Corruption Makes the World Go Round...Or At Least the Schools

We started practicum this week, which means that those of us who are going to be teachers have been trying to co-teach English classes with Azerbaijani teachers. Unfortunately, the school schedule in Ceyranbatan (where I live) is switching around and so we frequently show up to teach only to find that our class has been canceled or is at a different time. It's been a confusing couple of days to say the least. And when our schedule changes, we tend to lose our time to go home for lunch (which we usually do every day), so instead we eat lots of chocolate and junk food at school. While I love chocolate so it makes me quite happy, my host family has been in a bit of a panic that I'm not eating anything. I do my best to tell them in my broken Azeri that I am eating plenty and I am constantly "doydum" (full), but the message doesn't seem to be getting through haha.

A view of my school and the surrounding area from by the reservoir

Winter suddenly arrived this week too. It has been cold and rainy, which isn't so much fun when the streets aren't always paved and you have to walk by lots of trash piles, but today it warmed up again, so we'll see if the roads dry out! The cold has also meant that I busted out a heavier jacket and started wearing scarves. Unfortunately, while in the states I can wear my sweaters and scarves around the house and my mom just laughs at me because I'm always cold, here my host family gets paranoid that I don't know how to turn on my heater, haha. I'm sure soon they will figure out that I just really like wearing lots of layers.

We have our mid-training language test this weekend, so we are all studying constantly. My 2 host sisters have been quizzing me on the typical questions that I might be asked and I am getting really good at explaining who is in my family, what fruits I like, how to get to Sumqayit, what things I have in my bedroom, etc haha. Don't try to have a real conversation with me, but if you want to know all about my kitchen, bring it on!

I miss all of you and I hope you are doing well!