I do my dishes in the toilet

I don't know what is going on in my apartment. I live on the second floor so I have to pump water up into a tank to use in the house. For the last half of December the pump simply didn't work. Then the pump started working but according to my landlord there was "no water in the ground". Now, the pump works, there is water, but it does not come out of the faucets, it comes out of a hose into the tank of my toilet. So, in order to do dishes, wash clothes, pretty much anything involving water, I have to take the hose (not the schlong) out of the toilet and fill up buckets. It appears that things are slowly getting better, but we shall see. In the mean time I'm just glad I haven't had to deal with frozen pipes yet this winter.

Not paying attention

It occurred to me the other day that over the past 16 or so months I have stopped paying attention to the absurd. I notice, it just doesn't strike me as odd anymore. As I was sitting in a van packed with 27 people it didn't even seem odd that the driver had to open the door with a tire iron. However when water actually comes out of a sink, whoa, stop the presses. Ah Azerbaijan.

Hash

While in Baku for the New Years shenanigans I went out with the Baku Hash House Harriers for a walk/maze/tour around Baku. They do this every week but this was the first time I was able to do it in Baku. Anyway, I got to see some new parts of the city and had a pretty good time with some crazy ex-pats.

Old Lenin museum

The Slums of Baku

Secret Wine Keg

Azerbaijan want to have the world's tallest flagpole.

Mansion with oil rig in the front yard. I learned what a nodding donkey was too!

Can you still call it a sweat shop in the freezing cold winter?this

Since my apartment is a small cement box if you want more space the only way to go is up. So Jake build me a bunk bed. Jake is a pretty handy kid to have around. I don't really want to write much right now so lets call this one a photo essay.

Jake working on the blueprints

Jake cutting the wood

Putting the frame together

Putting the new kid to work

Final product. Notice the amazing leopard print.

The great bread crisis of '09

So, this week we had no gas for 3 days. I figured this would just mean that everything would be cold unless I felt the desire to go chop me some wood. I was wrong. I was on my way to my sitemate's house and he asked me to bring him some bread. I stopped by the corner store and asked if they had bread. "There is no gas, how can we have bread?" In case you don't know, bread is a pretty big deal in Azerbaijan. It is eaten at every meal. If it gets stale or moldy you don't throw it away, that is unacceptable! You hang it from the dumpster and the "Chorek Fairy" does something with it (this may be a mystery I never solve here). So no bread. For 4 days "because it takes a while to bake. Yesterday I went to the store and people kept sticking their heads in the door asking for bread. It was a difficult time, but we made it through. I made muffins actually. And I didn't burn them. Go me!

Winter Makes You Think

So, now that it is winter I have been thinking about where I was last year. Snow evidently makes me think deeply, who knew. I've been having flashbacks to my life one year ago and it is so very different now. This time last year I was living with a host family full of awkward situations like being offered money, complained to about health ailments, walking in on my host dad purposely putting me host mom into a coma ( he was a doctor, but still, in the living room?) screaming fits of rage by my host sister, and shotguns being pulled out during friendly card games. Now I live on my own (insert sigh of relief here). Last year I was also still fighting the "I am not an English teacher" war that every Youth Development Volunteer encounters. I have sort of gotten over that at this point. I work with some of the better English speakers in town and help some people write reports in English, but that is it on the English front. I've sort of found my groove helping people with office trainings, sports, and something along the lines of therapeutic recreation planning. It rocks. I've come a long way in the last year, I've grown wiser and a bit more bitter, but I don't think that is a bad thing. Here is a gratuitous picture (of the shack across the street from my apartment), cuz you know, I like blogs with pictures and I'm only sort of a hypocrite.

I woke up to winter

So, last Saturday was a beautiful day in Quba. It was sunny and clear, I could see the mountains covered in snow, basically gorgeous. Now, Tuesday morning I woke up and the place is covered in snow. This also happened simultaneously with the gas being out all over the region. Bad timing Azerbaijan, bad timing.