FOOD

The pictures are: The Bible Study Group which met during training, The older volunteers at the Swearing In, Our Welcome Salad, Bill and Dorothy Colcord with the Country Director Zoltan, and finally Kelsey (one of our site mates) and Linda during our first visit.

Now FOOD:

Every Azerbaijan citizen that we meet who can converse with us asks, "How do you like
Azerbaijani food?" We always respond that it is very delicious.For us it has been a tale of two cities. While we were in Saray at the first home, the
family had troubles budgeting their money. When we gave the rent every 2 weeks, the family
would buy something expensive for the house or new clothes for the children and the food
was okay for a few days, but rarely any meat or eggs. There were many days when all we ate
were starches, bread, and oil. The PC helped us relate the issue to the family and we began
paying weekly. The food improved and we had variety. We also lost about 5% of our body
weight and especially muscle mass. That was when we were begging and you responded with
protein bars, hot chocolate mix, oatmeal, and all the other wonderful things which were
shipped to us. We supplimented our diet with your gifts and our weight loss decreased.
The Peace Corps provides vitamins and calcium suppliments.We also experienced many new tastes such as sheep stomach, cow intestine, pure fat, some
mutton. Much of the diet was tomatoes, bread, butter, a white cheese which is salty and
with little flavor, potatoes, pasta, and rice. The soups contain an extraordinary amount
of oil. Oil and butter is added to everything. Oil is sometimes replaced with mayonaise
in salads.The best dish in Saray was the cabbage leaf dolmas. This dish consists of cabbage leaves
stuffed with a meat, rice and spices. The dolmas were Linda's favorite. (Side note: in
language class when we were asked our favorite foods in Azeri, everyone responded with
Dolma. Not that everyone liked them that much, but it is easy to pronounce.)Then we moved to Shirvan and thought we had hit the mother lode. Our first meal here was
extraordinary. Note the picture of the salad with "WELCOME" in pickles. The salad is
called Rachel's salad after one of the PCV's in Shirvan. It is a potato salad with shreded
beats on top. It is delicious and beautiful. There was also chicken salad, fruit, nuts,
bread, and we worried about weight gain.Our meals in Shirvan are good. What we lack is variety and balance. At our first home we
had good dolmas every week. Here in Shirvan the children do not like dolmas, so we have
had them once on New Year's Eve. I try to explain we need high in fiber and potasium, but
somehow my Azerbaijan language skills don't seem to get the point across. Again, thank you
for all those care packages, we do so appreciate them. We are overwhelmed by your
kindness.It is like everywhere in the world. The dishes are best prepared by the best cooks.
Everyone prepares dolmas, but some are good and some are great. Our weekly diet now
consists of the following:Breakfast is almost always bread, butter, cheese, and hard boiled eggs. We purchased some
jam, and the family now provides jam at every meal. The home prepared strawberry, fig,
mulberry, grape, and cherry are quite tasty. We also have any leftovers from the day
before such as salad.Lunch and supper consists of some basics repeated throughout the week. One of the following
dishes would comprise a typical meal along with bread.Pasta served with butter. Sometimes a bit of meat is added, ketchup may be served on the
side, but it is expensive and not put out often. Linda and I are going to experiment in
trying to prepare an alfredo sauce when provided the opportunity.Fried potatoes with a lot of oil, some onion, and sometimes a little mutton.Sausage which is like a bologna with a little more fat. It is sometimes fried with eggs.A potato salad with some chicken added about half of the time.A soup of oil, onions, potatoes, with chicken or mutton parts.A soup of oil, rice, potatoes, and onion.Potato or chicken salad is a main dish and if left overs are available the salads are
served with the next meals until gone.
A general discussion of Azeri food. Fruits and vegetables are abundant during the harvest
season. We are most fortunate and live in a city where at our bazar we can purchase any
fruit year round. The bananas are expensive, 75 cents a piece. Lemons in season are
reasonable, but oranges are always expensive. Apples are plentiful and reasonable, and
during the fall quite cheap. There is a fruit called quince (hava in Azeri) which is like
an ugly apple and is not sweet, sour, or juicy. Pears are quite good, and lots of grapes
and raisins. Almost every home with a yard has grape vines. Pomagranites are the most
plentiful and a national treasure. We are very fond of the manderines, very tasty
tangerines that seem to be available year round.There are dairy products. Yogurt and a white cheese are stables along with butter. People
buy butter by the 5 kilo (10 pound) blocks. The white cheese is salty and with some
flavor. What we miss are the cheddars, jacks, and smoked cheeses. Crackers are hard to
find. There are many cracker like products, but generally are sweet crackers or not very
sweet cookies.
We have had a couple of dishes occassionally, borscht and kabab. The borscht was quite
tasty once and so so the other times. We have had kabab in a restaurant in Sumqayit that
was fantastic chunks of chicken grilled. We had home made kabab the one time in Saray -
not so hot. The food was grilled not over charcoal briquets, lumber. Not logs, but lumber
with nails, old paint, I'm talking the scrapiest scrap lumber.
In homes salt and pepper are not served in shakers, but little soufle sized dishes.
Everyone takes a bit with their fingers (some children lick their fingers first to help the
grip). Linda and I are getting better. We first had large clumps of salt and pepper in
our food, and now we have medium sized clumps.
Meat is generally mutton, then chicken and then beef. In the evenings I go by the small
meat shop and there is a small steer tied to a post. The next morning he is killed,
skinned, divided and there is fresh meat (taza eti) for sale. The throat of the animal is
always cut while the animal is alive and faces toward the east. The meat is divided by
hand. I have heard that cow's head soup is served, but fortunately have not had the
opportunity to observe first hand. One volunteer was served this "treat" at 7:00 a.m., and
almost lost it when he got a hair caught in his teeth. (So much for the gross commentary)
This morning I jogged and returned home and fixed a cup of hot tea. I looked at it and
said, "Lord, at the wedding in Gana of Galilee you turned the water into wine, might I ask
for a mircle of tea into a cup of Starbucks Italian Roast?"
All in all we are far better off than many volunteers in other countries. If you have any
questions about any area of life in Azerbaijan, email us or leave a comment. Future
discussion will include more about our work, automobiles, and life in general. Remember
the brave young people who serve all over the world in over 80 countries as representatives
of you through the Peace Corps.

WORK

Forgive the format, I copy and paste from a txt document to save time on the internet, and I have not got the paragraphs to come out yet.

Work
My work at the Central Library is in the Internet Access and Training Program. The IATP
was funded by the United States Agency for International Development. There are 10
computers with 1 being the server for the internet. 6 of the 9 are connected to the
internet and one of those is used by the director, Alma. Students come in and sign up for
independent study of Word, Excel, and the Internet. Alma uses structured lesson plans for
basic use of the programs.The IATP also then provides free internet access for the community when the computers are open, first come first served basis. The center is open 7 days a week from 9 - 1 and 2 - 6. In actuality take a half hour off of each of those times for actual use. The students are very slow with the keyboard. Computers and basic office programs are not going to be productive until there is a keyboard skills class begun at the earliest possible age as in
the United States. I am looking for keyboard teaching programs. If anyone can help me,
please email or comment. If I was at Wal-Mart I could purchase a basic keyboard tutoring
for children for about $20 I think. There is probably even shareware available if I have a
chance to find and download.When the students do work in the Office Suite of programs, there are no case studies or assignments. They learn about the functions, but when I ask how they would use such programs, there is the deer in the headlights look. Alma says to me "teach" and I say "how will they use the programs, what should I teach". This is the area I will work on in the next year. My language skills must vastly improve for me to be effective. The students
and Alma have limited English skills.A most interesting person who uses the IATP almost every day is Lily. I would estimate her age at 55. Her English is the best I've heard here. She comes in and uses the computer and internet almost every day. Linda and I hope to get to know her better when we have an apartment of our own to which we can invite her. In this culture she is certainly worth getting to know.

The other aspect of my work, and more successful so far, is conducting conversation clubs. I began with 2 clubs for an hour five days a week. That was too much. I now have the 2 clubs meet on Mon., Wed., Fri. One meets at 10:00 and the other at 4:00. The morning is primarily students from the college, and the afternoon is a complete mix. The conversation clubs are a way to integrate us into the community and give us credibility.The conversation clubs are to have the students practice their English speaking. I tell everyone that I am not an English teacher, I am an English speaker. I have activities that help with vocabulary such as body parts bingo. The students fold a piece of paper into 16 squares, then write down 16 of the 30 or so words I have on the board randomly. Then I call out the word in Azeri, then English until someone gets 4 in a row, then they get a piece of candy. The words are called until everyone has blacked out their cards and everyone has candy. Then we play again using only English and play for a blackout card.The clubs choose topics to discuss in English. They love the subjects of holidays,
cultural differences, and music. I had a great experience when the morning club wanted to
change the meeting time from 11:00 to 10:00. We voted, and the vote was 6 to 6. The club
wanted me to decide, and I refused. In a democracy you must negotiate, and they did. I
offered compromise to 10:30, but they turned that down. They discussed and finally decided
on 10:00 with a vote of 10 - 2. It was great!There is a white board I use every session, and the markers were pretty dim. I had not
figured out where I could purchase the markers. One of the students came in late to
conversation club, and I commented on her being late. She replied she was late because she
stopped to buy a new marker for the board, saying so with the saddest big brown eyes. It
both broke my heart and gave me such a boost.We sing songs such as "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes", "If You're Happy and You Know
It" for breaks during the discussions. So far the biggest hits are the songs and the
bingo. I will share more in the future about attempting to use the conversation clubs for learning life skills and healthy choices.Below Linda writes about the schools.
Azerbaijani SchoolsAZ schools are grades (forms) 1-11. There is no kindergarten or 12th form. School is in two shifts; usually from 8-1:00 and 1:00 to 6:00. September 15 is the start date for all schools in the country and May 30 is the end date. There is no summer school. Most
instruction is from the old Soviet period with lecture, memorizing and repeating back
information the primary means of learning. The Dept. of Edu. is trying to change
instructional methods but change appears slow. Teachers can hit, slap and yell at students
at will. I have observed only yelling, screaming and pounding on the desk. The same state
issued textbooks are used throughout the country. Teachers are encouraged to teach to the
final state test instead to teaching to mastery. AZ students are behind their American
counterparts because of the shorter daily instruction time, shorter school year and poor
instructional methods. There is no special help for slow learners or struggling students.
Only one curriculum at one pace and with one method of instruction is available to students
in AZ schools. The struggling students sit in the back the are ignored by the teachers.
They day dream or play with items. They are expected to be quite so the others can learn.
AZ teachers are poorly paid. A beginning teacher makes only 60-80 manat(dollars) a month.
These teachers usually live with thier parents if not married because they can't afford a
place of their own. Parents who want their children to pass tests for university entrance
usually have their children tutored outside of school at their own expense. Teachers can
make as much money tutoring as teaching and have better students. Most AZ schools have
poor heating so students and teachers wear their coats, hats gloves and boots during the
school day. The schools that I have been in range from clean, new buildings to dirty, run
-down buildings. Education in AZ is very top down. The Dept of Edu decides on the
textbooks to be used and curriculum to be followed for all forms. In each individual
school, the director (principal) makes decisions and there is little teacher input. There
are both men and women at the administrative level. In a typical AZ classroom there are
sutdent desks and a blackboard. No teacher's desk, bare walls, no pencil sharpener, no
equipment, no books. Each student purchases they textbook and pens - none are supplied by
the school. The teacher comes in with a textbook and her purse. Students when asked to go
to the board to write, must provide their own chalk.I am to select two counterparts to work with for the next two years. We are to co-teach with me showing new instructional methods and how to use visual aides. I will be available to all the 9 English teachers in my building to help learn new methods and will conduct teacher workshops. The director seems to want his teachers to learn more interactive instructional methods. Hopefully the teachers will want to learn also. Currently, I am observing in the classes of the 9 English teachers to see who I will co-teach with and what kind of schedule I can work out. I hope to work out a schedule of teaching in the morning session and conversation clubs in the afternoons. The conversation clubs are not graded but will be an opportunity for students to speak English. Often they read some English
sentences but can not carry on a conversation. Their English is really not useful to them.
The older students seem very interested to learning and speaking English because they know
that the best jobs in the country are with western companies and government jobs that
require English. I will keep you updated on how all this develops. The teachers at School 9 have welcomed me with open arms. They are helpful and friendly.
The director has been very nice to me too. All of them seem to be glad to have me. This
was their third application to get a Peace Corps Volunteer to help with English language
teaching. They seem excited to finally have a PCV. Most of the teachers to about early
30's to 64. Several have told me that they are glad to have an experienced teacher.

Everyday activity

In This posting I am concentrating on living conditions. First, the toilet is pictured
above. This is the Asian toilet we have at home. It is really first class because it
flushes, so the odor is slight (the brown stains are rust be assured). The method of
approach is to squat, so it is just as well that I do not have a newspaper because my knees
would give out before I finished the Sports section.The quality of the toilets vary. The public toilets you do not want me to describe or
discuss. At the public toilet there is a person who collects a small fee of 25 cents for
it use. This person does not clean, just collects. The lowest level of toilet has no
paper or water for cleaning. Next there is water available at a sink and sometimes there
is a kind of pitcher called an Aftafa. The aftafa is filled with water and somehow is used
to clean oneself, but Linda and I have not figured that one out yet. In many homes and
restaurants there is the European style of cleaning, a flexible water hose with a sprayer
much like the kitchen sprayers in America. The water pressure is tricky and basically you
can be fairly clean and damp, clean and wet, or very clean but water comes out the nose.
You can always spot the PCV because they have little stashes of TP, tissues, napkins, old
language papers, and anything of use in their pockets, purses, and backpacks.In the first class restaurants in the major cities there are hand dryers, but if there is
anything to dry one'shands it is usually a common towel (always damp), and if there is soap
it is a common bar of soap. Hand sanitizer is treasured by all Volunteers.There are
European style toilets in nicer homes and Soviet era apartments. Most of the time these
flush, but some do not have tanks so we add pitchers of water to flush. The trick with the
Asian is developing a sense of aim. With no newpapers to pass the time I have made up
little games for the toilet. As a bombadeer I have practically won WWII all by myself.One last note, paper is available and the quality varies with price. Our prioritized
budget allows for this luxury (necessity).Washing machines are available and are in a few homes. The quality of the washing machine
is nothing like the automatic washers in the USA. The machines basically fill with water
and agitate. The clothes are then hand wrung, water is drained, items are replaced in the
machine for rinsing, and then and hand wrung, and hung out to dry.In our home, like the vast majority of homes in Azerbaijan, the laundry system is the sink
pictured above. Linda hand washes all our clothes and I help with the wringing out. In
Azerbaijan the women do all of the laundry, and I have yet to see a male assist.We are very fortunate and have access to hot water, but have to plan ahead. The hot water
heater is a metal tank heated by gas jets below. The jets are either on or off. We light
the heater about an hour and a half before hot water is needed. Everyone then baths and
clothes are washed, and finally the gas jets are turned off. There are no insulated hot
water tanks. We shower 3 times a week while the family showers on Sunday.Most of the volunteers host homes have some heat, but the volunteers who rent their own
apartments or houses are usually pretty cold. The PC gives $23 a month extra during the
winter months to help with the extra expense of heat. Heaters can be anything from a
radiator system, space heater (wood or gas), to a small hotplate. We are quite warm
because we are in a more moderate climate with only 2 days below freezing so far. We have
had much milder weather than Missouri has had this winter so far, but everyone warns us
that it is coming.There is also a picture of the living room decorated for New Year's eve which they call
Christmas or xmas holiday. The main character is Shafta Baba (Frosty Grandfather) and
there are also trees. There are trees still going up around the city. On the morning of
12/31 the children will arose and opened their presents. The presents are many times
figurines or toy Santas that sing Frosty the Snowman. This year the children in our home
received a doll and a toy helicopter as the big gifts, and then a gift bag with a few small
toys and lots of candy. For the holiday season we were given an angel whose feather wings
light up with different colors, one of the Santas, and a tree ornament of a small stuffed
cow (I'm not making this up), very nice Azerbaijan souveniers. There wass a lot of food
and at midnight people go outside and shot fireworks. The school is out for 1 week and this past week have been several school parties. Linda
and I attended 2 at her school. There was entertainment, music, speeches, and dancing.
Linda and I were big hits just because we attempted dancing along with the students. We
will demonstrate in 2 years when we return, "Enshallah" which means God willing.Coming Attractions: Food, automobiles, and buses.

The People with Whom We Work and Live

First and foremost, above is a picture of Linda speaking at the swearing in ceremony. The Minister of Education requested that her speech be translated. Linda's Program Director called and informed Linda that her speech has been published in a national education newsletter.Above is a picture of our host family in Shirvan. The father, Hafiz, works for the electric utility as a dispatcher. The mother, Kanule, is a Russian teacher. The children are Fidan, the daughter age 9, and Nijat, the son age 6. Everyone is learning to speak English.Their home is actually owned by Kanule's parents who live in Moscow. The family would be unable to afford such housing on their income of $500.00 per month. They are fortunate in that both are employed and have a regular income. There are some extras in the home such as heat, satellite TV (Turkish), and a computer. Fidan has taught herself English with computer programs and watching English speaking children's programming on the religious channels of their satellite dish. Her pronounciation is quite good. Often Fidan serves as a translater for us when our Azerbaijani fails in the home.Kanule's English is in the early stages with limited vocabulary, less of an ability to pronounce correctly, and grammatical errors. She teaches 3 Russian classes of 45 minutes each. She teaches 6 days a week. (We will write about the educational system in a later post).Hafiz is in the beginning stage of learning English. He attends adult classes at the Turkish school near the home. He has diffulty prouncing sounds, he is learning the verb to be. He has been on vacation while we have been here. He receives 40 days vacation per year. The one day he was called in to work was an 11 hour day.Nijat is very active and demonstrates classic symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome. The family is aware that he is different, but coping skills are negliable. Linda will attempt to find any resources available here for them.In the picture with Linda are teachers from School Number 9 with the male Director who corresponds to a Principal. Linda has been observing their classes for 2 weeks to determine with whom she should work. The teaching styles vary, and Linda is deciding what classes and teachers would most benefit from her presence.Denney is pictured with the Director of the Central Library. The library is open each day from 09:00 until 18:00. Denney is there on Monday through Friday from 09:30 - 12:30 and 14:30 - 17:30. The number of hours that Denney puts in at the library will need to be reduced as he expands activities within the community. During the morning he conducts a conversation club for 1 hour with college students. The afternoon has a 1 hour conversation club with a very diverse group of anyone who wants to show up that day.The club meetings are presently held in the computer room which is funded by USAID in a program called IATP (Internet Access and Training Program). There are 9 computers and a server. 5 of the computers have internet access. The classes (independent study) offered are Word, Excel, and Internet. The Internet usage is primarily chatting, email, and some searches for information. It is free access (slow), and there is normally people waiting.The women with Denney in the computer room are staff at the library. The most important person is Alma on the far right. She is the computer room supervisor and my counter part. There will be more about people in another post. The young woman wearing jeans translates for Denney with the Director. Again, more about people in future posts.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

I am working this Christmas Eve, but my director has been very kind and understanding and I will not be working on Christmas. Linda and I will be sharing Christmas Eve with our host family and 2 other volunteers, Kelsy and Joyce. Joyce is coming from Lankaran. Linda, Joyce and Kelsy will prepare food for tonight for everyone.
Tomorrow, Christmas Day, Linda and I will read scripture and listen to Christmas music all day. We have a ham, a present from Debbie and Edna, we have saved for Christmas day. We are enjoying all the energy bars, hot chocolate, teas, candy, cookies, beef jerkey, canned meat, dried fruits, oatmeal, and everything else that you are so thoughtful to send to us.
Life in Shirvan is quite good right now. The weather has not been as severe as it has in Kansas City. We are adjusting, but must improve our language skills. We can negotiate the markets and initial greetings, but not much beyond that.
There is a music school here in Shirvan, and we are going to a concert on December 29. That will help us integrate into our community. We are always looking for community events to attend.
Our work is basically to be an English speaker and improve the skills of anyone who desires to improve. The computer skills are Excel and Word. The use of the internet is primarily email and chatting.
The price of oil dropping is good for the US, but it has affected the economy here negatively. Those fortunate enough to work for the oil companies may be facing some layoffs. We know the economy in the US is suffering also. Let's all hope that the bottom of the negative trends is either here or approaching quickly, and the upturn will begin.
I will include pictures with my next post. I have a wonderful picutre of Linda speaking at our swearing in ceremony. Everyone would have been so proud of her. She shared that now was the time in our lives for us to give back to the world and especially Azerbaijan. She wore a skarf she purchased in Baku and stated that she wore the skarf to have something from Azerbaijan, but in 2 years she will have the people and memories in her heart.
Denney's current hair style is a cross between a buzz cut and chaos. He wears a european style hat most of the time.
The New Year's holiday here last one week with an emphasis on being with family and extended relatives.
Please post any questions you might want us to answer in the comments and we'll do our best.
God Bless you all.

Christmas in Azerbaijan Approaches

Christmas approaches, but there is no Christmas music. The holiday here is New Year's Eve. That is when the presents are given. There are many Christmas trees, and we will post a picture of our host family's tree in the next posting.

Above are a few pictures:A classroom in one of the older schools in Lankaran, Linda and Kevin (PCT) with our host family in Saray. The view of the kitchen in Saray from the door of our room. Grilling in Saray, and the view from our door to the dining area.

We are getting our mail at the new address in about 2 weeks so far. We appreciate all your thoughts and cards.

Linda's birthday was a huge success and she received 24 cards and other assorted gifts such as peanut butter.

Linda is observing in classrooms this week and next. She will then decide on whom of the 9 English teachers to work with.

I am at the library each day and have conversation clubs in the morning and afternoon.

Our new host family in Shirvan are wonderful to us. We are warm, safe, and learning our way around our new city.