Quba was closed

The past week and a half everything in Quba has been closed for Novruz. I'll get pictures up soon but no, I didn't drop off the earth.

One Day In America

I went down to Baku on Friday for an informational meeting for G.L.O.W. camp and spent the night with the family of an American Embassy staff member. It was awesome! I understood 100% of what was being said, got vegetables for dinner, hung out with 3 super cool kids, and saw a dryer for the first time in almost 6 months. It was great, that foreign sevice exam is looking better and better!

Lots of time in cemetaries

I went over to Xacmaz for a belated Friday the 13th celebration on Saturday and I think that might be why I've been spending time in cemetaries lately. But the cemetaries here are pretty cool. There are old graves right next to some of the nices graves I've ever seen. Think marble balconies with life size headstones overlooking the city. You'd hang out there too if you lived in Quba.

Someone else who broke out. This country is full of Zombies!

View from the cemetary. It's even better on a clear day.

Norvruz

I recently went back to Sumgayit to visit some old host families and got to celebrate one of the Tuesdays of Norvruz, an Azeri holiday.

Jumping over the bonfire

Hannah jumping the fire

Graveyard in Sumgayit. This guy must be a zombie or something

I don't know what this double crooked cross means (anybody else know?) but it looks cool

Well, ÜzlÜk daş is pretty sexi.

In this edition...

Some fun games. Remember Highlights magazine from the pediatricians office?

Remember the guess how many Jelly Beans are in the jar game? See how many syringes you can spot in the pile of trash from my street. Winner can send a self addressed stamped envelope to claim their prize, thoughy I don't think you want to ingest this one.

So there is a perfume brand called "She" here is a photo of the different types. There is She: is cool, is sexy, is fun, is love, and is sweet. Guess which my host dad gave me for international women's day. Think of the most awkward choice.

Who Dat?

Yesterday Jake and I went to a city just north of me called Xudat (pronounced like Who dat if you say 'who' with some spit in the back of your mouth). Why did I go? Because it's called who dat! How could I not go?

Here are some pictures:

Xudat brand pear soda. It's okay until it goes flat.
Jake limboing under the gas line

Making bricks out of mud

Carpet washing pond

Barf is all over Azerbaijan but I just took a picture and figured I should post it.

Wednesday

I recently lost all of the pictures I had saved on my flashdrive since the start of my Peace Corps experience. This has reminded me to post pictures more often so that they are not lost for all eternity.

This is on a children's rights poster in my office.

Loads of stuff Kathy collected in 6 months.

This is how you know the Americans are in Mega Mart.