Forgive my ramblings

This posting seems to be rambling thoughts.
This week I had the privilege to go to village of Khirdilan to assist in the Pre-Service Training (PST) of the AZ8’s. It was a joy to see 14 men and women preparing to serve the people we have come to love. It is a difficult and trying time for them as they learn the language and are exposed to the cultural differences. I was quite impressed by those I met with their dedication and desire.

The first photo is from our training days. The first week of November the Trainees receive their site assignments to where they will go after their swearing-in ceremony. Linda and I are pointing at Shirvan on Azerbaijan map. Two years have passed since those training days. Little did we know what all lay ahead of us.
Now that we are looking towards the date of November 10 when we will return to our family and friends, we spend a lot of time evaluating our Peace Corps experience. I always like to ask other Volunteers, “If knew then what you know now about what you would go through, would you do it?” Others like ourselves answer with a “Yes!”
I worked with my Program Manager to present a session on Teaching Computers in Azerbaijan. I basically offered what I had observed. Everyone knows computer skills are important for future jobs. However, basic computer skills are not taught in the schools. In the United States teaching the keyboard begins in the earliest grades. In Azerbaijan it is not taught at all. It is laborious to watch a bright student with a hand written document enter it into a Word document. My cousin Melissa who teaches 5th grade wrote me that her students’ interest in using the computer potential was proportional to their keyboard skills.
One of our PCVs counterpart has translated a basic typing course into Azerbaijani and sells the books for 5 AZN. We have purchased these books for our counterparts to examine and use. We encourage everyone to use computer keyboard learning programs, such as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. The students enjoy the games used in the program, but don’t take time to learn the basic finger positions which the games reinforce.
The good news is that IREX is also offering training in using Facebook, Youtube, and blogs as social journalistic tools.

When I went to Khirdilan, I took a taxi, and was scared to death during the ride. Drivers are either accelerating or breaking. In Azerbaijan in an 8 month period there were 539 people killed in motor vehicle accidents with the primary cause was speeding. In that 8 month period there were also 199 pedestrians killed, and another 350 injured.
That seems like a lot to me for a population of almost 9 million, but less than half of the families own motor vehicles.

The second photo is a photo of one way we were felt to feel welcome at our host family upon our arrival in Shirvan. It is a salad with the red color provided by beets, and the “Welcome” being cucumbers.

The third is a pumpkin. While staying with a host family in Khirdilan for one night, I was served a delicious rice and pumpkin dish.

The fourth is of a pomegranate still on the tree. Now is pomegranate season, and they are tasty and cheap. Linda does not care for pomegranates because they are messy for her to eat and she does not like to eat the seeds.

Lastly is a note about souvenirs. When we shared with our family that our invitation from the Peace Corps had come from Azerbaijan, my brother said that he envisioned a tee-shirt which read “My brother served the Peace Corps in Azerbaijan and all I got was this lousy tee-shirt.” I hate to tell him, but he isn’t even getting a tee-shirt. When we pack to go home, we are 2 years older, and we will bring only what we can carry - which isn't as much as we would like to think. There is no souvenir which will be able to fully represent our Azerbaijan experiences. We will not bring souvenirs for our many friends and family, but we will bring our memories.