Sparks Fly

"The way you move is like a full-on rainstorm
And I'm a house of cards
You're the kind of reckless that should send me running
But I kinda know that I won't get far

And you stood there in front of me
Just close enough to touch
Close enough to hope you couldn't
See what I was thinking of

Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain
Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain
'Cause I see sparks fly
Whenever you smile"

My head is overwhelmed with everything going on but I'm trying my best to sort through them.  This morning I stopped by a bakery to ask the guy when he wanted to set up a community conversation club and I ended up buying two pastries (plus he threw in two VERY sugary extras).  SUGAR RUSH!  AH!  BUT the good news it that he was able to work out a room for everyone to meet in.  Now, the challenge is to contact all these people that I've been wanting to get together and see if the time frame works out for them.  He told me the room is a lecture hall, with comfortable seats, a blackboard, and a microphone.  Woah, buddy!  This is going to be interesting.

Last week I tried to read everything I could about organic gardening and worm composting..jealous?  After my trip to Georgia the construction on the worm house and greenhouse will start.  Isn't that crazy?!  It feels like I've only been here a month.

Meet Mr. California Red Worm

This past weekend I travelled to Mingachiver to visit with Jane and her sister (Amerikadan!).  What's lovely about visiting other PCV's is that there is always an event to attend and this weekend was no different. On Sunday there was a softball tournament between different cities.  The competing cities were Ganja, Mingachiver, Tovuz, and Oguz.

This weekend I will be attending a youth camp in the region north of mine (and hopefully have plenty of photos for your viewing pleasure).

I have started focusing more of my time on studying Azerbaijani and I have also started studying Russian.  I figure since I'm here and there is the chance to master both of these languages, why not?  Russian will not be a language I will speak in public here but there are some that will let me practice with them in their houses.

One of the more comical sides to the PC is that we try our best to integrate into the community but it's difficult to do when we are just SO different.  This PCV summed up some of our "struggles" well in this little video:  Poop In a Hole.  The video is hilarious and highly accurate!  Now to flip this mood..on one of my many marshrutka rides I had an old man "bother" me.  Normally, I would have turned around and shamed him but something in me panicked.  After about 20 minutes, I took action and just felt horrible the rest of the day for not doing something earlier.  Why didn't I react?  I kept thinking "DO SOMETHING!" and my stupid brain's response was "But then it'll cause a scene and I don't want a scene."  I look back and think "I should have caused a scene."  Lesson learned.. I was already in a weird mood when I got on this ride but after that incident I went into such a deep funk for 4 days.  Luckily, when I was walking with my friend to the bus for Ming I had my normal thoughts "I FREAKIN LOVE MY LIFE!"  :)  Then like all of my days, about a minute after realizing my returned happiness I got another lovely surprise.. HAHA! BUT I didn't let it ruin my high. When I review the days I've had here, it makes me feel like I'm in some sort of romantic comedy.  People keep telling me that I need to write a book about all the strange coincidences and funny times I have here but I figure all PCV's have these days...I hope.

That disturbing bus ride was to the beautiful city of Sheki!  We made a day trip up there for souvenir shopping, exploring, and eating nummy food.  Alise bought a beautiful jewelry box for her friends in Amerikastan and we got lost walking around the town.  Now getting lost in Sheki is a great thing because everywhere you go is beautiful scenery.

This man makes these beautiful jewelry boxes and plaques.

Plaques that he has made.  In the upper left corner there is a postcard from Houston, TX.  A previous volunteer bought one of the jewelry boxes and brought it back home for his family.

The beautiful jewelry boxes.

In an antiques shop these old books smelled amazing.

It was hard to pass up this BEAUTIFUL blanket.

Yeah.. love the bears.

Yes, I think I do want a bust for my desk.

The rain was about to come down.

I love how this town is nestled in the mountains.

Who would ever walk to this door and have sad thoughts?

My roommate and I had a "BRILLIANT" idea to have an Insanity Marathon Thursday night.. It was brilliant until we were laying on the ground crying in pain.  She ended up doing 6 videos while I only did 5.  We will need another one of these days because this chaotic schedule doesn't lend to routine workouts.

Today is my 2nd day with this new tutor and I'm actually excited!  This is a first.. I normally can't stand the teaching styles around here but she motivates me to learn more.

Breakdown

"I need this here

Old train to breakdown

Oh please just

Let me please breakdown

I wanna break on down

But I can't stop now

Let me break on down"

Like many volunteers I talk with, I have started to feel like my service is not like how I would had imagined it.  Now my experience is the opposite of many but I still have similar insecurities.  I started to work on a list of my strengths and weaknesses - so that I could enhance the strengths and ameliorate the weaknesses.  One of my greatest weaknesses is the language - I feel that this problem is the root of many weaknesses.  Examples of the snowball effect:  I am not able to present without a translator (I feel like a lot is lost in translation and I'm awkward when I present with one), I can't communicate with the farmers to learn more about their issues, I am only able to connect with English speakers in my community (so my range of people is limited), and I want the people in my city to know how much I appreciate being here (I feel that learning the local language is one step to acceptance). 

     Now since my life here seems to be on a bullet train, I've been developing ways to stay at site more often as well as take some much needed breaks from life, work, and community.  On one of these lovely breaks on a Sunday afternoon I was flipping through some flashcards left by a previous PCV and I came up with these following photos.  I love to be creative and artistic, so I had a BLAST taking all these and running around my house thinking of funny scenarios.  I hope you enjoy the silliness that is me and soon understand that my brain learns better when I'm in this state.

You Never Know

"Don't lose the dreams inside your head
They'll only be there til you're dead
Dream
...
Everyday should be a good day to die"

Today was day one of the counterpart conference and again I'm reminded about how lucky I am to be here and work with such excellent people.  So I figured I'd type up some random words to amuse those that seem to enjoy my strange life.  I opened up my bank account for the grant the other day.. Oh nothing here is ever boring..believe me.  The bank employees (and some customers) had a large debate if the money I was going to receive would be taxable and it took about 6 of them to talk to me and then call my friend to have him translate for me.  It. was. HILARIOUS!  I had a fellow volunteer with me and it took everything in me not to bust out laughing.  I really need to improve my Azeri and possibly avoid such situations.  Or maybe I like the chaos, who knows.. I will now have 3-4 weeks until I officially start my project.  I'm BEYOND excited!  So much of my life feels like a fairy tale.  I'm working on a great project, I work with a great organization, I have a great family, and great friends all around.  :)  There are always issues and drama a plenty but with such wonders in my life, there is no need to mope around!

Oh I highly recommend the BeachBody Insanity videos, they feel great.  I only say this now because I'm not in the middle of a work out.  I may not say the nicest things to Mr. Shaun-T during the training but when we are apart I long for his insane behavior and all of his six-pack glory.  HAHA!

Life is simple and oh so beautiful. I don't ask for much, just love and dry shoes.

Oh and laughter..

Sleepyhead

"And you said, it was fire around the brim
Burning solid, burning thin the burning rim
Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes
You were one inch from the edge of this bed
I dragged you back a sleepyhead, sleepyhead"

Let's see what have I been up to lately...

I know this is really late but here is some of what I did during the month of March.  Novruz is the Spring holiday during March. You can find more information here or here.

FUNNY STORY ALERT!  You guys should all be aware by now that I love to try everything once.  Well during this holiday you jump over a fire 3 times and you make wishes during this process.  My host family found it funny for me to say the one about wanting to get married this year.  So yeah, I'm game, why not?  We did the fire jumping and then went inside to enjoy some delicious food.  While we were hanging out and chattin' it up a hat was thrown into the house!  I nearly died!  This is also a tradition during this time, children knock on the doors, throw the hat, and then run.  Well my host nana filled the hats and talked to the parents of the kids.  She told the woman what I had said during the fire jumping, which just made me laugh...at that moment...  Well my host family knows my child-like spirit so they took me to toss my own hat. The woman that we tossed our hats to was the same woman at the house and she had something to tell me and it went a little something like this.. (the words are still blurry but the plot is there).

Woman: Do you really want to get married?
Me: Yeah!
Woman: I found a boy.
Me: Cool!
Woman: Do you want to meet him?
Me: Oh... ha ha.. No...

I probably shouldn't play around with these women... BUT does that stop me? NEVER!! Skip 2 months later.

Woman: How are you?
Me: I'm great!
(small chit-chat)
Woman: Do you like Azerbaijan?
Me: YES! I LOVE IT!
Woman: Are you single?
Me: Yes.
Woman: You should marry an Azeri man and live in Azerbaijan forever.
Me: InshALLAH! (God Willing!)
Woman: Really?!
Me: Oh..no.. ha ha ha..

Yeah.. I don't learn.  I probably have this conversation about 50% of the time when I meet a new woman on the street.  I kid you not.  I've been told there are sons and nephews available.


BACK to the Novruz goodies.. Here is an excerpt from one of my attempts to type up my happenings during March.. Nush olsun.

"Friday night, the Barda crew and a couple other PCV’s got together for Megan’s birthday and had some fun.  Afterwards, I took my FIRST night train into Baku! It was an experience.  I can’t take all the credit for my successful trip because I got help from my friend, Elvin.  He’s been such a great help to me and other volunteers in Barda.  I call him my Azeri Brother and I don’t know what’s going to happen once he permanently relocates to Baku, BUT I’m excited about his wedding!  It’s going to be exciting!  My other friend picked me up from the train station, which arrived an hour and a half later, ummm ooops. Sorry. HAHA! Then I was lucky enough to attend an event where the new US Ambassador, Matthew Bryza, for Azerbaijan was present and talking to the young minds of Azerbaijan.  The topic was interesting and it was fascinating to see the debate held between the group and Bryza. To watch the whole video click here.

After the event, I met up with my gal Jodi and had some delicious food and some good times with good friends.  The next day we all got together for some Sunday Brunch and I headed to Sumgayit with Jon (who was also visiting his Sumgayit Host Family).  It was amazing to see to my old host family.  I missed them dearly.  It showed me how far I have come with my language training even though my speaking isn’t at the same level as my listening skills.  News about my Sumgayit host family: my host sister got engaged, they miss me too, and we made a big bonfire for Novruz.

Now the days following (Wed-Sun) I was lucky enough to stay with one of my friends and his wonderful family that let me crash at their place, eat their food, and use their shower.  Yup those are important qualities to me and it made my time there quite amazing.  I was impressed with their friendliness, intelligence, and generosity.  During those days I visited with other PCV’s that came through Baku, worked on different projects over the internet, talked to my family, and explored Baku.  I walked all over that city and spent some time next to the sea just letting my mind go.  It was a relaxing time and I had a blast!"

I will post more stories...later (InsAllah!)

The Lucky One

"You’re the lucky one so I’ve been told
Free as the wind blowin down the road
Loved by many, hated by none
I’d say you were lucky cause I know what you’ve done
Not a care in the world not a worry in sight
Everything’s going to be all right
Cause you’re the lucky one"

In April, I applied for a Small Project Assistance (SPA) grant and on Monday I found out that it was accepted!  Hopefully, we will start construction on the greenhouse and worm house at the end of June.  This is great news and I've been scrambling to gather more information about organic gardening and worm composting before we start the trainings of farmers.  I want there to be an abundance of information.  My other idea is that if this project is a success to implement it in other villages or even other regions.  There is an organization that may find some interest in this project and want to start similar programs elsewhere.

My life has been going a million miles a minute and it's been difficult to find time to just relax.  Everyday I wonder how I became so lucky.

On the personal side, I've started the BeachBody Insanity program and I have to say it is appropriately named.  Next month, I will add in morning runs to help prepare for the 15km in October.  My goal is to drop some weight and increase my stamina.

Here are some of the better pictures I've taken over the last month.  Oh it's been such a joy and challenge..

 A must see.. Statue of Lenin in Yevlakh

 Some very furry camels hangin out outside of Mingechiver.

 Yeah.. I'm out of practice.  Some PCV's met up in the village of Danachi to play softball with Jane's kids.

 Gakh pilgrimage.

 Ah.. the Peace Corps life..

 On the mountain side in Gakh.  It was a beautiful day!

 Inside the old church.

 Everything about this day was beautiful.

 Jumping in a field of poppies

 The winding road.

 An old church in Qakh city.

 Yeah, that's a restroom, but isn't it cool?

 About 7' deep, I assume it's for composting..

 She had an amazing farm.

 Village visits always bring about the best photo opportunities.

 She was worried that my family didn't like me being so far from home.

 Farmer and a trainer discussing the latest crop.

 My favorite type of fences.

 These type of poles are everywhere.

 Out in the field.

 Inside one of the village greenhouses.

 Team Spirit! Go USA!

LOVE IT! :P 

 Mingechiver.

 I fell in love with this fountain.

Roses are in bloom, EVERYWHERE! It's jaw-dropping.

The House that Built Me

Where did this fun begin, you may ask... Buyurun (here you go)

Peace Corps: The Toughest Job You Will Ever Love

Graduate School: Because the Pain of Getting a Bachelors Just Wasn’t Enough

Master’s International: Let’s Get Together!

I was sitting in Physics II doing what every physics student does – drift off during the lectures.  I had been talking to professors at different graduate schools, Air Force recruiters, and potential employers about my plans after graduating and nothing felt right.  There was this gap in the story that I was missing.  I know this may sound romanticized but I glanced at the bulletin board and saw a sign for the Peace Corps.  I slowly put my books and pencils up and prompting left class.  My whole life I had dreamed of serving in the Peace Corps but never did I think it would be possible, until now.  The Peace Corps was one of those dreams that was more like a fantasy, rather than a goal.  I had to go through major struggles to obtain my Bachelors degree and I was living in America, the land of opportunity.  If it was so difficult for me to get a Bachelors I couldn’t imagine what it must be like for people living outside the US.  They must be information starved.  I felt that since I have been so lucky to learn so much from my education that I could show other people in other countries my persistence and share my knowledge.  I knew that the information I received at A&M was rare and that maybe I could travel and share everything I have learned.  This information could be as simple as how to navigate a college’s website to what the building blocks of life are composed of.

When I first started researching the Masters International program I couldn’t find a college at Texas A&M that resembled my bachelors degree so I moved on, until a professor pointed out to me that Plant Pathology includes molecular biology.  After this realization I started contacting everyone I could in all the departments to find out if I was qualified.

The application for the MI program felt like a complicated tango, but everyone in all three sections (grad school, PC, and MI) were helpful with the details even though I went the reverse route when I applied to the PC first then to the masters program but with some adjustments we were able to work it out.  

Like everything in the Peace Corps or more simply, like everything in life, everyday is a challenge and a learning experience.  I studied for one year in the Plant Pathology department and in September of 2010 I was sent to Azerbaijan under the umbrella of the Community Economic Development sector.  I am here with six other MI students from other universities, but most of their majors are in the social sciences.  My latest related accomplishments have been: learning the translations for several plant diseases, and giving a presentation over global warming.  Soon I will be working with another PCV to give a presentation over integrated pest management and some organic agriculture fun.  I submitted my first grant on April 14th.  If this grant is a success we will start construction on a greenhouse in the Barda region with a woman's group and a worm house in the Tartar region.  Both of these buildings will be serving as Organic Agriculture Demonstration centers.  

I get several questions about why I joined and what I plan to do after the Peace Corps.  The above section tackles the past and the present, this next section will attempt to explain my future.  If you have been reading my blog or have spoken to me, you are aware of my inability to keep a straight thought or explain myself with any type of clarity, BUT I will attempt this, for everyone's sake. 

My immediate goal after the Peace Corps will be to finish my Masters in Plant Pathology.  Now after this I have several forks in the road, which include more international work in agriculture or in the health sector.  If I choose the ag sector then I will immediately turn around and apply for international work but if I fancy the health section I would like to start medical school with a focus in Infectious Diseases, Public Health, or Oncology, then take my knowledge to the international arena.  OH and if any Azeri asks then my answer is "I will be getting married right after I return and having 3 lovely children." Ha!

*Donna News*

HOWDY!!!

Long time since I have been able (or allowed) to post.  I was happy to be able to crack the whip to Donna and get her to post personally.  We have been skyping randomly and catching her on gchat when possible.  Sometimes I can call her when skype isn't being a butthead, but other than that things are going well.  Its very exciting that we are about a year away from seeing her in person!!  This time next year, we should be almost ready to start our family trek to see DONNA!   Its been really funny that Donna keeps running into business people and accountants in the Peace Corps, she just can't get away from us!!  For those of you following the news about the conflict in the area, she is safe and is being watched.  Anytime that she even thinks about doing something opposite of the culture, she gets lectured by all those around her, which makes us very HAPPY!!

Well, I know you guys are really here to see what I have about Donna.  Well she sent us some pictures of her making pizza with some new friends she has made.  I hope you like them!!

Youth Say What?!

For The Week Starting on February 14th (Post-Valentine's Weekend)

Compared to the other stories, this week was less eventful (from what I remember) but the weekend was still up there with the others. So fast forward to when the ladies from all over the 'baijan arrive in Barda. Morgan sends me an email letting me know that she is no longer in possession of her phone.  I believe some water giant jumped up and took it out of her hands, but she's claiming that she dropped it.  My story is still much better and in my mind that is exactly what happened.  Anyways, I digress.  Alise and Jane make it to Barda around the same time.  Jane from Zaqatala and Alise from Agstafa.  Well before I could send off an email to Morgan explaining how to get to my house she had already left her site.  So I let the ladies know that Morgan should be in town soon but I had no idea how to find her.  I figured one of three things would happen: she would find the Ox office, find an internet club to get my directions, and last that she'd just wait at the bus station.  Jane, Alise and I were getting ready to go hang out at the bus station when I received a call from my counterpart. "DONNA! Where are you? You're friend here!" Then I heard Morgan's voice in the background.  This clever girl made her way to my organization.  We then went to my org to pick up Ms. Morgan.  After we pick her up she explains that she asked for the Ox offices and they pointed her to AIM (my organization).  When she entered my work she asked if this was Ox and if Donna was here.  Of course my counterpart quickly corrected her and let her know that "Donna does not work for Ox."  HAHA! No ma'am, I do not.

We wandered over to Ed and Nancy's house (fellow sitemates) to visit and catch up with them.  It was great to see everyone together since some of us hadn't really interacted much since training.  We were able to talk and also make some quick plans for that following night.  We hung out with the ladies at rex and called it a night.  Again, it's always interesting to hear them talk about their lives and service in the rex.  I admire their work and hope to one day make the same impact.

The next morning we went over to Ox for the Youth Camp.  The camp was mind-blowing. The ideas that were shared and spread will hopefully resonant with those youth for years to come.  The youth camp was 2 days and it connected youth from neighboring villages.  They had lectures covering empowerment, community involvement, networking, and further opportunities in life.  The event went smoothly and there were several great discussions covering all these topics.  Jane even stepped up to the plate and expressed her opinion IN AZERBAIJANI!  Word, Jane.  I have nothing but respect for you!  I never set out to work with youth but when you are around so many thriving minds, you can't help but become inspired and wonder "what can I do next?"  Fabulous experience.

Will You Be My Sweetheart?...and you...and you...

The Week Starting: Monday February 7th (Post Superbowl Travel)

The day I came back from Ganja was pretty much shot because I had probably 10 hours of sleep that whole weekend.  BUT the next day we got to meet with the local police here.  This is a routine event with people that are not from Azerbaijan.  It was pleasantly and everyone was really friendly.  My story for this event doesn't even have to do with the Police.  While I was waiting on some of my sitemates to meet up with me I complimented a lady on her lovely boots and she replied in English.  I immediately started thinking "AH! I must KNOW her!" For the people that know me well, know that I have a problem with being too sociable so I held back my squeal and asked her where she works and other general information. When we were walking away to meet the police I hurried up and gave her my number. I was so ecstatic. We've since talked and she's only available on the weekends so I've been trying to figure out how to best get some women together on Saturdays to just talk and be ourselves.

Later in the day I stopped by rex to have some dinner and just bother them, for which I do believe I'm becoming an expert at. HAHA!  I got to meet some guys from S and at the moment I can't remember what organization they worked for.  I was excited to just hang out and I turned off my business mind.  You know what's funny, when I typed that statement I could hear the sarcasm in all my friend's voices saying "yeah like you ever have your business mind turned on."  For which I will reply by sticking out my tongue.  Yup, that's it. Ok back to the dinner.  I met an Azeri that works in Baku there and he gave me a 20 minute Azerbaijani lesson and told me that when he lived in Barda that he use to work with the PCV's here and tutor them.  In that short lesson I learned so much and felt this wonderful confidence.  If only he was still working here.  It was a great night and I still think what the organizations are doing in this area is mind-blowing.  I love to hear them talk about their adventures working in the field, which are sometimes so completely different then mine (the little ol' pcv)  and then sometimes so similar.

Now let's jump to the GOOD part!  I had my first conversation club at Ox on Friday and I had this BRILLIANT idea that I could catch a bus to Sheki following the meeting.  We all know that my brilliant ideas usually run astray.  This one wasn't any different.  I went into the bus station and realized that the bus to Sheki was only in the morning.  SOO after staring at the ticker for like 10 minutes a man that works there came up to me to ask me where I wanted to go.  When I told him my destination he so nicely informed me that I had missed it but that tomorrow morning I could catch it OR I could jump on the next bus to Yevlax then catch a Sheki bus there.  Me being me was like, "OK Let's DO THIS!" I get to Yevlax and man informs me that there is no bus to Sheki but to wait on the side of the road for one.  He stood there waiting with me, so I was thinking that he also wanted to go to Sheki, what are the odds?!  Well at that time another PCV called me about something other than travel but we ended up talking about my predicament.  The day light hours were winding down and it was looking bleak so I made a decision to head back to Barda.  I got off the phone and told the man there that I was going back to Barda and that I couldn't travel at night.  He then walked with me towards the bus to Barda and I stopped walking like "umm... can I help you?"  He explained to me that it was better if I just take a Taxi back and he flagged one down for me and told them that I would only pay 1 manat.  Now I never asked for his help but he stood there that whole time taking care of me.  For all those people that talk about how bad some men are, remember this guy.  A true gentlemen.  As we drove off back to my home I saw him light a cigarette and walk in the opposite direction from where we were originally standing.  To that man, thank you.
The next morning I promptly headed to the right bus and left on the bus by myself.  The driver offered me the front seat, by telling me it's warmer up there.. yeah.. no thank you.  HAHA!  I'll be cold in the back. When I arrived in Sheki I met up with a couple PCV ladies and one PCV dude to go hiking up one of their beautiful snow-covered mountains.  I'm not use to this type of environment so I was downright giddy and couldn't control my happiness.  These ladies and Gene were my first round of Valentines.  :) We took a hike up for a bit, took some pictures and headed down for a little lunch.  The hike was magistic.  If I could have kept going I would have loved it..and froze to death. OH OH OH! ON my way down from the hike Lilli and I went running down.  Oh yeah, this big girl went RUNNING down the mountain.  It was awesome!  Ok back to lunch.  During lunch we had our girl focused talks and Gene sat by patiently listening to us and just hanging out.. THEN he said some magical words about a woman having a white rose for Valentine's Day and he busted out with these "white roses" he had constructed.  He put lotion and a couple pieces of candy in white tissue paper and tied it with a red ribbon.  He gave us all one.  I have to say that was probably the most amazing V-day gift ever.

After the hike and lunch, Jane and I caught a bus to Zaqatala to continue the Valentine's day weekend in her neck of the woods.  We hung out with 2 other PCV's and then on Sunday we took another bus to her village.  We visited with her host family and went to her conversation club.  She had gathered supplies in Zaqatala for her club to make Valentines.  Now just saying, you know the outcome.  It was just as precious as you can imagine.  A couple of the kids made Valentines for Jane and me.  This made me do the "awwwww how precious" constantly.  So now add that to my count of Valentines. Ha ha! Still keeping a tally?  After that we went to her place and played a wicked game of UNO with her host family.  They switched to their language of Avar to ask each other questions and try to trip up the ethical system of UNO.  So instead of be good, Jane and I rose to the level and spoke to each other in broken Spanish. Yeah, we aren't above this activity.  It was a great time.  Jane whipped up a brownie mix her family from the States had sent her.  Num num num..

The next morning I caught a bus back to Zaqatala and then one to Barda.  Once I got to my house my sitemate called me up and invited me over for some Spaghetti and Valentine's Day fun! She gave me the cutest Valentines and made some decent Spaghetti.  I absolutely love this girl!  We watched the V-day episode of Glee and it gave the weekend of love a great ending.

Fondue, Cosmos, and...Superbowl?

Nothing in this experience/adventure am I ever prepared for and this includes watching the Superbowl, yes people, THE Superbowl.  As most of you may know I barely watched it when I was in the States but here, it's essential. It's that thing that makes me feel connected to home.

Let's begin the week on Monday, January 31st.

I went into my organization feeling slightly agitated and when I was told that I need to translate some material faster a light bulb in my head went off.. I need to take some time off to relax and get to know my community.  So I ended up going home and doing just that.  The rest of the week I worked on my plans to start women's groups, conversation clubs, and just routines that will save my sanity.  The week was packed with more activities then I could have imagined for a "week off".  I continued my workouts with the p90 system (not to be confused with the p90x system) and just felt generally better about myself.

On Saturday I spent some quality time with my amazing sitemate Megan.  She really is a blessing to have here with me.  The adventures we get into always make us giggle and it feels better when someone is there to express the opinion that "yeah.. that was crazy".  That night I headed over to rex for some fondue and friendship.  They had some amazing fondue, wine, cosmos, hummus, and some kind of garlic yogurt mixture.  All very delicious and FAR from what I would ever imagine I'd eat while in the PC.  I learned that when the fondue pot starts to empty out the French (or so he told us) like to crack an egg into the remaining cheese.  My following comment to this action was "mmm I love the taste of salmonella."  Yeah.. You know I went there.  When the cheese and egg were all cooked together it actually turned out to taste like a cheesy egg (who would have THOUGHT?!).

Sunday Sunday Sunday!  We made our trek up to Ganja to meet with other PCV's to explore the city and get ready for the big game (which for us was at 3am Monday morning).  The Ramada in Ganja was kind enough to let us use a conference room with a projector for the game.  We gathered around the bar and conference room for some pre-game chatter and games.  You already know the outcome of the game. It's sad to say not everyone was able to stay up the whole time and there were some sad Steelers fans following the game.

On the way back to Yevlax and Barda, my two traveling buddies fell asleep on the bus.  It was adorable.  And so concludes the Superbowl and Cosmos story.

My Organization

I wanted to post some information about my organization but it looks like all I've been able to do is upload these photos.  I will come back with more information later. 

Here is my organization's mission statement: AIM’s overall objective is to improve the productivity and self-reliance of newly established private farmers through agricultural extension, information dissemination, and the establishment of institutional infrastructure supporting the rural/agricultural sector.

One of the farmer's reading the monthly journal.

A beautiful mountain in the distance.

The beautiful mountains in the background.

Welcome to the World, Saxavat!

On January 5, 2011 I became an Azeri Auntie!  Or better said Donna Xala.  Saxavat was born in Barda, Azerbaijan to G and S.  He is doing really well and is in the caterpillar stage (my nickname for him). I will post a story later. Here are some pictures. Enjoy.

Balaca-balaca! This is when he was about 6 days old.

Saxavat with his grandmother.

*Donna News*

Welcome to the first post in 2011!!  Its a very long post, but it includes pictures and stories from Donna.  I hope you all find something you like.