Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Traveling for the First Time













The Novruz holiday provided us with about a week of relative free time. One of the AZ5 PCV, Cindy, organized a Mature Women Volunteers Retreat in Sheki. This may amaze many of you as it does me, but Linda qualified for the Mature (I called it "Older" and was corrected). So, on March 19 we traveled to Barda and spent the night with our close friends the Colcord’s, Bill and Dorothy. The next day, the women left for Sheki, and Bill and I departed for Zaqatala.
There were 11 "Mature" female volunteers gathered in Sheki. This is the first time we had been together since the Swearing-In Ceremony in December. We enjoyed sharing about our host families, towns and work. I was able to get some good ideas from other PCVs about possible things to do or try at my site. We had meals together and did some sight-seeing. Sheki is a 2500 to 2600 year old town located on the old silk road from China to Europe. You can look around and see the southern Greater Caucasian Mountains with snow on the higher peaks.
In the pictures you will see the mountain man on the donkey. He had dark, leathery skin and shepherd clothes. He comes down from the highlands on his donkey.
From the Karavan Saray Hotel courtyard, one can see the mountains and snow on the higher peaks. This hotel was built in the 1700’s to accommodate the travelers on the silk road. The arched entrance in the wall was the camel entrance.
The view from the Panorama Guest House shows the tile roofs of the houses below and the mountains in the distance. Tourists come to Sheki to hike in the mountains and enjoy the cooler weather in the hot summers. Sheki has a silk factory, Khan’s Palace, Juma Mosque and wonderful local food. One dish is piti – a lamb stew cooked in small individual clay pots. There is a Sheki pakhlava pastry that is very sweet and made from rice flour and nuts. The Khan’s Palace was built in the 1700’s without using any nails. It has beautiful stained glass windows, frescoes and lacy wooden latticework.
While the women talked and learned about Sheki, Denney went with Bill, Todd, and Joel for the inaugural meeting of OFF. OFF is the fellowship of older men. We hiked one day in Zaqatala up to the ruins of an old church, centuries old, and in the mountains to the north was Russia’s Dagestan. To celebrate Novruz the city of Zaqatala was filled with representatives from all the surrounding villages. The villages provided displays and entertainment. I heard lots of native music and saw dancing, a tight rope walker, strong men feats, and many exhibits of making wool into yarn.
The men ate all their meals in a Turkish Café across from the hotel (rate $20 per night per room - $10 a piece). The room had 2 beds, a hot shower if you were patient enough to wait for the hot water, and a 13" TV. Our room had a little balcony, and the four of us along with a younger PCV spent one afternoon and evening on the balcony talking and watching the world go by. We discussed everything from politics to religion with the Peace Corps thrown in.
I will have pictures of Zaqatala in the future, and we will share others of Sheki and Shirvan at Novruz. The spring is coming and there is a great anticipation of warmer weather and green plants.
The Novruz holiday came at a very good time for Linda and me. We have been very busy and the emotional strain of a different culture along with the physical demands of every day life had fatigued us physically and emotionally.
Again, it is the support of people who love us and care about us that enable us to try to serve the people of Azerbaijan and the US Peace Corps.
I was most proud of our managing the transportation. We took a bus to Barda, but they left us at Yevlax and we got a taxi ($4) to Barda. Our language skills lack a great deal, but are improving. From Barda, Bill Colcord and I traveled to Zaqatala while the women left for Sheki.
Bill and Dorothy Colcord are from Boston. They are our best friends in the PC. Bill is a retired businessman, having retired one week before leaving for Azerbaijan. Dorothy is a retired speech pathologist. They have 2 sons about the age of our sons, and we have a lot in common. Bill and Dorothy are dedicated people giving of themselves to the people of Barda.
Dorothy teaches in a school which houses IDP families (Internally Displaced People). Azerbaijan has about 1 million IDP due to the Karabagh conflict with Armenia 1992 – 1994. Dorothy teaches in the best classroom, a small hut with very old desks, an even older blackboard, but with one very dedicated teacher.
Dorothy took us on a tour of her school and in the gym they had converted it into 5 small classrooms, with birds nesting in the windows with no glass above. Families live in the rest of the gym and in rooms of the school building. One cannot adequately describe the conditions.
Just about 1 mile from Dorothy’s school is a new school with fresh paint and an air of quality named after Hedar Aliev’s mother. Students must pass a qualifying exam to attend and the coursework is more demanding.
Bill works with the ministry of agriculture. He is involved with improving farming methods. Bill’s background is with the beef industry so he has a lot to offer. Bill is about 6’2" and very outgoing. He greets everyone he meets with a Boston accented "Salaam".
Bill and Dorothy have a great living arrangement, the lower floor of a multi-family dwelling. The have 2 large rooms, a nice kitchen, and a garden area. They share the hamam (bathroom) and toilet with the family. Dorothy likes to decorate and cook. So, live is going well for them under the challenges of their work.
One word to Kay Maxwell, the infrastructure is like farm to market roads in Texas, but not always that good. There may be stretches of construction which are not as good as a rural gravel road. There are not many roads, and connections to cities are limited.



Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Novruz













Novruz is the great spring holiday. Novruz means "a new day." People celebrate Novruz as the birthday of nature and life. This is our first Novruz, and we had much to learn.
There are four pre-holiday Tuesdays before Novruz. They have names. The first Tuesday is Water, then Fire, Air and the fourth is Earth. Everybody must talk about good and pleasant things.
Novruz rituals are very interesting. Parents usually have gifts for their children. They buy new clothing and sweets. Nature changes it clothing and people do the same. Azeri people clean and decorate houses, yards, streets and squares.
There is the Khonchas which are pictured above. Three members of one of Denney’s conversation clubs gave us a Khoncha and our two mugs from our host family sit next to it. In the middle is samani which is wheat. There is always pakhlava (honey soaked pastry), shakabura (sugar inside a decorated pastry), nuts, fruit, and candy. Our host’s family Khoncha has the "Dolphin Bananas". The children lit the candles and sang songs.
For the fourth Tuesday (last night) everyone makes a fire, and people jump over the fire three times. You leave all your bad feelings and memories in the fire and begin the new year. Above are Linda and Denney jumping the fire at our host family’s home.
After we jumped the fire, we walked around and took pictures of other fires. Many of the apartment buildings have a party much like a block party. We came across one and asked to take a picture. They were exceptionally friendly and gave us roasted potatoes and offered Denney liquid refreshment of which some of the men had had enough to make them very happy. Denney thanked them for the offer, but declined. It was a joy to spend 15 minutes with this group, one man jumped the large fire, people toasted Azerbaijan and America. Words fail me.
The big event comes on the 21st when Spring Maiden comes. She wears a national costume and travels on a phaeton with horses. Everyone sends greetings to celebrate, so from us to you "Bayraminiz Mubarek", Happy Holiday.



Friday, March 13, 2009

Unusual 2 Weeks


We know there is an economic crisis, and like many of you our savings are not what they once were, BUT sometimes you’ve just got to splurge – see the picture above.
It has been a most interesting 2 weeks. On a very sad note our neighbor, 28-year-old man with 2 small children died of a narcotic overdose. Our family went to the mourning, but we were not invited, so we did not go. We had never met him officially.
We used this event to discuss the drug issues with our Conversation Clubs and others. Evidently in Shirvan drug usage began about 5 years ago and has developed into more of a problem. Hypodermics are readily available since most people give their family medical inoculations. The drugs are coming in from Afghanistan and Iran.
On a very positive side Linda attended a committee meeting in Baku on Saturday. After the meeting we stayed with a former PCV, Amy, who has returned and is working with exchange students, and living in Baku. First, we went to dinner at a Turkish Restaurant, The Sultan, where we met up with 7 Fulbright Scholars and a person connected with the Embassy whose responsibilities include Human Rights. The food was excellent, and we ate more meat than we had in a week. The company was as good as the food.
After supper we divided into groups to get to know each other a little better. I met a young man named Munir from New York whose parents emigrated from England after India. He was working on a history of the first Azerbaijan Republic, 1918-1920. The British pulled out after WWI and then wanted the oil. He is writing from the perspective of how the Republic was shaped by natural resources.
Linda met a law professor from Minnesota who is teaching a course in International law, and will return to the U.S. in June as will Munir. There was an Azerbaijan exchange student, and others.
After supper we went to Amy’s apartment where she gave up her bed for Linda and me, and slept on the couch. The apartment is on the fifth floor above a Chinese Restaurant. It has 3 small rooms and a nice kitchen for Azerbaijan. There were 3 of us staying with Amy.
We asked her about churches in Baku, and that we really wanted to go to church no matter what denomination. She suggested the Baku International Fellowship, which she had visited in the past. Amy said she would make all the arrangements with the taxi driver and settle on an amount, but could not go with us. Linda and I were concerned that we would not be able to negotiate the trip by ourselves. As we were going down the stairs from Amy’s apartment, we met 2 men carrying Bibles. They were from Nigeria and were going to BIF. We accompanied them by paying for the taxi and having them come with us to instruct the driver.
I shared with them that one of our dear friends had a niece who had served in Benin. The Nigerians said Benin was a wonderful place to hike, but everyone wanted to live in Nigeria because it was free.
The church is made up of many nationalities and also has a Korean congregation. It reminded me of attending Riverside Church in Manhattan. I will forever cherish the memory of Noye from Nigeria giving me a sustained emotional hug as we departed. The 2 Nigerian men were on the Azerbaijan Soccer Team, and earning money to send home. The soccer was very difficult because they had no strong players.
We also met an American Scott Mullhouer who is working with the Ministry of Sport and Youth. Scott played his college basketball at Oregon Tech and works with the national team and a small professional league in AZ. Scott and his wife have 5 children aged 14 down. They have been in Azerbaijan for 5 years and he is an Elder in the church.
It was sad situation at the church in that they were saying goodbye to their youth pastor and his wife who were returning to Minnesota for the birth of their second child. But, it was a glorious and uplifting time for us. Even though they were very busy, many people made a special effort to help us know how to take bus 253 back to Fountain Square.
We hope to develop our friendship with the pastor, David in the future although we rarely will go to Baku. David is from Canada and has been at the church for 2 years and 3 months. The ministry is much like a military church – lots of turnover. The students graduate, move on to jobs, the executives serve their companies and are back to their home countries. But, the church also reaches out to Azerbaijan people any way they can. The services are in English.
Words fail to express the feeling we had when we were joined with the 2 Nigerians. If they or we had left 30 seconds different than we did, we would never have been drawn together as we were.
After the rejuvenating weekend in Baku we returned to Shirvan. Monday was a holiday for International Women’s Day. Linda received several gifts from students and colleagues. That night Fidan, the daughter in our host family, turned 10. The night was filled with good food, family visiting, and gifts. But, here are gifts: a card with candy (from us), a 2.5 foot teddy bear, a stained glass bowl, an artificial flower arrangement, and clothes. The clothes are the only things that make sense to us.
People were invited, came to visit, and it was the first time we have seen other children at the home playing. Yet, during the meal the host does not spend time with the guests.
All in all a most unusual 2 weeks.
There is a lengthy spring holiday called Novruz which is the Lunar New Year, and coming of spring. We will be traveling for a few days. Linda will be attending a mature women volunteers retreat, and I will be traveling with her. We will meet up with a couple, Bill and Dorothy. Linda and Dorothy will go to the retreat in Sheki, while Bill and I hike in Zaqatala. Then we will meet up again for one night in Sheki. It will be our first opportunity to see some mountains.

Friday, March 6, 2009

More about Our Work



























The pictures, I mentioned taxis cost $1, this first picture is a taxi that is only cost $.50. In Shirvan we only have water every other day, so homes and apartments have tanks as above that store another day's supply. A second grade class that Linda is working with in contacting a second grade class at Park Hill, and a game I made - the Road to Baku. Each color X represents a category of question or English speaking exercise.


Some of the things we are doing in our work. I have 6 Conversation Clubs. I have 3 goals for the conversation clubs. First goal is to engage the students in speaking English. The people here learn grammar and a limited vocabulary, but can’t speak with anyone. They need to practice speaking. The second goal is to get them to think and reason. The residue of the Soviet educational system is that there is no encouragement for free thought or reasoning processes. The third goal is to find young people who will be leaders, cultivate their abilities that they may accomplish projects for the benefit of Azerbaijan.
The first club is MWF-10:00 with primarily college students. There is anywhere from 4 to 10 each meeting. There are 3 very good speakers in this group. The second club is MWF-11:00 and is 9 young women under the age of 25 and 5 are good speakers, and 3 of the 5 are excellent thinkers. There are 10 8th graders in my MWF-3:00, and they do not have good English skills, and I work very hard that hour. At the MWF-4:00 group has been up and down since I began. Now, I have 6 very good English speakers with 2 good thinkers. The fifth club is T/TH at 10:00 and is 4 8th grade boys, and again I work extremely hard. The 11:00 on T/TH has 4 college students, again female, and average in ability, but very pleasant.
My favorite session is the 11:00 MWF. This group of young women want to get things done. They will make suggestions and do any task I ask. One of the projects they are doing now is taking turns with one of our cameras. I ask them to take interesting pictures of anything they want.
The first to use the camera was a pair of sisters. I was so looking forward to seeing what they would choose to photograph. The came back 2 days later with 1 picture of a monument. I keep encouraging and each one takes more pictures than the last.
One goal is to get the students to think rationally and make deductions. As I said above everyone is so used to memorizing and reciting that free thinking and reasoning is uncommon. We were playing the game Road to Baku, and one of the questions was "How many computers are in this room?" The team counted and said nine. After they made their final answer, a member of the other team, Afaq, asked me if I brought my lap top as usual? I had not, but what good thinking, and sneaky too to wait until the other team had answered! I was so proud!
Another activity which provoked excellent discussion and thinking processes was "What Is It?" I brought objects that we have and asked "What Is It?" Everyone was fascinated by the head light. Other interesting things were: dental floss, hem ripper, multiple tool knife, beef jerky, canned cheese, battery powered reading lamp, hand sanitizer, and spice mixes. The most popular which everyone wanted was a ring of Linda’s. It is a silver ring that holds a stone like a small marble, and there are 8 interchangeable stones. I could have sold a million of them.
Another popular and excellent thinking activity is I write on slips of paper statements or questions, and the student randomly chooses and must discuss. After the first person discusses, everyone adds their thoughts. Questions like, "If you could speak to Barak Obama and Ilham Aliev, what would you say?"
One of the best responses I had was to "How long do you want to live and why?" One young man said, it is not how long you live, but the good that you do that matters.
Only God knows how long I will live, but I know how I can live for as long as I have.
I will write more later about the games that we use in conversation clubs. But now I want to thank someone special. I mentioned once on the blog about how the Azerbaijanis have no touch typing skills. Frank Saunders sent me a $20.00 program and I loaded it on the computers at the Central Library. We now have about 20 people working on their keyboard skills with the deepest gratitude of my counter part. My host family is using the program almost every day. I will be working to get keyboard skill programs in as many places and for as many people as I can.
Linda has 2 conversation clubs with 8th and 9th grade students, and teaches 15 hours a week. She has also started a Pen Pals project with college students. A student named Fidan was the first to successfully compose, write, and mail here letter. Linda has five more ready to mail their letters soon. The letters are sent to students in Archie, Missouri in care of Billie Limpus. Copies of the letters will be sent to Andrew for students in Harrisonville.
This weekend we are attending a committee meeting for the organization of this year’s Writing Olympics in Azerbaijan for students from the sixth grade through the fourth year of university. The competition was begun by a PCV in Georgia, and later was expanded to include Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, the PC had to evacuate all the workers from Georgia last year when the Russians invaded. Because Armenia and Azerbaijan are still technically at war, we will have only a competition for Azerbaijan this year.
The good news is that the PC will return to Georgia with about 50 Volunteers in June.