returned. Almost caught up from my travels.

Jessie and Dan Budapest City Park

Last weekend I took my sheets and towels over to my host family's house and used their washer. Sheets hadn't been washed since 2013.  Nice to have those clean again. The nice thing about sheets is that they dry quickly.  I have drying rack that I place in front of my pec and turn on my fan to distribute the heat.  Can have them dry in a couple of hours. 

Drying System

Today us the first day since I've gotten back that I haven't gone anywhere - so more chores. I'm in the process of heating my third large teapot of water.  So far, I have washed dishes, one load of hand washing complete with another in process and made my bed nicely.  Still on the list; vacuum, sweep, wash the kitchen floor, make banana sour cream muffins, wash my hair in the kitchen sink (another pot of hot water) and take a bucket shower (another pot of hot water) and call it a day.

My landlord has removed the hot water heater for repairs and I hope that it will return shortly.  Having insta-hot water sure shortens the time my chores take.  However, even with that step shortened, it still takes time. 

I also need to get back to daily exercising.  I still walk every day but stopped my exercises because of the cold.  The house was getting down into the low forties and it takes about an hour to get it up 10 degrees.  Can't leave the pec on when I'm not home or when I'm sleeping. I've discovered Pinterest and have marked a beginning Zumba video and belly dancing.  We'll see how that goes.

My quest for this week - get my hair trimmed

Strega Nonas

My mother used to send my children Christmas books as Christmas.  We used to read one Christmas book each night in December.  One of our favorites was Merry Christmas, Strega Nona.

I recently visited friends in Lankaran, a region to the south bordering Iran.  As part of that visit, we went to "isti su", hot baths.  To get to "isti su" you go out of the city center of Lankaran and then it is a 30 minute walk into the hillside.  There are several huts with baths.  You chose which hut by the temperature of the bath.  After our bath, we walked back down the hill.  It is lightly forested and you pass cows heading home. Much to my delight as we were walking we spotted two women walking up the hill. They were dressed in many colored layers, tights, socks, skirt, apron, long sleeved shirts, knitted vests and scarfs.  Resting on their shoulders were axes.  Just like Strega Nona as she went to get the Christmas tree to make Christmas.  Two real life Strega Nonas.  As we passed, we said Salam and got wonderful greetings back and beautiful smiles.

I didn't get a picture, but the memory is so vivid and wonderful.

We all need the magic of Strega Nona and I am so blessed to have found "my" Strega Nonas in Azerbaijan.

Complacency

A short story of complacency and how it will bite you in the butt most every time

I have been at site for seven months and in my house for three.  I know how reliable utilities are.  As my former site mate used to say; “a day with two out of three is a good day” I had a headache on Tuesday, so didn’t go into work and slept until late afternoon.  Got up and didn’t have water.  Ok, I thought, I have a bucket of water in the bathroom, the teapot is half full, I have a pitcher of filtered water in the fridge and a large bottle of boiled water. Unfortunately I did not get water at any appreciable level back that night.  Wednesday morning, still no water but I had enough for a cup of coffee.  Surely, I thought I’ll have water tonight when I get home.  Alas, no water. I checked with my landlord and was able to fill my teapot from the hot water tank. The bucket in the bathroom was getting low.  Had no idea why we had no water.  Thursday morning – still no water.  Still enough for a cup of coffee. Thursday evening – still no water. Refilled the teapot.  Went to language lessons with my host sister.  Finally found out what was going on.  They are fixing a main water pipe and shutting off the water in the morning till evening.  I get up around 8:30 after the water is turned off. It is turned back on sometime between 7:30 and 9:00 but the pressure is low.  The sink in my house already has low pressure so it didn’t appear that I had water even if I did.  I had a little better flow from one of the spigots in my bathroom, but it was also quite weak compared to normal.  Tonight water came back at 7:00.  I immediately filled all buckets in the bathroom.  Refilled all my drinking water containers and washed my dishes.  With the low water pressure, these tasks took about 45 minutes.  I have it on good authority that it is unknown when the pipe will be fixed. 

While the morale of this store is to keep my water supplies filled, it is likely I will get complacent again and get bitten in the butt once again.

A time of reflection

 

Just over two hours left of 2013 and I have spent a good portion of my day reflecting on 2013 and thinking about the upcoming year.

2013 was a year of change.  I started the year in a studio apartment.  I rang the New Year in with my New Year group, only this year we stood on the rooftop deck of my apartment building watching the fireworks at the Space Needle, instead of watching them on TV.  No music, but the show and the small fireworks shows all around were a delight.

I spent the first five weeks of the year, disposing of most of my possessions.  Storing the items I couldn’t part with in half of a small storage unit.  Patted the heads of Emily and Sydney goodbye and off they went to temporary housing for the next two years, plus a couple of months.  I said goodbye to family and good friends.  My job of 18 years ended.  I boarded a train out of town for three weeks of train travel.

I crossed the country by train, leaving my home of 30 years.  My trip began with about an hour traveling on the edge of Puget Sound at dusk.  What a magnificent send off.  Visits to Chicago, New York, Boston, Philly and Washington DC before spending a month with my family in Michigan.

In early April, my sister dropped me off at the Detroit airport for the first leg of my Peace Corps adventure. The smooth dropping off interrupted by having to lose about 20 pounds of stuff.  Arriving in Washington DC to meet another trainee to share a cab to our orientation hotel.  Not know what this person looked like, I looked for someone else with two years of stuff.  Off to the hotel to meet another 26 people who are sharing this experience with me. Orientation and one night in the hotel and off to Azerbaijan via Frankfort.

Arriving in Azerbaijan at night, met by current PCVs and staff and whisked off to the hotel for three days of training.  The beginning of being dazed and confused.  Dropped off at my training host family with basically no language skills, so I bring out the family photos.  Ten weeks of training; language better but very basic. Training has good and bad days, but we all get through it and then we are sent off to our sites for the next two years.  So good to feel like an adult again.

Four months with my host family in Masazir.  Move out on my own, but thankfully just down the street.  I’m welcome at home anytime.  I have washing machine privileges in addition to all the tea I can drink and occasional food.  I love sitting with Fasahat, Nunu and Nana in the kitchen.  Everyone helps with my language is continues to improve, but likely will remain pretty basic.

My primary organization, an eye clinic, is awesome.  The work is interesting and we all agree on how my skills can help.  My director and I have a lot in common; we are both single, about the same age, have daughters living in Australia and our birthdays are one day apart. 

I have a good grasp of the bus system, both local and country wide.  I have figured out Metro. I’ve gotten lost, a bit, but having always found my way in the end.  I have traveled in the country and to Georgia.  I have relationships with my local market and have a fruit and vegetable guy.  I have new friends. I’m active within Peace Corps and am participating in the World Wise School program and am communicating with a wonderful group of students in the great city of Chicago.

I have plans for 2014, which will accommodate the unexpected.  I will be a mentor to some new Peace Corps trainees, who will arrive in April.  I will see family and meet new friends.

I feel like I have my sea legs and plan on testing them often.

Yeni Illiniz Buyrum Mubarek and Yaxsi Yol

New Years isn't New Years without a cup of Starbucks (a reusable cup)