Esta Greña: or why its hard to have this hair in azerbaijan (part 1)

When I was getting ready to come to Azerbaijan with the Peace Corps there were two things that I worried about the most: the food and my hair. (I'll discuss my rather interesting food preferences in another post.) I imagined that in the Peace Corps I would be living in a hut somewhere in the middle of nowhere with no electricity or running water. (Isn't that what most people think the Peace Corps is like?) I'm sure there are some Peace Corps posts where that is an accurate description of a PCV's life, but that is most definitely not what the Peace Corps is like in Azerbaijan. (I am typing this on my laptop, that is currently charging, and will be posting this using the wireless DSL internet in my house.)


Okay I'm digressing a bit - back to my hair. For a good portion of my life my hair has been alisado. I don't remember what my hair was like antes del alisado, but according to my kindergarten graduation picture, it was REALLY curly. When it was alisado, my hair was very easy to straighten and this is how I would wear it most of the time. My go-to hair style was a bun or ponytail since I hated wearing my hair down/suelto.

A few years ago however I stopped alisandome el pelo because I decided not only are those chemicals proooobably not the best thing to be putting on your head, but I could still straighten my hair without having an alisado. I could have the best of both worlds, curly and straight hair whenever I wanted it. In theory, this is true. While I was still in America it was very easy to switch between the two depending on my mood. My aunt owns a salon and my mother, like most (if not all) Dominican women, know how to do hair. So basically whenever I wanted straight hair all I had to do was go home so my mother or aunt could do it, and whenever I wanted curly hair I just had to wash it and let it air dry with some leave-in conditioner.

But then there was Azerbaijan. I use a lot of hair products, none of which I was sure would be available when I got to AZ. When I was packing, I thought of this and had two huge ziploc bags full of hair products. Good thing I did because there really are no good products in this country for my hair type. You know what else they don't have here? Un salon dominicano. I had my mother send me rolos y un peine so I could try to do my own hair (that's still a work in progress).

So basically this means it is very hard to get my hair straight, or curly really. Unlike 99% of the PCV's here in Azerbaijan, I can't just take a shower and let my hair air dry without putting anything in it, because guess what? It gets big, it gets frizzy, and when it does these things, people touch it, people talk about it, I get way too much attention in the street, and frankly people make assumptions about me that I am not comfortable with.

I love my hair, I just wish it was a little easier to deal with.

Merry Christmas homies!

Azerbaijan is a secular Muslim country, so no one here really celebrates Christmas. However, they do celebrate the New Year, or Yeni Il, and it is one of the biggest holidays in the country.

The best part about this time of year in Azerbaijan is that all of the traditional Christmas decorations that we have in America are used here too - except they are attributed to Yeni Il. This means that we still have Christmas trees, and Christmas lights, and tinsel, and ornaments, and Santa Claus, and all that other wonderful crap associated with the holiday, without any of the baby-Jesus-related parts! So basically Yeni Il here is exactly like Christmas in America for anyone who isn't a practicing Christian.

I spent Christmas this year in Sheki at a PCV's house, which is where I spent it last year as well. Quite a few volunteers were there, and we all celebrated the holiday by watching Elf, doing a white elephant gift exchange, having burgers at the local hotel, and engaging in nightly dance parties. All in all it was a great time.

One kind of related note: Santa Claus. He's called Şaxta Baba here. Main differences:
1) instead of wearing a red and white suit, Şaxta Baba wears a long red robe.
2) Şaxta Baba also carries around a big stick. Why? I have no clue.
3) He ain't fat. Santa Claus is round presumably because of all the cookies and milk he consumes on Christmas Eve. Since Şaxta Baba doesn't give gifts, he never gets to eat all those calories either. Herego a skinny, and creepy, Şaxta Baba.
4) Like all classy gentlemen, Şaxta Baba smokes hookah. Evidence:

P.S. I Love Nar

Nar, the Azerbaijani word for pomegranate, is by far the best fruit in Azerbaijan. Before coming here I had nar maybe once or twice in Amerika; it is more common to see that POM juice than it is to see the actual fruit. I wasn't impressed...until living here that is. Nar is DELICIOUS. It is a fall fruit--which means I am forced to binge eat it for three months before they go away until the next year. Nar is so good that I would consider living in el campo when I get back to the US just so I could grow some nar trees.

Other reasons nar is awesome:
+ it will apparently cure many/all ailments...or at least that's what Wikipedia says.
+ it's been growing in Azerbaijan since ancient times -- we may actually be the birthplace of nar! How cool is that? Yea. Qəşənqdir!
+ i've heard that Eve's 'apple' may actually have been a pomegranate. (Whoaaa I'm blowing your mind right now aren't I???)
+ Narfest! An annual pomegranate festival in Goychay, Azerbaijan that I haven't been to yet but inshallah will be attending next year. I've heard there are nar eating contests. (Yes, I will try to enter.)

Even though my love for nar knows no bounds, I still don't actually know how to peel it. I've seen Azerbaijanis do it in like two seconds; when I try, I usually stain my hands, my clothes, and end up squeezing all the juice out of the fruit. Apparently the trick is to make four slits down the top of the fruit, pull it apart with your hands into four pieces, and then pick out all the seeds. (My goal is to master this by the time I leave.) My favorite way to eat nar is by putting all the seeds in a bowl, pouring a bit of sugar on it and eating it with a spoon. (My host fam likes to pour salt on theirs). Here there are usually two kinds of nar, the sweet and sour. I have no idea how to tell the difference, but it doesn't matter too much anyway since I love it all.

Another awesome thing about nar: its great in dishes!
+ It is one of the ingredients in a DELICIOUS dish here called levengi, which is like a walnut/hazelnut paste stuffing made with onions and nar, which is usually stuffed into some kind of meat or fish and then roasted. YUM!
+ Nar is an ingredient in many salads here.
+ Did you know that grenadine is actually made out of sweetened pomegranate juice? So cool!
+ One of the PCVs here makes chocolate-nar pancakes which I haven't had but I've heard they are delectable!

Basically, if you've been sleeping on this fruit, you need to take another look at yourself, reevaluate your life choices, and start eating some nar because you have been missing out!

Happy One Year PCVersary!

...to the AZ7s! Around this same time last year, myself and a group of about 62 or 61 (or somewhere around that number) swore-in as Peace Corps Volunteers. After two months of language and technical trainings near Sumqayit, we finally became official Peace Corps Volunteers (during those two months we were considered "trainees"); the seventh group to do so in Azerbaijan.

Throwback! the YD (youth development) group during orientation:


I remember packing up my things the day after our ceremony and then going around to my clustermate's homes to say goodbye to them and their families, which we had spent time with throughout PST (Pre-Service Training). (BTW: We were divided into groups of 4 or 5 trainees who lived in host families near ours, and each of these groupings was your "cluster". We had our language classes with the other people in our cluster. I'm trying to do a better job of explaining myself since I realized those who aren't too familiar with PC probably have no idea what the f I'm talking about half the time, especially when I use weird ass lingo and acronyms like "PST". My bad!)

The day after I packed up all my crap, I hopped on a marshrutka with the 5 other PCV's who were going to sites near mine, Zaqatala. (btdubs: We refer to our geographic location as the "middle finger" of Azerbaijan. On a map our area looks like it is the middle finger of the hand-shaped country.) I remember sitting in my seat on the 6 hour trip north thinking, "Okay, this is it. Ahora si que va comenza e'ta vaina!" I was excited, I was nervous, I was anxious; all sorts of emotions/thoughts were running through my mind.

Fast forward a year later. I'm sitting in my room, updating my blog using my wireless internet, having a cup of çay. I look back at all of the things that have happened over the past year, all the projects, all the experiences, all the new foods I've tasted that I refused to even glance at when I was still in America, all the people I've met and had fascinating and wonderful conversations with---and I'm so grateful to be here, right now, having had all of these moments and knowing that I still have another year to look forward to.

Little things that make your day when you're living abroad

I'm out of it today. No se porque but I am. So anywho I went out to do a little shopping today (for foodstuffs including rice, oatmeal, greçka, eggs, marshmallows, etc.), taking my usual walk with some headphones on (and listening to some Alejandro Fernandez)...when I passed a woman carrying a child. My guess is the kid was between 10 and 14 months old, and, since it was a bit cold today, he was bundled up so that he looked like the kid from A Christmas Story (fyi: I can totally make that reference now because I finally saw the movie! After years of changing the channel away from TNT and that horrible 24-hours-of-A-Christmas-Story marathon they always give on Christmas Day, I finally succumbed and saw it. My review: pretty good.)

BUT I DIGRESS... what was I talking about? Oh yeah so I'm walking on the other side of the street from this woman and child and I look over and he's staring at me, and I can see the mother is telling him something (which I can't make out because I'm listening to my iPod). And so I give 'em a "SALAM!" (which I try to do to every female or child that looks/stares at me on the street; hey if you're gonna stare at least greet me!), and then the baby starts THROWING KISSES AT ME! It was one of the most adorable things I've ever seen, for reals. He put his tiny little hand up to his mouth and made a kissing noise and sent me the kiss with his hand! How cute is that?? It's just not possible to continue having a bad day when a baby is sending you air kisses.

So that happened, which was awesome. And then I went to the post office to say hi to the lady who works there, and she actually had mail for me! And not from the Peace Corps Office! JACKPOT! (I can count on one hand how many pieces of non-PC mail I've received in this country.) It was a letter from my sitey's mom! An actual handwritten letter! I read it on the walk back home and it was awesome. Letters are so cool. (If you are reading this Löki or Lydia, THANK YOU SO MUCH!)

So I finished the letter and was walking up my street. And I looked up at the mountains and noticed the snow on their peaks was a little orangey - sunset time! My walk home is east-ward, and so I turned around to see what the sky would look like when BAM! One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. There was a little bit of cloud cover, streaks at the horizon colored pink like cotton candy. It looked like a rosy vanilla sky. It was so pretty, as though the universe was telling me "Yo, Yessiquita, whattup? You see this sky right here? Yeah, that shit is beautiful, I know. This don't happen every day either, you better appreciate it fool!"

And just like that my day turned around for the better! All it took was a strangely affectionate baby, a letter from America, and a gorgeous sunset.

XAŞ

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of partaking in one of the most infamous (at least amongst PCV's) Azerbaijani traditions - eating xaş in the morning. What is xaş you ask? Wikipedia has a lengthier answer, but its basically a cow hoof and/or head soup. My host mom made it the other day, and it was quite a long process. Basically you take the hooves and head and boil it for hours (ours was boiling for pretty much the whole day before). I'm not sure what (if anything) was added to the soup in the cooking process, but basically the cartilage and little meat that is on the bones melts/detaches itself and gives the broth a very gelatinous consistency. You heat this up in the morning, the earlier the better, and eat it with bread. Usually there will be other things on the table that you can put into the broth to give it some flavor, my host mom had a garlicky-oil thing as well as some vinegary stuff. She served me a bowl and put a little of both of those additions before I could protest otherwise (if you know me you know how I feel about condiments/sauces/etc.!) (FYI: It is common here in Azerbaijan for men to eat xaş in the morning along with a few shots of vodka...some say it is to mask the taste.)

My bowl looked like this:


I'm not gonna lie and say it was the best meal I've ever had in Azerbaijan, but it really wasn't that bad. The broth ended up too vinegary for my taste (next time I'll forgo that part) but it wasn't too bad with bread. The best part was the bone/cartilage part though, it was pretty good! This is coming from someone who likes mondongo, which is exactly what it reminded me of. I even made a little sandwich out of the cartilage and a piece of bread, it was deeeeeelicious.

After my unique breakfast, my host mom explained to me all the benefits of eating xaş. Apparently it is great to eat if you have arthritis or when your joints hurt or basically when you have any kind of ailment. Something about eating cow feet & skull that is supposed to replenish the energy in your own joints. All around it was an awesome experience, and now I can check it off of my Azerbaijan bucket list!

that's my STREET name son!

I look different from most Azerbaijanis, and so when I walk down the street I tend to get a lot of stares, odd looks, and my favorite: random words screamed at me. This isn't anything unusual, I'm pretty sure 95% of the PCV's here can attest to the experience of having "HELLO! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" shouted at them at least a few times a day. Lucky for me, I don't look like what Azerbaijanis think Americans look like so I get called a whole bunch of other random shiznit, yay!

First a disclaimer: I don't particularly mind being shouted at on the street, especially because its usually just some curious kids trying to get my attention. I do however mind when people are blatantly rude and disrespectful. You can shout "Hello" however many times you want, but the second you switch to 'F*** You!' THERE'S A PROBLEM! Luckily this has only happened to me a handful of times.

But anyway on to the point of this post: people come up with funny stuff. Below a list of the most amusing words/phrases:

- INGILIS! INGILIS!
- What's your name? WHAT'S YOUR NAME? WHAT'S YOUR NAME?!?
- Ohhhh, qara qiz! (Translation: Oh, black girl!)
- Teacher Teacher!
- Hello Teacher, how is weather?
- Beyonce (pronounced Bee-yons)
- Löki
- pssst, çinsen? (Translation: psst, Are you Chinese?)
- I LOVE YOU!
- Barack Obama
- I go to the
- Afrika necədir? (Translation: How is Africa?)

and my personal favorite so far:
- WU-TANG!

Dekabr Geldi!

December is here! So many good things will be happening this month that I'm very excited for! I like to make lists. BOOM, Listed:

1) One year anniversary of being a PC Volunteer (and one year until COS) on December 10

2) The new group of trainees, the AZ8's, will swear-in as volunteers and move out to their permanent sites!

3) Christmas = good food and good company

4) Yeni Il celebrations in Zaqatala are sure to be plentiful and awesome!

5) New Year's Eve = more good food and more good company

6) maybe the first snowfall of the season (inshallah)

7) the holidays usually make people feel happier

8) I get to listen to my Christmas playlist, which includes the following: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland; the Christmas Song by the Chipmunks; Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by *NSYNC; This Christmas by Donny Hathaway; Holiday by Madonna; All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey; Fiesta de Pilito & No hay cama pa' tanta gente by El Gran Combo; Me Voy a Regalar by Marc Anthony; Salsa Pa' Tu Lechon & Esta Navidad by Johnny Ventura; Estas Navidades by Fernando Villalona; Dame La Mano Paloma by Aventura; Navidad Sin Ti by Marco Antonio Solis y los Bukis; Mi Burrito Sabanero by Los Villancicos.

Şükür anlıq bayramı

How do you translate 'Thanksgiving' into Azerbaijani? I've heard a few different translations, including Şükür Bayram (thanks holiday) and Şükür Vermək (literally means to give thanks). Şükür anlıq, according to the Google Translator means "thanks moment," and its the one my sitey has been using so that's what I'm going to call Thanksgiving.

So anyway I spent a nice Thanksgiving here in Zaqatala, at my sitemate's house in the village. Us Zaqatala folk were joined by a few other PCV's from regions nearby not only in honor of the holiday but also as an informal goodbye-dinner for my sitemate leaving Azerbaijan in the morning. Our extensive dinner consisted of a roasted turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, regular stuffing and cornbread stuffing, Georgian lobio, Thai pumpkin soup, nar (pomegranate), a turkey gravy-turned-mole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and a cherry & plum pie. (My pants definitely fit a little more snug after that meal.)


Last year I spent my Thanksgiving in Pre-Service Training; we had language classes in the morning and then in the afternoon went into Sumqayit with the rest of the YD group and celebrated with each other at a restaurant near the Dove statue. I still can't believe I've been in Peace Corps/Azerbaijan for over a year already, its crazy! In the spirit of the holiday, here are a few of the things that I am thankful for (in no particular order):

- my sitey, with whom I have shared many awesome (and some not-so-awesome) moments over the past year
- my fellow AZ7 YD's, especially those from my Taqiyev #6 cluster
- living in such a beautiful town in Azerbaijan
- having Azerbaijani friends with whom I can joke around
- the abundance of nar in this country
- kelem dolmasi
- fresh, just out of the oven bread, especially that made by my Nene in Taqiyev
- my awesome host families
- every other PCV in Azerbaijan with whom I've shared laughs/great times
- having internet in my house and therefore the ability to feel connected to my peeps at home even though I'm thousands of miles away
- my external hard drives, through which I can keep up with my tv shows and re-watch Justin Timberlake and Aventura concerts as often as I feel inclined
- text messaging
- American taxpayers who are supporting my being here in Azerbaijan
- living in a house with a washing machine
- çay
- xengel (all types)
- sunrises over the mountains, full moons lighting up my street at night, shooting stars, and all other celestial phenomena that is easier to see in the Zaqatala sky than it was in the NYC one

These Foolish Games

I'm a Youth Development volunteer, so I tend to play a lot of games. Conversation clubs are a million times better when the kids are actually engaged in the task, and nothing motivates people quite like the chance to win a competition to gain some arbitrary prize (usually just glory or pride). So here are some of the games that I have learned while here in Azerbaijan that are awesome to play... so share them with people!

Ninja: Learned this one my first week in-country from Sean, a fellow AZ7 YD, during our orientation. This is a great group game, especially when there are a lot of people. Everyone stands in a circle, and whoever is the leader of the group will start. Everyone must bow to each other and on the count of three must assume a ninja pose. The leader starts and in one move must try to hit someone else's hand with their hand. If he/she was successful, then the person who was hit is out. However if he/she missed, they must stay in this same position and it will be the next person's turn to move (the person to their right if going counterclockwise). You must hit the person above their wrist for them to be out, anywhere else and it doesn't count. It is important to remember that you are only allowed to move it is your turn, or if you are dodging someone's hit. It sounds complicated/confusing but once people get the hang of the game its pretty simple and can move quickly. Obvi the winner is the last person left standing.

POW!: This gem I learned a year later again during orientation, this time from an AZ8 YD named Jake (knowing all sorts of random games must be a prerequisite to being a youth development volunteer in Azerbaijan!). Everyone stands in a circle, with one person in the middle. This person's job is to point to random people in the circle. The person who is pointed at must duck down, and the two people on either side of this person must make a gun with their hands and scream POW! at each other. The slowest person to do this is out (i.e. if you don't duck quick enough and one of the people at your side POW you, you are out). The leader should pay attention as he/she is the one who will be making the executive decisions as to who POW-ed first, etc. Eventually it will be down to two people, and at this point they must stand back to back. The leader will tell them a secret word which when uttered in the middle of a random story by the leader, will be the trigger for the duel. When the two remaining players hear this word they must shoot each other, and whoever POW-ed first wins. This game is awesome, especially when you start varying your ammo (instead of making a regular gun sign, kneel and make a bazooka and POW your enemy that way!).

Wizards, Trolls, and Pixies: Learned this one from my sitey Löki, an AZ6 YD extendee, yesterday in our english convo club. Divide the group into two teams. Designate two ends of the field/room/whatever space you're in as 'safe havens' for each team. The point of the game is to capture all of the players from the opposing team. First each team must get together and decide which character they will be for the round, they can only pick one (i.e. If wizard is chosen, everyone on that team must be a wizard). After they decide which they will be they must line up in the middle of the space, about 2 meters apart or so, on either side of a line down the middle. There should be a referee/leader who is not playing the game. This person will stand on the sideline. On the count of three the two teams must take one leap towards each other and act out the character they have chosen. (Wizard = stand tall, extend your hands and wiggle your fingers. Troll = hunch over a little and make claws/growling noises. Pixie = crouch down and either make elf ears with your hands or whatever else you think a pixie would do.) Wizard beats troll, troll beats pixie, and pixie beats wizard. Whichever team chose the dominant character must try to grab someone from the other team and pull them to their safe haven. The losing team must try to run back to their safe haven before this happens. Whoever is captured automatically joins that team for the next round. If both teams chose the same character, nothing happens and you start over (go back to your safe haven with your team and decide on another character for the next round). You keep doing this over and over again, until eventually one of the teams fully absorbs the other team, thus winning.

Mangy Cats: I don't remember who I learned this one from, probably from an AZ6 volunteer. Materials needed: 8 little squares of paper for each person playing as well as a writing utensil. Everyone must number the pieces of paper 1 through 8. You will have 45 seconds to write a short phrase or sentence on the piece of paper labeled 1. Once the time is up you must pass your entire stack of papers to the person on your right. Now everyone will have 45 seconds to read the phrase/sentence, and on the paper labeled '2' draw a picture depicting the phrase/sentence. When the time is up, everyone must stop drawing and pass their stack of papers to the person to their right. Again in 45 seconds you must look at the picture and write a phrase or sentence describing the picture. You are not allowed to look at any other sheets of paper besides the one that was handed to you. For example, if I received a picture on paper #4, I must quickly look at it and write a phrase/sentence on paper #5, without looking at papers #1-3. When I pass this on to the next person, they must only look at my sentence on paper #5 and draw a picture on paper #6, without looking at papers #1-4. It sounds complicated but once you get started it goes by pretty smoothly. This is an especially good game to play in a beginner's english convo club because the students get to practice forming sentences and describing pictures.

Climbing Triangles: Another PC game, don't remember who I learned it from but it was most likely an AZ6 PCV. This is a great party game, perfect for big groups that can be divided into several teams. People play this with varying rules, I'm going to describe my favorite way of playing the game. So first you need a bunch of paper. Everyone playing must take 3-5 pieces of paper (depending on how long you want this game to last, more clues, more time), and write down a word/phrase/sentence on each piece of paper. These all get folded up, collected and thrown into a hat or bowl. Divide the group into teams whichever way you want (i.e. everyone in 2 teams or several teams with 3-4 people per team, etc). The game consists of three rounds, the first is a Catchphrase round, the second is a one-word catchphrase round, and the third is the charades round. Pick a team to go first. They will have 45 seconds to guess as many clues from the bowl as they can. One person picks a clue from the bowl, and tries to describe it to their teammates without saying any of the words in the clue. If the team guesses correctly, (I play very strict rules, the team must guess the clue EXACTLY the way it is written, even if there are grammatical errors), the next person on that team gets to pick a clue from the bowl and describe it, etc etc until time runs out. If the describer says a word from the clue by mistake, that round is over and the clue must be returned to the bowl. Once their 45 seconds are up, the next team gets to play. This 'catchphrase' round continues until there are no more clues in the bowl. You are not allowed to pass, so if you are stuck on a clue you just gotta stick with it and try to get someone to guess it. After this round, you tally up all the clues each team guessed correctly and write these down. Fold up all of the clues and put them back in the bowl. The second round will start exactly like the first except this time the describer is only allowed to say one word. For example, if the clue is "I'm bringing sexy back", the describer can say 'Justin' or 'Timberlake'. If the describer says a word on the clue, or says more than one word, they forfeit the rest of their time and play moves to the next team. Important to remember: saying "oh God!" or cursing count as words, and if you say them you are not allowed to then say another word. After this round is over, tally the clues again, fold them, put them back in the bowl and start the third round: charades. The describer is not allowed to talk at all and must act out the clue. After all the clues are done, tally up the score and whichever team guessed the most throughout all three rounds is the winner. One more important thing to remember when playing this game is that it is wise to pay attention even when it is not your team's turn to hear what they are guessing, since the clues get recycled for the following rounds. This is my favorite game to play with other PCV's. It gets hilarious, especially when people write clues like "Nike shoes are keep children happily payed."


I know this post was ridiculously long, my bad, I didn't realize how complicated it would be to explain these games in writing. But for reals, you should play these games, they're awesome.

The Guesting Experience

People in Azerbaijan pride themselves in being very hospitable. This is true. 9 times out of 10 when I ask for the price of one piece of fruit in the bazar (here most food stuffs are sold by the kilo), I get that piece of fruit (or whatever it may be) for free. I get invited to people's houses almost every day, even people that I just meet on the street or in a store. It is so common to be invited over to someone's house that here in PC they have coined a verb for it: 'to go guesting' or 'to guest'. I remember when I first got to Azerbaijan I would always be confused whenever I heard the current PCV's talk about how much they go guesting, or about that one time they were guesting and something crazy happened.... It didn't take me too long to get used to the phrase and now its part of my everyday vocabulary here. I go guesting A LOT.

So yesterday was my host mom's birthday, and the family celebrated by having a dinner party (Azerbaijani style of course). I'm not going to mention how old my host mom is because that doesn't seem classy to me, but I WILL say that I couldn't believe how old she was when she said it. I would've guessed she was at least ten years younger than her actual age. She looks goooood! So anywho I pretty much went guesting at my own host family's house last night. Here's how it went down:

I was in my room (I live in the downstairs part of the house) and my host mom tells me to come upstairs because the guests have arrived. I put on some decent looking clothing (pj's probably would not be looked upon very well) and go upstairs and meet the three other couples who are already sitting around the table. I introduce myself, we start talking, etc etc. (Oh btw the dining table is set up in the living room and the tv is on for some background noise. Also: everyone is talking in Azerbaijani. Except for a few words here and there in Russian.) The table is full of food. There were at least 5 different types of salads, including my fav the çoban salatı (which is just cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, and sometimes onions). There's tons of bread, and a selection of homemade drinks. And then the real food starts coming out. My host mom made yarpaq dolması, levengi chicken, goyun & mal eti kebab, and just when I thought I was going to have to change out my jeans and into some spandex, she brings out the plov. I ate so much food last night I may have actually grown out of all my clothes here, just in that one sitting. So anywho everyone at the table was chatting up a storm, cracking jokes, just all around havin' a good ol' time, and every 5 minutes or so my host dad would lift his glass and make a toast in honor of his wife. It was so sweet!

Fast forward an hour or so of more eating, talking and drinking: its çay time. The men stayed at the table continuing to eat/talk/drink while the rest of us cleared our plates and made our way to the kitchen to start the tea. Here at the other dining table was a wonderful spread of fruits and deserts. I can never turn down sweets and tea, so of course I continued to NUSH on all the çay fixins. I had about four handfuls of walnuts, like 3 mandarins, some nar, two of those powdered sugar covered pastry rolls filled with hazlenuts, and a slice of delicious cake. And of course like five cups of tea. I was in food heaven. I sat next to my host mom, eating and observing everyone's conversations, of which I only understood about 50% (but I did make sure to at least chuckle when people laughed to make it seem like I knew what the H they were talking about...it's the polite thing to do!). Then my host brother who is in town on holiday from university pulled out his laptop and logged on to Facebook, so naturally we started looking at people's pictures online. Nothing like stuffing your face while simultaneously facebook-stalking distant family members...fun! (that's not sarcasm by the way)

Basically what I'm saying with this long-winded mostly unclear description of last night's 'guesting' is that it's not much different from hanging out with people in the states. Food, Drinks, Conversation, Jokes, Gossip, and Cake = every family get together I have ever been to. The only real differences are the languages spoken and the kinds of foods being eaten. Bottom line: Guesting is awesome.

The Bucket List: Azerbaijan Edition

I recently passed the halfway mark of my Peace Corps service here in Azerbaijan and it got me thinking -- these past 13 months have gone by maaaaad fast, I should write down all the things I still want to do here! According to that movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, a bucket list is a list of all the things you want to do/see/experience before you 'kick the bucket' aka die. (FYI: Let me just clarify that I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, but there isn't really another catchy term for a list of crap you want to do besides 'bucket list'.)

So here's a list of the things that I still hope to do/see here in Azerbaijan before I leave next fall:
- waterfall in the mountains near Zaqatala
- Nar Fest in Goychay
- Fire Temple in Baku
- Qırmızı Qəsəbə in Quba
- jump over at least 3 fires during the Novruz Holiday
- learn to make plov
- learn how to dance the Avar or Lezgi traditional dances

That's all I have for now but I will keep adding to this list as I remember/discover new awesome things to do/see here. If anyone has any suggestions for this list let me know yo!

My Favorite Superhero

So I was guesting at a friend's house a while back, having the usual, some çay and a bit of food. We were watching tv in her living room and she happened to stop on a channel that was playing some cartoons. It looked like a bootleg version of Tom & Jerry... I think the cat and mouse were different colors than the normal Tom & Jerry. So anywho it made me think of that other cartoon they sometimes play here with the mouse that wears a cape and he's super strong or something like that, which got me thinking about superheroes, which got me thinking about what my favorite superhero is. (Yea, that's the normal flow of thought in my brain. I'm kinda weird.)

My two favorites (I can't decide on one) are Spider-Man and Wolverine. Not the crappy Tobey Maguire version of Spider-Man (he's awful), but the one from that cartoon series from the early 90's that used to play on Fox in the afternoons. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Because that one was awesome. Perfect combination of regular life Peter Parker and alter-ego Spider-Man action. I also like Wolverine because he's the badass of the superheroes. He doesn't really put up with people's ish and he has a temper. He has just the right amount of not-so-good good guy in him to make his character much more interesting than your run of the mill superhero. And those claws are awesome. (I would have counted Christian Bale's Batman as one of my faves but then I'd have to acknowledge the existence of the previous (George Clooney, Val Kilmer) horrible ones. Tobey Maguire I can look over, but a nipple suit? Nah chill...that's too much.)

Other random superhero comments:
- My favorite TMNT is Donatello.
- Jason, the Red Ranger, is my favorite of the Power Rangers.
- I used to like Underdog when I was younger, but I was definitely not a fan of the movie. Live action movies of cartoons are terrible, and usually a bit creepy.

It would be very interesting to see what people's favorite superheroes are here in Zaqatala...would they go for the box office hits (Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, etc.) or more cartoon/tv show based ones? Stay tuned for my findings on this.

Ay Platano, ¿a dónde te has ido?

Yesterday I had a dream. In this dream, I was sitting in my house in Zaqatala and was very hungry. I got up to look in my fridge and pantry, but I did not find any food. I went back to sit at my table, sad that I couldn't find any grub. I got up again and walked outside to my kitchen. And there on the counter, staring back up at me with its green little body - was a platano. I jumped for joy and, since it was a dream, a second later I was already eating some tostones.

And then I woke up. Very hungry. Except when I went to find something to eat in my kitchen there was nothing there. Ni un platano. I asked one of my friends here if she had ever heard of a platano, and when she said 'no' I tried to describe the amazingness that is a plantain. But words don't do it justice. Until you have eaten a platano you can't really understand why it is so delicious and wonderful. I mean just look at this face of pure joy:


Esa es la cara de una platanera. (Btdubs - peep the bonus Jessica face on my shirt. Yep, that's me when I was in kindergarten.) Look at all those platanos! I'm making myself hungry just by typing this. Azerbaijan isn't that far from tropical areas, I've seen bananas and pineapples here, can't the bazar help me out and get me some platanos??? If its a supply-and-demand thing, that's fine, I would buy as many crates of platanos as can possibly be supplied. (That's not an exaggeration either, I would eat platanos 24/7. Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner - Snack - I don't discriminate, I regulate every shade of the meal. I never ate mangu in the states but I would definitely throw down on a giant plate of it if I had some over here.)

I realize that I've been writing about food A LOT here, and its probably because I just miss food from home. Don't get me wrong I love (most) Azerbaijani cooking, probably more so than other PCV's (give me some kelem dolmasi any day of the week!), but sometimes you just want to eat a platano.

Mr. Bubbles

In the 7th grade, I did a science fair project with a classmate of mine entitled "Mr. Bubbles: What factors determine the strength of bubbles." We wanted to find out why some bubbles were more durable than others and if there was a way to make a recipe for a stronger bubble. Behold my 7th grade self:


SO anyway, for this week's science club we pretty much did the same experiment. The first time around I think we measured out just salt and sugar and added these to soapy water and compared the bubble-making ability of each substance. This time, we tried salt, sugar, baking soda and potato starch. Eleven years after the original experiment, the result was the same: sugar makes better bubbles. I'm still not sure why, (don't look at me I'm not a chemist!) but it might have something to do with glycerin being a chemical that fortifies the bonds in bubble structures. Or whatever.
Peep this:

(btdubs in Azerbaijani the word for bubble is köpük.) The kids really liked making the bubbles, and who wouldn't, they're BUBBLES! I think the best part of having this science club is that we get to have fun with everyday objects while at the same time looking at them from a different perspective. Sure bubbles are awesome, but do you know why they're awesome, and how to make them more awesome? Add sugar!

Friendo y Comiendo: Issue 02

I have leftover bread and milk. What do I do with it? El pudin de pan that Mami makes, duh! I could just give the bread to the chickens in the yard but then I wouldn't have a delicious snack with my tea every morning. And since I don't like milk I need to use it up somehow before it goes bad. Here's my adapted-to-Azerbaijan recipe:

Ingredients:
bread
milk
2 or 3 eggs
cinnamon
vanilla
sugar
pinch of salt

1) Take the stale bread you have (right now I have about 3/4ths of a loaf, but you can use however much you have left) and rip it into small pieces.

2) Spread the bread pieces in a baking pan (I have one that is about 12" in diameter). Unless you have a lot of bread I would suggest not using those huge round pans that go in the red ovens because it'll end up too thin.

3) Pour milk over the bread, making sure they all get coated. You want just enough milk so that every piece is soaked. Press the bread down into the pan to make sure they're all getting a piece of that milk action. It shouldn't be too liquidy, but if you think you may have added too much milk just add a couple more pieces of bread to it. Eyeball it. I think a rough estimate would be about 3/4 of a liter of milk per loaf of bread. (I use tendir or the Georgian bread, if you are using that Baku factory bread I'd use a bit less milk.) My AZ6 sitemate was over and left me some of her village milk so I used that in this recipe. This needs to sit for at least three hours so that the bread can soak up the liquid. I put this together last night before I went to bed and just popped it in the fridge.

4) Once the bread has been soaking for a while, its time to start smashing the crap out of it. Pour it into a bowl and use a masher to break down all the big pieces. It'll be easier to do the longer the bread has been soaking. If you're really having trouble mashing the bread, add more milk. The goal is a 'gloopy' consistency. (oh yeah, that's a true chef's vocabulary right there)

5) Once its all mashed its time to add the rest of the ingredients. Add in two eggs, some cinnamon (eyeball it. if you like a lot of cinnamon, add a lot!), about a teaspoon (or more) of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and add about 2/3 cup of sugar (or more if you want it sweeter, or less if you don't). Mix this all together. It should be a bit liquidy, if it seems a bit thick add in a third egg. Or don't. This is a trial-and-error cooking method here, folks!

6) Once that's all mixed up pour it into a lightly greased pan. (I'm using the same pan I used to soak the bread, except I rinsed it out and coated it with a little oil.) Pop this sucka in the oven! My oven has a top rack and a bottom rack, I turned on only the bottom heat and put the pan on the top rack. Check it after about 20 minutes. If its still jiggly, leave it in the oven. After another 15 minutes I noticed it wasn't jiggly anymore, a knife that I stuck in the middle came out almost clean, but it was still white on top. I put it back in but this time turned the top heat on as well. After about another 15-20 minutes the top had browned so I turned off the oven and let it hang out in there.

This is what it looks like when it's done:

Pudin de pan is one of those desserts that is best served room temperature or cold. I know it smells delicious and once its out of the oven you wanna just nuş, but it'll taste so much better if you give it some time to rest. I baked this in the morning and had a slice in the afternoon.

This is what a slice looks like:
I know, delicious right? This was my third attempt at making Mami's pudin de pan, and it has been the best so far! In my previous tries I didn't use enough sugar or enough milk. But this one looks and tastes exactly like it does at home! Some pudin de pan with some çay, yum-yum-yum-yum-yum-yum deliciooooso! You should totally try making this.

So clearly I made a big ass pan of this, which I can't really eat all by myself. And I'm here to share my culture anyway so I gave some to my host mom as well as to the lady who runs the shop near my house where I get my bread from. My host mom likes it, I'll find out tomorrow what the shopkeeper lady thought (inshallah she also liked it). So my suggestion would be to spread the wealth, people love getting/giving food, especially here in Azerbaijan!

Note: Usually Mami le hecha raisins when she makes pudin de pan. Well, usually she will make one big sarten de pudin de pan con pasas and one sarten pequeño for me without raisins. I'm not a fan but if you like raisins, they're great in the pudin de pan, just add them in when you add the other ingredients.

a walk around Zaqatala

Here are a few pictures I've taken around town:









I just noticed the first three of these were all taken looking towards the same mountain. Aesthetically it is like the polar opposite of New York City and yet both places are so beautiful! Here's a shot of the BX for some contrast:

Halloween in Zaqatala

"Hello. Congratulation on Halloween holiday."

This was a text I received from a friend of mine here in Zaqatala, wishing me a happy Halloween. One of the things I love about people here is that they love to congratulate you on every single holiday. Oh, Flag Day's tomorrow? MUBAREK!

Anywho so this past weekend in Zaqatala we celebrated Halloween by having a little get together at our local IREX center that my sitemate Löki organized. She cooked up a storm...she made popcorn balls, donuts, and witch fingers (sugar cookies with a sunflower seed as the nail) for everyone to nush on. Quite a few people came by, enough so that the center got a bit overcrowded. Another AZ6 who was in town, Jesse, even carved out a Jack-o-Lantern (yep, we have pumpkins in Zaq!) We had a mask-making station, a donut-on-a-string game, and the movie Hocus Pocus playing. The kids looked like they were having a blast, especially when they tried the donut game. Also, until rewatching it on Saturday I had no idea how raunchy Hocus Pocus was! Its so weird to see a movie from your childhood and realize that its almost a completely different movie now that you are watching it from an adult's perspective. All in all it was a great time; I can't wait for next year's Halloween!

Oobleck!

Science is awesome. I still remember the time that one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Fernandez (whom I called Mr. Buddy), introduced us to "oobleck," which I thought was the coolest thing ever. Mr. Buddy was quirky in the way that many science teachers are, and I assumed he had made up the word "oobleck" himself. (I just learned through wikipedia that the name actually comes from a Dr. Seuss book.) But anyway my point: Mr. Buddy and the simple hands-on experiments like "oobleck" that we would do in class really inspired/fueled my love of learning/science/nerd-dom.

Fast forward ten years to Zaqatala: my awesome sitemate Löki and I recently started a Science Club for school age kids. Each week we do fun experiments with the kids (think Bill Nye the Science Guy or Zoom), hoping to help promote creative & critical thinking. Science is kinda boring when you're just memorizing facts from a book. But when you get to see first hand the things that you are learning in school, well that's just awesome! (I really should find a synonym for the word awesome. Pardon my overuse.)

So today in Science Club we made oobleck. It's two parts starch to one part water. We used potato starch because that's what is most readily available in Azerbaijan. We put some into individual cups for each kid to poke around and play with, and then had a bigger plate of it so that everyone could see/touch it. The kids were really surprised by how weird the oobleck was and had a lot of fun playing it! As you can see, things got pretty messy. Luckily the water in the mixture evaporates off and just leaves the potato starch, which is fairly easy to remove from your hands and clothes.

All in all, it was a great time. Next week (inshallah) we'll have another cool experiment!

Toxumaq İstəyirsəəəəən?

I learned how to crochet and knit here in Azerbaijan. I would now consider it one of my hobbies. Back in PST, I saw my 11 year old host sister crocheting something for one of her dolls, and I asked her to teach me how to do what she was doing. For the rest of PST I was pretty much with my crochet needle and yarn 24/7. I even started crocheting during language classes. The first thing I ever crocheted was the beginning of a blanket, which came out exactly like one would expect your first ever project to look like: horrendous. My host sister didn't really teach me what to do at the end of a row, and so as I kept crocheting, my blanket began to look like a pyramid instead of a rectangle since I was losing a stitch after each row. Luckily a few of my fellow YD's are also crochet-ers, and they taught me a few different stitches as well as how to end a row. Its such a great feeling to finish a scarf or a hat and realize that you just made something. I will probably never buy another knit hat or scarf in my life. Why would I when I can just make one myself???

Here are a few of the things I've crocheted so far:


These are two scarves that I made for my host sisters. I tried to make them exactly the same, because if they were in any way different the girls would probably fight over whichever they liked the best.


This is the first hat I made. I know, I know, I should be designing for Dior or Gucci or some other rich ass brand.



I made this hat for another PCV here. I was going for a Storm Trooper/Gladiator look.

The other day I got some knitting items from an AZ6 PCV who was giving away some of the things she doesn't need anymore. After youtubing how to knit, I have now learned and am currently knitting my first scarf! So stay tuned for the final result in a few days.

Sharing Poems

One of the best parts of being a PCV is the sharing of ideas/culture not only with people in your host country, but especially with other volunteers. An AZ8 PCT put me on to this poem and I liked it so I'm sharing it with you! Below it I have also put two of my favorite poems. (If you're reading this and want to share a poem you like, put it in the comments because I'd like to read it!)

Song of the Open Road
by Walt Whitman

1
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.

The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)

*To read the rest of this poem click here.



This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast.

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.



La Bodega Sold Dreams
by Miguel Piñero

dreamt i was a poet
&
writin' silver sailin' songs
words
strong & powerful crashing' thru
walls of steel & concrete
erected in minds weak
&
those asleep
replacin' a hobby of paper candy
wrappin', collectin'
potent to pregnate sterile young
thoughts


i dreamt i was this poeta
words glitterin' brite & bold
strikin' a new rush for gold
in las bodegas
where our poets' words & songs
are sung
but
sunlite stealin' thru venetian
blinds
eyes hatin', workin' of time
clock
sweatin'
&
swearin'
&
slavin'
for the final dime
runnin' a maze
a token ride


perspiration insultin' poets
pride
words stoppin' on red
goin' on green
poets' dreams
endin' in a factoria as one
in a million
unseen
buyin' bodega sold dreams...

Sabado Gigante!

I tend to have a lot of down time, especially at night when the only options are to either go guesting or stay in my house. The weather has been rainy and gross these past two days so I decided tonight would be a staying in night. I heated up some leftovers for dinner and picked out a few movies I'd like to watch (Stomp Out Loud, Sugar, Precious, & Almost Famous). I started out with Stomp Out Loud, which is a taping of a performance by the dance troupe Stomp, who is known for using everyday objects to make music.

I fell asleep halfway through the movie. I woke up just in time to catch the credits, but I was still a bit tired so decided to hold off on the other movies and continue my nap a little longer, this time to the soothing sounds of Norah Jones. I woke up about 20 minutes later singing along to The Prettiest Thing (great song...if you've never heard it, GET ON THAT!). I sat up in my nap bed (yep, I have a bed for napping) and started to type out the lyrics to the song in iTunes. (You know when you click 'Get Info' for a song and you can see all the details? Well there's a Lyrics tab where you're supposed to paste in the words to the song! Awesome right? I know.) Anywho so one of my quirky (read: nerdy) hobbies is to type out the lyrics to songs while listening to them to see if I can keep up with the singer with my typing. So I started doing this for a few songs, and then I started to sing along with them as I was typing, and then I just got the urge to do some karaoke.

But how can I do karaoke if I'm just sitting alone in my room in Zaqatala? Answer: Youtube. For the next four hours I sang along, loudly, to countless songs by youtubing their karaoke version. Thank goodness my host family happened to be at a toy tonight, or else they probably would have come knocking on my door asking why it sounded like I was murdering a cat.

Here's one of the gems I covered tonight:

For whatever reason (probably because I haven't been around Spanish speakers for over a year) I only did songs in español. The best part about this whole thing is that I figured out a way to download the videos off youtube, so now I have a collection of karaoke videos on my hard drive that I can sing along to even when I don't have internet! (You're welcome, neighbors!)


*Note about the title of this post: It's supposed to be funny because my Saturday night was probably the POLAR OPPOSITE of the locura & excitement that I associate with Sabado Gigante. I literally pase la noche cantando sola en mi cuarto, por ma de cinco hora. Kind of lame, I know. Not gonna lie though, it was a lot of fun...and it prooooobably won't be the last time I do this.

PCT's, PCV's, & PST

So this past week was the AZ8 group's site visit, in which the current volunteers sign up to host one or two trainees and show them what the life of a PCV is like in the regions of Azerbaijan. I had the pleasure of hosting two AZ8's, Crystal and Gio, who spent 3.5 days here in Zaqatala. A few comments/thoughts on the visit:

1) Having people visit your site for the first time is such a good reminder of how awesome it is. Not that I forgot that Zaqatala is great, but its something about being a pseudo-tour guide that makes you re-assess all the things that have become normal and part of your routine. I truly am lucky to be living in such a great town.

2) Being a host can sometimes leave you feeling stressed out and exhausted. This is not the case when you have great guests. Qualities that make a guest great include: offering and always helping with housework such as but not limited to dish washing; giving you random gifts just for being a host (Biscolata cookies, theraflu = wonderful presents); having a sunny disposition...ain't nobody tryin' to have Debbie Downer being all depressed up in their house!; buying/contributing money for food; cooking a delicious meal for the host, complete with dessert (s'mores = YUM!).

3) I am so happy with the relationships I have developed here with my community members. I say hello to people on the street, and they seem genuinely happy to be greeting me! Even something as simple as observing some of the girls I work with have conversations with the trainees and asking them tons of questions is such a WIN in my book. Not only is it clear to see that their English has greatly improved since I first met them, but these women also used to be a lot more timid and shy before. Makes me so proud!


4) If you're going to hike 1500 meters up a mountain in October, you should probably start before 1:00pm since it starts getting dark around 7:00pm.



5) I'm so glad I got the chance to spend some quality time with Crystal and Gio. They're awesome and I'm sure wherever they end up for their permanent site they will be wonderful volunteers. Inshallah they'll come back up to Zaqatala for a visit once in a while!

Hiking: It's a Thing.

My first time ever 'hiking' was a few months ago here in Azerbaijan. I may have gone to college in New Hampshire, but hiking was just not one of those things that I was ever interested in doing. I associated hiking with tree huggers and those 'granola' people.

Having been on hikes several times now here in Zaqatala, I have begun to reevaluate my perception of hiking. A few things I've come to realize:

1) Hiking is just walking, but in nature. I walk all the time in the US. In New York there really is no other choice, you HAVE to walk from your apartment to the train station or the bus stop. And walking in the Heights and the Bronx does sometimes require mad skills and agility. How else do you avoid the broken glass shards and various other questionable trash remnants that are found on NYC streets?

2) It's a great workout. I'm mad lazy, and I've never been one to "workout" per se. However hiking is something I could definitely be into. You don't have to do it everyday, and when you do its still just walking. I do that anyway. And at the end of the hike you get to see something awesome, like a gorgeous view of the Greater Caucasus mountains.

3) Dominicans hike. It's called being a campesino. Which my pops, who is from Padre Las Casas, definitely is. Chequea:

Eso monte se parecen a lo de Zaqatala! So hiking is kiiiiinda in my blood I guess.

4) It's a great way to bond with people. I went on a hike that took 8 hours total up and down the mountain with my sitemates and two AZ8 PCT's who came up to Zaq for a site visit. I feel like I know them a lot better now than I did before the hike... something about the hardships involved in climbing a huge mountain that brings people closer together. That and pain. Best quote of the trip: "Pain is just weakness leaving the body."

My conclusion about hiking: it's kind of awesome, and its something that I may continue doing when I get back to the states.

Just another Sunday in the 'baijan

9:00am - Woke up in the morning feelin' like P. Diddy. Hopped up out the bed, turned my swag on, took a look in the mirror and said "whats up?," yeaaaaaaaa...not yet. Reset the alarm for 9:30am. Just a few more minutes in bed.

9:23am - Woke up before the alarm. Turned it off. Got up and immediately walked to my computer to check how the Yankees did in Game 2. They lost 7-2. So whack.

9:30am - Brushed my teeth, used the baño. Turned on the stove to heat up water for tea.

9:37am - No tea left in the çaydan. Went with Plan B, instant hot chocolate. Had a cup of it with some Miel Pops cereal.

9:55am - Put some clothes on. Got my bookbag ready to leave.

10:20am - Left the house. Walked to the post office.

10:40am - Met up with my sitemate Löki. Took out money from the ATM. Walked down to the bazar.

11:10am - Wandered around the bazar. Saw Lori, another PCV, and had a quick chat in the street. Eventually found the produce section of the bazar. Helped Löki carry 15 kilos of apples. Also purchased two bunches of basil, a bunch of cilantro, and two liter-size glass jars.

11:37am - Took a marshrutka from the bazar up to where Löki lives. Dropped off the goods at her place and walked to the nearby school for a conversation club at 12.

11:55am - Arrived at the school, found out from the former Flex student who organized it that the guy who has the key only opened the front gate to the school, not the classroom. Some of the boys had arrived. Made one of them run to that guy's house and ask for the key.

12:10pm - After some running around and some more phone calls, finally got the classroom opened. This is the first time this club meets, and there were about 17 kids who showed up for it. They were all super motivated and seemed happy to be there. Great start for a club!

1:30pm - Convo club over. Went to the store nearby to pick up some pasta and bread for lunch.

1:50pm - Back at Löki's. Started preparing lunch which included: cracking open some hazelnuts and washing the greens (I'm the sous chef). Löki makes a delicious pesto.

2:45pm - Ate a plate of pasta with some bread while watching the Music Man for the first time.

3:10pm - Löki brings the apples into the room. Started peeling.

5:30pm - Music Man is over. Realized that musical number from that episode of Family Guy where Peter is on the Pats and he sings that song "Sha-boo-pee" is actually from this movie and not originally a Fam Guy thing. That joke makes a lot more sense now. About 2 kilos of apples still left to peel, but the giant bucket is full. About 29 pounds of apples were peeled.

5:35pm - Washed my hands and got my stuff ready to go back home.

5:55pm - Took the trash with me as I left Löki's.

6:00pm - Dropped the trash in the pile, realized I still had my house slippers on, and walked back up to Löki's.

6:05pm - Left her house for real this time. Put my iPod on. Music makes me happy.

6:20pm - Said Salam to a woman walking by me on the street. She crossed over to talk to me. And she switched to speaking in English! Very nice lady, she's apparently an English teacher in one of the schools in town. She told me I am welcome in her home any time and that I am a very nice girl. How friendly!

6:25pm - Arrived back at my house. Changed into my house clothes (aka hoodie and sweat pants - fall is here, its chilly again).

6:45pm - Went on the computer. Started writing this blog post. Chatted with people online.

7:30pm - Internet died. Watched a few episodes of Community (btdubs its a hilarious show, if you've never seen it, get on that!).

9:00pm - Food time again. Heated up leftovers in the microwave (yep, I have a microwave.) Ate while watching more Community.

10:30pm - Internet is working again! Checked emails. Read some blogs. Skimmed through the news.

12:00am- Finished writing this blog post. 'Twas a great day!

Bluegrass in Azerbaijan

So last week Eli, one of my fellow AZ7 YD's, came up to Zaqatala with his mom and her husband, who are bluegrass musicians. They came with their instruments, and luckily they got to play in one of the villages here in Zaqatala.


First a disclaimer: I've never been a fan of bluegrass. Actually I didn't know what bluegrass really was until about two weeks ago. I always thought it was just another term for country music. A quick googling and wikipedia-ing told me that bluegrass is a "form of American roots music...typically played on a small set of acoustic stringed instruments."

After hearing it live, I must say I'm definitely more of a fan of bluegrass than I was two weeks ago. Eli's mom, Coney, and her husband Carrol are awesome musicians. And they're even nicer people! While staying at my house they played a little for my host family, who really enjoyed it too. I think bluegrass could definitely have a following here in Azerbaijan....

Below is a short video of Coney and Carrol playing at the Cultural House in the village of Danachi.

Friendo y Comiendo: Issue 01

381: the number of days I have gone without eating un plato de comida criolla. This is the longest I've ever gone without eating food from home. It is a problem I have chosen to start solving: by exploring the Azerbaijani bazars and trying to adapt the recipes from home to the foods available here.

When I am at home most of my meals consist of la bandera Dominicana: arroz blanco, algun tipo de carne guisada, y habichuelas. (Although at home I never ate the beans.) For whatever reason lately I have been craving some of this. So for dinner today I made a modified version of this dish. I can't really afford to buy meat as a PCV so I omitted that part altogether, and instead of using dried beans (because I'm lazy and didn't want to spend the extra time so they could get soft) I used lobya, which are the green beans that they sell here in Azerbaijan.

For the white rice:
2 stekans (cups) rice (I'm on a budget, I bought the cheapest kilo-bag they had in the store)
salt
oil
water
- I washed the rice, then added about 1.75 times the amount of water (in this case like 3.5 cups)
- Added salt to taste (I like my rice to be flavorful enough that it can stand alone as a dish.)
- Poured in some oil, maybe a tablespoon's worth? I don't know, I eyeballed it. Who has measuring utensils anyway??
- So you let this cook on high heat until most of the water boils off, stirring frequently. Then you lower the flame to a simmer, put the lid on and let it hang out for like 20 minutes.

For the beans:
250 grams lobya
2 small onions
2 cloves garlic
1/4 chicken bouillon cube
tomato paste
spices: salt, pepper, adobo
water, oil
- Heated up some oil in a pan (on medium heat), once it was hot I added the onions that I chopped. Once they got translucent I added the garlic (that I chopped as small as I could).
- After a minute or two I added some tomato paste (I only had a bit left in the jar so I used the rest of it, maybe like 2-3 tablespoons worth?) and the bouillon, with a little bit of water so that the paste and bouillon can dissolve.
- After chopping the lobya into small pieces (maybe a quarter inch wide), I added these to the pan, along with about 2 cups of water.
- Seasoning time! I threw in mad salt and pepper, and some adobo (I had it sent from home... I can't really call myself Dominican and NOT have a kitchen with adobo). At this point I tasted it and added more spices as I saw fit.
- I let about half the liquid boil off before I put a lid on it and let the lobya get softer, leaving it for another few minutes.

And the final result...



My taste buds were very happy tonight.

Oh, one more note: this meal could probably feed like four people, so if you're not a fan of leftovers and are trying to make this I would suggest at least halving the recipe.

Ay Sağ Ol and other phrases I overuse

I've been here mad long now, so its not surprising that I have adopted a few Azerbaijani phrases into my own everyday vocabulary. Sometimes when I'm talking to my homies in the states I throw in an "inshallah" or two, which is usually met with confusion and WTF?-ness. I'm pretty sure when I go back to NY I'll be speaking a weird combination of English, Spanish, and Azerbaijani, which will probably be annoying to those around me (my apologies in advance).

Below is a quick tutorial of my favorite words to use in Azerbaijani:
(friends: if you learn them now, when we meet again in a year you won't think I'm a total weirdo!)

Ay sağ ol! - Means thank you...except a very excited thank you. Like if you were looking for your glasses that have been lost for a week and your host mom finds them on top of the fridge and hands them to you and you respond: AY SAĞ OL!

Nuş Olsun! - Probably my favorite phrase ever. This is what you say to someone who is about to eat/have a meal, similar to Bon Apetit. We don't really have a saying like this in English, which is probably one of the reasons I love this phrase so much. It's like nuş has filled a lifelong void in my lexicon. How did I ever enjoy eating before I nuş'ed? (Ed. Note: Stay tuned for a future post concerning my coinage of the term 'douche olsun')

İnshallah - God willing; us PCV's usually translate it as 'hopefully'. Azerbaijanis use it similar to how we (in this case we = dominicans and other spanish speaking peoples) use "Si Dios quiere," soooo it is pretty much said in any/all circumstance(s). Example: Random woman you have just met on the street asks if you're married. You respond no. She asks why not. You respond that you will get married maybe 5 years from now. Her response: İNSHALLAH!

Hə - Informal 'yes'. It's like saying yea. I say hə so much I don't even remember what the formal word for yes is anymore. Oh well.

Olmaz - This doesn't really have a good one-word English equivalent. It means "not allowed" or "prohibited," but its so much more than that. Parents say this to children whenever they are doing something wrong, but this is just one of its many, MANY uses. Examples: Skeevy dude tries to discreetly graze some boobage on the marshrutka. OLMAZ! Your host mom hears you whistling inside the house. OLMAZ! You forget to take your muddy sneakers off at the front door. OLMAZ! You are drinking cold water in the winter. OLMAZ!

Bu nədir? - What is this? I've never been a fan of 'studying' so of course my knowledge of Azerbaijani is probably a bit far behind most other PCV's. That said, I use this question A LOT. Example: I see a carrot at the bazar. I hold it up and look at the salesguy, "Bu nədir?" Man replies: Markof. I think to myself, I probably should've known that given that I've been here for over 12 months. Whoops.

Nə olub? - My fav thing to say to staring, non-smiling children. It means what happened, but I'd like to think of it as more of a "What you lookin' at? You lookin' at me? What, I look weird to you or something?? YOU WANNA FIGHT ABOUT IT?!?"

Nə isteyirsən? - Means 'what do you want', but its kind of rude to ask this. I use it as a synonym for Nə olub. When I say this it is usually accompanied by furrowed eyebrows, a frown, a shake of my head, and a quick "What?!?" head jerk/shoulder shrug forward. (You know I'm talking about? That thing that people sometimes do to scare children like they're gonna start running after them or hitting them but you don't actually move you just jerk forward a little? No? Maybe its a New York thing then. Or an only-in-my-family thing. Nevermind then, I was just kidding, I never do that! *laughs uncomfortably and backs away from the computer*)

Things I've Found in AZ: Joel Doppelganger Edition

I'm starting a new series of posts entitled "Things I've Found in AZ." What's it going to be about? All the awesome shit I come across in Azerbaijan umm, DUH! So today's inaugural edition begins with a person I found: a Joel doppelganger. Joel is the name of my younger brother. We look a lot alike, except he's a dude. If I had to pick two words to physically describe Joel they'd be nerd and palillo. (btdubs I'm going to be using Spanish/Spanglish pretty frequently, and not translating. Soooo yea, this would be a good time to start brushing up on that spanish you took for four years in high school!)
And now I'm rambling so back to the point...

Joel has an Azerbaijani doppelganger. The other day I was hangin' out at the Music School here in Zaqatala, chattin' it up with some teachers, when I saw one of my students from last year. He is around 12 or 13 (I think), and I hadn't seem him since May so I noticed he had grown taller over the summer. He also now has glasses. Basically, over the past three months this kid has turned into Joel. Ideally this would be the point in which I post a side-by-side comparison of Joel and his AZ doppelganger, but given that he (the doppelganger) is a minor, posting a picture of him would probably not be appropriate. A picture of just Joel will have to suffice.

Joel and my student both look like this (pretty much):




P.S. So I showed this picture to my student (I have all my pictures on my iPod precisely for moments like these), and he started laughing. Then he said something about qara almaqing. Basically this kid said that it does look like him, except if he were more tanned. (The verb 'to tan' in Azerbaijani is qara almaq, which directly translated means "to buy black.")

The Brief Wondrous Texts to Jessica A.

Text messaging may be the number one method of communication within the PCV community here in Azerbaijan. It's cheap, we're on a budget, and we like to sum up our lives in less than 150 characters. I was never much of a texter back in the US, but having been here for a little over a year now, I must say I now know why everyone is always texting on their phone. BECAUSE ITS AWESOME!

Okay enough jibber jabber, the point of this post is to say (and show you) how much joy I get from texting here in Azerbaijan. People here are really good at being hilarious within a character limit. So below are the funniest/weirdest text messages I've received in-country. All of them except for one were written by other PCVs.

In no particular order (and written exactly as they were texted to me):

- Good evenin lady Alcantara.how r u?

- Ummm, i was just showering in the outside hamam room w/ some mellow light coming from the pecht. It was very nice &pleasant. But then... Creepy brother pops his head in through the WINDOW & switches the light on for me & leaves. What the hell is that!?

- How long could it possibly rain 4? I just made a pantymobile and put it in front of the fan.

- Oh God oh God, im in the back of a packed marshutka w/ 2 hrs left & the kid next to me just puked all over herself & her mom...Lord God Almighty...it smells...

- Im about to lite a huge ass 21 on fire on a mountain side w/ a bunch of strangers. Jesus Christ, a gun was just fired as i write this. Its gettin crazy up here

- Ive discovered the best option 4 some type of aircondition'n: shower'n, not dry'n off & walk'n aimlessly around my apt naked occationally go'n back for more H20

- Was invited fish'n by a guy i met a while back. @ the H20, turnd round for 5 sec, turnd back round & dude's down 2 his underwear throw'n the fish'n pole. Now surrounded by half dozen, 1/2 nude fishermen

- I woke up w drool down my face all the way down to my shirt. Im so classy.

- Ever see 1 of those videos where a gorrilla cares 4,holds&coddles a HumanChild who fell N the cage@theZoo? A VERY largeAzeriMan has just turnd me N2 that child

The Worst Blogger Ever

I forgot I had this blog. Whoops.

How did I remember over a year after I first created it? So I was looking at my sitemate's awesome blog, (check it out Far From Nome) and I made a comment on one of her blog posts about the awesome pictures she put up. My name was highlighted, I clicked on it, and it said I had two blogs. WORD, google?? So apparently this thing still exists so I guess I should update it, right? Okay here goes:

1) I've been in Azerbaijan for a little over a year now (got here October 1, 2009). I've grown accustomed to enough of the culture to not really be surprised by much anymore. Acculturation WIN!

2) I'm sitting in the 'living room' of my 'house' in my permanent site of Zaqatala. This region is located at the base of the Greater Caucausus mountains, in the northern part of the country. Many Azerbaijanis will tell you it is one of the most 'gozel' (read: beautiful) rayons in the country. They are correct in their assertion. Don't believe me? Photographic evidence:



BOOYAH! I mean look at that beautifully clean street and that mountain just peekin' out behind the mural! Thomas Kinkade WISH he could paint some ish like this.

3) When I started numbering these points I thought I'd have more than two. Nope. But list making isn't really justified when there are only two items on that list sooooo... yea. I like dolma. Moving on...

Inshallah I will actually start updating this thing more frequently than once a year, but we'll see. My apologies in advance if the next post isn't until 2011.