Hush Hush, I will survive

So, I'm back in Azerbaijan. I'm not gonna lie, staying in London was a serious thought for me as I ate my last meal including bacon for a while. However, the draw of my friends back here in good old AZ won over delicious crispy bacon. I was excited to see my friend Jake who was supposed to fly in the same night as me and head back up to our finger and see the PCVs I have missed and the Quba in general. But after about 30 minutes post touch down in Baku I had a bit of London regret. Turns out Jake flew in the night before, which is fine but it means a full price taxi for both of us. Then one of my bags was lost. That blows. That blows goats. The airline said it would probably be on the next flight in 24 hours but at that point I will have left Baku for the first finger. Lame. I was bummed. Then came the inevitable taxi driver fight.
"Where do you want to go?"
"Inglab street, near 20 Yanvar"
"40 manat"
"I only have 20"
"Okay, 30"
"But I only have 20"
"25"
"Nope, still only have 20"
"Okay"
Why do they do that? If they know they can take you for less why do they make you fight about it? So as I am sitting in a taxi pissed at the world (a.k.a. Azerbaijan) the familiar smell of burning trash comes wafting through the windows. Coincidentally a re-mix of the Pussycat Dolls and Gloria Gaynor is on the radio. So now I'm back, from what might as well be outer space, and I did have a sad look on my face. But I realized that I also don't regret coming back, actually I was pretty excited. It's hard to explain why but I think it is because America and Azerbaijan are so different my brain can't process the fact that they co-exist. When I was in California the thought of traveling so far and going back to living in a country where everything doesn't come easy sucked. Especially as I was sitting with my family getting hugs from my Mom and Niece. But over here none of that seems quite feasible. Here my reality is different. Not better, not worse, just different. I was surprised how easy it was to settle back into PCV life as I lug my suitcase (notice the singular form) across busy streets. I will miss friends and family (again) but I will survive. Quite well actually (once I get my other suitcase with the beef jerky in it).

I'm not special...

And I LOVE IT!!! I get lots of attention in Azerbaijan. Not a day goes by without someone yelling "Hell-llo" or "What's your name" at me when I am in Azerbaijan. However, in America it hasn't happened once. Okay, I've only been here for like 3 days but still. Nobody has proposed to me, nobody has asked me what national meals I like, nobody has said "Hello Baby" to me on the street, I don't get stared at, I don't get followed, I don't get unsolicited touching by old ladies and strangers, and nobody has asked me to take them to America (strangely enough). I can pretty much go all day without interacting with people on the street. Gotta love America!

24 hours of food and travel

Including lay overs it took me 24 hours to get from Baku to San Francisco. Here is what I ate during that time:

Sour cream and onion pretzels

Orange Juice

Chicken and pasta with mushrooms (didn't eat the mushrooms)

Dinner Roll

Chocolate cake

Coffee

Beet Salad

Turkey and spinach sandwich

Coke zero

Starbucks vanilla late

Cheddar and red onion potato chips

Salad with dijon dressing

Heineken (2)

Chicken pasta primavera

Red wine (2)

Dinner roll (again)

Salsa pretzels

Chocolate mouse cake with mandarin sauce

Turkey and dijon mustard sandwich

Cheese spinach and herb sandwich

Cranberry and macadamia nut granola bar

Chocolate and rice crisp bar

It was awesome!

Hi Mom!

Just thought I would throw that out there in case you are still awake. Weather is great this morning here. Overcast and a little windy. I'm not wearing a jacket, it's great! See you in a week! Love You!!!!

A little advice

So about this time last year I was trolling the internet for information on Azerbaijan since I was getting excited to go halfway across the world. I found some PCV blogs and figured for those out there looking like I was last year I would offer some advice you won't find elsewhere.

1.) When you first get to Azerbaijan during orientation your picture will be taken, probably in fornt of an Azeri flag. That picture will follow you for the next 27 months. It will be on your I.D. card, it will be up in every staff members office, it will be on a giant map in the office, basically you can't escape it. So make yourself look pretty (or ridiculous) and get ready to see it and have it be seen for a long time!

2.) When you first get here and find a public bathroom but can't decide which door to go into, dudes you are K and ladies you are Q.

3.) Start practicing telling people that you "feel ill" because sick is a bad word in Azeri.

4.) So is polk.

5.) Bring a roll of toilet paper or a travel pack of kleenex. You will have t.p. in staging and orientation but once you get dropped off with your host family all bets are off. Technically the host fam is supposed to provide you with toilet paper but it doesn't always happen and once that bus pulls away leaving you with all your stuff and no language ability it might be a couple days before you can hit up a store. Be prepared.

6.)During orientation the Peace Corps gives you: a medical kit with everything from pepto to condoms to avian flu medication, a water filter that is rather large and cumbersome but effective, and a smoke detector. During PST you will also get a sleeping bag that is warm but huge and heavy and a fire extingusher. To this add a bucnh of books and training manuals all of which you get to lug to your permanent site on your own.  Pack accordingly.

7.) Speaking of packing, Azerbaijan gets cold EVERYWHERE and hot EVERYWHERE. You have to pack for both. Enjoy.

Georgia, Day 1

I made it into Georgia with Hannah and her friend Joy yesterday. We met an Azeri guy at the border who lives in a village just across the border and he helped us find a bus into Tbilisi. After we checked into the guest house we went to the Peace Corps Georgia office and got some help getting info, directions, and suggestions from their amazing safety and security officer Nino. Then went to a restaurant with another PCV from Azerbaijan, and a German Volunteer. Dinner was great and not because of the food. The owners were a family and their grandpa gave us some of his homemade wine and "chacha" which is like Georgian grappa. It was interesting to hear a mix or Russian, Georgian, English, German, and Azerbaijani being spoken at one table but I loved it. Then this morning I talked with one of the Peace Corps Trainees who was in town about how their program is. The differences and similarities were really interesting and I gotta say although Georgia is great and seems like a place I could be happy I have realized that I have settled in in Azerbaijan and come to terms with it. Oddly enough it feels like home. Not my only home by any means but I have gotten pretty comfortable there. Can't wait for the next few days here in Georgia though!

So much to update

I went over to Devechi awhile ago to hike up to Gala Alti, an old run down castle type thing. You have to go through the sanitorium to get there but it was pretty fun.

Then to Sheki. I went up to the day camp a couple weeks ago for sports and games week and had a blast! I got to run around with kids all day playing frisbee, volleyball, softball, and some bad ass relay races. I had an amazing time and the kids were pretty awesome as well. Didn't get a chance to see much of Sheki itself but I don't really mind, it just means I will have to go back sometime.Judo day


A few of the girls with Lucy and I. I have since broke those sunglasses.

After Sheki I went over to Ganja for the day to check out Mingechevir vs. Ganja softball. It was crazy hot out that day but was worth it for the first game. Not gonna lie, left during the second in search of shade and cold beverages.

On to G.L.O.W.! Last week we had our Girls Leading Our World camp and it was great. We had 49 girls and 8 Azerbaijani women come and help with the camp that covered topics such as leadership, gender, self-discoverym, and community development. We also made tie dye shirts and s'mores. The girls were great and I think they had a good time despite all the teaching we tried to do. "Boom chicka AIDS"

Finally, FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!!!
Basically we enjoyed the fact that we were American at Jake's house. It was great!