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!