Home Again, Home Again

Jiggedy Jig! Two years has come and gone just like that. I hope to continue to write here about Azerbaijan and America but for now I am a little overwhelmed. Until then, Happy Holidays! and maybe we'll be seeing you soon!

2008

2010

Fifth Time's a Charm?

So we've moved into our new apartment. Inshallah, this will be the last time we move before we finish our service. For those of you keeping score at home, we've lived

1. Host Family in Sumgayit
2. Host Family in Shamaxi
3. "The Jackson Resort"
4. "The Cabin"
5. The Apartment

Living in Azerbaijan taught me that showing peope around your whole house (even bedrooms and bathrooms, gasp!) is a very culturally American thing. But I am an American and this is a good opportunity to show also what the average place is like for Azerbaijanis too. We live on the second floor of a two story row of apartment/townhomey things. So, with no further ado, the Grand Tour in Photos:
The Entryway:

Our Bedroom:


(The "dresser" only holds so much for two people so we had to get creative and make a clothing mural)


Guest Bedroom/Storage Room:


Dining Room/Living Room. When you talk to us on skype, it's the walls of this room that you'll see.

Porchy Kitchen with door to the toilet:

Ah yes, the infamous semi-sit-squat. Take your pick. Bucket flush.
Across the drive from our building each person has their own gated alley. The majority of it is patio with lines to hang laundry. The building has a small storage space and behind it the hamam, or shower room (Note the eggplant I took with us from my old garden):

Classic shower/Water heater combo:




The End!

Hippy Skills: Canning

One of the things I was hoping to accomplish while living in Azerbaijan was learning how to can. I prepared over a year ago in America by taking the fabulous Preserving Food at Home Self Study out of the University of Georgia. The only thing that really threw me was that all American information, or all canning information on the web for that matter, assumes you are using ball jars with their fabulous sticky tops and screw lids. People here don't use ball jars, they use these:Notice the implement in the back with the round part and the handle. With these jars, the lids don't actually stick or pop during the boiling process, they are crimped on afterward by hand. After many panicky questions to neighbors and our medical officers I figured if no one else was freaked out, neither would I be (This works for the lack of a lot of things: Lysol, baby gates, toilet paper...). I'm happy to say we've had no ill effects.

So far I've canned 8 quarts of tomato sauce, 4 quarts peaches, 2 jars of Quince preserves, and 4 jars of applesauce.

Canning makes a lot of sense when you can only buy produce in season and its great if you are Scottish. Why Scottish? Example: my peaches cost roughly 1.75 manat to produce while the same amount canned at the store cost 4 manat. Right now apples are 1 Manat for 3 Kilos (roughly $1.20 for 6 pounds!) and won't be easy to find in the summer. Yes, I can feel the approval of the Campbells now!

And its not as hard as you think. Take applesauce:
First peel and core and slice. Put peelings in your compost bin to become worm and plant food and put apple bits in a pan with a quarter to a half inch of water.

Cook apples, stirring and mushing with your spoon until it looks like applesauce.

Then put the applesauce and process in a water bath canner. Mine will look different than yours because I'm using these weird Azeri/Russian Jars. If you've got ball jars, you're done! If you are using what we've got you use your handy crimper thing, spinning the handle around and around the lid, tightening it every round. Check to see that it sealed and you're done!

Not gonna lie, I feel much more satisfied at the end of this than I ever was at the end of "CSI: Miami" (But that might be David Caruso's fault).

First day of school

Emma isn't a huge fan of timed photos. I, on the other hand, can't get enough of them, ha ha. Here we are just before heading out on the first day of school. September 15th 2009.

Chillin...

Three Short Stories + Two Extra Photos!

Story One


Sometime in Early June I was in Baku supporting a couple of friends who were participating in a Triathlon. The two friends, Jeremy and Alexis, were staying with an Embassy worker and so after a morning of activities we decided to meet up at his apartment. When we arrived he asked if we would be interested in going to the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan's house for a belated Memorial Day party. We agreed and the photo that follows was taken after a couple hours of American quality fun!

L-R: Me, Peace Corps Azerbaijan Director, Ambassador to AZ, Jeremy and Alexis


Story Two


My mom and sister visited Azerbaijan for a week, during which time they were able to experience a great number of AZ-typical activities. However, one really sticks out in my mind. This was when my counterpart Tamara realized that there wasn't enough time for her to prepare a meal for my family before they left. So, at 11pm the night before we were to leave for Baku she brought over meat, seasonings and know how; then teaching us how to make Azeri Dolma. We used Mulberry, Grape and Cherry leaves. Starting at 11pm finishing the dishes around 1am. Here are the ladies mid-leaf stuffing.

L-R: Martina, Mom, Emma and Tamara.


Story Three

In early July, Emma and I went to Lankaran, a southern region in Azerbaijan, to help a fellow PCV put on a week long sports camp. One of the days was field day. Here I am with 11 year old Agil. He was my three-legged race partner. We dominated. Domination (Justin and Rob).

L-R: Agil, Me, Somebody...

Extra Photo One

On the road from Pirgulu, a national park in the middle of Samaxi Region, to Samaxi City. Emma, Mom and I are buying honey from a roadside stand. The salesman gave us a spoon to taste the honey and then let us tell him from which jar to pour. Yum!

Extra Photo Two

Emma looking over the mountain goodness that is Pirgulu. Behind her is the National Azeri Astro-Physics Research building. They are building new domes for their telescopes.

Ross and Gren's Visit

This is a summary of Grenville Nash and Ross Brewer's Trip to Azerbaijan. They visited June 14th -June 26th.

I met them at the airport on June 14th and we took taxis back to Şamaxı. From the airport to the main bus station in Baku was 17 Manat ($21). It was probably no more than 15 miles. However, the ride from Baku to Şamaxı was only 15 Manat ($19). That was over 75 miles... It just goes to show how expensive Baku is compared to the regions.
There are a bunch of Butcher shops on the road from Baku to Şamaxı and we stopped at one to pick up some very fresh sheep meat. Here are Gren and Ross by dinner, ha ha.

Grenville

Ross

When we arrived we went to work grilling the meat and drinking some cold beverages.

You can see the grill behind me. The skewers are resting atop. A cold beverage is in my hand.

Grenville amidst the beer and peanut butter. The guys were awesome and brought us two huge things of JIF, two boxes of Brownie mix, 500 packets of Splenda and a ton of other cool American Swag. Thanks to Ross for all of the Baseball Stuff and to Gren for the Cards game!

The next day we did a walking tour of Şamaxı. First stop, The Grand Mosque. In 1902 it was build upon the foundations of a 10th Century Mosque.

The view from the road.

Just outside the main entrance.

Emma and Julia sporting the appropriate head wear for a Mosque visit.

Following the Mosque we set out to find Yeddi Gumbaz, a famous graveyard, that contains the tombs of former Azerbaijani khans. The khans ruled over what is now modern day Azerbaijan from the 7th to the 16th century. Şamaxı was the capital of their kingdom and remained the regional capital, even after their fall. However, due to massive earth quakes and the oil boom, the capital officially moved to Baku in the 1860's.

We had walked about a mile towards the graveyard when an off duty cop pulled over and asked us what we were doing. I explained and he offered to drive us the rest of the way. Taking note of both the distance yet to cover and the stifling heat, we stuffed into the car and experienced what might best be described as, "The surest way to elevate your heart rate, while sitting down..." or "Handbrake Turns and Orange Lights: How to Grey Prematurely Without Even Trying!"

Julia, Emma, "Mario", Ross and Gren. You probably think I am taking this picture, but really I am curled up in the fetal position, thanking God for answering my 100 some odd Hail Marys.

One of the Khan's Tombs. The top of the mausoleum is sprouting. I think at the current pace it could be gone in a couple decades.

Three tombstones inside the mausoleum. The writing looks to be in Arabic script but might be Farsi.

Standing amongst the tombstones. Some of the graves are thought to be over a millenia old. One great thing about being taken over by so many people is that you can easily tell from which time period the tombstone comes just by looking at the script. Farsi/Arabic pre-1900, Cyrillic 1918-1994ish, Latin 1990-present.

After we finished looking around the graveyard, we went to the Heydar Aliyev Park. Heydar Aliyev was the leader of Azerbaijan from 1993-2003. He negotiated the cease fire with Armenia and also negotiated a really great oil sharing deal with western oil exporters. Immensely popular with the Azeri people, each regional center must have a Heydar Aliyev park. It would be similar to each US state capital having a park dedicated to George Washington. On a side note, it was Heydar's son Ilham Aliyev who took over as president when his father passed away in 2003.

Gren and Ross in front of Şamaxı's Heydar Statue. You can see the wreaths left behind after one of the many ceremonies commemorating the former president.

While in the park we were met by a groundskeeper who wanted to know what we were doing, where we were from, why we didn't speak Russian... I again explained and he invited us to have tea. We sat with him, and some of his friends, for a couple complementary cups of tea. It was a very warm gesture that we greatly appreciated. Funny side note, he asked us if we had a Heydar park in our town, to which we had to sadly reply "No...."

Tea time with our Azeri Hosts.

THE NEXT DAY

Standing next to the massive whole in the road. On our way to the mountain.

The next day we decided to hike up to the Gulustan Fortress (previously pictured on the blog). It was the Khans' castle that overlooked Şamaxı. On the way, we stopped at the Bazaar and picked up some plums, cheese and green peppers for lunch. The road was hot and dusty but everything else was fine. Just about the time we reached the base of the mountain, Grenville tripped and twisted his ankle. Concerned with his well being both Ross and I said that we would have no problem going back. Nevertheless, Gren wanted to push on, so we did. Having hiked the mountain in the Spring/Winter, I had not experienced problems with high grass, invisible paths, etc. Well apparently a month or two makes all the difference in the world, thus the easy path I planned to take became the not so easy way around.

Finally we reached the upper plateau, at which point the hike would become much harder. Thinking on his feet, or of Gren's ankle, Ross suggested that we eat lunch. We stopped and enjoyed the scenery, trying to cool off as best we could. Incredibly enough the winds changed and some clouds blew in. The temp dropped and we were at last given a bit of a break. Still, with Gren's ankle, a very low supply of water and what might have been diagnosed as heat exhaustion we decided to head down the mountain.

Here is our pic from Lunch

You can see one of the castle's towers in the background. You can also see Gren's stomach... SEXY! You are welcome world! Sorry Gren.

Unfortunately the rest made Grenville's ankle stiffen up, subsequently making the return trip excruciatingly painful. I have to give it to him, he really pushed through the pain. Not sure I would have made it as far. Instead of taking the same route back we decided to walk to a nearby village, hoping that we could rent a taxi. Finding the village sans taxis , I hailed a passing car and asked the driver if he wouldn't mind letting us ride with him, if chance would have it that he too was heading for Şamaxı. Lucky us he was, and even luckier, he agreed to take us. When we got to town we tried to give him some cash but he refused, once again showing how incredible Azeris can be. We made it home and Gren finally was able to ice his ankle.

Lahıc

I have previously written about Lahıc so this bit will be short. This was our second stop.

This is a picture of the road heading into Lahıc.

Another pic of the road.

A door in Lahıc.

Some of the copper wares.

One of many mountain springs that flow constantly into Lahıc. This is where the villagers get their drinking water and do their laundry. Unlike most of Azerbaijan the water in Lahıc is fine to drink right from the spring. In Şamaxı we have to boil and then filter our water.

Some sheep blocking our way back to Tim's house after a dinner out.

Şeki

Our third major stop in Azerbaijan was Şeki. It is located in the Northwestern part of Azerbaijan.

The courtyard of the Caravan Saray in Şeki. We staid here two nights. The complex is over 300 years old and was once used as a stopping point on the silk and spice roads.

The entrance to the Caravan Saray.

Dinner at the Yuri Gagarin restaurant. We had a Şeki specific dish called Piti. It is stewed sheep meat, chickpeas and fat, topped with saffron and served in a ceramic cup. You pour the broth into a bowl and dip pieces of bread into it. The meat, fat and chickpeas are eaten seperately.

Another view of the Caravan Saray's courtyard. It by the way cost about $38 a night for two people to stay in one of these amazingly historic rooms. This complex in Bakı would run you over $300 easily.

Gren sporting traditional Azeri footsoilders' gear.

A view overlooking Şeki.

Mingəçevir

From Şeki we took a bus to Mingəçevir. We took as bus with the local Peace Corps youth softball team and even played as part of their team once we arrived in Mingəçevir.

The Şeki team after a day of softball.

Our stay in Ming was short but the softball tourniment was great. Thanks to all of you that spread the word about our program. Your support gave a great number of kids the opportunity to play.

After the tourney we came back to Şamaxı. We took it easy for a couple of days and then went into Bakı. However, I had to be at a teachers conference so I missed most of those days. The last two pics are from our last day in Şamaxı.

Gren needed a haircut so here he is with the Barber that sculpted his awesome new 'do.

Last but not least by any means is my neighbor. Tamara, her daughter, is my primary counterpart at school. She is preparing sheeps woal to make new futons.

Well that is about it. The visit was awesome and I can't thank both of them enough for coming. It was great being able to share our new life with those who knew our old.