I did it.

Moo-licious.

I ate a cow head. I actually ate a cow head.
As you might imagine, it was a horrible experience.

Sumgait

Now that Pre-Service Training is coming to a close (I get sworn in on Wednesday) I have to think back on the twelve weeks I've spent in my settlement of Saray and all I've learned here. I'm glad to say that Training was a worthwhile and beneficial experience for me; language has been a breeze, I've made good friends, and I have plenty of hilarious stories. But nothing has been more central to this Training experience than the mysterious metropolis of Sumgait. Sumgait is the third largest city in AZ and is situated in the center of our Training villages, so that whenever the entire PC group meets up, we meet in Sumgait. It is every PC Trainee's internet, beer, and entertainment haven. And as crazy as it sounds, I'm going to miss this place when I leave in four days. What can I say about Sumgait, the city of escape?

Sumgait is a purely Soviet town that is just now discovering its Azerbaijani roots. It is on the Caspian Sea, and once served as the USSR's capital of chemical engineering. This era of chemicals has come to halt, thereby slowing economic growth but ironically alleviating the high rate of infant mortality and sea pollution. According to my Travel book, Sumgait used to be the world capital of infant mortality and one of the top ten polluted places in the world. Yet I have to say, even as you peer into the evening smoke haze from the nearby factories, there is something eerily charming about the town's winding pipe mazes and rusted metal fixtures. Every now and then you find a candid glimpse into the Soviet era; in the form of an overgrown theme park, countless Technicolor apartment buildings, modern art sculptures made of cement, old men doing their daily Soviet exercise routines by the seashore, a corroded Cyrillic sign inviting citizens to enjoy the "City beach," or the giant red rusted hull of a ship still idly waiting at the dock. It's a very nostalgic place, and if I were more of a solitary person, I could easily spend hours by myself wandering around. I'm not sure I'll ever come back to Sumgait, but I will leave here with very fond memories. Partly because of friends and family, but I think mostly because of Sumgait itself. It's good to be here.

All aboard!

One and two and three and four!

Sag ol vermek!

Not exactly a turkey and mashed potatoes

Or Thanksgiving. Actually, there is no direct translation for Thanksgiving, though Lorena, a fellow PC person, valiantly attempted to use this phrase. Alas, all she got were blank stares and horizontally shaking hands (Americans shrug their shoulders when they don't understand; Azeris shake their hands horizontally, kind of like half clapping). So many of you have sent me letters and cards (extra thanks to Mrs. Lois!), and I want to reassure you all that I did indeed celebrate Thanksgiving, and no I wasn't (too) lonely. On the day of, about 15-20 Trainees got together at Lorena's house to celebrate this very American holiday. Since narrative format is so boring, I'll just summarize with witty bullet point remarks.

• Lorena's house was a mansion!
• Thanksgiving also turned out to be Linda's 60th birthday. Sorry Linda for making that information public, but it's OK; you look damn fine for 60 years old.
• We each brought our own food contribution.
• I brought a veggie platter, because I can't cook. This deserves its own paragraph.

The story of the veggie platter:

So I first decided to bring chips and salsa, but soon realized I had no idea how to make chips, or salsa. Woops. I thus begged to change my item which turned out to be no problem. I did, however, have to go into the central city and purchase some veggies. I bartered with the friendly bazaar man for peppers, tomatoes, and olives. He was nice, but was probably the 54th person to ask me to take him to America. My response to this is always: "Inshallah (God willing!)" and a big, American smile. Works every time. Anyways, I got home and cut those bad boys up with my host mom's help (she didn't like my cutting technique. Or my arrangement patterns on the dish. Or the pace at which I was cutting. In fact, she did most of it), and voila my first party food contribution. I hope next time it will actually involve cooking something, but baby steps. Baby steps.

So that's pretty much it about Thanksgiving. I'd have preferred being home making fun of my grandparents for having voted for McCain, but alas, life is tough. Not too exciting, but it was great to spend this holiday with other Americans. Christmas will be another story…

Azerbai-journal #2

There is perhaps no better cross-cultural activity than PhotoShop. No matter where you're from, it's still funny to see your head grafted onto someone else's body. This is precisely what I have been doing the past few days as a way to entertain my host family. What started out as a recreational pastime has now turned into a full time job. "Jeremy, I don't like the guy in this picture, can you take him out on your computer?" or "Jeremy I don't like my smile in this picture… can you fix it?" Since most of the undesired photos are in hard copy format, I've ended up taking pictures of pictures and then going from there.

I'm glad to say I'll be retiring from this position in a few weeks, though I have to say I've gotten pretty good.

Azerbai-journal #1

So I am going to try and start an entry called Azerbai-journal (because I'm corny) that will just be a post about a random adventure I've had. It is too complicated to speak about each day and every challenge that comes my way, so these types of posts are an effort to better familiarize you all with my everyday life. And - as if this was unexpected - to make you laugh. So here you go:

I like to talk loudly, and I like to smile. These are two personality traits that consistently gave me away in France as a foreigner (a nefarious anglo-saxon!). I'd say these traits continue to give me away as a foreigner here in AZ, but I think there are a few other (primarily physical!) traits that are more noticeable that take care of that. Anyways, a few days ago I was in a little market and decided I wanted to chat with the shopkeeper. After we moved beyond the normal pleasantries, we started talking about Azeri food and which were my favorites. We quickly got on to the topic of khash, or cow head. Yes that's right… cow head! I told him I never had it, but would like to try it (being a fan of the TV show Survivor has made me incredibly eager to try "different" foods). Before I knew it, I was formally invited to his house for some cow head cuisine.

Now, let's be honest with ourselves, would this ever happen in the States? Not the cow head degustation (though I'm pretty sure I've had worse in my university's cafeteria), I am referring to the random invitation. I think first of all, if someone came up to me in 7-11 and wanted to "chit chat" and invite me to his house, I'd think twice about this gentleman's motives. I'd then spot the nearest exits and make my way to the cashier. Yet this was a completely different situation and this why I love Azerbaijan! Hospitality is so important and people genuinely enjoy having guests. I think we Americans have a lot to learn from this fundamental aspect of Azeri culture.

So, long story short, I went over to this guy's place and had a great time. Jon, another trainee, also came along for the ride. We hung out and watched TV, drank tea, and had a good lunch. Alas, no cow head this time (apparently khash is a morning only meal… bummer!). It just turned out to be an incredibly positive experience and surprisingly easy. If this is any indication of the next two years, I can't wait!

A day in the life of Jeremy Jeromovich

Well, I haven't had much time to update this wonderful blog, so I'll do my best to summarize as short and sweet as possible. Until December 10th, I am a Peace Corps Trainee. As such, I have a very rigorous training schedule every day in order to adequately prepare for the next two years. Every day pretty much follows a typical pattern:

• 8:00 Wake up
• 8:45 Walk a mile to school for language lessons
• 9:00-1:00 Azeri language lessons
• 1:15 Lunch
• 2:00-6:00 English teaching practicums/sessions/etc.
• 8:00 Dinner with the family

When you're in a different country, constantly being forced to speak in an unfamiliar language, a day such as this can seem twice as long! Thus, I find myself going to bed some evenings around 10:00… something unheard of during my college days! Soon enough I will miss this rigidity, once I arrive in site and discover I have no formal schedule at all. Oh well… until then I will continue to do all that's asked of me and practice my language.

Some thoughts on my family

I have a habit of getting extremely attached to my host families (ouais mes chers, si vous lisez comme vous m'aviez bien promis, vous saurez bien que je parle de vous!). This family here outside of Baku is no exception. I am utterly convinced that Peace Corps placed me with the best host family in Azerbaijan, and I will be extremely upset to leave them come December 10th. Besides the good cooking, great room, and excellent hospitality, I actually feel like a part of the family. Here are a few fun, quirky examples of my role in this family:

• I am allowed (and encouraged!) to answer the phone. Even though I get completely flabbergasted if the caller is not a family member, I take this right to heart and answer the phone as often as I can.
• I am in charge of closing the chickens' gate and door. I lock the old blue door every night with the same, awed reverence that Ralphie from A Christmas Story has when he fills his Red Ryder BB gun.I hug everyone, which apparently is kind of uncommon for Azeris! No matter though, because they eat it up!
• My aunts often watch me while I eat, stroke my hair, and smile at me from across the room.
• My uncle gives me INTENSE back massages that involve snapping his fingers… with my back skin between them! It feels good though, I won't lie.
• The host cousins and I draw with markers as often as we can. Even though we have no "toys" per se, we have a great time fooling around with paper airplanes and whirligigs. They are so cute I can't stand it!
• I wash the dishes when my mother isn't looking. Women have enough to do around here that I try to help when I can, even if it's not really "man's work." I know she appreciates it even if she doesn't admit it. Sometimes if we have guests, she'll ask me to wash dishes or clear the table, and the guests watch with amazement when I do it. She will sit and smile approvingly… which I suppose makes me something of a domestic attraction. "Look what my American son does!" I feel bad for the Azeris that have to keep up with these Jones'.
• When I left for Baku last weekend, my mom called to make sure I was okay. How cute is that?
• My host brother carries me around on his shoulders for entertainment. He's very big.

I leave their house soon, but I plan on keeping contact with them as best as I can. I will definitely visit them in the future (inshallah… or God willing!). Here's to hoping that my next host family will be just as awesome!

My family

Everyone together! I blend right in...

Host mom and cousin

Host brother and cousin

Hiking in the Caucasus Mountains

The hills are alive.... oops, wrong mountains!

A flower at the top of a mountain

Top of a mountain trail

Ooooooooooobama!!!

Just wanted to say YAAAAAAAAAAY Obama! I'm thrilled!!!

To any readers of the blog that hate Obama... well, sucks to be you. And if any of these aforementioned readers happen to be my family members, I still love you. :)

In other news, has it really been a month since I posted? Yikes! This is because I can't find my flash drive (Krysta TOLD me to buy a clip for it... damn!), so sorry. Soon you will hear from me, I swear.

Random adventures: A Sonad

Well, once again I find myself in an internet cafe with little time to do much of anything. Plus I have to be very general so as to not write anything too risque. So, I'll just shoot out some good info for you to know!

I am living with a host family in a small village on the outskirts of Baku. I have a host mother, Tarlala (which means poppy flower) and a host brother Torul (I don't know what that means, but it is hard to pronounce in Azeri!). They are extremely warm and accomadating. In fact, the entire family gathers over their house quite often, so I am constantly meeting new aunts, uncles, Aunt and uncle are represented by"mother's brother," etc. Cousin is represented by "mother's brother's son," etc. As you might gather, this can get very confusing, but I certainly have a good grasp as to who's who in my family!

Everyday I walk about a mile to the school, where I have language lessons for five hours. At night, we normally have PC related activities or hang out with the families. Time goes by so slowly because the days feel so long, as they are packed with a million experiences each.

Since I can't possibly sum up all the experiences I have had in a two-week cap post, I will soon make a list of eventualities that have come my way. It is sure to be a very very random list. Tomorrow I leave for a small village in the north of the country to visit an existing volunteer. Should prove to be yet another CRAZY experience!

Just stopping in to say Hello

Hello! Internet access has been very spotty, so don't worry... I havent been forgetting to update. As soon as I have more time to dedicate, I will do so.

Keep an eye out for my next post! Also, it has come to my attention that I may need a password to protect my blog. If, for some reason, you come across my blog and it asks for a password, use my LAST NAME. I repeat... password for the blog will be my LAST NAME.

Thank you! :)

In Azerbaijan

There is so much to say, but so little precious Internet time! Just wanted to let everyone know that I am indeed here, and alive, and have many crazy stories already. Just to highlight a few things:

-Practiced "squatting" for Turkish toilets, with the aid of a marker tied around the waist and aiming into a styrofoam cup
-Danced with Azeris, while wearing a traditional cap
-Azeri language is a lot of fun
-I have witnessed a Russian couple swimming in the Caspian Sea, at nighttime
-Rode water slides at a 4-star resort outside of Baku
-Got rabies shots
-Almost chased by packs of wild dogs, and being thankful for having said rabies shots
-Haven't had diarrhea, YET
-Laughed so hard I cried, aboard the flight to Baku
-Took a journey to a rainbow tunnel, in the Frankfort airport
-Discovered the rainbow tunnel was just a long, red tunnel that was rather boring

So, essentially service hasn't truly started yet. We leave tomorrow (Saturday) for our host families. Should be quite a contrast to the current hotel we are staying at. I am excited to get moving into Training! Talk to you soon!

Here I go!

The staging event here in Phile has been a great experience; I've met plenty of people who share the same anxieties and aspirations as my own (this has been very helpful). In fact, there are 61 of us in total, with a little less than half being English volunteers. For two days we have gone over basic Peace Corps regulations, expectations, and the like. It has been very similar to Freshman Orientation, just with a bunch of people who love travel as much as I do.

Tomorrow is when we leave for the fabled land of Azerbaijan. Monday night, we take a flight out to Germany, and from Germany to Baku. It should take a total of 14ish hours-- not too bad considering we are going to practically the other side of the world.

I write this now because it is very likely I will be incognito for a week and a half, with Internet access during Training being very sporadic and minimal. Thus, you can hope to hear from me about every other week (if I keep up the blog that long!). Training lasts three months, and by the time I finish, I will be speaking 'baijani to a passable level. I am sure much cultural calamity will ensue, and you can bet you'll hear about it. If you'd like to contact me, please consider writing a letter, the address is on the right. Email also works!

Please keep me in your thoughts/pray for me during these next three months. I am incredibly excited, but also incredibly nervous... so I'll need all the help I can get! On that note, see you in a week(ish)!

Goodbye wireless!

Tomorrow, I leave for Philadelphia and a two day staging. Most people would be running around all choked up, seeing as many people as they can or frantically packing their 100 lbs of belongings for two years. Not I! I am enjoying a good last post on my wireless internet and laptop, all while perched upon my ivory throne.

Me.

You see, going to a four year institution whose campus has complete wireless Internet access can have some negative side effects, AKA Wi-Fi addiction. This nefarious condition, I feel, will be my biggest hurdle in AZ. Wireless internet is so fun! I can check blogs, the Drudge Report, Facebook, and Cracked.com all on one Mozilla screen! Yet I suppose there are worse addicitons to have...

So today I finish up packing, get all my papers together, and then I'm off. Thanks to everyone who supports me in this adventure, and please please please send me mail! I'm looking forward to an amazing experience.

Chers lecteurs, cheres lecteuses

la seule photo avec texte français que j'ai

Bonjour chers lecteurs francophones! Et oui, selon l'Académie Hébert, "lecteuse" est maintenant un mot de la langue française!!!

Afin de permettre aux lecteurs francophones de lire ce blog (aussi de retenir mon français bien déplorable), j'ai décidé de dédier une section du blog écrit exclusivement en français. Puisqu'il n'y a jusqu'ici aucun moyen de séparer le blog en deux parties linguistiques (je ne suis pas informatique, moi!), ces messages seront publiés côte à côte de leurs contreparties anglophones. Hélas, ils seront bien moins nombreux donc si vous en désirez davantage, il ne faut que demander!

D'accord. Ce premier message en français a pour but d'expliquer mon travail en tant que "volontaire" avec le Peace Corps. Je dis volontaire entre guillemets parce que je ne suis pas sur de l'utilisation de ce mot, qui me parait curieusement anglais... mais BON. C'est pas graaave. Si vous voulez en savoir plus sur cette organisation très connue à travers le monde sous-développé, veuillez cliquer ici. Le site officiel du Peace Corps peut mieux expliquer sa mission que moi!

A partir du 20 septembre, je rejoindrai le Peace Corps (d'ores et déjà dénoté comme PC) en tant que Trainee (un débutant?). Le groupe des débutants comptant d'une cinquantaine de personnes se réunissent à Philadelphie pour une session d'orientation pendant deux jours. Après, on s'en va en Azerbaïdjan pour trois mois d'entraînement rigoureux. Pendant ce temps-la, j'aurai une introduction très lourde a la langue, culture, et climat du petit pays caucasien. Si je me débrouille de survivre ces trois mois de folie, je serai assigné à un poste de travail quelque part dans l'Azerbaïdjan rurale pendant deux ans. Et que ferai-je? Et ben, rien n'est certain. Pour autant que je sache, je serai prof d'anglais au lycée, mais il se peut que je sois assigne à n'importe quel établissement scolaire (par exemple, quelques volontaires se trouvent prof à la fac, ou bien d'ailleurs!). En plus, je serai volontaire de développement pour la communauté, ce qui veut dire beaucoup de choses. La plupart de temps, les volontaires fondent des bibliothèques, salles d'informatiques, etc. En sommaire, je ne sais ni ou ni ce que je ferai en tant que volontaire, SAUF que j'aurai pas mal de défis auxquels je devrai faire face. Pour éviter un message tout saturé de philo, envoyez-moi un courriel si vous avez envie de savoir pourquoi j'avais décidé d'embarquer sur une telle aventure.

Et voila! Vous savez (presque) tout sur mon séjour imminent. Pour ce message, j'ai fait un effort herculéen de mettre les accents ou ils appartient. Ne vous y accoutumez pas, parce que les claviers azerbaïdjanais n'en auront pas!!! Donc pour les messages à venir, rappelez ce premier message francophone avec la tendresse. J'espère que tout était lisible! Sinon, je vous encourage de me corriger dans l'espace appartenant aux commentaires! Même si je sois très occupe avec l'apprentissage de la langue azerbaïdjanaise, je ferai toujours un peu de temps d'améliorer mon français: après tout, elle est mon premier amour; la langue qui m'avait soulevé du microcosme de Pylesville, Maryland et m'a enfin introduit au grand, beau monde.

The final countdown

My life these past weeks has resembled the stock market. Some days I am really high on life, ready to start this adventure, and other days I crash waaaaay deep down in Bear territory. For those of you who know me, I tend to psyche myself out when it comes to big decisions, so this probably comes as little surprise to you!

Today, I was definitely feeling pretty low. Luckily, I took advantage of my somber feelings to go shopping... and much to my self-loathing capitalist chagrin, I feel much better! I bought an iPod, Halloween candies to give to Azeri children, and other odds and ends like: a headlamp, poncho, and polycarbonate water bottle!

Today marks 13 days until I leave for staging. I have so many doubts and fears about going, but deep down I know I'm made for this experience. Once I leave my comfort zone, everything will fall in place.

Azerbaijan Fast Facts

Azerbaijan's flag

For my first post, I decided some Azerbaijan related trivia was in order. Judging from the many blank stares I receive after naming the country, it would appear that not many people know about this small but dynamic republic along the Caspian Sea. So, whenever I refer to any geopolitical hullabaloo, you can always consult this post as a handy dandy guide. Or just go to the BBC News Country pages or the CIA Factbook, which is precisely what I just did.

• Background: In Persian language, Azerbaijan means "Land of Fire" due to its natural oil and gas wealth. In the 19th century this part of the Russian empire experienced an unprecedented oil boom which attracted international investment. By the beginning of the 20th century Azerbaijan was supplying almost half of the world's oil. In 1991 Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union, and began developing its oil industry. Despite rapid economic growth, the economy as a whole has not benefited as much as it might have done. Caspian oil is now flowing through a pipeline running from Baku through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, providing western countries with ready access to a vast new source of supply.
  

• Population: 8.5 million (Azeri 90.6%, Dagestani 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.9%)

• Capital: Baku

• Area: 86,600 sq km (About the size of Maine)

• Major language: Azeri, Russian

• Major religion: Islam

• Life expectancy: 64 years (men), 71 years (women)
  

• Monetary unit: 1 manat = 100 qapik (US $1 = .81 manat)

• GNI per capita: US $1,240

• International dialling code: +994

Okay. Now that you all know about Azerbaijan, no one is allowed to give me blank stares. If you want to find out more about the AZ, www.azerb.com is a lot of fun!