Bruised but not broken

I went up to visit a PCV is a village called Lahic this past weekend for the first time. While I was there I went horseback riding with 3 other PCVs and had a great time. We rode up a mountain and got a beautiful view of the village, river, and Caucuses (I'll post pictures when I get a chance). Unfortunately while riding I was thrown from my horse. Twice. Went to the hospital yesterday and got x-rays and an unltrasound, no broken bones or ruptured organs, just a couple bruised ribs and sore muscles. It was my first trip to a hospital in Baku though. I kind of enjoy it. Everyone speaks Russian and I feel like I am in a James Bond movie.

Camping

Jake gutting a fish on the beach

So, spring has come to Azerbaijan and since the weather is getting better I just want to be outside. Yesterday Jake, Amanda, and I decided to go camping on the Caspian because, well the weather was perfect. We loaded up our stuff and headed out at about 1pm. We took a car to a village the walked out the the sea and about 3 kilometers up the shore. Jake got out his fishing pole, Amanda hooked up some music, everything was good. There was a slight accident involving my camera, a softball glove, a tarp, and an open beverage (hence only camera phone pictures) but everything is in working order now. Anyway, 9 hours, 6 soldiers, 2 police officers, 3 fish, 1 campfire, 1 bottle of vodka, and 1 military escort later, the 3 of us are being detained by national security for questioning. I'm not gonna lie, I had a blast. I had never been on an Azerbaijani military base before. We had a bunch of officers asking us all about why we are in Azerbaijan. We did have to call the Peace Corps Safety and Security Officer, but he rocks! At the end of the night we even got a free ride plus another military escort all the way back to Jake's front door. So, camping was sort of a bust, but I still had a great time. I just recommend that you never go camping in Azerbaijan if you don't know a man by the name of Jeyhun. That guy is amazing.

Novruz and Jake's B-Day

So, I went up to Sheki for Novruz, the spring holiday in Azerbaijan. It was a lot of fun. I hiked around Sheki and went on a Saray-crwal (think like historic pub crawl but palaces instead of pubs). I made it up to Zaqatala too and we cooked some amazing food. Josh even smoked some pork. Then it was back down to Sheki for Jake's horror themed birthday party.

The famous Sheki chicken shack

An Albanian church in the village of Kish

Walking up to Gelersen Gorersen

Danachi village in Zaqatala

My day

I realize that it has been a long time since I have chronicled my daily activities here in Quba, if I ever even have. So here you go, I threw in some pictures too.

I got up at 8:30am and proceeded to stay in bed until 9:00am in order to work up the proper amount of motivation. I roll out of bed and start filtering the water I boiled the night before. I still have no running water in my apartment. Which leads me to my next task. The only year-round 24 hour running water in Quba is a spring or "bulag" about 10 blocks and 146 steps away from my apartment. One-way. So I strap on my backpack with empty bottles in it and start the walk to water. I fill up about 9 liters of water from here:

Then put them back into my backpack and head up the 146 stairs, which, today are covered in ice.

I then walke dthe ten blocks back to my apartment past the saddest park in Azerbaijan.

I then boiled a pot of water so I could take half a shower, got dressed, and came to "my office" a few blocks away. The rest of my day consists of buying food, typing e-mails, reviewing a budget and making receipts, then making pizza and hanging out on my balcony despite the cold weather.

Real Estate

Azerbaijan is getting some attention in the news.

READ ME!

Around Town

Here are some random pictures I took on my phone from around Baku.

Mmmmm, sweat!

We don't have apple stores, we have pineapple stores! Take that register trademarks!

Mimosa on the salad menu? I don't think it is what I think it is.

This guy's tiny excuse for a beard is crooked.

Work Work

So, not too long ago a 15 year old girl in a village near my town here was found hung in her family's barn. This was pretty shocking to me. Later I found out that she had hung herself because her family was forcing her to marry a man she barely knew. 2 weeks ago a man killed his wife because he thought she killed his mother over a year ago. Women in this country are smart, motivated, and strong. They simply need opportunities and encouragement.

G.L.O.W.