Home safe and sound from Turkey

First, the great news is that Andrew Rives and Emily Taylor are engaged. They are both history teachers at Harrisonville High School. We have never met Emily, and look forward to welcoming her into our family as I am sure her family will welcome Andrew.

We had a wonderful trip to Turkey. It was a great 11 days and 10 nights. We traveled with 3 other Peace Corps Volunteers, left to right in the first photo is Connie Hayes, Linda, myself, Suzan Moyer, and Leslie Schoolfield. We are at the Hosh Seda for our first meal in Istanbul. It was such a delightful atmosphere. The restaurant features fish, and I had a swordfish kabab, while everyone else enjoyed a tasty chicken kabab. We literally watched the world go by. We saw so many nationalities, heard many languages and observed different cultures while sitting in this central square.

Our flights were with Turkish Airlines and they were very comfortable, and the food was delicious. When we landed in Istanbul our travel agency OneNation Travel representative met us and transported us to our hotel in the heart of the old city. Our hotel was the Q-Inn Sultanahmet. We were within walking distance of the Sea of Marmara, the Blue Mosque, the Ana Sophia church/mosque/museum, and great restaurants.

Our first evening was free and the hotel recommended the above restaurant. We began our tour of Istanbul bright and early on Tuesday, June 15. The highlight of the day was a boat ride on the Bosphorus strait which connects the Marmara and the Aegean Seas. The water was exceedingly clean. Turkey has a strong emphasis on cleaning its environment and water. The Sea of Marmara once had 110 species of fish, but now has only five, but the Bosphorus was beautiful.

We were taken to the Spice Bazaar where we could have bought anything our hearts desired. We also visited a Sultan’s Palace which was used for state visits and business. At the end of the day, we were high above the city enjoying a cool drink and the beautiful views.

The final photo is one of my favorites and is self-explanatory.

If anyone is thinking of traveling to Turkey, please go. The people, the country, and the tourist business are all top quality and at a very reasonable price. We were concerned since the flotilla incident, and we all regret the loss of life. The people of Turkey were exceptionally kind and friendly to us. We realize we are a tourist dollar, but still the feeling was genuine.

Next week, and probably every week until we return we will have photos from our trip to Turkey. Our final observation for our first report is that the women of Turkey are much more conservative in their dress than Azerbaijan. We saw many women with hijabs (head coverings), long coats, frocks, dresses. However, the women are much freer in that culture to drive cars, work, play, and interact socially than the women of Azerbaijan. Their dress is conservative religious, but their opportunities are unlimited.

The weather here has moderated a little, but still very warm. The excitement is the World Cup. Many of the teahouses have set up televisions for the games much like sports bars in the USA.

This is just an introduction – stay tuned!

Mature Women Visit Lahuj

The photos are of the Mature Women’s get-together at Lahuj. The first picture is of 9 of the participants who hiked on the first day. Listed are their name, site, and home state:
Back row; Linda Gies, Ganja, Illinois/Missouri, Linda Rives, Shirvan, Missouri, Dorothy Colcord, Barda, Massachusetts, Bonnie Campbell, Ganja, Michigan, Front row; Margaret Gale, Ganja, New York, Leslie Schoolfield, Salyan, Texas, Susan Moyer, Qazak, Minnesota, Connie Hayes, Qazak, Arizona, Catherine BrooksKenyon, Yevlakh, N/A.

The other photos are of the trail they hiked, obstacles along that trail, beautiful scenery, and Linda victorious in making it all the way to the waterfall destination.

There are currently 13 Mature Women (women over the age of 50) serving in Azerbaijan. On the first weekend of June, 11 of us traveled to Lahuj, a remote mountain village in the north of Azerbaijan. We all enjoyed seeing one another and talking about our Peace Corps work. The AZ6 mature women helped answer some of the questions that the AZ7 women have encountered during their first months of service. The AZ6 women also talked about our plans after leaving the Peace Corps. Seven of us hiked back into the lower mountains to a small waterfall and then up onto a higher trail and back to the village. It was rather strenuous but we helped each other and enjoyed the activity. We all enjoyed seeing the coppersmith’s handiwork. We purchased gifts for family and ourselves. The people of Lahuj were friendly and welcoming. Another day the group journeyed by 4-wheel-drive vehicle and then walked the remaining way to a small mountain village with no road entrance. The people speak their own language and villagers have no chairs but sit on the floors. All around us were beautiful mountains, cliffs, streams, flora and fauna. This is probably the most unspoiled area I have ever visited.
It is not easy to travel to Lahuj. All of us had to travel one day by several buses, vans and taxis to get to the village. The last of the road is not passable after a rain because of rockslides. On one side you were right next to a mountain wall and on the other side it was a long way down to the river valley below. At times we had to share the road with herds of sheep. We were very exhilarated by the time we arrived in Lahuj. During good weather, there are three vans that leave and arrive in Lahuj each day. In one of the pictures, we are standing in front of the Improtex Travel Bureau. A fine young man from Lahuj has just opened this business for the summer months. As word spreads of this wonderful place there will be more people coming. I like the idea that others come and see this beautiful mountain village but I also fear that it will become commercialized and loose its authentic charm.
One of the best products of the trip was the camaraderie felt among the Peace Corps Mature Women.

While the women were in Lahuj, Bill came to visit with me in Shirvan (see last week's posting). We are the only men over the age of 30 serving in Azerbaijan. All the other AZ6 and AZ7 men over that age Early Terminated, some in pre-training, some in training, and some after no more than 3 months on site. Bill and I have a great friendship.

We will post again after we return from Turkey. There are five of us, Susan, Leslie, Connie, Linda and myself. Hopefully we will share some wonderful experiences.

Gobustan revisited

The pictures indicate the flooding problem which Azerbaijan has endured and is enduring still. The first photo is of the sandbag dike along the park in the old city. The water was up to the top of the sandbags. The water level would have been to the bottom of the benches in the park and there are several homes below that level. The second photo is of the ferry boat dock. It is normally about 25 feet lower. The third is of the sandbagging even below a restaurant. The fourth is of a river bank restaurant, and the fifth is of the restaurant last spring.

Linda and I revisited the river bank this week and the water is down by about a meter. The restaurant is now covered with about a foot of silt, but above water. There are still many displaced people and soldiers serving temporarily here in Shirvan.

Today Linda is back in Lahic (pronounced lahuj) with 9 other older women volunteers. They will be joined by 3 more this afternoon. It is the “Mature Women Volunteers” retreat. The retreat was begun last year by the AZ5 mature women which numbered 3. They were also known affectionately as the Golden Girls. This year after discussing with other AZ6’s Linda made the arrangements for this year’s retreat. It will be the only time some of the AZ6 and AZ7 volunteers will meet and spend time with each other.

While Linda was in Lahic, Bill Colcord came to Shrivan to keep me company. We took a group from my Conversation Clubs to Gobustan. I have written about Gobustan on earlier blogs. It is one of the earliest sites of civilization in the world with some of the drawings dating to 30,000 B.C. There were 3 males and 8 females. After the guided tour they took a 2 hour hike into the mountain rocks. Everyone had a great time.

Today was one of those “Peace Corps Moments” for me. Bill, the driver, the mother of two of the girls, and I were sitting in a shaded area, and from atop of the rocks the others were shouting and waving to us. I told Bill, “They will never forget this.” They began shouting “Deni, Deni, Deni…”, and I said to Bill, “And, I will never forget that!”

The weather is very hot here, in the 90’s. It is as hot now, as it got all last summer. We are beginning to wonder what July and August will be like. We had heard stories about temperatures over 110 in the past, but were treated to a very mild summer last year.

We hope all is well in the United States. We are of course concerned about the oil leak and damage to the beautiful coastal regions from Texas to Florida.

Recent events make for political tensions, but Azerbaijan has responded very deliberately and slowly. The official response has been one of national political maturity.

The last big event in this part of the world has been Eurovision. Eurovision is a multi-country musical competition. There were 35 countries participating. Germany won the competition, and Azerbaijan placed 5th. For more information you must take time to visit www.eurovision.tv - let me encourage you to take the time to listen to some of the music and read the history of this event.