We Received a Little Snow

I am late in posting the blog this week. As you can see above we had a little snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nothing like all of you have had in the United States. All of these pictures was take by Rovshan. He is one of the most talented and likable Azeri young men I have met. He always seeks interesting subjects, and has a good eye for angles. The first three are beautiful shots around Shirvan while the ATV shows interesting men, especially the guy smoking, and the final is universal with children and snow.

One day this week we did not have electric power at the library due to repairs in the neighborhood. It was quite cold in the library, but my counterpart took the opportunity to request some electrical repair. We have an old extension cord that the plug had broken. I suggested I buy a new one, but she insisted that the repairman could fix. Sure enough the electrician came soon and replaced a wall socket and the plug on the extension cord. He carried his tools in a plastic sack.

Tools are precious here in Azerbaijan and many workers cannot afford electrical power tools. I had tried once last year to take a picture of the welding apparatus that was being used to make repairs. A big battery with wires attached and the craftsman not wearing any type of safety equipment. Often ladders are not available. I came across a man putting up a sign on a building. He was standing on a chair that was standing on a table and he was looking for some kind of stool to go even higher.

I have witnessed workers on apartment building ledges with no safety equipment whatsoever. I know in the United States we get burdened down with safety and working condition regulations, but I assure you I will never complain about them again.

The normal procedure for buying goods in the markets are to stand in front of counters, tell the clerk what you would like item by item, then the total is added up on a small calculator (usually two or three times). The clerk then shows the total on the calculator to the customer who pays. Items are placed in plastic sacks and the matter is closed.

We have a new market in Shirvan. It has 4 grocery carts and 4 hand held baskets. Items are placed on the shelves where everyone can examine the products and the prices are clearly marked below. We get to wheel the cart around and chose what we want, then check out at a small stand with a bar code reader and computer. Our items are scanned and the subtotal is clearly shown. All we could say is WOW!

I have begun a new program at the library on Saturdays. I use the library's projector, our computer and speakers to episodes of Monk. I show 2 episodes with the English sub-titles. The participants can hear the English and see the words. The English is spoken so fast, that people struggle at times to understand, so the use of the sub-titles helps immensely. There have been as many as 12 and as few as 6. Everyone loves the character of Adrian Monk. I know they are understanding most of everything when the participants laugh at the right moments. Their reactions are appropriate, and I know they are having a good exposure to the language.

There is a question and answer period following each episode to discuss slang, phrases unknown, and cultural differences.

Next week is our Mid-Service Conference. We will be in training sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, and travel on Tuesday and Friday to and from the Baku/Sumqayit area. We get to stay in a nice hotel with nice hot showers! Everyone will be in a good mood.

My thanks to Barry Bohlman who sent us an external hard drive. I have already backed up our computer and loaded some entertainment packages. We appreciate so much every one's love, friendship and support. We just can't say it enough - THANK YOU.