Sweeping through Baku to get to the Main Event - Tovuz Here We Come!!

It has been a whirlwind couple of days here in Baku, but I'm happy to say that I was able to get most everything I wanted to done quickly so that in the morning, my host sister Nurana (who has been in Baku visiting family) and I can go to the bus station and head for home - our village in Tovuz.  From what I've heard, the roads have improved since I left so whereas I remember the drive taking 7-10 hours, it should only take 6.  Cross your fingers for us!

Before I head out to the "rayon" (region), I wanted to take a minute to at least write a little bit about some of the highlights from my time in Baku:

On Sunday I went to meet Nurana and visit some of the family in Baku that she has been staying with.  It was a really great day of immersion into Azerbaijani for sure!  I think I've passed the test so far, which is a relief.  I also got to see some of the newest members of the family, both through marriage and birth.  And Nurana got to try on her bridesmaid dress which I brought (more information about that as the wedding approaches!) and it fit AND she liked it, so I consider that a huge success!

We went to Suraxanı where oil literally comes out of the ground and sort of mixes with the ground water.

To get to the house, we walk through a field where there are nodding donkeys for the oil.

For Sunday night, my friend Eric and I went up to take a spin at the rotating restaurant of the TV tower, something we almost did at the end of my service before deciding that it was too expensive.  We decided that it was totally worth it now because of the new features of the city skyline that you get to look down upon while you eat your overpriced fruit parfaits and drink your wine :)

There was a way in which I was going to be in most of my pictures taken through the glass so I just had to sort of accept that, but I kind of liked this one with the world's second largest flagpole (yeah, apparently Azerbaijan got beat) in my reflection.

Yum.

Flame towers from above

On Monday morning I made a surprise return visit to the Peace Corps office, having only told one staff member that I was coming (and he was on vacation and doesn't seem to have told anybody, so I doubt that counts).  It was really surreal to be back and as usual the office proved to be some sort of time vacuum that ate my morning, but it was really great to reconnect with some of the staff that was so instrumental in making my time here what it was.  And their excitement to see me back (they even gave me a present - copies of the language manual and cultural manual that I helped to create before I left but never saw) really made me feel good!

Monday afternoon was spent at my first house in Azerbaijan outside Baku in Ceyranbatan.  I lived there for the 3 months that I was in training (but I was really proud to even be able to find the place today because I realized I only know where to tell the bus to stop by an empty semi-finished building and a sign with a deer - but what if they finished the building or took down the sign??  Thankfully, neither has happened).  My host family there is super sweet.  Apparently when Ayna, the middle daughter, saw my facebook message saying I was going to be visiting in a week she started screaming and completely scared her mother that something was wrong!  We had a good laugh together when they told me about it.  Another high point of the visit was the great success of my present for Cavad - the youngest child and only boy.  He and I were best buds when I lived there (he was one of my best language teachers as we would play "Bu nədir?" - What is this? every day at lunch) but I was afraid that as he has gotten older (he is going into second grade!) that I would have gotten a present for him that wasn't right.  Instead, my present was a real hit!  It was a bag of little army men (I was hesitant to buy them and was going to opt for the dinosaurs before my ever wise friend Wesley pointed out that soldiers would be way more popular with a young Azeri boy). Cavad immediately turned the living room into a battlefield, setting up a light green colored army on one carpet and a dark green one on the carpet opposite to battle.  He then proceeded to move between the two, knocking men down.  Possibly the cutest thing was when his father tried to join him and save the men Cavad was randomly killing off (saying that they'd gone to the hospital for treatment - and finally accepting their deaths and saying "Allah rəhmət ələsin" - Rest in Peace essentially) and watching them play together, something I didn't see much before.  I also really loved that as I was literally walking out the door at the end of the afternoon, Cavad whispered to his mom to ask who the boy was that I had been kissing in my facebook picture (on the cheek mind you, and the answer is my friend - yes we really are just friends - Wesley).  I explained to them who he was, but just a warning Wes, last time Cavad thought someone might be my boyfriend it was my friend Mike during training because we would run together and Cavad totally almost came running from the kitchen to throw a potato at him while we sat on the couch.  The crisis was narrowly averted by my mother and sisters grabbing him and taking away his weapon of choice.  So Wes, I recommend watching your back for flying potatoes, Cavad has his eye on you! :)

This is insane - where am I?? This is so weird - really, where am I?? This place is fantastic, but seriously, where am I??

I just went out for a few hours of walking around through the city and on the Bulvar (the park along the shore of the Caspian) and literally I sounded like a broken record with my reactions to everything because all I could say was: This is insane.  This is so weird.  This place is fantastic.  Seriously, where am I?? Over and over again.  It was all I could say!  Baku was already getting kind of over-the-top before I left, but in the time that I was gone they hosted Eurovision (a song contest for groups representing different European countries) and, in preparation, built up A TON of new stuff.  One of the projects that they completed just in time for the shows was what we call The Flame Towers.  Construction on these flame-shaped buildings had begun long before I left, but even at the time of my departure, they were far from finished.  Now the towers are not only done being built (although from what I have heard they are not yet occupied), but at night, they are lit up (!!) and I got to see them for the first time...

We were sitting at a restaurant on the Bulvar eating dinner when my friend Eric looks over and sees that they have been turned on for the evening.  Knowing that I've been anxious for this very moment, he catches my attention and, indicating with a nod of his head, gets me to look up and see them in their flaming glory:

Me: Oh my god!  Seriously, those things are insane!  I mean really - where am I ?!?!
Eric: Oh don't worry, the towers are going to answer that for you themselves in a minute when a little man starts running around with a flag...

And cue lighting change:

And then in case that was a bit too subtle and I still didn't know where I was, cue second lighting change:

But really though, these towers look SUPER cool, I was pleasantly surprised!

A Short Stop in Istanbul

Well, I’m sitting in Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, more than a full day into travelling, waiting to board a plane for the last leg of my trip to FINALLY arrive in Azerbaijan (by the time I post this, I will have arrived, inşallah).  I was able to get out into Istanbul for a little while during my almost 6 hour layover and let me tell you, it was weird in the most fantastic sort of way.  Having been to Istanbul three times during my Peace Corps service, I didn’t need to try and run around to see all the main tourist sites, but instead settled for just sort of strolling by to appreciate how gorgeous everything is and then getting some delicious Turkish food.  It was exhilarating to be surrounded by Turkish (which is remarkably similar to Azerbaijani) because, since leaving Azerbaijan, I haven’t been in a situation where everyone around me is speaking a different language and I can actually understand (and it gets even more exciting when people are speaking as though I won’t understand and I can surprise them by responding).  I guess it was basically a good little test run for what it’s going to be like getting back to Azerbaijan – and now I’m seriously ready for the real thing!  Bring on Azerbaijan!

Crappy picture of me in front of the Blue Mosque! Just enough to prove I was there!

Sidenote: While I have been writing this, there have been so many members of the airport staff flying around on Segways and various other electric walking-replacing things, it’s weird.  They don’t even have to push people in wheelchairs; the wheelchairs are electric with a place to stand at the back for the staff person!  I can’t decide if it’s really great in its efficiency or just really weird and a bit overkill.

Back to Where it All Began

It's been a little over a year and a half since I left Azerbaijan, and by extension since I have put up a post here, but as I'm at the airport heading back to The Land of Fire, I figured it was about time to crank this thing into gear again!  

As many of you already know, before I left Azerbaijan, I promised my host family (as the girls have not failed to remind me, "Ces, söz verdin!!" - Jess, you gave your word!) that I would return when my oldest host sister, Raminə, got married.  Around February I got a Facebook message telling me that she was engaged!  At first I didn't believe them, thinking that it was a joke to guilt me into Skyping with them (I'll admit it, I had been out of touch for a few weeks).  Of course when I called them and jokingly accused them of lying to rope me into calling, they laughed (a lot) and told me no, this is really happening!  Thankfully they were able to plan the wedding so it would happen before my fall semester started at school, and the rest is history!

I'm leaving today and I'll be gone for just over three weeks - enough time to help with the last weeks of wedding preparations (and squeeze in visiting time with old friends and students of course). I am so ridiculously excited (and also in a state of disbelief) that I'm actually going back. It promises to be incredibly overwhelming - Which buses do I take to get around Baku because I'm sure not paying for taxis! And speaking of taxis, I hear you can only get official metered taxis now, no more unregistered Lada taxis, which I think means it will be more expensive!  And how much does a bus even cost because I can't remember!  Plus it's probably changed anyway! - Just a little glimpse into the internal freak out I've been having about going back to a place that used to feel so much like home and yet now I'm afraid I'm going to feel like a stranger. I just keep telling myself that once I get back to my village I won't have to worry about any of that stuff!  I'll be back in my old room (although I think I'll be sharing it with my host sisters who have taken up residency  since I left) in my old house and everything will be great. I can't wait! :)

So the plan is to resume my old blogging ways and post here so anyone who wants to read about what is happening on my trip can!  We'll see how regular my internet access is and all that, but I'm optimistic!  So thanks for reading and I hope I have some good stuff to write about! (Azerbaijan never seems to disappoint I that regard though, so I'm optimistic about that too!)

All The Goodbyes...and All the Welcome Homes

Well, I had every intention of writing a few more posts in my last weeks at site/in country, but I seemed to be in a perpetual race against the clock and I just never quite found the time/energy to do it.  So now I'm sitting here, in my parents' kitchen, fighting the intense urge to write this in a word document offline and copy-paste it in (who writes blog entries actually on the internet? haha, not people in rural Azerbaijan!).  While many of the people who read this blog have seen me by now so there really is no need to write this, I know some of you don't have the privilege of living in good old Massachusetts, plus I guess I should bring this thing to a close, so here it is, one last entry.

My last week at site is truly a blur.  I was racing around trying to get everything packed up (if you know me, you know that packing is not my strong suite) and putting the final touches on everything at school.  I couldn't help myself and kept making more and more visual aids and games for the resource room until I finally had to tell myself no more and I gave away all my magazines, markers, glue sticks, etc.  And the packing and organizing was broken up with goodbyes.

I left site on the morning of Saturday, December 10th, so I'm going to back up two days to Thursday, December 8th.  That night I went over for my last time at my close friend and counterpart Tamilə müəllim's house.  We had delicious kabobs and she cooked chicken as well (and almost burned it, which couldn't have been more appropriate because the poor woman always has so much going on while she's cooking that I don't think I've been there once when she hasn't had to leap up from the table to run and see if some food is burning or the çay is boiling over or something).  Some of her neighbors, including our other counterpart Ceyran müəllim, and our students came over and sat with us as well, so it was quite a nice party.

Tamilə müəllim gave me this evil eye as a goodbye present to protect me always.
 

Next was Friday, December 9th, where Tamilə müəllim and other teachers (including her incredible husband Yolçu müəllim) worked really hard to organize a huge going away party for me.  It was complete with a videographer, just like they have at all the toys (weddings), to film it!  All the classes made beautiful cakes so we had a lovely tea while everyone got up to make speeches and some of the students gave me little presents.  There were some tears, especially when Tamilə müəllim forced my mother (who is also a teacher at the school) to get up and speak.  And the whole thing culminated with me making a speech but, just as I predicted, I could barely get a word out because I was crying so much.  And it was the talk of the village that my speech (and party in general) made several of the male teachers and directors cry too.

After that party at school, I had an all afternoon party at my house where I received various guests who wanted to say their last goodbyes.  The highlight of the evening was when I got to walk over into the neighboring village, Xatınlı, and bring their new volunteer, Andrew, over my house to meet my family, students, and Tamilə müəllim.  He will be serving at Xatınlı School (which is about a 5 minute walk from my house) but he has agreed to help out in the resource room at my school and my students are surely going to force him to work with them in addition to his own students.  It was kind of a relief that I wasn't expecting to be able to pass the proverbial torch like that.  I had to work really hard to convince Peace Corps to send a volunteer to Xatınlı and I think I made the right call and Andrew is going to do a really awesome job there.

I only slept an hour and a half my last night because, although I swear I had been diligently packing and going through all the stuff in my room all week, of course there was always more to be done (little things like writing down the directions for ibuprofen that I was leaving behind for my family or putting photos on disks because I wanted to wait until the last possible moment).  My sisters tried to stay up with me and didn't quite make it but my mom went to bed only 15 minutes before I did.  I miss her so much.  The good thing about only sleeping an hour and a half is that that is pretty much exactly how much time it takes to heat a tank of water to take a shower at my house!  So I turned on the hammam (shower room) before I went to sleep and when I woke up everything was all ready for me!  I was able to take one final shower before getting ready for the hardest part yet, actually saying my goodbye.

 My room as of about 12:30AM.
They said it couldn't be done, but I proved them wrong!

The thing to realize is that I was leaving so much stuff for my family that the room never looked completely packed even when I left!

The marşrutka was coming to pick me up at my house so I had told everyone that they were welcome to come and see me off.  This meant that I had a whole crowd of little students and teachers to hug and I was crying long before the marşrutka even arrived.  I hugged all of them and then my family and finally my mom and got on the marşrutka.  It was a horrible, unbelievable sadness and I don't really want to describe it more than that because I'll just cry again.

So I was off to Baku.  I got to spend a few days there, seeing the doctors and various staff, having final meetings and signing tons of papers.  I also got to say more goodbyes because, while my site was in Tovuz, I had developed really close friendships with some ex-pats living in Baku from all the times I had to come in to buy books or go to meetings, etc.  Trust me, the goodbyes were just never ending!  I got on my plane at 4:50AM on December 14th and that was that.  I said my final goodbye to Azerbaijan.

Should I end it on that last, sad note?  I guess not.

After many very depressing hours of travel (where I mostly slept because, as I think you saw, I didn't sleep much my last few weeks) I arrived in Boston and found my wonderful welcome party of my mom, dad, and Grandma Pat.  They were decked out with signs, balloons, the whole nine-yards.  They brought me home where I'm having a really hard time wrapping my mind around everything.  I simultaneously feel like I was only gone for a semester at college and like I have been gone forever.  Everything seems normal, but then I can't remember the names of the streets in my neighborhood, or how to get to the mall, and I basically wanted to give up on the TV the minute my mom started trying to explain that we were in the 800 channels because that is where the hi-def is!  But I'm getting used to things and eating more than my fair share of the food around this house.  So far my little brother Jimmy is home, my mom and I went and picked him up from school the other day.  He's the only member of my immediate family who didn't get to visit me in Azerbaijan so I was really excited to see him.  My older sister Naima came home yesterday and then we only have to wait for the final piece of the Farrell/Bloomquist puzzle, Miss Kimberly to come in just before Christmas.  And then, I am very proud to say, our family will all be together for the first time since the summer of 2008.  :)

I'll leave you with that, a much happier ending!

Final Letter Walls

Believe it or not (well, if you know how stubborn I can be then you probably aren't surprised) I continued to put every letter I received on my walls for the entire two years of my service.  I owe a huge thank you to all of you who wrote to me over these years, you have no idea how much I loved being surrounded (literally) by all of your letters!  Here is what my room looked like by the end:

Wall 1

Wall 2

Wall 3

Wall 4

 

Wall 5

 

Wall 6

I told you I was surrounded by letters!

The Beginning of the End

(I wrote this yesterday and my hands are too numb in the frozen resource room to adjust it...so pretend I posted it yesterday!)

Everything has been wrapping to a close for me here in Azerbaijan.  I’ve had the first of my goodbye parties (more to come!) and yesterday I had to say my first real final goodbye.  I went into Tovuz city to see Nuranə who I have known since my first week in Azerbaijan.  She was my language teacher during our Peace Corps training and so I really owe much of my success here to her as without her I wouldn’t be able to speak!  But more than that, she was my good friend because she continued to teach my Azerbaijani for about a year in Tovuz (her hometown) which gave us lots of time to hang out and talk.  My first goodbye party was last weekend.  My 11^th grade students, who I have been teaching since the very beginning of my time in Qədirli, took me to our beautiful park in Tovuz city and then back to one of their houses for düşbərə (a soup with little ravioli like things – see the photo below!).  The whole day was wonderful and I thought it was really sweet that they decided we would have düşbərə because they somehow remembered me saying that I liked it but I had only had it once or twice when I first arrived.  That has been my only “party” so far, but I have also had my last English teachers’ lunch at Tamilə müəllim’s house and I went guesting for a final time at my aunt’s house, my grandpa’s house, and Jalə’s house (she is one of my best and favourite students).  This means that I have been eating a lot of Azerbaijani food, which is good since in the very near (unbelievably near in fact) future I won’t be able to have all my Azerbaijani favourites!  This means I’ve been making sure to get my fair share of mürəbbə (a sort of jam that we eat with tea), kabobs, kutlets (a patty of ground meat and vegetables – my mom undeniably makes them better than anyone else), nar (pomegranates), xurma/karaliyox (persimmons), köftə (meatball soup).

It is really starting to hit me that I’m leaving and today I’ve reached the point where tears are constantly just under the surface.  I had my last lesson with my sister Nuranə’s 9^th grade class today and as they went to leave I wanted to stop them and tell them what a pleasure it has been to teach them but I knew I would start to cry, so I decided to save it for the final party we are going to have at school on Friday (at which point I will certainly be crying the whole time so it won’t matter haha).  I should also say that I know nothing about what will happen at this party (well, that’s a lie, there have been some leaks) because everything besides its existence is supposed to be a surprise, so you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out what’s in store for me!

Happy Rooster Day!

Yesterday I celebrated my third and final Thanksgiving here in Azerbaijan.  My host mom slaughtered my rooster (for those of you who didn't know, in the spring I got a gift of two roosters - the other one we ate a month or so ago for my sister's birthday) to serve as our turkey, so we had Snow White (when I named him I thought he was a hen) for dinner.  I also made garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, garlic bread, apple crisp, and opened cans of cranberry sauce (I can't really take credit for "making" that).  Plus my host mom made cutlets (ground meat patties - my mom makes them better than anyone else) and gave us kompot (really sweet, AWESOME juice that she made) and turşu (pickled cabbage) and she cracked a bunch of nuts.  One of my counterparts and two of my best students came over to join my family and another volunteer, Connie (you've heard about her before, she is the one with the bike club in Qazax where I took my sisters to learn to ride) came down to my house too.  Connie helped me with some of my cooking and helped to keep me from stressing out cooking for so many people.  And my students and sisters helped to decorate our table with the various decorations and crafts sent by my mom and the ever wonderful Mrs. Collins.  It was a really nice, delicious night!

Cold FREEZING Cold

I am currently wearing boots, 2 pairs of socks, a pair of leggings, a pair of sweatpants, a sweater, a fleece jacket, a wool jacket, a thin scarf, a knit hat, and finger-less gloves.  I am also shivering cold.  Why, you might ask?  Because we have a policy here of not putting the heaters into the schools until November 15th and, unfortunately, this November is ridiculously cold (we've even had snow!).  I've only been at school for 2 hours because we have a random school break this week (we've never had it off before so I don't know why) but I had to come in and open the resource room this afternoon.  I'm trying to think warm thoughts.  Wish me luck!

Coming Full Circle

This week I began the final stage of my Peace Corps service, observations of my counterparts.  When I first arrived at my school I spent a few weeks observing classes to get a feel for how my soon-to-be counterparts taught.  Now, here I am, almost 2 years later, repeating the process to see how far they've come.  I'm pleased to say that after only a few days, I can definitely say improvements have been made.  I unfortunately also must say that this process is going to be the death of me.  Why?  Because this is really the beginning of the end.  I've given up my classes!  I'm a teacher with no classes to teach :(  And I have to sit and watch all the classes that only last week I was teaching be taught by my counterparts.  Not that we haven't been sharing the classes all along because we have, as "team teachers," but now I just sit there, unable to help with anything or jump in with a random comment (although I still do...and I need to stop!).  I think this is going to be Azerbaijan's ultimate test of my patience!  Good thing I've had 2 years of training in building up my patience to prepare me!

And FYI I wrote a draft of this post while observing a lesson.  I can't just sit there!