"News" in Azerbaijan

Here are some of the more entertaining news stories concerning America shown on TV lately:

"BARAK OBAMA XRISTIANDIR"- Barack Obama is a Christian. Yes, my friends, it would appear that the president of the USA is indeed a Christian. How did we learn of this revelation (two years into his presidency)? It would appear someone in an audience where the president was delivering a speech asked him if he was a Muslim or a Christian. He said Christian, and voila we have the leading story for the evening news.

"O KIMDIR?"- Who is that? Onto the screen comes a picture of SoS Hillary Clinton with gleaming eyes. The presenter informs us that this is NOT a doctored photo and that many people say this shows that the SoS is actually a demon. Uh... what? The news story ends.

These are but a few examples of the daily news. Although I shouldn't really knock it... after all many Americans think FOX news is a credible news source. Eek.

Service in the summer

It may seem that all I have been doing this summer is vacation in foreign countries. And for the most part, you are right. As a PCV, you get 48 days of vacation and I am proud to say that I have used up every single day this summer 'ere they were lost forever. When will I have the chance to take that many days of vacation again?

This copious amount of vacation, however, doesn't mean that I have been inactive in Azerbaijan this summer. In between my journeys, I have been involved in several activities at site and in the capital. Here are some picture updates to make this post more interesting:

Swim lessons at the local Sports Complex. This year the kids were much better behaved and a few even learned the breaststroke!

My host sister went to America with the amazing FLEX program, which sends students from former USSR countries to study in a US high school for a year. This was her going away party (she is not pictured here; this is her father and classmate).

AZ 6 (the group of volunteers here in Azerbaijan) had their Close of Service Conference in Baku in August. This was our last conference and the last time any of us will probably see each other again. Sunset on the Caspian Sea (though the Sun itself is obscured by the pollution).

Photos from Mother Russia

Izvinite; ya davno poobeschal pokazat' nekotorie foto iz Rossii. A vot, :)

Peterhof fountains... cast with real gold

Traditional Russian monastery in Kostroma

One of the Seven Sisters... an example of Communist architecture in Moscow

Red Square

The Satin drawing room in The Hermitage, St. Petersburg


White Nights river cruise in St. Petersburg

Language bloopers

Today I found out that, for two years, I have been telling my students at swimming lessons to "fart" air out of their nose.

Oops!

Estonia... bet you don't know where that is!

We were in the lovely, tiny country of Estonia for three days - and had a blast! We went to the capital, Tallinn, and a beach town called Parnu. First some very brief info about Estonia:

• population: 1.3 million. Yes. That's it.
• The entire country is wired to Wi-Fi. You can literally pull your laptop out anywhere and get a free signal.
• The capital is Tallinn, which passed hands from the Danes, Swedes, Germans, Russians, Soviets and other Baltic peoples.
  

Beneath the secret underground tunnels of Tallinn. They were used as bomb shelters.

Beach in Parnu... we got really, really burnt.

Central Town Square showcasing Tallinn's architecture.

Skyline of tiny Tallinn.

Update coming soon!

We've been in St. Petersburg for a few days with little free time to spare. I'll post on Estonia and St. Petersburg as soon as I can.

In the meanwhile, pray that we have a safe journey to Moscow! This is definitely the most exciting part of our journey!

Leg 2a: Midsummer's Festival in Latvia

Keeping the sun from setting, approx 1 AM

First a bit of explanation: the Midsummer's Festival is an important holiday in the Baltics and Scandinavia. It celebrates the longest day of the year, known in the West as the Summer Solstice. Due to these countries extreme north position, the sky never gets dark! On this day, the daylight actually lasts 24 hours (the darkest it got was a light blue/purple haze). We went to a museum/fairgrounds outside of the capital, not really knowing what to expect. We were met with thousands of Latvians, drinking, eating and dancing until the "sunrise" at 5 am. It was beautiful and even a little magical... probably because the holiday is a pagan one!

Traditional folk songs and costumes

Holding hands round the bonfire- notice the color of the sky at 1 or 2 am.

Jumping over the bonfire for good luck.

Me with some lovely Latvian ladies.