Giving Thanks in the Peace Corps

Sorry it's been a while since the last post! It's been an eventful past few weeks. Here's the real quick run down:

1) My site location will be a city called Mingechiver!
- 97,000 people.

- I'll be working in the Azerbaijani Government's Ministry of Youth & Sports.

- There will be a total of 8 Peace Corps Volunteers living in the City! So many!

- It's kind of a hub town for transportation between the other cities in the country, so I think I'll have a good chance to travel and see people during the next 2 years.

2) I randomly saw the Azeri President driving by in a convoy one afternoon as I was walking by the highway near my town. Very random. I was just buying a candy bar, and all of a sudden there's this long line of fast moving vehicles.

3) Visited the capital, Baku. It was fun and relaxing but the best part was that I actually saw them building the "Death Star Hotel" that I saw a picture of before. It's actually called the "Full Moon Hotel" or something like that, but I don't care. It's going to be this Dubai type hotel that looks all crazy and fancy, but right now it's just starting to take it's circular form; kind of reminds me of Return of the Jedi....I'm a big dork; trusty me, I know.

4) I've been having a great time with my fellow Trainees and have been so happy to be surrounded every day by the other wonderful Youth Development folks. They're a lot of fun, and it's been great having each other to lean on. It will be sad when we split in 2 weeks after we swear in as Volunteers.

5) We lost another trainee. More bad allergic reactions to the pollution around this part of the country. They were suggesting steroids for her, but after being put on all kinds of other medications, she just had to say enough is enough. AZ7 now consists of 64 trainees.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well. Heard that the Green Bay Packers won, so I'm satisfied. This was my first Thanksgiving not with the family so it was a little strange. Luckily, us YDs got together to kind of form our own little family here. Our big meal will take place on Sunday, but on Thursday we spent the afternoon and evening together playing games, watching movies and drinking/eating whatever came our way. I am truly thankful to be surrounded by so many people that I enjoy.

During the Thanksgiving season I figured I should reflect on the things that I'm thankful for that have contributed to my experience so far. Here's a short list:

- Skype/Technology: It has been a real blessing to have the opportunity to stay in contact with family, friends and loved ones. It's been great tool for keeping in touch with folks, staying updated on events at home, and actually seeing some one's face while talking to them. Such a blessing.

- My Fellow Trainees: Everyone knows everyone else's name and from what I can see, pretty much everyone gets along. However, the only people you see each and every day are the other people who belong to your Technical Group. In Azerbaijan, we have 3 of these; CED (community economic development), TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language), and YD (youth development). I know I've said it a lot already, but it really has been a wonderful to be surround by such great people. It feels a lot like relationships I found while working for Sierra Service Project. Not exactly the same, but familiar enough to make a close comparison. And although we will part ways soon, many YD's are heading to the western region of the country and Mingechiver is kind of the gateway to the west, so we'll all be relatively close.

- A strong support network back home: This is in regards to my parents calling pretty often; about once a week. Even though they always say how boring they are, they always manage to make me laugh and I love getting updates. My sisters, who are both extremely busy and working hard with they're current life paths, but have managed to show me support and love. Hannah, who has woken up between the hours of 2am and 5am to hop on Skype so that we could get a chance to not only talk but see each other too. And she's so good at being in a good mood, despite the time. And of course the emails, the messages, the inside jokes, the prayers and love that I've received from so many of you. Each interaction I have with someone back home, whether it's a letter, or a one sentence comment sent through the Internet gives me more strength than you even know. Truly, thank you.

I love you all. I hope to get back into the swing of things and start posting more regularly and having more concise entries. Catch you soon!

Pictures: #1, Hanging out on a Sunday with fellow Trainees. #2, Me and my cluster (language class) in Baku (Left to Right: Me, Amy, Jackie, Lala our teacher, Jessica, and Rufat one of our YD directors above. We're missing Kate in this picture though).

Post #10: top 10 things to konw about Azerbaijan before coming here

(Pictures: A Marshuka, Some of us YD's before playing a game of Futball with some locals, our 1st conversation club!)

Well, this is the 10th entry! It's also my 1 month mark of being in country (As of November 1st). It was an eventful month, and one that gave me a lot of in site on some of the things I can expect to see/experience over the next two years.

Here are the Top 10 Questions I've asked myself over the course of this month:

10) Will I die in a Marshuka?

- Long story short: I was zoning out on a ride in one of these bus/vans, and didn't think much of a train horn that I heard outside, nor did I notice our increased speed. When I looked out my window there was the locomotive not even 20 yards away, heading right for us. Our Marshuka driver basically played chicken with the train and crossed the tracks at the last second! This story doesn't include other details about a typical drive; swerving in and out of traffic, abrupt stops, etc. Yikes.

9) What is the best way to respond to being cussed at in Azeri?

-Everyday, I walk on the streets of Tagiyev, where the young kids coral around me saying "Hallo! Vhat is your name?" this is the extent of there English, and I respond with my English language greeting. Now, it seems that more often than not one of the little boys in the group will say something in Azeri, and the rest will laugh and repeat whatever is being said. It sounds like I'm not the only one who experiences this and I guess the kids are saying really nasty things to all of us. I guess I have two options:

#1) Learn how to say, "Hey why would you say such a mean thing to me? I'm a guest here and I would never treat you like that if you were a guest in my country."

#2) I can take a line from the movie Tommy Boy and learn to say, "Listen up you little spazoids! I know where you live and I've seen where you sleep. I swear to everything holy that your mothers will cry when they see what I've done to you!"

8) Am I ever going to get used to ATM traffic jams?

The Peace Corps puts our stipend into a bank account and we simply access it through an ATM. The thing about ATM's in Azerbaijan is that it's not nearly as private as it is in the States. Or organized for that matter. EVERYONE crowds around while one person is operating the ATM machine. There is literally no line, and not an inch between bodies. I've heard that a lot of people really don't know how to operate ATM's yet, so what I've seen is that it kind of becomes a lesson on how to work it every time someone gets to the front of the "line". In some cases, one person will go to the ATM with a whole stack of cards; either fellow employees, other family members or even all the people from their apartment building. In this case you can basically just forget about using the ATM anytime soon and might want to try your luck another day.

7) How long will it take for me to get used to whole rows of gold teeth?

Dental Hygiene isn't really a priority here. And because of that, a lot of people (almost everyone from their mid 20's on) has at least 1 gold tooth that has replaced a rotten one. Many people have multiple gold teeth, and I've seen quite a few mouths with full rows.

To quote a current Peace Corps Volunteer, "You know you've been in Azerbaijan too long when you start to find gold teeth on women attractive. 1 gold tooth is better than none and 2 is better that 1."

6) How will my Azeri be when I'm done with training?

I found out my Mid Training Language test scores this week! The rankings on the langauge are as follows:

-Novice: Low, Medium, High

-Intermediate: Low, Medium, High

-Superior: Low, Medium, High

By the end of training, the goal for YD volunteers is Intermediate Medium: Putting sentences together, understanding past, present, future, etc. No trainees are expected to be in the Superior levels which are levels of fluency.

I received a Intermediate Low which means I have moved into a little bit more advanced language than what I was previously in. It felt good to advance, but I also know that I'm a long way off from even being close to fluent. My host family would definitely agree to that statement.

5) The Toilet situation. Anymore surprises?

My guess is probably yes; I would bet on it.

4) Will I learn all the words to the Islamic Call To Prayer?

I hear it several times a day so if that stays consistent then maybe, one day, I'll be able to recite it. However, it's in Arabic and not Azerbaijani so that could prove to be pretty difficult.

3) Will drinking ice water and showering in the morning kill me?

There is this really strange stigma about the cold here. It's something that everyone is really concerned about, even the doctors! For instance, women really should not/can't sit on the floor because their ovaries will freeze. There really isn't any ice and even sodas and drinks that are in markets aren't kept cold. They're kept in the big refrigerators like in the States, but none of them are on. My host mom advised me the other day to stop showering in the morning because I'll get very very ill from being too cold and leaving the house.

2) Am I ever going to really get used to all the man touching?

It's really not that big of a deal, just very noticeable and interesting compared to what is culturally typical in the US. For instance, it's completely acceptable here for male friends to greet each other with a couple kisses on the cheek and then walk together hand in hand. Another thing that I experience on almost a daily basis is a hand squeeze that signals "I'm sorry," or "we're not going to fight," or something like that.

Stepping on some one's foot is considered a pretty big insult. On some of these buses that get really crowded, I (as a man) usually end up standing during the ride. It really gets pretty packed and some times either I step on some one's foot or someone steps on my foot. What happens next is the offender grabs the other person's hand and gives it a little squeeze. Both of us nod in agreement that everything is okay and that's that. This really has happened to me quite a bit; on the bus, walking at the bazaar, really anywhere feet might get stepped on.

1) WHERE AM I GOING?!

On November 10th we find out where our permanent site placements are. Now that the Placement Interviews are over, all of us are dying to find out where we will end up. Not only that, but those of us in YD are wondering what we will be doing as well. Some will be placed at an non-government organizations (NGO's), others at a school and a few in government programs and offices. We can hardly wait!

Things have been great so far in November. We've gotten some experience now with some local teens in the schools by running lessons on basic computer skills and typing. One of the pictures above is of a successful English conversation club my class ran. This is where youth came and we only spoke in English so that they could gain some experience with the language, which many of them are eager to learn.

I'll let you know about that site placement stuff and any other information as soon as I get the official word!

----------Comments From Last Time----------

Rob: At least I haven't come a cross a simple hole in the ground yet, but it has only been 4 weeks. Feel comforted in knowing that the first time I do see one, I'll think of you.

TV is just a few channels; all run by the government. Some nights there will be a great movie on from Hollywood that is dubbed Azeri. Other than that, the New is, as I said, government run, and the rest is game shows and sitcoms that remind me of Telemundo shows.

Hannah: What it is babe. I didn't design the plumbing situation.

Steve: The funny thing is that a friend messaged me saying he read a NewsWeek article about the minuses of toilet paper and the pluses of the water & hand technique. Made me feel better about writing the last entry. Thanks for your support to Steve; I kind of figured I could count on it while dealing with that subject manner.

Loki: That's a great point! I guess I could have added that the toilet seat I did see was in a PC volunteers home, and was purchased by other PC volunteers so that they could use it while visiting her apartment.

Breea: Again, what it is. BMs are a part of daily life and people asked. haha. And if you were my host family, I'd be pumped. I'd only have to worry about being tackled once in a while.

Halloween Post: AZ Toilets! Scary enough for you?

For Halloween I think the scariest thing I could come up with was explaining the bathroom situation here. Plus, some people were asking about it, so here you go!

But first, folks have been wondering what a typical day for me looks like. To be honest, it feels a little bit like being at school, minus a strong social scene. here it is if you're interested. if not, go ahead and skip it. If you don't want to read about toilets, I suggest you just skip this entire post!

-Sean's Schedule as a Peace Corps Trainee-

8am: Wake up and have breakfast. Usually 1 hard boiled egg, some bread, and some tea. Afterwards I start my 5 to 10 minute walk to school.

9am-1pm: Language Lessons. 4 hours strait with one 15 minute break. This takes place in a small class room in a school where students from 1st grade to high school age currently attend. Everyday I hear "Hallo!" and "Vhat is your name!" countless times from the kids.

1:30pm: I walk back home for a quick lunch; usually some bread, more tea, and some kind of potato and oil concoction. I'm not complaining though, it's usually quite tasty.

2pm - 5pm: Technical Lessons. At 2, half of us YD's hop on a marshka (a small bus/van). This ride usually last about 5 minutes until we meet up with the rest of the Youth Development folks for our technical lessons. Now, these session have been rather tedious and boring. It's generally pretty basic and obvious information that is given to us, and almost everything that we are taught is given to us in written hand out form as well (almost word for word), which in my opinion leads to a lot of unnecessary paper usage. This of course is just an example and reminder that our trainers are also learning and growing in their roles as well. Besides, the technical lessons are a good opportunity to hang out with the other trainees for a while, so I actually tend to look forward to them.

5pm-6:30pm: Try to Relax. Until Dinner or when the sun goes down, some of us either go hang out at someone's host house for a bit. It's been great playing Futball and dodge ball with some of the local youth during this time too.

6:30pm: Dinner. Again, some bread, some kind of potato and oil thing, usually a meat (either cow, chicken our goat usually) and some fresh cut veggies.

7pm-8:30pm: Hang with the Fam. Spend time watching TV, drinking tea, eating candy & fruit, and talking with my host mom and brother.

8:30pm-10:30pm-Study, Home Work and Read. If I'm done doing language practice and my technical lesson home work (Or if I'm just ready to forget about those things for the night) I do some reading. I've been reading a couple things: Three Cups of Tea and and a comedy book.

10:30pm: Good Night. Generally will hit the lights and fall asleep listening to my iPod; either a podcast that was downloaded when I was in the States or some music.

Saturdays: Language lessons for 4 hours, and then the rest of the day is off. Usually I take a 20 minute bus ride (the cost is around 20 cents) into Sumgiyat where I meet up with other trainees for a beer or some food. Usually I head to the Internet cafe as well where I can use Skype, blog, and email.

Sundays:Free Day: Sundays look a lot like Saturday afternoons.

Now....Toilets...

When I first got here, I was very curious about what the bathroom situation was going to be like. Everything I had researched was very ambiguous, and now I see why. There is a bunch of different toilets here my friends. Whenever you reach for the door to enter a bathroom, you never really know what you're going to get. Maybe a porcelain squatter, where you need to role up your pants and squat like you're acting like a frog about to leap away. Or in some cases you'll find a western toilet. However, I have yet to see an actually toilet seat on any of these. One thing is always the same though.....toilet paper is a no no for the plumbing.

So, what do you do? There are two options:

1) Supply your own TP, and suffer the consequences: Since you can't flush, some PC volunteers suggested bringing a small baggy with you; kind of a portable trash can. This way you have your usual TP experience, expect the problem is that you are now going to be in possession of a baggy of used toilet paper until you can get rid of it. There really aren't trash cans around the house like you have in the USA, so putting that poop bag in the small trash bag hanging in the kitchen is a bad call. You carry around that baggy until you can find a place to get rid of it.

2) When in Rome: Do as the Romans do. With your right hand you use something that looks just like a gardening water jug, poor it down the small of your back, and use your left hand to do the dirty work. Of course you wash your hands afterwards, bu this is why you really don't use your left hand to physically touch people. It's not a major sin or anything if you do, just don't use your left hand to do something if you can use or right hand. Kind of the cultural rule of thumb.

Personally, I am discussed by the idea of holding onto a poop bag for however long it takes to get rid of it. It just seems like an extra step (and a nasty one), that can easily be avoided if you just suck it up and "Go Native."

Whelp...Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe! We're getting together at some one's house for a costume party to watch movies and hopefully carve some pumpkins. We all finished our Site Placement and Mid-Training Language Tests, so now we're ready to just mellow out.

I should know my permanent site by November 10th!

----------Comments From Last Time-----------

Breea: It is true. I will have to leave the host family on December 10th. Training ends on December 9, and on December 10th is when I start my 2 years at a permanent community! They're pretty bad-a, and I'll be happy if my next host family is anything like them.

Steve: Hey Brotha! I hope all is well. Thanks for the support; it is much appreciated. How's everything? Did you start that new job with Dustin?

Nate: YES! He too, is a YD. I think he kicked like 8 games or something. He did the NFL and NFL Europe. I will give you his name via an email or facebook message.

Zagatala, aka Beautiful! Also: AZ7+

Well friends, the site visit to Zagatala is over. I came back to Tagiyev on Wednesday night, absolutely exhausted after a 9 hour bus ride! But the trip itself was wonderful.

We began with a train ride that started from Baku, the capital, at 10pm. 12 hours later we were in the clean, green region of Zagatala. The Caucus Mountains did not have snow on them just yet, so after meeting up with our host volunteers in the area, some of us went on a hike. The difference in the air quality was incredible; Zagatala was cool and crisps and filled my lungs without any problem.

In all, there were 5 of us trainees. 2 of us were Youth Development, and the other 3 were English Teachers. Between the 5 of us, we had 3 volunteer hosts.

Here is the list of things I did on the Site Visit:

1) A great Hike in the Caucus Mountains.

2) I lead an English Language Conversation session for some local community members.

3) Ate fresh nuts and berries; Zagatala is known for them this time of year.

4) Did mock-interviews for teens who were applying to join a program that would send them to the States for a Year; sort of a cultural exchange program for ex-soviet countries.

5) Went shopping in a bazaar.



I would really love to end up in Zagatala for the next two year, but it looks like the Peace Corps will only be sending 2 new volunteers; probably not even a Youth Development Facilitator.



With that said however, I've had a chance to hear a little bit more about the rest of the country after talking to everyone after all the site visits. AZ7 had our 2nd Hub Day this past Friday, and it was great to see everyone. OH, and a few new faces too...



...The same exact day that we left the States for Azerbaijan, a Peace Corps group going to Turkmenistan was told they were no longer being sent there and that their service was being canceled! Something about the Turkmenistan government rejecting Visas. Anyway, some of that group was split up and have been sent to some other group who are going through training right now. A small number went to the Ukraine, another group might be going to Africa, and we picked up 7 of the Turkmenistan folks. This now brings the AZ7 team to a total number of 65. They've been given an incredibly fast orientation and have been thrown into the language classes. It was wonderful getting a chance to meet some of these folks. One of them is actually a former Sudanese refugee who is now a US citizen! He came to the states during Sudan's civil war after spending years bouncing around refugee camps as an orphan. If anyone has heard of "The Lost Boys of Sudan," this guy is one of them. He's one of thousands of these kids who were orphaned by the war who made their way to the States. It's been great getting to know him. the rest of AZ7+ and even AZ7 originals that I had not had an opportunity to meet yet.



This next week will be busy. We have our mid-training language competency test and our site placement interviews. They aren't as intimidating as they sound. The language test is simply used to help the Peace Corps see how we're doing on an individual level, and hopefully address specific needs for the remainder of training. The site placement interview is just a conversation where they take our personal needs and desires into account as they make their final decisions on where they will send us.

Here are a couple ideas for up coming blogs:
1) The people of AZ7 (there are some really interesting individuals here: ex-military, a Lost Boy of Sudan, a former NFL kicker, etc.).
2) Specifics of living with a host family and how the host family relationship has progressed over a month. It's kind of cool; my host family now calls me "My Sean."

Any other ideas?


--------------------------------Comments From Last Time-----------------------------------


Hannah: hahaha, I know that I should have probably asked if it's okay to quote you but as you know, time is money in these Internet cafes. And despite what You, Nate and Rob think, you're not a nimrod to me.

Nate: Dude I almost get destroyed on some of these buses. The only thing that has given me some relief is a bottle of bubbly water. But I don't even want to think about what it will be like during the summer.

Rob: I'll post some pictures of what I'm talking about in regards to pollution. I guaranty that even people from Riverside and LA who see the pictures will say something like "Oh, that's a shame."

-Miss you guys. Love you big-

From 59 to 58

It's been an interesting week thus far. A few things:


1) I met the Acting Ambassador from the USA in Azerbaijan.

2) I can now access the internet from my cell phone; though it costs me a bit to do so.

3) One person has decided to go back to the States, making the total number for AZ7 into 58 trainees instead of 59.

4) I found out that I will be going on a site visist to Zaqatala (North Western AZ.) starting Saturday the 17, and ending Wednesday the 21st. It's known as "The Paradise Region," of Azerbaijan!


1- At the end of last week, the Acting Ambassador from the US (he's "Acting," because right now there is no official Ambassador from the USA in Azerbaijan; not for a couple of months at least. this guys is like seconed in comand). He actually was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 80's and then joined the Foreign Service after finishing with the Peace Corps. He was incredibly informative about the country and current issues that are happening. He addressed things like:

- The positive impacts that are happening in Azerbaijan.
- Corruption in Azerbaijan.
- The war with Armania.
- Human rights concerns.
- the relationship between the US and AZ.
- Where the secret US military base is located (there isn't one, but it is a popular rumor here and in this region of the world, ie- Russia and Iran).
- What the future is expected to look like for Azerbaijan (oil, natrual gas, economy, International Relationships)

I really enjoyed all the topics he covered and I think it gave all of AZ7 a better idea of what to expect once we are out at our sites.

2- I finally have Internet access on my Azeri cell phone. It isn't iPhone quality, but it gets my on facebook and gmail, so that's a huge plus that came this week.

3- The down side of week two is that a member of AZ7 decided to head back home. He was actually a member of my 4 person cluster. A cluster is the group you do language lessons with, and 3 to 4 clusters make up a job specific group (Youth Development, Teaching English, etc). Anyway, he was having bad reactions to the pollution and and in-hailing some of the smoke that came from burning trash in the towns.
A full Peace Corps training group doesn't normally make it all the way through training. In fact, I'm lead to believe that 30% of a training group don't last all the way through which means technically we would loose another 17 people before December 9th when we swear in. However, 100% of AZ6 made it through training, so I'm not sure what to expect.


4-this weekend, every single one of us will be leaving the Sumgiyet area on a site visit where we will observe a current volunteer. Now, I hate to brag, but it really does sound like I got the very best place in the country! Zaqatala.
2 of the AZ6 volunteers who were part of our welcoming committee are stationed there. It really did sound like the most beautiful place you've ever heard of; complete with clear streams and roling mountains. Apparently since Zaqatala is so close to Russia and Georgia there are actually 28 different ethnicities that clame to live there. With a plethura of langauges and cultures, it's apparenlty one of the more "Progressive" parts of Azerbaijan. And from some of the research Hannah did, I'm even more excited.

"Tt is considered a health resort, it doesnt have the "environmental damage" that the other regions have. There is a nature preserve to the north with brown bear and boars!! AND get this--there is local HONEY that is known throughout AZ. Theres also hiking trails through wooded mountains with frequent waterfalls. Lastly, the region had hazelnuts and walnuts. This is soo cool." - Hannah J. McClain

I really can't wait. I'll be leaving by train this weekend and it takes over 8 hours to get there. There are only 5 of us going out of the whole group and it sounds like we have a pretty fun agenda once we get there. My next blog will probably be Zaqatala themed and I hope to have some pretty good pictures from it.


I want to give a shout out to my Dad; it's his Birthday today. So happy birthday Paul Murphy.


--------------------------------Comments From Last Time-------------------------------------


I'd like to make the blog a bit more engaging with anyone who would like to participate. That's why I'm going to do my best to address any comments that have been left from the most recent blog by any Followers. Nothing big, I just hope it can be a neat way for me to actually talk with people who want to do it.


Rob: I'm glad the pictures can take you down memory lane a bit. And those cars are basically Power Wheels that kids can just crews around on for fun. but to be honest the drivers on the road are even worse drivers than those kids! It's scary stuff man.



Nate: That's exactly what I was thinking about the AZ7 title! Everytime I see it or someone says it I think Arizona, and Navajo.

Post #6

(The Pictures: The one with trees is my street. The building is an apartment building I pass each day after getting off my bus to go to Youth Development Sessions. The 3rd is me in front of The Dove of Peace statue in Sumgiyet which AZ7's unofficial meeting spot by the Caspian Sea when any of us go to the Hub town.)

What a week it's been! Soon after my last post, the rest of AZ7 and I left on buses that took us to our new communities where we'll be living with our separate host families. There was a lot of anxiety floating around. Would we get along with our host families, how will we get by with the language barrier, etc? Although there was a lot of excitement it really was pretty stressful, and you could feel it from just about everybody on that 30 minute bus ride.

My group of about 15 was sent to a small town just north of Sumgayit called Tagiyev. 1 by 1 we were each dropped off in front of homes and apartments. Everyone was given a round of applause and pats on the back so that we all knew that we were in this together.

Here are some of the tips and information we were given to ease the culture shock we were about to experience:

1) The host family will be extremely gracious and welcoming. Almost to the point where you might feel a bit overwhelmed.

2) You will be fed A LOT of food, and even when you say you're finished, you will be given even more food. Expect to say "I'm full," and "No, I'm really done, thank you," at least 3 times. Most of the food is very very oily, and very heavy.

3) You will be given an endless amount of tea, whether you really want it or not.

4) Men are not expected to do any dishes, laundry, cook, etc. Women won't at the beginning but might be expected to do their own or at least help out as time goes on.

5) You absolutely do not wear shoes in the house. Either wear your slippers, or you will be given slippers to wear by your family.

6) It's a good idea to have some kind of gift for your family, regardless of if you give it early on or later in your stay.

7) The men are the head of household, and that's just kind of the fact of life.

About a day before we left I was told my family consisted of a mother who worked and a son who was in his early twenties. For some reason it gave me a lot of comfort knowing that I had a woman head of household and a son who was pretty much exactly my age.
When we pulled up to my house/apartment, my host brother was waiting for me. I said my goodbyes to everyone else and the bus took off. My knew brother helped me up the stairs with all my gear. I attempted to use what little Azerbaijani I knew to try and break the ice.

He responded in English!

Turns out he knew quiet a bit of English and had actually spent 3 months in the States this summer through his University! What a relief.
My host mother came home a bit later. Upon seeing her she kissed me on the cheek and began making me dinner. I can assure you that food has not been in short supply since I’ve gotten here. The meals have been extremely filling too. That first night was the only night I felt like I had eaten too much. To my surprise, my family does not fall into hardly any of the rules we were told about. The first timeI say that I'm done, I usually do not have to repeat myself. I generally only have 1 cup of tea a night, I have a woman head of household, and I'm the only one wearing slippers at my house.

I have tried to help with dishes and do my own laundry, but my host mother will not let me; not yet any way. My host brother and I talk quite a bit, and it has been nice having an English/Azerbaijani speaker in the house.

The rest of the week has gone smoothly, besides being eaten alive by mosquito's. I’ve spent each morning in my language class that last 4 hours each day! I’m not incredible at Azerbaijni, but I enjoy learning it a lot.
Each afternoon I take a bus with the 3 other people in my Language class and my LCF (Language and Cultural Facilitator) to meet up with the other classes who are living in the Tagiyev area. All 15 of us Trainees are in a Youth Development session for another couple of hours, and then we head home.
It’s been a good first week. The best part about it is that I finally talked to Hannah the other day via my new cell phone. It was wonderful. The one down side is that it costs way to much for us to talk on a regular basis, so in the mean time, I'm trying to find ways of connecting to Skype at some Internet cafes. Hasn't been much luck as of yet, but we'll keep trying.

Is there anything I'm leaving out that people would like to know about so far?

IMPORTANT BLOG INFO: Soon I have to change my privacy settings so that they'll be more stricked. Hopefully this won't impact anyone who is an official Follower, but I can't promise anything. If it becomes password protected and it becomes difficult to view the blog, then let me know. I'll probably just post the password on my facebook page once I change the settings. Maybe in a week or so.

8 Degrees of Seperation

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!!!