Random Photo

These cow legs were sitting outside of a local butcher's shop in Saray. In Azerbaijan, butchers display their meat on hooks outside their shops. If you want something, you point to the piece and ask the price. I think these pieces would have cost a decent amount, as there is a special stew made from the legs and hooves. I thankfully have not had the opportunity to partake. Anyways, enjoy!

Mathias    

A Typical Day in Azerbaijan

What do you do on a typical day there that wouldn't be so typical here?
Or, what is just the same that you didn't expect to be so similar?

From: Sara B. - Portland, ME

Mathias:

Every morning, after we wake up, we light the peз. We do this because it is unsafe to keep it on while we sleep. This has less to do with the fire becoming unruly, and more to do with the fact our gas supply is often cut off. If we were to keep the line open, and then lose the supply, our fire would go out. However, the line would remain open. If the powers that be would decide to turn the gas back on, it would fill our room without us knowing. Thus, every night, or anytime we leave the house, we turn the gas off and every morning, or every time we return, we turn it back on, relighting the fire.

For breakfast, I eat a cup of oatmeal, sweetened with a spoonful of splenda; paired with a cup of instant ‘MacCoffee.’ In America, I eat bacon for breakfast. Don’t get a whole lot of Bacon here. Ha ha. I love/miss bacon.

Following breakfast, I walk 10 minutes to school. By the time I get within sight of school, I usually have two or three students walking with me. As I enter the main complex, I gain another 5 or so, each wanting to try out the latest English phrase. Inside the school is just as crazy, with kids running everywhere. Most students greet me with a “Hello” or “Good Morning.” It kind of makes me feel like a big deal... until they say something in really basic Azerbaijani and I remember just how cool I am. As in: “What did you just say?”, “Can you repeat that?”, “I am not sure what you just said, but sure, I too like Ice Dancing.” (Quick Ice Dancing note: One of our best friends here, a PCV from the Detroit, MI area, dated/went to prom with the 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist in Ice Dancing... Awesome!) I then shuffle by the male teachers smoking in the hall way, shake all the hands I can grab, say my “Hellos” or “Good Mornings” in Azerbaijani, glance at the female teachers in the teachers’ room, and head to whichever classroom holds my first lesson. Similar to Japan, students stay in the same classroom while teachers rotate between periods.

During class, I focus my part of the lesson on pronunciation, which is fun because all of the words are written phonetically in British English... it is a cruel world students, cruel. Thus, the students learn how to speak with an American accent, while studying British Grammar (“I have got a copybook”) in text books put out by the Azerbaijani government. My counterparts are very competent in English Grammar and I am constantly impressed by their ability to translate, anything and everything, from English to Azerbaijani, on the spot. Not that I can tell if they right, but they sure sell it either way. Classes are 45 minutes long and I teach no more than four a day.

Most of my work is done by 12:10pm. However, I am involved in other projects, such as: English conversation clubs, AZ youth softball, the Azerbaijani Boys Leadership Experience (ABLE) and the Volunteer Advisory Committee. Not that they do too much for my afternoons, but on occasion they push some work my way.

Outside of that, I am reading way more than usual. In the last two weeks, I have read The Great Book of Amber and Eragon, twice. “Anime あにめExpo 2009” here I come! I also listen to a lot of music and try to lesson plan. Life is pretty good. Emma is making fun of me for the last paragraph. That’s it.

Emma:

Well dragging us back from “how Mathias is continuing his mission to rule the world” to things that are different.... 

I also work in a school, where I am referred to as “Emma Müellimǝ” (or, Emma Teacher). This is definitely different than being in America! When I get home for the day I immediately change out of my work clothes into basically pajamas. Work clothes are folded neatly to be worn again, every day, for the rest of the week (or longer!). So I wear the same two outfits every single day. I find this extremely convenient-no time wasted in the morning, and it makes remembering new people really easy-as in “Ah, the woman with the Green turtleneck” or “The girl with the purple skirt”. Because it’s cold and I’m wearing many layers, the top and middle layers don’t even really need washing-just switch out the long underwear and shirt on shower day! If cleanliness is next to godliness than keeping the Sabbath holy is easy here-Sunday is the one day a week we shower! (In winter it is extra difficult to heat water).

Also different is that once I get home, I stay home. This is for a couple reasons. First, it’s too much of a hassle to change back into appropriate street clothes. Also, there isn’t really anywhere I can go. Women are not supposed to go to restaurants, coffee shops, or internet cafes. And recently I was told that because I look young and could be viewed as a “girl” I really shouldn’t even go to the bazaar for food. Men and boys are supposed to buy meat and make runs for small purchases. Mothers make the Bazaar runs and girls are supposed to go from school to home. At least that’s how it seems here; people have told me that Şamaxı is a conservative town. Everything is completely different in Baku and the influence of the capital city seems to be slowly moving outwards in Mercedes Benzes and Land Rovers. Maybe this sounds too dramatic. I can go to the department store if I want to and I go to the internet cafe out of necessity. I’d also gone to the bazaar three times before anyone hinted I shouldn’t. There are no hard rules-no restaurant is going to kick you out-it’s more about community opinion. As a new community member I want to show respect for traditions and gain trust from my neighbors. But I also don’t mind showing that nothing bad happens if girls use the internet!

Oh yeah, and when people invite me to do things they add, “If your husband says its ok.” Teehee!

So exhausted readers, we’ll leave it at that for now. Thanks to others who have also contributed questions for which we are cooking up fabulous answers!

Suallar?

We need Blog ideas! What do you want to know about life in Azerbaijan?
Send questions/blog post ideas to:
azerijack@gmail.com
And we'll whip up a response that will edify everyone! (Inshallah!)

Thanks!
Emma and Mathias

Where There Is No Gas...

On a day like today, when the sun is out and the snow is melting, sometimes the powers that be decide that it's best to shut off the gas during daylight hours. This was one of those days.

Some of you may remember when I was living in LA I stumbled across one of my favorite lines from a news report. It was about a "cold snap" in LA and a man on the street complained:
"I'm wearing pants AND a Jacket and I'm STILL cold!!!"
Well, I'm happy to report that I'm wearing

• Long underwear
• Thigh-high socks
• Knee-high socks
• Ankle-high socks
• Knit shorts
• Stretch Pants
• Long Wool Skirt
• Long-sleeve shirt
• Wool turtleneck sweater
• Cardigan
• Long wool coat
• Scarf around neck
• Scarf on head
• Fleece scarf around waist
• Gloves
• Wool/leather slippers

...And I'm STILL Cold!! (temperature in room 52F)

(No, the petç isn't on in this one-but I'm pretending it is!)

Photos # 3

Our host brother and host sister-in-law just had a baby, as in this morning at 7am! This is the sweater that Emma made for the baby boy, Ali Mustafa. Congrats to the proud parents!

This is Şamaxı from my second floor classroom window. The large buildings are apartment complexes.

This is Şamaxı in the morning. Just beautiful.

Our room from the door. Emma is in bed, wrapped from head to toe because once again we are without heat. Ha ha ha. I actually really like it. No joke. I want to relocate to Alaska. Sort of.

Our room from the other side.

A fun picture of the peç.

About two days ago both the electricity and gas went out for around ten hours. Here I am lesson planning by candlelight... (My mom is reading this and loving every word)

Same photo, for the most part, but with the flash. The outfit I am in is one that I wear to school everyday. Actually, I have worn this exact outfit to school everyday that I have taught in Şamaxı. A little over a month. It is very common for teachers to only have one school outfit. And yes, I teach in my coat and hat. I also have three layers of underwear, two thermal, one normal, under my coat, dress shirt, sweater-vest and scarf. Still kinda want to go to Alaska.

Almost everyday, I receive some type of junk food from my students at school. This happened to be a pretty good day. Most of them are little cakes and cookies. However, if you look closely you will see there is a handful of sunflower seeds wrapped in an old piece of note book paper. There were literally notes from the day before written on it. Pretty funny for sure. Still, the most comical snack food from school is a Russian item called purashki. It is fried dough with mashed potatoes inside. They seem pretty harmless, but they are served in pieces of old text book. You know to protect your hands from the grease, ha ha. I have heard stories of unfortunate children receiving an exceptionally hot purashki AND having a, let's say soviet history lesson, tattooed to their hands. Awesome.

This is a photo of Ismayıllı. A town about an hour from ours. We took a weekend trip to support two volunteers and their youth development photography project. Youth from Mingeçevir and Ismayıllı attended photography classes and then photographed their respective towns. The end result was a photo exhibition held the weekend of January 10-11th in Ismayıllı. It was great!

These carpets were on display in the same Museum as the childrens' artwork.

Emma and me in Baku on New Years Day! This tree is in a really famous area of the capital called Fountain Square. We spent the 31st - 3rd in Baku because of a crazy blizzard that hit Azerbaijan, making it almost impossible to travel for a couple of days. We were lucky because right after we took this picture we went to the Peace Corps lounge and found out we could stay there if need be. We ended up spending two nights on a couch in the lounge. It was great because we had free Internet, a TV and DVD player, as well as the company of around ten other stranded volunteers.

A McDonald's advertisement in Fountain Square. They truly are everywhere.

This was our Christmas Tree and Stockings set-up. You can see we have our gifts placed around the bottom. Emma received 3 spools of yarn, a scarf, a travel beauty kit and some chocolate. I got dominoes, cards, a new hat and a pipe.

That's about it. Hope all is well.

Love and Miss,

Mathias

Photos 2

This is our new yard covered with snow. The "covered" walkway connects our house (on the left) to the other homes. One is located directly behind and the other to the right. Straight ahead is just a wall that encloses the yard. Most homes in Azerbaijan have large stone walls that surround their yards and subsequently a gate that acts as a "Front Door" for all visitors. Homes rarely open onto the street.

This is a rug shop in Baku's "Old City".

This is a view looking back from the wall displayed in the snowy picture. I took this photo in November when we visited Şamaxı for the first time.

This is a mosque located in Baku.

This is Jon, one of my very best friends in Azerbaijan, and me, after playing soccer on the beach in Sumqayit. A small group of PC trainees would play soccer every Sunday, but Jon won the coin toss so he got to sit on my shoulders. The Caspian Sea is behind us. I know what you are thinking. This photo is pretty impressive... but what was really impressive was the double back flip Jon did off my shoulders. Man is talented.

Due to a lack of gas, our 1st host family relies (literally) on truck loads of wood during the winter. This photo was taken soon after all of the wood was removed from the truck. Btb, The truck arrived around 10:30pm and it took about 45 minutes to remove everything. Partially due to the degree of danger associated with standing on, and moving, a pile of wood laden with nails/tacks and partially due to the fact it was more like a game of dodge the wood, then safely stack the wood... No one was hurt and following the fun, tea was had by all! The photo is of Me, my host brother, host cousin and their friends.

This is our Host Family in Saray! R-L: Father, Youngest Brother, Me, Host Sister, Host Mom, Emma and Oldest Host Brother. They are an amazing family and we were so blessed to have been placed at their home. This photo was taken in our kitchen.

Emma and I eating breakfast at my Language Teacher's home in Baku. Both of our language classes spent the night, and enjoyed a 3 hour "Songs from a Hat" marathon. I know I mentioned SFAH in a previous post, but as it is AWESOME, I find it necessary to mention it again... No I have no idea what is in the bowl. Let's say it is some type mayo and veggie salad.

This is us at our swearing in ceremony. It was held at a cultural center in Sumqayit and covered by most of the country's major media outlets. Emma was actually interviewed by a TV news program that airs nationwide. Our host family received lots of calls from friends, and relatives, saying they had seen Emma. It was pretty cool. We also swore to defend the Constitution, which was incredible on a totally different level.

We hand wash and hang dry all of our clothes... which is fine when the weather cooperates. As you can see this load was not okayed by mother winter. Nevertheless, once it gets warm enough melt, we can view the thaw as a second, not so needed, but always welcomed rinse.

Those are all the photos I have for now. Hope everyone is well.

-Mathias

Not all tattoo artists are created equal...

In my last blog post (Oct. 14 1995, or at least it seems that long ago) I wrote that we had be given the name of our permanent site: Şamaxı (figured out how to type in Azeri!) Well as of today, we have been here just over a week. Emma and I are in the process of figuring out our work schedules, as well as, discovering the many interesting things Şamaxı has to offer.

Emma's school, the post office, Internet cafe, ATM, tea house, outdoor amphitheater and department store are all within about a 3 minutes walk of our home. My school is just a bit farther away, maybe 10-15 minutes. I will start teaching in January and am spending this week, and next: observing classes, picking counterparts (Azeri teacher with whom I will co-instruct) and getting used to my school. Thus far, everything has been great. My primary counterpart (the woman who submitted the application for a PC volunteer) is just incredible. When we walk through town, she introduces me to everyone explaining who I am, what I am doing and what I have given up to be here... which means being away from family and friends. I could not have asked for a better friend. Furthermore, all of the students, the teachers, the vice principle and the director have been incredibly welcoming. I definitely feel wanted and appreciated.

Emma has also been lucky. She is working at a Russian school, which means that all of the lessons are taught in Russian. A Russian school in Azerbaijan is comparable to a parochial school in the states. Her director is incredibly supportive and has provided her with a great deal of support. Now, she is figuring out how she fits into the school as a Youth Development Volunteer. It is much harder for her because her job description is rather vague. Where I am told to teach 15 lessons, she is told to observe the students, teachers and community - then assist the youth by providing beneficial activities, such as: English Clubs, Theater Clubs, Sports Clubs, etc. I know it seems some what straight forward, but where I have a framework from which to work, she must create everything. Of course she will work with the interests of the community, ie. she won't provide a running club if the interest isn't there. However, she has to do a lot more with her language and it is hard, as we have only been here 3 months. Nevertheless, we are both very lucky due to the people with whom we have been placed.

Speaking of which, we have a new host family. We have a host mother, 2 host brothers, 2 host sister-in-laws and a set of grandparents. The grandparents have their own home, the mother and the youngest couple have another, while Emma and I live on the very large bottom floor of the oldest son's home. The three houses have a nice courtyard that holds a chicken coup, a place to hang laundry, a well, fruit trees and plenty of room for gardening. At times, Şamaxı lacks water, but thankfully we have the well (circa 1931) to keep us hydrated. The toilet and shower room are right next to ours, however you have to go outside to access them. Luckily the area between is covered. Our room, which is not connected to the second floor, is rather large. It has a gas stove(a peç, which I believe Emma has already explained), two tables, two twin beds pushed together to make a king, and other various household items.

The last couple of days we have had snow, which makes trekking up and down the MANY hills, a challenge. I have photos that I plan to post, but currently my Russian computer (almost all computers in Azeri Internet cafes use Russian) doesn't want to recognized the jpeg file format... However, I do promise (for Maureen especially as she made the request sometime ago) to post more photos.

Can't wait to see everybody in Dec of 2010... Or feel free to visit. Grenville and John G., I am looking forward to the summer. Mom and Dad the fall. Inshallah!

Love and Miss

Mathias

PS No tattoo artists were harmed in the writing of this post.