アプデット ＝ Update

Heyya loyal reader,

Its been a long time since my last post, pardon. I could say I've been busy, which is true enough, but it would be alot more accurate to say I just haven't felt like writing anything. Alot has happened and I fully intend to update this blog....sometime in the next week when the cleaning lady isn't looking over my shoulder asking alot of questions in Russian.

すごい長い間なにも書かなかったねー。　ちょっと忙しかったし、手術？なった？し、怠け者し、すみませんね。今日友達からメールくれて、「どうしてブログになんか書かなかったの？」って書いた。　じゃあ、本当に頑張る、今週書こう、ぜったい。今無理けど。。。となりに嫌な人がいる。「どうして中国語書いてるの？本当に中国語できるの？中国人嫌い。日本は何？中国と一緒じゃない？」って言ってる。すごい嫌な奴。　もー、行く。　また後でね。

Robot Head Crashes

A couple months ago my first kitten, Robot Head, went missing soon after the arrival of his brother, HAL 9000. I always assumed he found another home where he got feed more or maybe a neighborhood dog got him.
Well, to my surprise I found him alongside the road the other day while walking home.
A piece here, and a piece there and his little little robot head last. He'd been hit by a car.

Looks like he lived a good life until then though and his brother lives on, getting fat on mice and lizards from my garden.

Good bye Robot Head.

A New Project

My sitemate and I have begun working with a new project. It's called the Mental Health Initiative(MHI). MHI is a project sponsored by the Open Society Initiative, part of the Soros Foundation. The mission of this project is to provide social, educational & medical to mentally & physically challenged youth in the villages surrounding Quba.

Though the law of Azerbaijan mandates that developmentally disabled people be accommodated in the schools and that certain services be provided the reality in the rayons is that government structure, schools & the populace generally have an old-fashioned & Soviet mindset regarding the treatment of these people.

For example, amongst the populace there commonly exists the belief that mental disabilities such as autism & retardation and some physical disabilities like MS could be “catching” and so these people are generally shut away in their homes or if the family has money or the connections needed to receive assistance they are often sent away to special institutions. Those who are able to go to school often face ridicule from the other children and are often considered a burden by the teachers. Schools and government institutions, though mandated by law to make accommodations or provide services, often see these youth as a burden on their time and resources and much prefer to send them away to special sanatoriums as was done under the Soviet system.

The MHI is a pilot program started last year and currently only operating in Quba and Ismayli. It is run in conjunction with the Social Services Ministry and, at least in Quba, the office is located in the Social Services Ministry building. In Quba there is a psychologist, therapist, a couple social workers and a driver. An end goal of the MHI is to develop an effective & replicable system so that next year the government can take over the program and it will become the official services system nationwide. Inshallah.

What Amy and I have been asked to do is, on the Youth Development(YD) side, to occasionally accompany the staff on site visits to help create game therapies for the clients and to create opportunities for these children to join in other youth events we help organize so they have a chance to socialize and to educate the other children in understanding their conditions.

On the CED side we have been training staff on how to access and use the Internet for e-mail, sending pictures & documents, search and paying taxes. And in using office programs. We also hope to introduce Best Practices procedures and to improve the currently chaotic office communications methods. Finally, I hope to help them develop a metrics system to evaluate the effectiveness & efficiency of their efforts.

Last week we went on our first site visit. It was a fun change of pace to go out to some of the remoter villages, play with some kids and meet their families. One kid especially, 9 years old and he seems to have MS and some mental disability so that everything he sees is he calls “ting!”. I played with him, taught him how to Hi-5 and Thumbs-Up and we talked about tings for a long time.

PC-AZ LIFE WITH A HERNIA

Azerbaijani word of the day qrıja (greeja) = hernia.

Don't know how but I got one. Didn't really understand what a hernia was before. Just noticed some shooting pains in the groin some evenings when lounging on my comfy chair(the chair made of slate wood nailed together that was found in the garbage pile). Then one day a buddy and I went on a 20km hike from Quba to Qusar. About half way there it became apparent something wasn't quite right. At the end of the trip I hopped in the shower(I love visiting people with real showers, bathing with a bucket and the water pipe in my yard gets old). Anyhow, in the shower, looked down and what should I see but that part of my groin was swollen, red & throbbing; unfortunately not the good part.

5 minutes later I was on the phone with PC Medical in Baku. Doctor Irena told me she couldn't diagnose anything over the phone but to come into Baku sometime that week and she'd check it out. Couple days later I head down, get an examination and learn that I'm the proud father of a little bastard hernia. For those of you who, like me at the time, don't know what a hernia actually is; a hernia is basically a small rip in the abdominal muscles which allow the internal organs, usually intestine, to slip out a wee bit. This generally occurs at the hole where the large arteries and nerves travel from the trunk of the body down into the leg. The doctors say this is something that doesn't heal by itself, surgery is required to stitch it back together.

No idea how I got it but I do a lot of yardwork, gardening, chopping wood, and moving cement bricks & furniture and thats just to relax after walking an hour to work and an hour back. It was all a great aerobic workout, I had lost about 15kg and went from my biggest belt hole down to a new smaller hole. I've since started taking the marshrut up to work{and gained some weight back :)}.

Anyhow since by itself a hernia isn't really dangerous that this is an 'elective' surgery.....'elective' until it strangulates anyhow(thats where the muscles your internal organs are peeking out of decide to clench down, cutting off circulation and necessitating quick surgery before something blows due to pressure or gangrene/necrosis set in). PC-Washington requires a 2nd opinion from a surgeon and then the bureaucracy in Washington decides if it really needs surgery. In the mean time I was given a truss to wear which keeps constant pressure on the problem area and keeps my internals from peeking out and trying to be external.

Fortunately a former PCV in AZ had had a hernia and they had a truss in stock.

Here's what it looks like. Nope, not a self portrait.

Well all of that was last June. In August I got the 2nd opinion and it was last week that Washington decided to give the green light. Since then I've been putting on this damn truss every morning before heading out. It's not terribly uncomfortable but it can be a bit awkward to arrange it all & use a squatty-potty. Also its bloody undignified to put on/remove when Ive got guests staying over in my one room apartment. But, it is a life saver. If I don't wear it it only takes a minute before the hernia starts acting up. When this first happens it's not painful but rather a weird queasy feeling and then I have to apply pressure just the right spot to pop my insides back inside which is an amazingly odd sensation.

If this was PC-South America folks with serious medical conditions would be sent back to the States. If everything can be fixed in 1 month they ship you back to country to keep working, if more than 1 month PCVs are generally Medically Separated. Over on this side of the world we're sent to a world-class hospital in Bangkok. The PC docs tell me that a hernia operation is fairly simple and the last PCV who had a hernia had no problem getting it done in in Baku. This week I will meet with the surgeon the PC docs recommend to do this surgery. They say he trained in the US & Canada and is highly qualified.

Thats all fine but I'd really rather go get this done in Thailand. Not only is the food and weather a lot better over there but I'm told the doctors and nursing staff at this hospital are great. Here many of the doctors Ive met are of the old Soviet mind-set; an I'm the expert, you know nothing, you don't ask question, you will accept anything I say type mind-set. Back in Japan I had the misfortune to visit the doctors a few times and some of the doctors there had a similar idea of the patient-doctor relationship. But there at least I was generally much more fluent in the language and able to argue. Also they are much more polite and curious about explaining things to foreigners. I find 'authority figures' here to be much less patient or open minded.

But the biggest issue I have with surgery here are a couple details I noticed at the hospital where I went to get the 2nd opinion. I went with two female PC doctors to a nice new hospital with modern equipment and we only had to wait 5 minutes. We checked in at reception and started walking to the exam room wing reception directed us to. But as we started climbing some stairs some random Azerbaijani man(I can only assume he was staff as he wasn't wearing any sort of uniform are name badge) started yelling at us and telling my PC doctors they couldn't go with me to the other part of the hospital. The politely explained that they were my doctors and translators but he continued to be belligerent. It was only when they threatened to call...someone, I can't understand fast Azeri arguing, that he finally gave up. Finally we get to the examination. It was a decent exam room with modern exam bed and lighting and it even had a computer with specialized medical record software that the doctor knew how to use(in the rayons not unusual to find places that have computers but the staff doesn't know how to use it or in schools beautiful new computer rooms that are locked because otherwise the children will break them and nobody knows how/has the money to fix them). The doctor was good, she answered my questions and said that though they usually knock the patient out for the surgery they could do an epidural so I could sit-up and watch if I wanted. She seemed to think that was very strange for some reason. But as I lay on the exam bed I noticed that the brand new, exam light above my had some sort of red-brown liquid splashed and burnt-dried to it....possibly old blood, possibly coca-cola. And between the corner and the medicine cabinet there was a bunch of spiderwebs. As is so often true in developing countries, some folk are trying so hard and have the trappings of development but such glaring oversights are made that its heartbreaking.

So thats were it stands as of now. I wear a truss, try to avoid lifting anything that weighs more than I do, shove my guts back into my belly from time to time, and await meeting the surgeon and seeing the hospital where its proposed to do the surgery. If I don't like the looks of it I may insist it be done in Thailand and we'll see what happens from there. More stories to tell the grandkids someday.

Azerbaijani Recipes

Found a website for a variety of Azerbaijani foods. Lots of pics, a good number of recipes.
The stuffed veggies, pickles, and mimosa salad are my favorites & the rice with dried fruits & chestnuts is incredibly good but only eaten on holidays.

http://www.azcookbook.com/

Bold Statement

Here is an interview with a guy who is definitely NOT looking for peace and reconciliation with his former enemies........

"In Denmark it is now generally accepted that all known thieves here are from Armenia: Head of Azerbaijan-Denmark Friendship Community" - headline from 2DayAZ newspaper

Stuff Made While Bored - 詰らない時に作った物

Plum wine made in a 16liter water jug then racked into old PET and vodka bottles. Turned out really good. Alot better than the cheap AZ wine I can get at the shop next door.
梅Wineを作った。スゴイ旨かった。作って終わったらPETやVodka便に入った。１６Lできった！



This is a wee wood table used by xanıms(women) here to make bread dough on. I found one hidden amonst all the junk in my garden. The top was cracked and dirty and no good for making bread anymore and I had been putting it ontop of the iron ring you see in the background to use as a coffee table. In a fit of boredom I decided to make it into a chess board.

こな木の上にアゼルバイジャンのババはパンを作る。庭でこれを見つけた。悪かったからパンの作りかたは無理。



Thank Allah for Sharpies.
チェス?boardは日本語でなんというの？



Here Corey models the corn cob pipe that Elmer(another PCV) helped conceive.




Smoking old school with the corn cob and matches.
アメリカの江戸時代らしいSmokeする。




007 Vodka seemed the most unnatural choice for a vodka watermelon.
I ate him shaken, not stirred.
Vodkaスイカ食べたことがあるの？Vodkaスイカ君を食べちゃって酔うぱらくなってきった。



Yes, he does have a gold tooth and yes, he is smoking a cigarette.
スイカ君はかこいいでしょう！

Behind 007 you can also see some of the many new shelves I've built. This is one of the classy stone & glass brick with rough hewn oak shelves.

スイカ君の裏に作った戸棚がある。いっぱい戸棚でも本棚を作った。

お久しぶりなー

長い間日本語は書かなかったでしょう。僕怠け者かな。それがInternetあったら働くなくちゃってブログ書けへん。夜に家で僕疲れってなにも書きたくない。まあーね。多分、今月日本語ブログ書いてみる。

News

アパートはすごく優しい。電気で問題があるけどほとんど大丈夫。
庭にいっぱいナスやトマトやピモンやメロンがある。
桜と梅のWineを作った。旨かった！
子猫は大きくなってきた。
仕事は段々忙しくなってきちゃった。よいかも。

Volunteer Reporting Tool/Form aka VRT/F

There is considerable disagreement over the correct acronym. What the VRT/F is is an Excel spreadsheet all PCVs all over the world have to fill out every 3-4months to report on what activities they have been doing.

Not a bad idea. Bureaucratic & annoying but PC work can seem pretty fluffy and unquantifiable. Seems a good idea to try to figure out what we are actually doing to justify the tax dollars & time spent on it. Having said that PC constantly states that a computer is NOT needed for service....then they require us to fill out this computerized form a few times a year that can only be done on an English version of MS Excell(XP or better) and does NOT work on Apples(which a very significant minority of my hippy/straight-out-of-uni colleagues use).

AZ6 had to fill out our first VRT/F just last month. I've just recently met with my Program Director(Azerbaijani) & Program & Training Officer(2nd in command American) to discuss it and they seem fairly happy with what Ive been doing.

Since I'm too lazy(efficient) to summarize what it says I've decided to cut&paste most of what is written in this form. Some parts have been redacted because they may/have caused some offense or because its boring. In the ACTIVITIES section Ive left out the figures for number of people served vs number who succeeded in activity because its difficult to cut&paste that info. Also this is all completely out of order because I'm in a hurry. I need to design a seminar on entrepreneurship and complete 2 research projects by the end of the week and the internet here is.....sporadic at best.

Enjoy:

Success Story

In a joint CED/YD project PCVs developed a pilot Career day session at one of the local schools. The purpose of which was to have successful community members speak with high-school aged youth about the local job market and about what they need to study and do to find jobs in this area.

Though the project met some initial resistance due to its unfamiliarity we gained support and were able to gain the agreement of a school to host it and a number of speakers. When the day came though most of our speakers were suddenly "to busy" to make it but with a few phone calls we were able to lure more speakers through a mixture of promises, cajoling and threats.

During the session the children showed an active interest and seemed to learn something about what it really means to find a job and to work. Perhaps more importantly all of our speakers were very impressed by the interest the youth showed and commented afterwards that their own thoughts on the challenges faced by the youth had changed and that they came away with more favorable views of this sort of community participation.

Lessons Learned

Nothing is as easy as it seems.

Nothing can be concretely planned.

"Planing" is impossible for any activity more than 12 week in the future.

If you use the word "should" in any of your planning assume it will go wrong.

Independence is more important to me than comfort.

Planned Activities

The Career Day pilot project was so successful that I have approached all 6 other schools in my community about doing it there. I hope to encourage the schools to make it part of their yearly curriculum. And am working with other PCVs to arrange it for their schools.

The Internship Program pilot project though less successful will be continued. A number of students who weren't available for the pilot have expressed an interest and we have worked out some of the kinks in our own planning & procedures. This will be continued and perhaps expanded over time.

I am conducting research & consulting with other PCVs, organizations & community members about developing "Capitalism Clubs"; encouraging youth to work together to create small businesses. We hope to begin work soon.

Work with PSCEP & QMC will continue. We are beginning to focus our projects & will begin to work on creating business associations & other work. I am pursuing training of modern business theory/practices with QMC staff & pursuing 3rd Goal activities with Chemonics staff, many are newly arrived to this country & fail to understand conditions & culture outside of Baku. Further Ive been asked to provide training for BDSs in other Rayons & facilitate work w/ other PCVs.

As the mainstay of the local economy, apples, comes into season I am trying to encourage value-added product production and diversification by introducing apple-based products from around the world. Also pursuing this with other ag-products.

*Note* Goal2 = To teach Azerbaijanis about America. Goal3 = To teach Americans about Azerbaijan.

Goal Two

I talk to community members daily, explaining that America is not just a faceless monolith of Christian imperial power & decadent wealth led by a "n@##$r", apostate or Muslim president.

*Note2* Lots of folk here call black people niggers. They learned this from the Russians/Soviets. It isn't always meant in the derogatory sense. Just as Americans might call British, Brits; or OR Brits call Americans, Yanks; etc....... its just the word they know for black folk and they haven't had the PC word police on their backs.

But, more often than not, it is used derogatorily. I'll write about racism in Azerbaijan another time, maybe. The contrast between what racism means here, in Japan, and in the US is interesting.

Rather that we are an extraordinarily diverse country full of people rich, poor & between, of all shades of color & ethnicity, where almost all the world's religions are represented and that we all live together in relative peace.

Goal Three

I write a blog, host many visiting tourists & international experts and occasionally write to newspapers "comments" sections for Azerbaijan related articles.

PC Initiative Area

Youth Dev

Most of the activities which I have organized or been part of outside QMC have been YD in their nature or YD related.

Materials Created

Ive been working with other PCVs to transfer skills gained thru my previous experience working in schools to train them for TESL teaching, providing/creating materials & activities.

OTHER INFO

KSAs(Knowledge, Skills, Abilities)

I would like to learn at least basic Russian & Lezqi, two very important languages that are used on a daily basis in my area but PC has provided little to no resources in this area.

VRT

This report was nearly impossible to fill out for a variety of reasons. First, it is incompatible with any but the most recent version of Microsoft Excel and even then the security/settings requirements require the use of an English version or the assistance of a computer literate local who can navigate local(pirated & virus filled) Russian versions. This is a problem because most PCVs are using Macs(incompatible), local computers(invariably Russian & insecure) or like myself using OpenOffice a free open-source version of the Microsoft software which is fully compatible with everything except macros. Secondly it is PC policy that computers are not required for PC service, yet this required activity necessitates a computer.

Also, the reporting tool lacks the flexibility to select multiple Objectives when a single project overlaps many.

Sustainability

I have applied for no grants. All of my projects can be completed in community using resources provided in site.

PCV Feedback

The policy of Peace Corps is to pay volunteers a stipend such that they can "live at a level comparable to their counterparts". We in Quba, and indeed most of the regions, do not get paid sufficiently to maintain this level. Since AZ1 there have been many years where inflation ran 10-20% yet PCV pay has not in any way matched these price increases.

My counterparts can afford to eat meat daily. I have become a very unwilling vegetarian because I cannot afford meat nor many of the other things my counterparts take for granted. I have lost a significant amount of weight and muscle mass during my service here.

MASS MEDIA

Was asked by local media at the Novruz festival in Quba to provide an interview concerning PC activities in Azerbaijan but at that time we(PCVs) were of the understanding from Zoltan (*Note3* Zoltan=former Country Director) that we were not allowed to speak with media without prior approval & guidance from the Country Director. Hence, I & other attending PCVs refused and referred the reporter to PC-Baku office.

ACTIVITIES & OUTCOMES

*Note4* This is the most important section of the report. Here we write about the activities we have been doing and provide info on the numbers of people who participated and who learned something from it.

Writing Olympics

Acted as a proctor & facilitator at the school and worked as one of the essay judges in Baku.

International AIDS CandleLight Memorial Day

Participated in this event organized by YD PCVs in Quba & helped facilitate.

Womens Association & Gender Training

Participated in a Gender Training and invited local people to participate. Though only one man attended for a short period the women considered this to be a very successful meeting and have asked to meet regularly and create a womens organization.

Hiking Club

Go hiking weekly with youth.

QMC Brainstorming Session

Quba Marketting Center asked for assistance in finding new income generation activities and exploring the economic situation in the northern area. I organized a meeting of QMC staff, all CED volunteers in this area & the YD PCVs in Quba.

Career Day

Organized an event where respected & succesfull members of the community came to speak with upper-form students about how to find work in Quba, what to study & prepare for finding employment and other advice. Students where able to ask questions & voice their concerns.

English Teacher Training

Provided a seminar and training to all interested PCVs in northern area on how to teach TEFL & organize Conversation Clubs.

Virus Protection Strategies & Technology consulting & training

I provide assistance, advice & informal training on technology(particularly virus protection & alternatives to pirated software) to a variety of organizations & individuals including Ministry of Economic Development, Transparency, QMC, schools, etc.

Writing a blog.

3rd Goal activity.

Training & assistance in writing CV/resume

Have provided training & assistance in writing CV/resumes to interested community members.

Business Marketing Assistance

Assist in preparing English language promotional material, including writing case studies on success stories.

Helped QMC prepare Proposal for Chemonics run USAID program - Private Sector Competitiveness Enhancement Program.

QMC won this contract without wich it would have likely been forced to shut down and lay-off employees.

Business Research

Prepare list of mid-large businesses in northern area, evaluate economic position & determine potential efficacy of PSCEP assistance.

Business Research

Assist in research of northern area businesses to determine economic & market position, place in value chain, SWAT analysis, etc through company visits, community questioning and internet research.

I have assisted in all aspects of these endeavours, from original research, to designing & writing reports, communications & consultation with the PSCEP Baku office, translation of reports from Azerbaijani to English & the consequent training of QMC staff in business English, report writing, business procedures, etc.

Together we have operated with over 25 local mid-large sized businesses, written over 15 reports and multiple revisions.

PSCEP CONSULTING

*Note5* Ive had to redact a part of this.

I have been working very closely with X-consultant & PSCEP staff to provide local insight and act as a cross-cultural/lingual facilitator. Both explaining to American & Azerbaijani staff & management the real situation in the Rayons, and to QMC staff & management the goals & difficulties of Baku & American offices. I have also been consulting & providing advice for the revamping of this project.

I have been asked many times to continue this facilitation and in the future to provide consultation & trainings to BDSs in other areas of Azerbaijan.

Teacher Training

Have been working with my language tutor(vice-principal/guidance counselor at local school) to transfer language teaching & other pedagological skills.

Ramadan

Its the month of Ramadan when devout Muslims are supposed to fast during the daylight hours; refraining from both food and drink. In some countries this can be taken very seriously, forcing all restaurants & teahouses to close and anyone seen in public violating the fast can be get in trouble though the Koran officially exempts non-Muslims & travellers(ie Haji, tourists, people who are traveling to another city, etc).

Azerbaijan generally isn't very orthodox in it's interpretation of most Islamic strictures. Vodka is common & plentiful(Thanx Russia!), pork is sometimes available, and so on. Ramadan also isn't so strictly observed, atleast up here in the northern Quba-Qusar-Xachmaz area known as the First Finger. Resteraunts and teahouses are open and people are eating icecream & drinking tea in public.

Maybe its just indicative of the people I know but nobody I've talked to observes the fast at all. Indeed, the only possible indication I've seen of the Ramadan season is the removal of the alchohol aisle from our local supermarket, MeqaMarket. Though this occured 2weeks before Ramadan started and alchohol is still sold in the refrigerated aisle.....and rumor mill says it has more to do with the company being squeezed for more "taxes" and the supermarkets imminent shut-down.

Until I got on the internet this morning & read an article about worries that this years very early Ramadan could cause health & dehydration problems for some of the observant I had entirely forgotten it was Ramadan. On the first day of Ramadan I joined in a business lunch with some local entreprenuers & technical assistance experts wich included a bottle of vodka celebrating an agreement to launch a new project and yesterday around 14:00I was pulled into a resteraunt by some aquaintances who were having a kebab & vodka party who insisted I join them. Sadly I couldn't because of a prior agreement but it all goes to show that a number of folk up here a fairly liberal about the tenents Ramadan.

For a random example of how Ramadan can be in other PC countries try this or this blog entry.

"Bacon - A Universal Pleasure" a Mystery aka Food 3

"The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." - Dragnet

Once upon a time an American was staying with some Azerbaijani people. It was an American holiday and the reminiscing American wanted to eat something that reminded him of home. Liver & Onions fried up with big slabs of bacon and potatoes & gravy on the side he thought, mouth watering. All of the ingredients were readily available; beef liver, potatoes, onions, all widely available in the bazaar. Bacon was slightly more difficult to find in this Muslim country but fortunately it was found at a little shop down the way.

"Do you mind if you cook my food in your kitchen?" the polite American asked the daughter of an imam lady-of-the-house. "Its fine" she said, not wanting any herself but not so disgusted by the whole idea. While cooking the man-of-the-house returned. "Your cooking? What is it?" he inquired, half concerned about the machismo of a male cooking. The American answered honestly and asked "Have you ever eaten pork?". "Oh sure, back in the Soviet army they made the Muslims & Jews eat that all the time! Its good but my wife won't cook it." he said, somewhat wistfully. "Gravy, huh. That sure does taste good. I've never seen it before." he admitted before returning to his work.

Meal fully prepared the American sat down to a heapin-mess o' good food and enjoyed the wonders that can be had from such simple pleasures when the daughter-of-the-house arrived. "Oh, you made liver! I love liver. Can I have a taste?" she asked, greedily. "Certainly." the American answered, generously. "Whats that?" she asked peering hungrily at a chunk of bacon. "That is a meat which we call 'bacon'." he answered truthfully. "Give me some." she demanded hungrily.

The American uncertain about the appropriateness glanced over at the lady-of-the-house whom simply smirked and looked away, slyly. "Here you are." said the American, handing over a fork-full of bacon. She ate the meat and her eyes shined "Oh! Its really good! This is delicious!" she exclaimed. At this the American smiled inquisitively and the lady-of-the-house barked a laugh of good humour. A shadow daowned over the face of the daughter-of-the-house, "This is pork, isn't it?" she exclaimed with some horror. "Yes it is. Good isn't it?" the American asked. "Oh no, horrible, disgusting, yuck, no it's bad." she said, unconvincingly. "But you just said it was very good, delicious you said." said the American, accurately. "No I did not." she lied, leaving the American to enjoy his meal and the lady-of-the-house to giggle to herself.

The American could not finish all which he had cooked and so left a pan of left-overs in the frindge for tomorrows enjoyment. The next day when he opened his pan of left-overs he discovered to his shock that all of the bacon had been picked out of his meal! Where could it have gone?

Was it; the-man-of-the-house, his hunger for bacon unquenched in all these many years? Was it; the-lady-of-the-house, her disgust piqued or perhaps her curiousity aroused? Or was it; the-daughter-of-the house, her irrational first reaction of disgust overwhelmed by the memory of that one bite of glorious flavor?

We shall never know.

PC Engineering aka Food 2

This was the first time we used the grill I found in my yard last spring. We got some frozen chicken legs at the shop next door(each leg=half a days pay), sprinkled with some Lawrey's Season Salt that I brought from the states and starteg grilling em up. Also got some new potatoes and some onions, threw them on şaşlıklar(shashliklar=skewers{plural}) rubbed them down with salt & chicken fat and put it all on the barbie.
10minutes & a liter of beer later we discoverd that the chicken & potatoes where not only cooking at different rates but the chicken was too close to the coals and causing grease fires....problem.
Solution? Some ersatz-engineering that raised the chicken and let the grease drip down onto the potatoes and everything cooking at the perfect rate thus creating one of the best meals had in this country.

Food

I was taken out for dinner by some development & technical assistance experts from Baku that were up here in Quba to do some work with one of the project I work on. We ordered "???"(Ive forgotten the word, will figue it out later), which was bloody delicious. Juicy grilled steaks, peppers, tomatoes & badımcan(badimjan=eggplant) with fried potato wedges fried & kept warm on a wok with some burning embers underneath. Damn good stuff.

I recommend trying it if you can make it to the Çinar(chinar) Kafe in Quba.

Things that make you go "Huh".

I thought this article was interesting. Another interesting event in recent news is the recent blogger case in Baku.

Azeri witchhunt over Eurovision votes

By Shaun Walker in Moscow

Wednesday, 19 August 2009

AFP/GETTY IMAGES

AySel & Arash perform Azerbaijan's Eurovision entry in Moscow

Security forces in Azerbaijan have launched a campaign against dozens of citizens for voting for the wrong entry in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Authorities in the oil-rich country are apparently tracking down people who voted for Azerbaijan's bitter enemy Armenia in the competition held in May.

The two countries fought a vicious war in the 1990s over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is now under the control of ethnic Armenians but is claimed by Azerbaijan. All borders between the two countries remain closed and tensions remain high, even over such a seemingly insignificant event as Eurovision.

Rovshan Nasirli, a resident of Azerbaijan's capital Baku, was one of 43 people in the country to vote for Armenia's entry "Jan-Jan", sung by the duo Inga and Anush. He told Radio Liberty that he had been summoned to the country's national security ministry last week to explain himself.

"They wanted an explanation for why I voted for Armenia. They said it was a matter of national security," said Mr Nasirli, who voted by text message. "They were trying to put psychological pressure on me, saying things like, 'You have no sense of ethnic pride. How come you voted for Armenia?' They made me write out an explanation, and then they let me go."

This year's contest, which was held in Moscow and won by Norway, was already the most politicised in the history of Eurovision. Georgia, which fought a war with Russia last summer, refused to take part in the contest after it was told to change the lyrics of its entry. The song, entitled "Don't Want to Put in", was widely seen as a pun on the surname of Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and thus broke contest rules that songs cannot be political.

Luckily for Mr Nasirli, he had a cast-iron excuse for voting for Inga and Anush. He didn't like the Azerbaijani entry, which featured an Iranian singer based in Sweden, and voted for Armenia because the song actually sounded "more Azeri".

Lonely Planet - Dont buy it!

Just don't buy it. It's notoriously inaccurate. No one I've talked to that is living or traveling around the Caucuses thinks its worth its weight in soiled toilet paper.
The only thing good I can think to say about it is:
a) in a pinch you could use the pages as toilet paper
b) it says we have the "best döner in Azerbaijan" here in Quba

(b) Isn't actually true but the lavaş(flour tortilla-like flat bread) döner is bloody tasty at Mahir Lamacun, a place just up the road from the avtovagzal(bus station).


"Now you know, and knowing is half the battle." - said at the end of every episode of G.I. Joe

4th of July - ６月４日の独立祭

Photo Hall of Infamy


"Barley juice"-bong Tim and his enabler.


Aquafina lemon hangover remedy quaffing Elmer with Jake the storyman.


Camera hogging Auquafina lemon and じんべい(summer festival/pajama) wearing Me.


Cory, AZ record holding winner of the "Cory Award" hanging about The Tiki Bar.



Tim and Xirdalan, king of cheap canned AZy beer.


Site-mate Psychedelic Amy


Master of Ceremonies and builder of The Tiki Bar, Jake.


Josh, the crotchety-old lulə kəbabçi(ground sheep-meat-on-a-stick cooker).

And for anyone who was curious; Independence Day = Müstəqliq Günü(day)/Müstəqliq Bayram(holiday).

Fruit Season & Making Wine pt 1 - さくらんぼのワインを醸造

Summer is here which means its hot and the fruit is cheap. Especially cheap for me because I've got a bunch of fruit trees in my garden.
Starting in March the alça started to grow. Alça are basically small sour apple-like fruits, one dictionary defines them as sour plums. They start small, taste like rhubarb and you can eat them whole. I made a crisp out of them and it tasted just like the rhubarb crisp back home. Later they get to be golf-ball sized and the pit gets hard. Most of the foreigners here don't really care for them. Munching on them is a lot like those sour-ball candies we ate as kids, its an acquired taste. Now some of them are finally turning into orange-red plum-like fruits. They taste pretty good but the trees in my garden are covered with ants, which means the fruit is covered in ants.

The next fruit crop to come along back in late May was tut or mulberry, and its season hasn't stopped yet. Mulberry trees(note, they come on trees - not bushes as the kids song would have you believe) produce a longish berry, either dark red or pale green/white depending on the variety of tree. When they ripen up the red variety is very sweet but the green/white tends to have a grassy flavor. The problem with mulberries is that they are constantly fruiting and falling off the tree for months. The ground underneath is covered in rotting berries. Folk here tend to harvest the berries by laying tarps on the ground underneath then shaking the tree. Id harvest them to but I can't afford a tarp.
You can eat them straight, make muribə(sugary fruit preserves), or a lot of people here secretly make vodka from them. Mulberry vodka, known as tut araq, samaqol or tufka depending on the region is strong stuff at 60-80% alchohol/volume(120-160proof). The English apparently make wine out of mulberries but haven't heard of anyone doing that here.

About 5 weeks ago cherry season started. Didn't even know I had cheery trees until I noticed a few on the ground here and there! For awhile I thought the neighbor kids were just being careless with their snacks but finally noticed way up in the trees, above all the other trees the cherries hanging up there. One evening I picked two grocery bags full and spent the rest of the night gorging on a few kilos of cherries.....I won't get into how long I spent in the squatty-potty the next day.

A few days later I still hadn't eaten all of them and they were going a bit wonky so I boiled em up, mashed the pulp & juice separate from pits, added alot of sugar, let it cool and added some wine yeast that I had brought from Japan and poured it all into some bottles, using rubber-glove fingers over the tops to act as airlocks. Stupid me, should have done a better job sterilizing the bottles. The two glass wine bottles both grew an unpleasant green/grey mold but the 3/4 full 2ltr plastic Coke bottle fermented nicely. This breaks all my previous experience with fermenting; the unfilled plastic should have spoiled much more readily than the glass but....nothing goes to plan in this country.....

*cultural note* There doesn't seem to be a native Azerbaijani language word for "plan". Instead they use the Russian loan-word "planı". But my Azerbaijani isn't all that great yet so there may be a word out there somewhere I just haven't learned yet.

Anyhow, racked into the big glass "balun" here's what my cherry wine looked like. Thats the Coke bottle it fermented in with the remaining cheery must in the background. I admit my face did scrunch up a bit with the first sip, it was a fairly dry wine lacking in subtlety or sophistication, but it wasn't nearly as harsh or post-Soviet-chemical-hell-scapeish as many of Azerbaijan's manufactured, fortified-wines. Indeed had it been allowed to age more than a month it many have mellowed and become a rather pleasant.

Sonic the Kirpi － ハリネズミ掛かった！

I got a kirpi! Which is AZy for hedgehog. Was playing Civilization 4 the other night when I realized it was 4am and there was a strange kitten outside whinging so I went out to take a look. Walked out the door and saw a small, grey, spiked, soccer ball waddling away from me. Always curious about my hallucinations I ran over and it rolled up into a ball. Really quick like before he could start spinning and collect all the golden rings in the sky I ran back to the shed, grabbed my winter gloves, ran back and grabbed him.
Now, you may have seen(or you should google it and see now) those cute little hedgehogs that folk keep as pets. Well, like almost everything else in this country, kirpis here suck a wee bit. They're slightly bigger, hard spikier, less playful/curious, and smellier than their foreign cousins. But no matter, Ive got one. Haven't decided what to do with it though. Maybe try to keep it as a pet, maybe let him go or give him to someone who needs one for their garden, or maybe eat him.
Thats right! Kirpi is a somewhat rare delicacy here. Mention eating frog legs, sushi, or crab and folk here get all squeamish, disgusted and holier-than-thou but talk about kirpi and the old-timers will smile and talk about how they're mighty tasty stuffed and baked.(Kirpi levengi if ya want to look-up the recipe).

So Ive a small conundrum. Just like the title to Michael Moore's early documentary, are kirpis "for pets or meat"???


Freshly caught kirpi. ハリネズミ掛かった！だいたいハリネズミはかわいいがアゼルバイジャンのはちょっと大きくて臭いだよ。アゼルバイジャン語ハリネズミはKIRPI｛キルピ｝っていういう。アゼルバイジャン人は刺身食べへんけど時々老人ハリネズミ肉食べる！わしこのは食べるかなー？？？


Kirpi and HAL 9000 getting acquainted. HAL９０００っていう子猫とハリネズミはよく友達になるでしょう。

Xinaluq

The most remote village in all of Azerbaijan, though the new road will get you from Quba to there in about 2hours. The people living here are of a separate ethnic group and continue to use their own language which is quite distinct from all other languages used in the Caucasus. The people here claim that their town has existed for 5,000years. The village is perched above the treeline on a hilltop, nestled in the Greater Caucasus, under the shadow of the tallest mountains in Azerbaijan.


If ever you get the chance I cannot recommend going there enough. A few weeks ago in May I joined a couple AZ5 volunteers for a trip up there. We hired a fellow named Heybet to drive us up in his little 4x4 Russian-made Niva hatchback. Heybet is one of the funniest Azerbaijani men I have had the honor of meeting and though he can't speak any English he can keep any tourist entertained & educated. He was constantly pointing out interesting sites along the road; a bear cave, one of the President's mansions, waterfalls, interesting trees & historical sites, and very, very often, the site where a drunk driver ran of the road, over the cliff, and fell 300m to their deaths. Heybet is a very good driver and apperently one of Azerbaijan's top race car drivers. Given that the fuel for the trip costs 30AZN & he spends his whole day driving & guiding the correct price for a summer trip is about 60AZN for a carload(4tourist + driver) of people. Though if there is any snow or bad conditions you should pay a fair bit more.

When we got to Xinaluq we parked and spent a couple hours wandering around the town. We climbed a hillside overlooking the town and met a sheepherd sleeping while his sheep grazed and then chatted with some of the townsfolk. The buildings in town are made of mountain stone and dung/mud bricks. Some of the richer people in town can afford building materials like tin roofing and some wood. The only buildings that look like typical Azeri archetecture are the newly refurbished school and the military base in a neighboring valley.

As we wiled about the day there we learned we had to head back to Quba early because a townsperson had just died in a neighboring rayon and that they would be bringing the body back for the funeral and many family and friends would following. "100 cars" would be coming up the road Heybet told us and he wanted to get back as quickly as possible before the one-lane road winding up switchbacks through the mountain got jammed. Heybet put his race car driving skills to the test driving as fast as safely possible around the twisties. Great fun, but there where a number of corners where my stomach sank as the tires squeeled and the 300m drop of the cliff was only inches away.

It was only when we got back to Quba that I learned the dead man was the brother of the director of one of the organizations that I work with. Small country, it often seems like everyone is related.

*Cultural Note* In Azerbaijan beards are frowned upon for local men. Having a beard marks you as a Muslim fundamentalist and a probabal Wahabi terrorist, having a trimed goatee marks you as a probabal homosexual(either of these offenses can get you shunned or even harmed....though its better to be a Wahabi). But a thick mustache marks you as a real, macho man. Just the opposite of the US stereotype of the '70s gay porn-stache.
But, when a close family member dies here men traditionally stop shaving for 40 days to mark the mourning period.
Indeed, the Azerbaijani word for to shave = qırxmaq and the word for forty=qırx.

For more information go to www.Xinaliq.com

Random Pics of Me

Guesting with some local folk in a villiage outside of Tovuz, a town on the boarder with Armenia. I sat with the men folk and ate cheese & bread that had just been freshly baked by the women folk, drank vodka, and listened to one fellow play the Azerbaijani guitar, the tar. Friendly folk but if you go to this area be prepared for the first 30mn of any conversation to be about how evil the inhuman Armenians are.


Qala Alta - This a big wall/castle ontop of a small mountain on the border of Siyazan and Devechi rayons. Joined a group of Azeris, PCVs and PCV family members who came to visit; we all got in a rickety old van with a goat, travelled up to a picnic area atop the mountain, slaughtered and BBQed the goat, and spent the day chatting, eating kebab & drinking vodka. Good times.


















Crazy Face - No particular reason. Just the regularly scheduled Friday nite bonfire.


Xinalug - They most remote villiage in all of Azerbaijan. They claim to have been there for 5,000years. A seperate ethnic group with there own language distinct from any other in the Caucases. Above the tree line, nestled in the mountains, economy based on sheepherding and increasing tourism.


















Super Adventure Weekend - Our hosts gave us homemade headbands to decorate as we liked. Good time, great(G Rated)party game.

The Garden House = Bağ Evi=庭付きの家

A month ago I finally moved into my own place. It was a dump. The only furniture in the house was a couple bed frames and a table covered in peeling paint. To make matters worse it was on the edge of town far from my Host Organzation(the place where I 'officially' work). But it was a very private, had a big garden and not many neighbors.

Pretty much everything you see in these pics I found in the garden. The big wood/gas stove, the silverware & dishes, the cabinets, the bricks and boards that make the shelves, all the flat stones on the floor which cover the crumbling, water damaged particle-board floor, all found in the garden. The food, table cloth & gas range are the only housewares Ive bought. The rest of the stuff was brought with me(ie the flag/curtains), PC issued(ie the big brown monsters{sleeping bag} & fire extinguisher), or found in that garden.

This is the only finished room in my house. It has my kitchen in the pic above, turning clockwise we see the door out to the "shed" behind the flag/curtains and here we have the guest bedroom/couch. The "shed" is another, slightly larger room which is unfinished. Its floors & 2 walls are bare stone, two walls are half broken windows and the foil backing to disintegrated insulation board.


Turning clockwise again we find the wardrobe and hanging on the walls are my calender/accounting/events chart. This corner is still kinda empty. They greyness seen on the lower half of the wall is a mix of water damage, mold thats been painted over, and crappy AZy powder paint that washes of when you wipe it down with ammonia to kill the mold.


In this corner is the master bedroom with bookshelves and whatnot.


And finally another clockwise turn brings us full circle back to the kitchen. Thus ending the tour of my room.

Be it ever so humble there is no place like home. It may be a craphole but its my craphole damnit.

Robot Head=ロボット頭

Let me introduce you to "Robot Head", my new little kitten.　子猫を紹介します！　これ”ロボットヘッド”って言う子猫よ。

He got his name from a bonfire game we played at my place over the weekend. One takes a cardboard box and draws a robot face on it, strategically cutting holes where the mouth, eyes, etc should be. Then you place this "Robot Head" over the fire an everyone chants "Robot head, robot head, robot head" slowly, rhythmically and with ever greater intensity and volume until its completely engulfed in the flames. Beats worshiping a boar's head and breaking Piggy's glasses.　どうしてロボットヘッドって言うのか？。。。説明チョウ難しいだって英語読んで見てね。


Anyhow, they day after that particular bonfire a bunch of us went for a walk around Quba touring the sites. I split off from the group for a bit to visit a local acquaintance who said I could have one of his new kittens. The kitten was finally big enough to take from its mother but it was very unhappy to meet me. How does one make the hour long walk home carrying a kitten who is half wild?

Stick him in a closed cardboard box, with a couple strategically cut airholes and carry it all home in a xanim bag(a cool looking reusable plastic shopping sack). Cardboard box, holes, strangeness, hence "Robot Head".

He's pretty small though. Just got off mothers milk and still has his baby fat. Been feeding him a good diet of yogurt, sausage and table scraps. Problem is he's lonely and whinges alot. And when I pick him up he climbs up my chest and tries to eat my beard.....its been two weeks since my last shower, maybe Im missing some food scraps in there when I bucket bath.... ;) Hoping to get him a little friend this week.　ロボットヘッドはまだスゴイ小さいだ。１月半間前だけ生まれた。母さんと兄弟で恋して泣いてる。　今週、子猫の友達を探して見る。

Here's hoping that in another month he'll be big enough to do something about the rat/mice in my ceiling whose scrabbling wake me up in the nite.　小さいけど多分二三月後,
子猫は天井に住むネズミが食べれる！

Breaking Down Gender Barriers

After the AIDS Awareness Program Jill accompanied the kids to visit the mass grave site.

Amy, myself, and the ever classy Julia(pictured in the middle) who was visiting from Siyazan decided to go for ice-cream and push the gender barriers a little by visiting one of the nicer çayxana(chai hhana)= tea houses.

Gender roles are fairly well set. Women stay home, cook, clean, don't talk to men outside their family, speak when spoken to, never drink alcohol(when men can see) or smoke cigarettes. To violate any of these rules is to put a big sticker on your chest that says "!PROSTITUTE!".... Perhaps I exaggerate, but not much.

Tea houses here tend to be dingy little places where men go after work to drink tea, smoke, play dominoes or nerd, which is a form of noisy backgammon, and just relax. Some teahouses though are very nice. They may have cake or other small food items or have picnic tables outside in the sun. Here in Guba we have a very nice looking teahouse next to the fountain in the middle of our main park between the main mosque and the Culture House.

We've never seen any women there but this is a tourist town with many of Baku's rich & famous coming every summer and we felt this might be the right time to push the boundry a little bit. To show people that just because your a woman and at a tea house doesn't make you a "bad girl". Afterall, its quite common in Baku and other Muslim countries and over the last couple years the attitude in the regions has been slowly shifting towards being slightly less rigid in these matters.

So here they are. Another crack in the cultural walls boxing women in. Julia & Amy sitting in the park at the teahouse waiting for our tea to come. And the nice thing was nobody really seemed to bat an eye about it. We didnt get anymore stares from the local folk than we get everyday here. The tea came, we drank, relaxed, talked, enjoyed the sun, laughed at the boys who were dunking there heads into the fountain with the green water, it was great!....until that great bane of tea drinking hit - the need to pee. Don't know how they do it but Ive never seen a tea house with a toilet. This place in the middle of the park was no exception.


Final note. One of the little charms you can only find in Quba are these little stones painted like mushrooms. There everywhere in Quba, sprouting in corners, nooks, streetsides and gardens like...well, like mushrooms. Quba is the only city in the country to have this. I'll write more about them later & the "crazy" man responsible.