The People with Whom We Work and Live

First and foremost, above is a picture of Linda speaking at the swearing in ceremony. The Minister of Education requested that her speech be translated. Linda's Program Director called and informed Linda that her speech has been published in a national education newsletter.Above is a picture of our host family in Shirvan. The father, Hafiz, works for the electric utility as a dispatcher. The mother, Kanule, is a Russian teacher. The children are Fidan, the daughter age 9, and Nijat, the son age 6. Everyone is learning to speak English.Their home is actually owned by Kanule's parents who live in Moscow. The family would be unable to afford such housing on their income of $500.00 per month. They are fortunate in that both are employed and have a regular income. There are some extras in the home such as heat, satellite TV (Turkish), and a computer. Fidan has taught herself English with computer programs and watching English speaking children's programming on the religious channels of their satellite dish. Her pronounciation is quite good. Often Fidan serves as a translater for us when our Azerbaijani fails in the home.Kanule's English is in the early stages with limited vocabulary, less of an ability to pronounce correctly, and grammatical errors. She teaches 3 Russian classes of 45 minutes each. She teaches 6 days a week. (We will write about the educational system in a later post).Hafiz is in the beginning stage of learning English. He attends adult classes at the Turkish school near the home. He has diffulty prouncing sounds, he is learning the verb to be. He has been on vacation while we have been here. He receives 40 days vacation per year. The one day he was called in to work was an 11 hour day.Nijat is very active and demonstrates classic symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome. The family is aware that he is different, but coping skills are negliable. Linda will attempt to find any resources available here for them.In the picture with Linda are teachers from School Number 9 with the male Director who corresponds to a Principal. Linda has been observing their classes for 2 weeks to determine with whom she should work. The teaching styles vary, and Linda is deciding what classes and teachers would most benefit from her presence.Denney is pictured with the Director of the Central Library. The library is open each day from 09:00 until 18:00. Denney is there on Monday through Friday from 09:30 - 12:30 and 14:30 - 17:30. The number of hours that Denney puts in at the library will need to be reduced as he expands activities within the community. During the morning he conducts a conversation club for 1 hour with college students. The afternoon has a 1 hour conversation club with a very diverse group of anyone who wants to show up that day.The club meetings are presently held in the computer room which is funded by USAID in a program called IATP (Internet Access and Training Program). There are 9 computers and a server. 5 of the computers have internet access. The classes (independent study) offered are Word, Excel, and Internet. The Internet usage is primarily chatting, email, and some searches for information. It is free access (slow), and there is normally people waiting.The women with Denney in the computer room are staff at the library. The most important person is Alma on the far right. She is the computer room supervisor and my counter part. There will be more about people in another post. The young woman wearing jeans translates for Denney with the Director. Again, more about people in future posts.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

I am working this Christmas Eve, but my director has been very kind and understanding and I will not be working on Christmas. Linda and I will be sharing Christmas Eve with our host family and 2 other volunteers, Kelsy and Joyce. Joyce is coming from Lankaran. Linda, Joyce and Kelsy will prepare food for tonight for everyone.
Tomorrow, Christmas Day, Linda and I will read scripture and listen to Christmas music all day. We have a ham, a present from Debbie and Edna, we have saved for Christmas day. We are enjoying all the energy bars, hot chocolate, teas, candy, cookies, beef jerkey, canned meat, dried fruits, oatmeal, and everything else that you are so thoughtful to send to us.
Life in Shirvan is quite good right now. The weather has not been as severe as it has in Kansas City. We are adjusting, but must improve our language skills. We can negotiate the markets and initial greetings, but not much beyond that.
There is a music school here in Shirvan, and we are going to a concert on December 29. That will help us integrate into our community. We are always looking for community events to attend.
Our work is basically to be an English speaker and improve the skills of anyone who desires to improve. The computer skills are Excel and Word. The use of the internet is primarily email and chatting.
The price of oil dropping is good for the US, but it has affected the economy here negatively. Those fortunate enough to work for the oil companies may be facing some layoffs. We know the economy in the US is suffering also. Let's all hope that the bottom of the negative trends is either here or approaching quickly, and the upturn will begin.
I will include pictures with my next post. I have a wonderful picutre of Linda speaking at our swearing in ceremony. Everyone would have been so proud of her. She shared that now was the time in our lives for us to give back to the world and especially Azerbaijan. She wore a skarf she purchased in Baku and stated that she wore the skarf to have something from Azerbaijan, but in 2 years she will have the people and memories in her heart.
Denney's current hair style is a cross between a buzz cut and chaos. He wears a european style hat most of the time.
The New Year's holiday here last one week with an emphasis on being with family and extended relatives.
Please post any questions you might want us to answer in the comments and we'll do our best.
God Bless you all.

Christmas in Azerbaijan Approaches

Christmas approaches, but there is no Christmas music. The holiday here is New Year's Eve. That is when the presents are given. There are many Christmas trees, and we will post a picture of our host family's tree in the next posting.

Above are a few pictures:A classroom in one of the older schools in Lankaran, Linda and Kevin (PCT) with our host family in Saray. The view of the kitchen in Saray from the door of our room. Grilling in Saray, and the view from our door to the dining area.

We are getting our mail at the new address in about 2 weeks so far. We appreciate all your thoughts and cards.

Linda's birthday was a huge success and she received 24 cards and other assorted gifts such as peanut butter.

Linda is observing in classrooms this week and next. She will then decide on whom of the 9 English teachers to work with.

I am at the library each day and have conversation clubs in the morning and afternoon.

Our new host family in Shirvan are wonderful to us. We are warm, safe, and learning our way around our new city.