Appreciating Azerbaijan

So, since leaving Azerbaijan I have been to 3 other Peace Corps countries and it makes me realize that I was lucky to have been placed in Azerbaijan. Why you ask (or you don't)? Especially since I found plenty to complain about for the last 2 years. Oh, I'll tell you why.

Local staff - We had some great people working for Peace Corps. My language teacher was amazing. The stuff she put up with from me alone is enough for an award. She was great and is one of my best friend in Azerbaijan. Our training manager was awesome, my un-offical program manager, the drivers, the assistants, pretty much Peace Corps found stellar folks to work there.

Safety - Maybe it was because of the city I was in. Maybe it was because I'm so tall and intimidating. Maybe it is because I had a badass named Jeyhun on my team. Who knows, but I never felt like I wasn't safe in Azerbaijan. For all the harassment I got it was mostly harmless. I felt comfortable walking home alone at night, even in Baku.

Convenience - Yeah, that's right. I'm mostly talking about stores though. There were markets everywhere and if one didn't have what you needed you just walk half a block, or even next door.

Travel - As much as I hated those tiny cramped buses and horrible roads, at least there were roads, and travel was cheap and frequent where I lived. Plus the Azerbaijan Peace Corps travel policy was super lenient so I could see all my friends.

Other Volunteers - We all know it but I'm going to say it. AZ5, AZ6, and AZ7 are a good looking, funny, intelligent, fun spirited bunch of folks. We're awesome (most of us, you know who you are)!

So basically it took me seeing other options before I could really appreciate what I had. Go figure. But mandarins don't taste as good outside of the baijan.

I got an R!

Yeah, as of December 8th I went from PCV to RPCV. Take that Peace Corps! Slipped through the cracks again! The whole process of paperwork and red tape was awful, one giant cluster f*@k of running around an office. One staff member who shall remain nameless was particularly horrible. I felt like the last week of my service was harder than any other one week I can think of. But it's done, I'm finished, hooray hooray! I will miss a few of the people I had to leave behind, tears will come I'm sure. Now it's time to travel!

AZ6 Exodus

So, Peace Corps has decided to gives us a final blow by having all of the people from my group leave over the course of a month. A month of very emotional good byes. Since I am staying until the end I get to slowly say good bye to the people who have become family to me, then say goodbye to the people I will be leaving here. So, that sucks.

Lucy and Danielle's last days in Azerbaijan.

Also, the bar serves cigarette pie.

Xudat-Xachmaz

So, my sitemate Chris and I get bored sometimes and wander around Azerbaijan on foot. Last week we went on a walk between the 2 major cities in the Xachmaz region, Xudat (pronounced kind of like "who dat) and Xachmaz city. It took us about 5 hours including 3 stops for chips, beer, and some games of rummy cube.

The puppy who didn't want to be our friend

The out house that couldn't have come at a better moment

Roadside produce stand

Playing Catch-Up: Halloween Edition

Yeah, I forgot I had a blog again. These things happen. Anyway, For Halloween again this year I went p to Zaqatala to hang out with PCVs and enjoy the American-ness that Halloween is. It was a little sad because I realized this was the last time I would be in Zaqatala and Sheki, or anywhere past Baku really. But it was fun none the less. A group of PCVs went as circus themed costumes and I was the lion tamer.

Jake was the ring master. Good times were had by all.

New Season

Fall is finally here in Azerbaijan. This is great since the weather is not only bearable, but I would go so far as to say perfect. Unfortunately this also means that ice cream is dissapearing from stores more and more every day. I'm also not a fan of it getting darker earlier but I'll take it if it means I don't sweat through three shirts a day. Unfortunately my computer has also broken, I need to go drown my sorrows over that in some ice cream as soon as possible. Fall also means that school has started again and kids are running around the streetsof Quba n their suits and skirts again. I'm also down to 12 weeks left in Azerbaijan! This dawned on me as being barely any time at all while I was trying to schedule my last visits to different regions and friends. Clock is ticking down.

Out to Lunch

So, Quba has the best doner in all of Azerbaijan (no matter what Lucy says) and I'm lazy and it's hot so didn't want to cook anything today, hence, I went and got doner. Unfortunately I used my last qepik to but ice cream for breakfast (don't judge me) so I had to go to the ATM. As I was walking to my bank I saw a group of elderly people awkwardly hanging out in the shade on the street. Whatever, this is Azerbaijan, stranger things have happened. However as I got closer someone from the bank across the street uttered something in Azeri and the elderly loiterers turned into a mob and bum rushed the ATM (not my bank's). Now, when pension money comes out at the end of the month there are always unorganized lumps of people around the ATM, but I have never seen the stampede that happens before. So I continued on to my ATM which luckily nobody in Quba really uses so there is never a line. On my way I awkwardly walked through a group of 10 men praying on the street. Then I got honked at, yelled at in Russian, stared at, and got my doner. It was delicious.