My beautiful host sister was married last year and these are the pictures. I adore this family and I hope they have happiness their whole lives.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Georgia
Check out the pictures I took in Georgia (1st trip). It was gorgeous and my friends were wonderful. I had an amazing time and I hope to always know these wonderful people.
Nemetabad Youth Camp
We all love a good photo post? This post is a photo journal of a youth camp I attended last summer in Nemetabad, a village outside of Yevlax.
Catharine with her lovely sign for us PCV's!
Water collection in the evening.
Catharine made her counterpart an American flag blanket.
Some Azerbaijani dancing.
Tea and friendship bracelets.
I love the farm equipment scattered around the village.
The signs say Happy birthday! It was Catharine's counterpart. We later found out that it was the first time she had celebrated her birthday with a big party.
Katie with one of her favorite students.
I love these ladies!
Random paint marks.
My nemesis, the goose.
Num num num. Delicious birthday cake.
Isn't it darling?
This boy had my attention because he was constantly laughing and having a great time. It's hard to find people here who are willing to be silly and let loose. He brought so much energy to the room.
Wide Open Spaces
"Many precede and many will follow
A young girl's dream no longer hollow
It takes the shape of a place out west
But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed
She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes
She traveled this road as a child
Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired
But now she won't be coming back with the rest
If these are life's lessons, she'll take this test"
FYI: I know this is VERY lazy of me, but I'm going to paste in the email I sent the PC and some of my friends and family from the states. I'd hate to repeat everything when I feel like this email says it all.
The e-Mail: The worm house had its official opening in November and it went fabulously. I attached some pictures from the event to show what all happened and how it looked. Not sure if you guys were interested BUT I found it to be exciting and I wanted to share in the excitement.
The office did a wonderful job decorating the main door of the worm house. The people walking around work with or for my organization and they were incredibly excited about all of it.
On the table were different informational booklets about various agriculture technologies such as biohumus and organic agriculture. I'm not sure if you are aware but my organization has a monthly journal that publishes new information for the farmers and they distribute it throughout several regions in Azerbaijan. The signs say "I love an Eco-Earth", "I love an Eco-Azerbaijan", "I love an Eco-Barda", "I love an Eco-Tartar", "I love an Eco-Village", "I love an Eco-Farmer" (actually I'm confused about this one), and "I love an Eco-Crop". Well you know to substitute the <3 with love.. I guess translation for that is not necessary.
Also the drawings behind the table were done by local school children about Organic Agriculture. One of the signs that caught my eye was the "Stop CO2" with fallen trees.
This is the official sign next to the entrance to the worm house. The worm house is in the Tartar region Buruc village.
The 4 standings signs are about some of the current projects going through AIM.
These two people are my counterparts. They were the reason this project was imagined and completed. They worked tirelessly on the project on top of their normal duties in the organization. Hijran is the woman and she was the main advocate for the women's group to receive the greenhouse in Barda. Fizuli is the man, his story has been something books are made of. He's a hard working farmer that AIM worked with and soon adopted into the organization. He is always trying to improve his life, family, and village's livelihood. He has been doing worm composting for the past year on a much smaller scale and this building borders his family property. He is excited about teaching people about organic agriculture and finding alternatives to chemical additives.
A funny side story was when Alise (one of my Barda site mates) and I were presenting our new project to AIM and after Fizuli heard about the solar food dryer he rushed off and came back with dried eggplant and herbs that he had in the office. He was so excited about drying vegetables and greens that he pushed to start a similar project but no one was willing or had the time to take that step.
I know I repeat this until my face is blue but this organization has allowed me to flourish and love my experience here. I sometimes worry that I'll present something so far-fetched that they'll never accept it, but once I present the background and possible benefits they fully support me and for the most part enhance the project to something I could never have done alone. They have allowed this project to become what I refer to as the perfect PC project: it's something that several people are invested in, they are running the show, and they developed the ideas while the grant just enhanced the idea and gave it a means to prosper.
This young man goes to a school that a previous volunteer worked at but had to leave for family problems and even with this, he is constantly asking me when the PCV will return. His mother is a main farmer associated with several of our projects. They have been so kind to me during meetings and conferences. He has a curious mind and loves to hear the latest news and farming techniques. I love when I switch to Azerbaijani and he'll work so hard to make the conversation go back to English. This isn't normal and I appreciate his push to make me more patient with his English. I always want to take the quickest route in a conversation and switch into Azerbaijani. To me, these types of people are the ones that become fluent in English by the time they graduate college, even though he is coming from a village in a very difficult region.
This is a partial view of the crowd that gathered for the opening. After all of our speeches, the crowd was allowed to discuss the opening and AIM's involvement. This particular farmer has been active in several of the projects. What was highly amusing was that when my counterpart, Fizuli, gave a 10-15 minute breakdown of worm composting the crowd lit up with questions. After a couple minutes, we had to stop everyone and explain that more trainings would be soon. It was great to see the interest and understanding build. In my mind, organic agriculture is difficult because sometimes it can be a big risk and take years to see results but these people want a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their families and don't want to poison their world with chemicals.
They let me cut one side of the red ribbon! I prefer to work in the background and in the shadows but sometimes I let my organization put me out front just to make them happy and this act really did make them happy with me. They don't understand why I don't want more glory or want to talk more, but it's how I feel sustainability can truly be accomplished, standing in the background as a catalyst rather than a show pony.
The farmers were amazed at the soil's quality. I wondered if any of them had seen such rich soil and touched what a highly nutritious soil should feel like. The smell in the building was so overwhelmingly wonderful.
This information bulletin board is in the inside of the building and has all the information about biohumus, worm composting, and organic agriculture.
As I was walking around taking these pictures a woman stopped me and said "some farmers in the village are talking about how they need to bring their trash and tea leaves to this building to help feed the worms." Tears swelled in my eyes and it happened, they came to the conclusion I was hoping would develop: Recycling Waste of the Whole Village. The beauty of projects here is that we can start something and sneak in little morsels under the cover of something bigger. When I heard worm composting building, I immediately jumped to a village that recycles! I'm so glad that recycling developed naturally and wasn't told to them. I didn't want to out right say that a worm house of this proportion would need the whole village to contribute and bring their trash because then the sustainability of that would be unclear but the village saw the house and instantly felt a connection with it and want to see it succeed. To me, this is the point when I felt the project is already a success. I live for the days when they point their finger at me and give me a lecture about how recycling is good for this world. I just smile and listen at the sounds of something that can last for generations. These points can't be forced down people's throats, they must come within.
Thank you for everything from The Barda Ag Girls in the Land of Fire! We recently visited the site where the fires burn through rain, snow, and wind. Like this site and this project I have developed a thorough admiration for this country. I could never have imagined the experience 2 years ago when I was completing the application process. My heart will never be the same after these 2 years and I hope to continue being awed by people and their countries for the rest of my life.
Thank you all again for allowing me to be here and experience this amazing opportunity. This next year is going to be hard to top the last but I have the bug now and I don't want to stop encouraging future projects of this nature.
Sincerely,
Donna Marie Lundy
A young girl's dream no longer hollow
It takes the shape of a place out west
But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed
She needs wide open spaces
Room to make her big mistakes
She needs new faces
She knows the high stakes
She traveled this road as a child
Wide eyed and grinning, she never tired
But now she won't be coming back with the rest
If these are life's lessons, she'll take this test"
FYI: I know this is VERY lazy of me, but I'm going to paste in the email I sent the PC and some of my friends and family from the states. I'd hate to repeat everything when I feel like this email says it all.
The e-Mail: The worm house had its official opening in November and it went fabulously. I attached some pictures from the event to show what all happened and how it looked. Not sure if you guys were interested BUT I found it to be exciting and I wanted to share in the excitement.
On the table were different informational booklets about various agriculture technologies such as biohumus and organic agriculture. I'm not sure if you are aware but my organization has a monthly journal that publishes new information for the farmers and they distribute it throughout several regions in Azerbaijan. The signs say "I love an Eco-Earth", "I love an Eco-Azerbaijan", "I love an Eco-Barda", "I love an Eco-Tartar", "I love an Eco-Village", "I love an Eco-Farmer" (actually I'm confused about this one), and "I love an Eco-Crop". Well you know to substitute the <3 with love.. I guess translation for that is not necessary.
Also the drawings behind the table were done by local school children about Organic Agriculture. One of the signs that caught my eye was the "Stop CO2" with fallen trees.
This is the official sign next to the entrance to the worm house. The worm house is in the Tartar region Buruc village.
The 4 standings signs are about some of the current projects going through AIM.
These two people are my counterparts. They were the reason this project was imagined and completed. They worked tirelessly on the project on top of their normal duties in the organization. Hijran is the woman and she was the main advocate for the women's group to receive the greenhouse in Barda. Fizuli is the man, his story has been something books are made of. He's a hard working farmer that AIM worked with and soon adopted into the organization. He is always trying to improve his life, family, and village's livelihood. He has been doing worm composting for the past year on a much smaller scale and this building borders his family property. He is excited about teaching people about organic agriculture and finding alternatives to chemical additives.
A funny side story was when Alise (one of my Barda site mates) and I were presenting our new project to AIM and after Fizuli heard about the solar food dryer he rushed off and came back with dried eggplant and herbs that he had in the office. He was so excited about drying vegetables and greens that he pushed to start a similar project but no one was willing or had the time to take that step.
I know I repeat this until my face is blue but this organization has allowed me to flourish and love my experience here. I sometimes worry that I'll present something so far-fetched that they'll never accept it, but once I present the background and possible benefits they fully support me and for the most part enhance the project to something I could never have done alone. They have allowed this project to become what I refer to as the perfect PC project: it's something that several people are invested in, they are running the show, and they developed the ideas while the grant just enhanced the idea and gave it a means to prosper.
This young man goes to a school that a previous volunteer worked at but had to leave for family problems and even with this, he is constantly asking me when the PCV will return. His mother is a main farmer associated with several of our projects. They have been so kind to me during meetings and conferences. He has a curious mind and loves to hear the latest news and farming techniques. I love when I switch to Azerbaijani and he'll work so hard to make the conversation go back to English. This isn't normal and I appreciate his push to make me more patient with his English. I always want to take the quickest route in a conversation and switch into Azerbaijani. To me, these types of people are the ones that become fluent in English by the time they graduate college, even though he is coming from a village in a very difficult region.
This is a partial view of the crowd that gathered for the opening. After all of our speeches, the crowd was allowed to discuss the opening and AIM's involvement. This particular farmer has been active in several of the projects. What was highly amusing was that when my counterpart, Fizuli, gave a 10-15 minute breakdown of worm composting the crowd lit up with questions. After a couple minutes, we had to stop everyone and explain that more trainings would be soon. It was great to see the interest and understanding build. In my mind, organic agriculture is difficult because sometimes it can be a big risk and take years to see results but these people want a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their families and don't want to poison their world with chemicals.
They let me cut one side of the red ribbon! I prefer to work in the background and in the shadows but sometimes I let my organization put me out front just to make them happy and this act really did make them happy with me. They don't understand why I don't want more glory or want to talk more, but it's how I feel sustainability can truly be accomplished, standing in the background as a catalyst rather than a show pony.
The farmers were amazed at the soil's quality. I wondered if any of them had seen such rich soil and touched what a highly nutritious soil should feel like. The smell in the building was so overwhelmingly wonderful.
This information bulletin board is in the inside of the building and has all the information about biohumus, worm composting, and organic agriculture.
As I was walking around taking these pictures a woman stopped me and said "some farmers in the village are talking about how they need to bring their trash and tea leaves to this building to help feed the worms." Tears swelled in my eyes and it happened, they came to the conclusion I was hoping would develop: Recycling Waste of the Whole Village. The beauty of projects here is that we can start something and sneak in little morsels under the cover of something bigger. When I heard worm composting building, I immediately jumped to a village that recycles! I'm so glad that recycling developed naturally and wasn't told to them. I didn't want to out right say that a worm house of this proportion would need the whole village to contribute and bring their trash because then the sustainability of that would be unclear but the village saw the house and instantly felt a connection with it and want to see it succeed. To me, this is the point when I felt the project is already a success. I live for the days when they point their finger at me and give me a lecture about how recycling is good for this world. I just smile and listen at the sounds of something that can last for generations. These points can't be forced down people's throats, they must come within.
Thank you for everything from The Barda Ag Girls in the Land of Fire! We recently visited the site where the fires burn through rain, snow, and wind. Like this site and this project I have developed a thorough admiration for this country. I could never have imagined the experience 2 years ago when I was completing the application process. My heart will never be the same after these 2 years and I hope to continue being awed by people and their countries for the rest of my life.
Thank you all again for allowing me to be here and experience this amazing opportunity. This next year is going to be hard to top the last but I have the bug now and I don't want to stop encouraging future projects of this nature.
Sincerely,
Donna Marie Lundy
Thursday, August 11, 2011
These Are The Days
"Sometimes it feels like we won't make it through
But the hard times pass like the good ones do
...
We're making moments, we won't forget"
My current state: EXHAUSTED! I've now gone through food poisoning three times here in the 'bajian. Well I assume it's food poisoning, it feels like I've swallowed glass shards. Yeah, it's awesome. I figure it's my body's way of jump starting some weight loss. HAHA! I'd prefer it the normal way, if only my body would ask me my opinion on the matter. This past experience knocked me out for 3 days …well since I still feel like a crushed window is in my stomach I can say it's taking me down for 4 days. I was all energetic this morning, put on my make-up and business attire and on the way to the post office to get my latest care package it felt like a couple knifes had just found their way into my gut. I may have stopped suddenly and doubled over.. Lucky for me, I already look ridiculous with a backpack so no one really finds my actions to be odd or out of place. My care package was from my dad and when I carefully sorted through (RIPPED IT APART) it inspecting each of the contents (SOAKING IN THE SMELL AND SIGHT OF AMERICA) I had to lay down and take a little breather. Yeah.. opening care packages can be hazardous to my health, fabulous. I am currently at work where the internet has decided to NOT work. Oh I take that back, it works on one computer. Let me remind you that all the computers in my organization are running a Russian windows system so just imagine that you are blind-folded and told to operate a computer then you will get the experience. None-the-less I will be reviewing the budget, filling out some more forms, and trying not to cry from the pain of making the wrong food decisions. Though I have to say that this round isn't nearly as horrid as my first run-in with food poisoning. I am not have hallucinations or violently shaking, apart from that it's all the same, 2 days of fever, 2-3 days of sharp stomach pains…and the rest I will not describe. You may ask "Donna why have you decided to share this part of your life?" and to that I say "You need to know my WHOLE life here." When I thought of the Peace Corps I knew it would be a challenge but some days it's just mind-blowing. Every part of your life is being challenged and by every part I mean EVERY part! But to me that is the beauty, there is never a boring day, ever..
OH OH OH! This past Friday I finally took a true Donna Day! I did nothing productive other than read, watch movies, and chat with people from home. I had to slap my hand a couple times when I drifted into constructive thought and planning mode. I found that this day was a necessity. It's difficult to constantly stress about the next step, the next project, or even the current projects. All day long my mind is running with thoughts like "How can I be a better volunteer?" "What is my next project?" "How am I ever going to improve my Azerbaijani?" "How can I become better integrated in the community?" "What is my research going to focus on?" "How can I manage my money better?"…and so on so forth. There are about 50 different issues I worry about, that's why when I was suffering through my 2nd round of food poisoning I thought it may have been an ulcer. Whenever I'd start stressing about work the pain in my stomach would intensify, but alas the pain stopped after a couple of days, thus leading me to the conclusion that is was food poisoning.
The next round of volunteers will be coming to Azerbaijan and I am EXTREMELY happy for them but at the same time it's SCARY! I will have been in this country for a YEAR! Where has the time gone?! I need to hurry up with this project and start the next one…and write my article…and start my research…and have fluent Azerbaijani…and now you see why I'm freaking out?!
Well it's time to head home.. I hope to have 9-10 new blog posts coming in the next couple of days. Inshallah! I love and miss you guys!
P.S. I don't know when the goofy smile on my face will ever go away. After all the realization that I've been here for almost a year, I'm still blissfully happy and wouldn't trade any of this for the world. It's hard to describe how perfect living here feels, but I'm glad you guys are all along for the ride with me. If you find yourself wondering about my sanity, that's good, someone needs to worry about it, because to me ignorance is DEFINITELY bliss. ;)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
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.
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.
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)