Linda's First Wedding and Zaqatala

First the pictures: They are from Zaqatala in the northern part of Azerbaijan. During the holiday of Novruz the villages surrounding Zaqatala come to the park for a huge celebration. Every villiage brings displays and provides music. There are several styles of dancing. The population in and surrounding Zaqatala is quite diverse. The young men who are standing on the shoulders of other young men were scared to death. I wish the camera could have captured the looks on the faces. The hikers are Todd Wheeler - retired book representative and a Community Economic Development Volunteer, Josh Todd-Neese - a Teaching English as a Foreign Language Volunteer, Joel Robbins - a retired English teacher and a TEFL in Sheki, Bill Colcord - retired businessman CED in Barda, and Denney. Denney and Todd crossing the stream with fear and trepidation because the bridge is not as wide and sturdy as it looks.

This week Linda attended her first Azerbaijan Wedding. I was recently invited by one of the teachers at my school to her daughter’s wedding celebration. “Toy” is the word for the wedding celebration. I went with about 20 other teachers. All the guests had on their nicest clothes. The women were wearing their best jewelry, heels, hose, dresses with velvet, silk, satin, rhinestones, and sequins. (I was truly a “plain Jane”. One of my counterpart teachers had told me to wear my best clothes, make-up and “don’t carry your big school bag”. The celebration started at 6:00; we left about 8:30 but it would continue until midnight. The toy was held at a “Saray” (wedding hall). There were about 600 guests. The men sat on one side of the hall and were served alcohol. The woman and children sat on the other side and were served water and juices. Several courses of food were served during the two hours we were there - many salads, five kinds of meat, fruits, vegetables, breads and nuts. There was a band of five musicians with a singer that played throughout the time. The men danced together and the women danced together. No one touches. The college students had more hip movement and general body movement than most guests. The young and old danced.

The bride and groom entered before any one starting eating. They were escorted with torches and at one point some fireworks went off. They walked through the hall and up the platform to their table with two big throne chairs. There they sat for the entire evening watching the activities. They did not smile, but were quite solemn for the whole evening. Various people would go up and have pictures made with the bride and groom. Later in the evening, the photographers would come around selling the photos. Two cameramen were filming during the celebration. You could watch the wall-mounted TV monitors from your table and see the activities and people around the hall. Finally the bride and groom came down from the platform and walked down the dance floor and back again. People danced and clapped on either side of the corridor they formed. When we left, we stopped at the cashier’s table and paid our 20 manat ($20). This money is used to help pay for the toy. Everyone attending the toy pays and close friends will pay more. The only surprise - I was asked to say a little speech during part of the evening. One of the teachers translated for me to be sure I said the right things. The school director (principal) also spoke. On the way home, I was told that a toy could cost the family a year’s salary. A wedding is very important in Azerbaijan. Islam does not recognize divorce. A woman will have one wedding celebration in her life and this may be the only time she is the center of attention.
In my being at the Central Library I get to meet many people. A couple of weeks ago I met Cosif (pronounced Joseph). He had read my resume in the Director’s file, and wanted to renew his English skills. Cosif works six days a week in alternating shifts, 2 days – days, 2 days – evenings, 2 days – nights. He is married and has a daughter.Cosif was a writer and says he had some items published during the Soviet era. He met his wife and wanted to her, but her family forbade it. He traveled and worked in Russia, and every time he returned to Shirvan he expected her to be married. Finally at age 39, he and his wife ran off together and were married. Her family did not speak to them until her father died, and then the family forgave them.It always adds to my day when I have an opportunity to speak with Cosif. I tell him his story should be written and published. He tells me in hard economic times no ones needs stories, they need jobs.

Cooking and Cleaning

Some of the things which readers have asked for are pictures of scenery, daily life, Azerbaijan people, and our work. This blog is about our daily life in our apartment. First, we are thankful for all your positive thoughts and prayers on our behalf which kept our spirits encouraged and helped in getting our apartment.
THE PICTURES: The French Press container on the window sill contains water fresh out of the tap. Needless to say water treatment is part of the blog. Linda is looking over her first load of laundry in the apartment. We are enjoying our first meal in our new home. The meal was typical American, Spaghetti, salad, cold tea and juice. When we looked outside our kitchen window on the overhang above the first floor apartment, we saw several pigeons and sparrows eating pieces of bread. I tried to get a picture of the pigeons, but they flew off when I moved the curtain to take the picture. NOTE: to our dear friend Nancy Erlich, I did speak to the pigeons and they are distant relatives of Walter from NY.
DAILY LIFE: It is amazing to me how quickly Linda has made the apartment become our home. The decorations and personal touches make it such an enjoyable environment. What 2 weeks ago was a crisis is now one of the high points of our experience so far in Azerbaijan.
The biggest challenge for us is the uncertainty of running water. We have water every other day, and today, Saturday, April 18, 2009 is a water day. We began having water a little after 7:00 a.m., and we will have the supply interrupted sometime during the day. One water day Linda was showering and the water just stopped, then resumed about 7 hours later at 9:00 p.m. We try to shower every water day, whenever the water is flowing, we try to get the task accomplished as soon as possible. Often the water stops in the morning and resumes in the early afternoon. We store water in containers for flushing and necessary washing for non-water days.
From the picture above you can see that the water is not purified out of the tap. We boil all our drinking and cooking water, then filter through a PC provided water filter. We store boiled and filtered water in plastic bottles, and refill those every water day. The boiling, filling, and storing water is a continuous process all day on water days. It is a satisfying feeling to get everything full, but then by the next afternoon we realize we will repeat the process every water day.
The water comes from the river Kur and a reservoir.
We never realized how quickly we could prepare a meal in our home in KC, but here every meal requires at least an hour of preparation and usually 2. Our first meal prepared in our home took about 2 hours. The salad is spinach, carrots, and tomatoes. The spinach replaces all our lettuce. Our Azerbaijan counterparts cannot understand eating raw spinach, but we do clean thoroughly. We have the luxury of Ranch Dressing due to packets send from the U.S. The best part of our meal was that we had cold drinks again. The Azerbaijani people believe that cold drinks are hard on the digestion and will give stomach aches. I can’t tell you what it means to have control of a refrigerator. The fridge is small and does not seal well. In the future I will include a picture.
Instant oatmeal is a great breakfast and eggs are plentiful and reasonable. The bread is not sliced and comes in round loaves of about a third of pound. We buy brown bread also, which is thickly sliced and a bit more expensive – 30 cents for about a half-pound loaf. There are no preservatives so you only buy what you can eat in a day or two.
An interesting sidelight to the common loaves of bread which are 20 cents a loaf is that they are not wrapped. They are usually hand boxed in boxes of 25 – 50 and put in the trunks of cars, uncovered, taken to markets, then left in the box or hand transferred to another smaller box, hand selected and put in a plastic sack. They are quite tasty if hot, but do not make good toast. Lots of hand transferring is the key phrase. Our idea of sanitary handling of food has had to be altered.
(For Easter we did have a canned home from the U.S., deviled eggs and mashed potatoes – a true feast.)
Most stoves are gas here. We have rarely seen any stove where more than 2 burners can be used at once. The gas pressure is so inconsistent and is inadequate for operating the gas ovens. So, most stoves that have an oven, the oven is used for storage, and a small electric oven is purchased. The electric ovens are much like large toaster ovens in the U.S. Some have thermostats, some are either off or on more like a toaster oven. Women who bake their own bread do so one loaf at a time, and cook several loaves during one session with the oven.
The laundering process is difficult work and born primarily by Linda. We do have an electric water heater, so on water days, Linda always does some laundry. From the water picture above you can see Linda works very hard scrubbing with brushes and hand washing. Solar clothes dryers are everywhere as long as the weather cooperates, that is the easiest aspect of laundry. Linda washes the clothes in a small plastic tub which she places inside our bathtub. She leans over the tub and does the washing. It is very hard on her knees and back. The Azerbaijan women work many hours on housework that would take far less time and effort in the U.S. There are washing machines in the homes of the upper middle class and above here. They are very expensive, and the capacity is very small. One of Linda’s counterparts has one of the nicest washing machines we’ve seen, and it’s capacity was about 1/3 that of an average washing machine in the U.S.
We have rugs and a decent broom. We also purchase for 1 manat a plastic tool much like a Hoagie Carpet Sweeper, but without the handle. It is about the size of a dustpan, and helps with the little things that fall on the rugs. The rugs are very old, but will give us warmth in the winter.
Dust is ever pervasive, and no matter how hard we try, it seems impossible to keep up with dusting.
Finally, we have not had any problem with flies or mosquitoes, YET. But, everyone tells us they are coming with the warm weather. We have seen the fly swatters going on sale in the Bazaar, so it must be getting close. The PC provides a mosquito net. Insect repellent is available, but if anyone has the Avon product "Hands So Soft". We know that is a great mosquito repellent as well as having a pleasant aroma. We are fighting a small battle with ants, but winning so far.
In Azerbaijan shoes are not worn inside the home. Dust is so bad that everyone has about 2 pairs of slippers or shoes. One pair is for work and on the street, one is a pair of slippers you wear only inside the home. There can also be a pair of sandals to be worn in the courtyards of homes and to the toilet if it is outdoors. If slippers are not provided inside the home, then just socks. No one wears the street shoes inside the home.
Actually life here is much like rural America in the early part of the 20th century. Many farm households worked just as hard at the everyday necessities as the people here.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments of the blog or email them to us. We leave out so many details of life here.

PICTURES FROM SHEKI – The older man and wife aboard a bus is another example of interesting people wherever. On the gentleman’s lapel is his WWII medal. This man, like many of the Greatest Generation in the U.S., was a war hero. He and his wife are still very proud of service to his country and the world. A few of the mountains in the background of a horse grazing is a postcard portrait. The view from the Panorama Hotel in Sheki was breathtaking. An Albanian Church without its cross or any sign it was once a church is one of two in Sheki. And, finally, our good friend Dorothy left her camera and her blue bag in a taxi. We went back to the area where we caught the taxi and asked around. The drivers started calling around all the drivers they knew until they found the bag and returned it Dorothy in 15 minutes. We have discovered many wonderful and friendly people.
Let us share a most unusual week with each of you. On Tuesday Linda returned from school and was preparing supper in the kitchen. The window of the kitchen looks out over the courtyard of 5 apartment buildings. To her right was an army green truck with canvas over the load area, and there were about 40 people gathered around. There was wailing and a wrapped body on the ground. People moved the body to the truck, but the truck did not move. Within a half-hour the body was removed and placed under a half-tubular red carpet like structure.
It was about that time Denney returned and entered the courtyard and noticed the activity. Not knowing what had happened, but noticed the military like truck. He walked very slowly and then several men raised the red carpet structure above their heads and a processional left the courtyard. There was wailing and the pounding of the chest by about 50 people. Twenty minutes or so the women returned to the apartment building. Women do not go to the burial site, and the body is buried the same day as the person dies.
We learned that a woman in her 40’s with 2 grown children had died of complications from Diabetes. The next morning there was a fence of blue tarps outside the apartment building of the deceased. Many people came and visited the home. Around the corner was a blue tarp tent where rituals were held every hour. On Friday everyone who visited the family was fed a meal. The meal was prepared in the garden area of the apartment below us. Fires heated 25 gallon kettles of stew. There was a table with 50 bowls on a makeshift table. Death is a community experience which lasts 7 days, with the fourth day being significant. Mourning is intensified on the fortieth day after the death and at the one year anniversary.
We were moved by the mourning process, and it was difficult as an observer we wanted to document and take pictures to describe, but of course wanted to respectfully honor those who were mourning. Second, if the woman would have been in the U.S. or had resources she could have controlled here diabetes better.
A second event happened on Friday at the Central Library where Denney works. Denney actually assists in the IATP (Internet Access and Teaching Program) center in the library. It is funded by USAID. The country director and the regional director came to inspect and interview participants of the center. Since Wednesday everyone had been cleaning and sprucing up the center. Alma, Denney’s counterpart, had been collecting money to help buy a new vacuum cleaner for the room. It was a clean as it has been since he came.
The Regional Director spoke Russian and English while the country director spoke Azerbaijani. The room was packed with people from the library and my conversation clubs. After the meeting I was able to spend time with both the Regional Director and Country Director.
The Regional Director was a young woman from Kyrgyzstan. Her husband is a translator for financial institutions. She has a modern marriage where her husband and she share the responsibilities at home and with their 8 year old daughter. She comes from a country where there are still kidnap marriages. The marriages are illegal, but continue.

As we talked she shared that when she was in the 10th grade she was an average student. A Peace Corps Volunteer came and she participated in the programs. She thought at the time it was primarily entertainment with games and other activities. She related on reflection that the PCV had changed her life. The volunteer had opened up to her a whole world beyond her culture and country. She is a most amazing person who now studies Interior Design over the internet as a hobby and is looking into a course through George Washington University online. I cannot tell you how inspired I was by this brave, intelligent, insightful, and compassionate woman.

The Peace Corps does make a difference, one by one. There is a saying in Azerbaijan, drop by drop a lake is made.

One of the activities in a conversation club is taking picutres of the community. The Regional Director encouraged us to publish them on their web site and invite other IATP centers in other cities and countries to do so. We might even try to get a US school to participate also. Opening up the world to young people is what we are about.

Please leave your comments, we read them all. In the previous blog there was a request for our mailing address and I posted it in the comment section of that blog posting.

Life is good! We are sitting in our very own living room listening to Andre Rieu music on our IPOD and BOSE system. Linda has eaten a granola bar for breakfast and I have had coffee (glorious, wonderful, French roast coffee). Of course each is accompanied with vitamins and calcium supplements.
What a week it was! We had begun to look at apartments a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of moving out after the April 11 date set by the Peace Corps. Each volunteer must live with a host family 4 months before being eligible to move into independent housing. Then our host family very nicely asked since they knew we were looking, if we had found anything. The home we were living in actually belonged to the host mother’s parents. The parents were living in Russia, and we were actually sleeping in their bedroom. The host mother’s father has been ill and is returning to Azerbaijan to live. That upped our date to move to ASAP. We had already found one of the best apartments we had seen in Azerbaijan. The problem was price and the Peace Corps. The amount was 200 AZN a month and we are each allowed 80 AZN for housing without special approval. By email and phone communication we stated our situation to the PC and got approval, but the apartment was already rented to someone else. That was when we emailed the "Alert" to our army of supporters in the United States.
The Peace Corps Manual emphasizes the practical value and importance of modest living standards in host countries. Despite the difficulty of defining "modest living standards," even in very specific situation the manual states "…when there is any choice, the minimum standard is adequacy of shelter without risk to health; the maximum standard is comfort without ostentation."
We feel we have that apartment now. After the alert we called my counterpart and she went into action. We looked at three more apartments. One was very far from our work, and was empty. The price was 100 AZN empty, 200 AZN with promised but unseen furniture. On the Friday night, late into the evening my counterpart and her family and us looked at and negotiated the apartment we are in. If you ever need a negotiator for a new car or house, my counterpart’s husband is the man. The price dropped from 180 AZN to 160 AZN. But, improvements had to be made. The electrical plugs were exposed wires and there was no source for hot water. The refrigerator’s plug was 2 wires sticking into a socket. Our landlord, Ramiz and his wife Irada, said the repairs and a new electric hot water heater would be installed on Saturday.
I emailed the Peace Corps and asked for an inspection on Monday or Tuesday. On Saturday we walked to the apartment and Ramiz was making all the repairs, one fear relieved. On Sunday, I walked by with a friend, and Irada was cleaning.
On Tuesday the PC Driver, Hikmat, arrived to inspect. After the inspection we had tea. During the tea the driver translated for us. Ramiz asked why we were in Azerbaijan and we explained the best we could. He could not understand why we would come and not receive a salary. Finally I said "Azerbaijan Sezmek", we love Azerbaijan. He hugged me and kissed me on the cheek (I still do not feel comfortable with that cultural aspect). We paid the first month’s rent on March 31 and took the keys.
Linda took off work and cleaned for 2 days. She worked very hard, and I wish I had before and after pictures. The only before pictures I have are of the bathroom and the kitchen, which are posted above. Last night, Friday April 3, we spent our first night in the apartment we hope to have for the next 20 months.
Note, we hope to have. We have every indication that we will have a good relationship with Ramiz, but there are no leases or agreements in AZ. At some future time our situation may change. Many PCV have had to move on 1 to 3 days notice because family members return and the apartments are needed. All of Ramiz family lives in Shirvan now, so we feel optimistic.
Last night we were awoken by the trains passing about 30 yards from our window. I didn’t mention the tracks are that close, but we will get used to the noises of the neighborhood.
We are on the second floor, and you see Linda from our balcony window, and please note the solar clothes dryer. Finally there is a view of the park/play area from our kitchen window on a beautiful day.
We are truly blessed with good friends in the United States and Azerbaijan. We have a supporting staff in the Peace Corps. Thanks to each of you and them, LIFE IS GOOD.
One last note: I will post an after picture of the bathroom and kitchen on a future blog. To multitude of you who offered to mail us a toilet seat, I have found and installed one – it is even padded!