This is what I'm dancing to right now in Azerbaijan, Tarkan's "Öp":
BAK BAK BAK BAK DURAMADIM!
And here is a youtube video of the lyrics so you can learn/sing along with the song:
And you can find the english translation here.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Friendo y Comiendo: Issue 03
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a picky eater. I have had many people tell me that I am the pickiest/weirdest eater they have ever met. I wear this "World's Pickiest Eater" title like a badge of honor.
For as long as I can remember, I have been a picky eater. I remember being in the first grade and looking at my classmates eating their fries with ketchup and being disgusted at the site of that condiment. Part of my picky habits can be attributed to my upbringing. Like many other Dominican parents, mine only cooked Dominican foods. No mac-n-cheese or green bean casseroles in the Alcántara household. Instead we usually ate la bandera Dominicana for dinner, which is a plate of rice, meat and beans. (In different combinations of course, but essentially 95% of my dinners were la bandera. I'm not complaining either, my parents are great cooks.) We didn't usually have too many vegetables, besides the ones used in making the rice/beans/meat.
Another reason for my picky habits is probably that my mother is also a picky eater. (It's genetic?!?) She doesn't drink milk or eat vegetables, and has a few other weird eating habits that I probably adopted. Whenever we would order Chinese food, she would make sure that we told the guy on the phone to make the shrimp fried rice SIN VEGETALES!
How picky am I? Well, here's a list of foods I didn't eat as of September 28, 2009 (the day before I joined the Peace Corps):
- milk
- most dairy products including: cheese and yogurt.
- condiments (ketchup, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, mustard, relish, basically anything you would put on a hot dog or hamburger)
- peanut butter
- most vegetables (onions, peppers, spinach, cabbage, beets, broccoli, eggplant, squash, pumpkin, zucchini, artichoke, cauliflower, asparagus, radish)
- Dominican staples that when people find out I don't eat them they usually say something along the lines of "well you're not a REAL Dominican!" (avocado, platano verde hervido or en mangu form (I only eat platano verde in tostones form), platano maduro (I only eat it when its fried thinly and crispy, usually Papi has to make it because Mami lo cocina muy grueso), queso frito, beans (any and all forms of habichuelas)
- tuna and shellfish (shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, oysters, etc)
- certain fruits (apples, bananas, pineapples, pears, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, papayas)
- sushi
- meat that is not well done ('pink' is not a color I find attractive in meats)
- cream-based sauces and soups (this is related to my dairy products aversion)
I could go on but I think you get the point by now...
The number one thing I worried about before joining the Peace Corps was whether or not I would like the food in the country I was going to. What if I had to eat cheese every single day? Luckily fate put Azerbaijan in my destiny, a place where RICE (plov) is actually the national dish... what are the chances?!? If I was in America the only thing in this picture I would've eaten would've been the chicken and a few cucumbers:
I came to Azerbaijan with an open mind and determined to try new things and ease up on my picky eating. A year and a few months into my service, I am so proud of the change in my diet! My parents tried for 23 years to get me to eat beans, and that was one of the first things I started eating when I got to Azerbaijan! Some friends here still think I am too picky -- but that's because no me conocian cuando era even MORE mañosa! I was explaining to my family a few days ago over Skype all of the things I've been eating here, and they couldn't believe what they were hearing. Mami even joked that she should send Joel here so he can get over his pickiness too.
Foods that I eat now that I didn't eat before: beans, peanut butter, all the vegetables they have here in Azerbaijan (I'm still not that big a fan of eggplant, but I do eat it), all berries, and tuna. Sometimes I look at my plate of food here and I can't believe I'm eating (and enjoying) so many of the things I never ate back in the US. It's awesome!
For as long as I can remember, I have been a picky eater. I remember being in the first grade and looking at my classmates eating their fries with ketchup and being disgusted at the site of that condiment. Part of my picky habits can be attributed to my upbringing. Like many other Dominican parents, mine only cooked Dominican foods. No mac-n-cheese or green bean casseroles in the Alcántara household. Instead we usually ate la bandera Dominicana for dinner, which is a plate of rice, meat and beans. (In different combinations of course, but essentially 95% of my dinners were la bandera. I'm not complaining either, my parents are great cooks.) We didn't usually have too many vegetables, besides the ones used in making the rice/beans/meat.
Another reason for my picky habits is probably that my mother is also a picky eater. (It's genetic?!?) She doesn't drink milk or eat vegetables, and has a few other weird eating habits that I probably adopted. Whenever we would order Chinese food, she would make sure that we told the guy on the phone to make the shrimp fried rice SIN VEGETALES!
How picky am I? Well, here's a list of foods I didn't eat as of September 28, 2009 (the day before I joined the Peace Corps):
- milk
- most dairy products including: cheese and yogurt.
- condiments (ketchup, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, mustard, relish, basically anything you would put on a hot dog or hamburger)
- peanut butter
- most vegetables (onions, peppers, spinach, cabbage, beets, broccoli, eggplant, squash, pumpkin, zucchini, artichoke, cauliflower, asparagus, radish)
- Dominican staples that when people find out I don't eat them they usually say something along the lines of "well you're not a REAL Dominican!" (avocado, platano verde hervido or en mangu form (I only eat platano verde in tostones form), platano maduro (I only eat it when its fried thinly and crispy, usually Papi has to make it because Mami lo cocina muy grueso), queso frito, beans (any and all forms of habichuelas)
- tuna and shellfish (shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, oysters, etc)
- certain fruits (apples, bananas, pineapples, pears, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, papayas)
- sushi
- meat that is not well done ('pink' is not a color I find attractive in meats)
- cream-based sauces and soups (this is related to my dairy products aversion)
I could go on but I think you get the point by now...
The number one thing I worried about before joining the Peace Corps was whether or not I would like the food in the country I was going to. What if I had to eat cheese every single day? Luckily fate put Azerbaijan in my destiny, a place where RICE (plov) is actually the national dish... what are the chances?!? If I was in America the only thing in this picture I would've eaten would've been the chicken and a few cucumbers:
I came to Azerbaijan with an open mind and determined to try new things and ease up on my picky eating. A year and a few months into my service, I am so proud of the change in my diet! My parents tried for 23 years to get me to eat beans, and that was one of the first things I started eating when I got to Azerbaijan! Some friends here still think I am too picky -- but that's because no me conocian cuando era even MORE mañosa! I was explaining to my family a few days ago over Skype all of the things I've been eating here, and they couldn't believe what they were hearing. Mami even joked that she should send Joel here so he can get over his pickiness too.
Foods that I eat now that I didn't eat before: beans, peanut butter, all the vegetables they have here in Azerbaijan (I'm still not that big a fan of eggplant, but I do eat it), all berries, and tuna. Sometimes I look at my plate of food here and I can't believe I'm eating (and enjoying) so many of the things I never ate back in the US. It's awesome!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Things I've Found in AZ: Music Video Edition
The other day I was sitting with a friend in our local IREX Center, googling pictures of cartoon characters for a PowerPoint presentation that was geared towards children. I was raised on/by television so of course I kept suggesting different cartoons to my friend. I mentioned the classics, including Winnie the Pooh, the Pink Panther, and the Flintstones - ones that I figured had worldwide appeal. She then showed me a cartoon character I've never seen before, called "nu pogodi", or at least that's what she typed into google. She told me it was a very popular and hilarious Russian cartoon, and she couldn't believe that I had never heard of it. She tried to jog my memory by singing the theme song, and proceeded to say something that sounded like "blahblahblahdancerblahblah."
Needless to say, by this point I was ecstatic, not only because the song sounds awesomely awful, but because she is actually singing it to me in a room full of people. I gave her a "WTF is that??" look, and she proceeded to go on youtube to find the song she was singing.
AND THEN I STRUCK GOLD. Below is the video that she showed me:
This is the best thing I've seen in Azerbaijan since THIS. It's indescribably incredible. Do we have things like this on tv in America?? And if so, what channel is it on because I NEED to get it when I go back to the US!
Needless to say, by this point I was ecstatic, not only because the song sounds awesomely awful, but because she is actually singing it to me in a room full of people. I gave her a "WTF is that??" look, and she proceeded to go on youtube to find the song she was singing.
AND THEN I STRUCK GOLD. Below is the video that she showed me:
This is the best thing I've seen in Azerbaijan since THIS. It's indescribably incredible. Do we have things like this on tv in America?? And if so, what channel is it on because I NEED to get it when I go back to the US!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Yeni Iliniz Mubarek!
Happy New Year my wonderful people!
Last year to celebrate New Year's, I traveled into the capital, Baku, with the rest of the AZ7 volunteer group. We ate a lot of delicious food, hung out with each other, and basically just had a nice time. Baku however, is a very expensive city when you are living on a Peace Corps budget. I remember spending wayyyy too much money. So this year I decided to pass on the Baku New Year's celebrations, not only because I'm broke but also because Baku is just too far from Zaqatala (an eight-hour bus ride).
So I spent New Year's in my town. And it was AWESOME! A quick schedule rundown of my day (on the 31st): woke up late; visited my new sitemate's (Jane) family in Danaçı (a village in the Zaqatala region); hung out with her host mom and sisters; had yarpaq (grape leaf) dolma for lunch (so delicious!); watched her host sister make a LOT of şirin çorək (a nut/sugar-filled pastry); proceeded to eat like 20 of those things; went back to the city to my house; played board games with Jane and Mike; sang karaoke through youtube on my computer at my house; went to visit my friend Könül's family;
had tea and dinner with them (we ate plov (rice with meat, caramelized onions & beans), roasted chicken with potatoes, and yarpaq and kelem (cabbage) dolma... I may have had to unbutton my pants after that feast); at 11:30 headed to the town center to watch the fireworks at midnight; almost had a limb blown off by how ridiculously close we were to all the explosives; met with other friends in the city and walked around town for an hour and half; strolled back home and did random internet-y things until 3am.
In summary: I had a fabulous New Year's Eve, which I think means that 2011 is going to be an equally fabulous/wonderful/amazing year!
Monday, December 27, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
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:
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:
Sunday, December 12, 2010
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!
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!
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