I need to start this post with this unbelievable story. As mentioned in the last post my Peace Corps group, Azerbaijan 7 (AZ7) is made up of 59 trainees. It’s really not that many people after spending a whole week living and working with them. I’ve gotten an SSP feeling from it actually, and for anyone who has spent time with Sierra Service Project can understand. Well….
As I was having a conversation with a member of AZ7, we went through the usual questions; where are you from, how old are you, where did you go to college, etc. Well, I found out she went to this small private school in Middle America, and it just happened to be the same school a former staff member I’ve worked with at SSP goes. But it was still one of those things were I simply said, “Oh I know someone who goes there. You probably don’t know them but their name is….”
Turns out this former SSP staff member friend of mine and this current fellow AZ7 member of mine were in a club together in college and know each other on a first name basis!!!! Absolutely blew my mind!
Things have been very good these first few days of Training. However, it doesn’t quite feel like I’m in Azerbaijan yet….or a real foreign country for that matter. We are staying in a pretty nice hotel outside of the Capital, and the only people here are either, PC trainees, current PC volunteers, and PC staff. Oh, actually the only other group using the hotel currently is the Azerbaijan National Soccer Team, which is crazy. We haven’t left the hotel yet, but tomorrow October 5th, we will be split up into community groups all around this city to the north of Baku; Sumgait (Sim-guy-aut). At that point I will be staying with my host family, while I spend each day doing language, cultural, and youth development training. So far here at the hotel we have covered a ton of PC policy; medical stuff, personal safety, and security procedures incase of anything. We’ve started some basic language lessons, which have actually been pretty fun.
1 thing stands out as being the most helpful part of this early training, which is having 6 members of AZ6 present. These are current volunteers who had to apply for the job of coming to Sumgait to hang with us these first few days and answer any question we might have, and to share their experience as a volunteer thus far. It’s been an absolute blessing having these people around. Not only are they a wealth of knowledge but they also do a great job of calming many of our anxieties. And even though they confirm that some of our anxieties are real and that we will have to face them, these 6 people are living proof that you can successfully get through it all.
Like I said, it’s been fun, I’m meeting some really cool people (The picture above is of me and Tim McNaught; the writer of that great song, Azer-bye-gone. We accidently wore the same exact thing the other day and of course it was the same day we were taking our official pictures that will be used for the next two years. I must say we look good though).
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to blog next. I will most likely not have Internet for at least a week. Wish me luck on my first real week!!!
As I was having a conversation with a member of AZ7, we went through the usual questions; where are you from, how old are you, where did you go to college, etc. Well, I found out she went to this small private school in Middle America, and it just happened to be the same school a former staff member I’ve worked with at SSP goes. But it was still one of those things were I simply said, “Oh I know someone who goes there. You probably don’t know them but their name is….”
Turns out this former SSP staff member friend of mine and this current fellow AZ7 member of mine were in a club together in college and know each other on a first name basis!!!! Absolutely blew my mind!
Things have been very good these first few days of Training. However, it doesn’t quite feel like I’m in Azerbaijan yet….or a real foreign country for that matter. We are staying in a pretty nice hotel outside of the Capital, and the only people here are either, PC trainees, current PC volunteers, and PC staff. Oh, actually the only other group using the hotel currently is the Azerbaijan National Soccer Team, which is crazy. We haven’t left the hotel yet, but tomorrow October 5th, we will be split up into community groups all around this city to the north of Baku; Sumgait (Sim-guy-aut). At that point I will be staying with my host family, while I spend each day doing language, cultural, and youth development training. So far here at the hotel we have covered a ton of PC policy; medical stuff, personal safety, and security procedures incase of anything. We’ve started some basic language lessons, which have actually been pretty fun.
1 thing stands out as being the most helpful part of this early training, which is having 6 members of AZ6 present. These are current volunteers who had to apply for the job of coming to Sumgait to hang with us these first few days and answer any question we might have, and to share their experience as a volunteer thus far. It’s been an absolute blessing having these people around. Not only are they a wealth of knowledge but they also do a great job of calming many of our anxieties. And even though they confirm that some of our anxieties are real and that we will have to face them, these 6 people are living proof that you can successfully get through it all.
Like I said, it’s been fun, I’m meeting some really cool people (The picture above is of me and Tim McNaught; the writer of that great song, Azer-bye-gone. We accidently wore the same exact thing the other day and of course it was the same day we were taking our official pictures that will be used for the next two years. I must say we look good though).
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to blog next. I will most likely not have Internet for at least a week. Wish me luck on my first real week!!!
i am so incredibly jealous, congratulations man
ReplyDeleteGod speed bro.
ReplyDeleteWith that hotel, I'm wondering if you signed up for the Peace Corps or you joined the US Ambassador's staff...
ReplyDelete