Tuesday, August 28, 2012

One Year in the Life of a Peace Corps Volunteer


What’s that song, “I’m still standing, yeah, yeah, yeah…”?

 It’s really hard to believe it’s been almost a whole year since I 1st stepped foot in Azerbaijan. Some days it has felt as though time is standing still, and yet then I turn around and find a whole new season has reached the edges of my town. New volunteers will arrive in less than a month, making us no longer the “freshman class”. The impending arrival of the newbies has got me reflecting over the events of the past year, the good, the bad, and the dirty.

I arrived in Azerbaijan on 24 September 2012. Upon arrival at the Baku International airport, myself and 2 other volunteers stood at the luggage carousel, dazed and confused as to why our bags were not slowly rotating out the magical tarmac shoot. I had only the pair of underwear I was wearing, but this was Peace Corps right? I mean a little hand-washing was pretty much going to kick start my street cred.

After attempting to fill out missing luggage papers, we were finally greeted on the other side of the arrivals gate by PCVs, our fellow PCT’s and PC staff. We were herded onto a bus and taken to our hotel cabins where we would begin 3 days of orientation. When we arrived at the hotel, a baggage handler kindly “helped” me with my suitcases, as I watched my month old MacBook Pro kiss the sidewalk, thus smashing the screen.

This was my FIRST 3 hours in Azerbaijan….

I signed up for a tough time right? I mean, most people do not have that kind of luck in the 1st few hours, but then again, anyone who has ever traveled with me knows that was a lucky day.

After orientation we were divided into “Clusters” based on our sector assignments (Business, Youth, or TEFL). We moved to our training sites to begin our 2.5 months of intense sector, language and culture training. I was scared to death of living with a host family, especially one I couldn’t communicate with. (I lucked out in the end; both my host sisters spoke enough English to communicate, making the whole thing far less scary). 

Those 1st few months were full of gestures and animated conversations, as my host parents and I tried to get across our ideas. Some hand signals are universal really. Those nights certainly made for a lot of laughing. I found this family that seemed so strange at 1st, really became a family to me and I have been back to visit them several times since. Even bringing my parents to meet them when they visited!

Come December, we moved to our permanent sites. I was off to the North, to the town of Quba. Land of Apples and Mountains. I moved in with a new host family, this time with zero English but with more Azerbaijani on my part. Many more nights of gestures and dictionaries ensued.  This house had far more people, 7 of us and only 2 bedrooms. 

The winter set in and as a New Englander, I was humble. I learned a new meaning of the word cold. It’s hard to imagine it now, with the summer heat bearing down on us, but last winter was the worst recorded in Eastern European history in the past 50 years. Of course it was right? When I actually live here…more street cred??? I learned what it meant to not shower for 2 weeks at a time, and then have to carry buckets of snow in from the chicken yard to melt for said “shower”.  

While it seemed that winter was never going to end, and the March snowstorms persisted…Spring did eventually peek in. This brought about a new transition in my Peace Corps life. Independent Living. Like a breath of fresh air, I moved into my own house (with shared shower, toilet, backyard and sometimes kitchen of course…I mean this is Azerbaijan after all). Quality of life improved in leaps and bounds as I finally had a space to call my own and I relished in it. Spring also brought about outdoor activities and produce that wasn’t cabbage. A variety in colour and food?! Amazing.

June kick started an awesome summer of summer camps and activity clubs and visiting friends. My parents came out to visit me and I took off to Thailand and Cambodia for my annual vacation time.

Somewhere along the line, I began to learn the ropes. The 1 year mark of “what on earth have I accomplished in a year” has started to set in, but that’s typical. My language improved and while my grammar may have gotten bit lazy, I am typically understood by most and praised for my knowledge or at least my effort.

None of my clothes fit as the “Peace Corps Diet” of running emergency laps between my home and the squat toilet in the backyard keeps me in great shape. (No really, a PCV’s dessert of choice is often wisely an antacid or antidiarrheal tablet. It’s not always pretty, but often makes for a funny story.)

I’ve learned that a fellow PCV, a well stocked external harddrive, and a couple of shots of Russian vodka are often a more effective method to keeping warm in the winter than your gas stove. Also that you will form a special bond with your long underwear. You become attached and often compare with other PCVs the way I "Once Upon a Time" talked about my stilettos.  

I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since your last shower, because there is ALWAYS someone who can “outdo” that. And let’s face it; come winter, you wear your “I haven’t showered since” badge with pride.

I’ve learned there’s no way to stay cooler in the summer than to sit in front of my fan with a tub of watermelon in my lap and a friend to laugh with. Also hunting flies in my house provides not only free entertainment, but also a weird sense of accomplishment. Armed with my hot pink fly swatter, or sometimes even an impromptu flipflop, I have become a FlyNinja. 

I've become very resourceful with my trash. Wine bottle candle holders? Wine Bottle rolling pins? (No theme with the wine bottles ha) Glass Jar flower holders? Sour Cream container tupperware? Don't mind if I do.

I learned a lot about myself, and I’m working on figuring out the person I want to become. With the incoming trainees, it will definitely be a time of reflection and questioning of my service so far. I’m looking forward to the challenge. Our AZ9 group started with 44. We are now 41, but we’re going strong and I’m proud of us. Who would have thought a year would have gone by already and yet here we are…still standing. 

Friday, August 17, 2012

Digging out the Passport and Dusting it off...


As many of you know, I just got back from holidays in Thailand and Cambodia. It felt unbelievably amazing and surreal to get out of Azerbaijan and into a land where white people walk around with hiking packs and you can buy oreos and beer at the market.

Over the last few weeks, 3 friends and I traveled across Thailand and over to Cambodia in a series of awesome adventures. A brief synopsis of our whirlwind travels...

August 1st, we left Baku on our way to Bangkok. Upon arrival, we made what turned out to be the worst decision of our lives...we purchased 3rd class (cattle car) tickets on the night train to Surat Thani. We laughed at the locals who set up camp on the train floors under protective sheets of newspapers, only to realize they were the smart ones...12 hours later we arrived, then took an hour bus, then an 1.5 hour ferry..and finally landed in Paradise. 

Koh Samui, Thailand
View from our hotel

One of our Jungle Huts

Our stay in Koh Samui, happened to coincide with our friend's birthday (second from left) and the infamous Full Moon party on Koh Phangan Island. We all survived, barely ;) 

Hərşey Olar is Azerbaijani for "Everything Allowed"


They say between 10,000 - 14,000 people come to the Full Moon Party



We wanted to stay in Koh Samui forever, but alas had to keep moving...back to Bangkok (this time on a VIP night bus...way better choice) for one day.

In Bangkok, despite our lack of sleep, we took advantage of the day and went site-seeing. 



Later that afternoon, we splurged on a flight and were off to the Northern part of Thailand...Chiang Moi.

Our 2.5 days here were not nearly enough, but we managed to squeeze in an elephant trek through the jungle, a raft ride down the river, a visit to a butterfly and orchid farm, a trip to visit the tigers, and a front row seat at a Muay Thai boxing night.

Elephant jungle trekking

River rafting


Snuggling with tiger cubs
Dressed up for the Muay Thai fight night
We flew back to Bangkok for one night, and made it to the vibrant Khao San Road. Full of fellow backpackers and awesome street food, the whole road felt alive. You could buy anything from springrolls, to locusts, to fake everything. 

Best Pad Thai on the Street



New Friends



In the morning we were off again, to cross the border into Cambodia! I have to say, that with all the places in the world I've been to, Cambodia may possibly be the coolest. Not literally of course, I sweat buckets there.


We headed off to Siem Reap, where we were pleasantly surprised with an amazing hotel and a really cool city. The next few days consisted of massages, fish pedicures, swimming in the Mekong River, floating in the the flooded forest, climbing the temples of Angkor Wat and a very happy finale. 

The fish eat the dead skin off your feet

An entire village on stilts, for the flood season

Floating down the flooded forrest

Cambodian dinner & cocktails!


Quite possibly one of the coolest days of the trip, was Angkor Wat. A "City of Temples" set in the jungles, just north of Siem Reap, Cambodia. The city was built in the early 12th century and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This jungle city is like something out of a fairytale.














The trip could not have been more amazing, and on our final day we decided to just relax. It also happened to be my *ahem* 27th Birthday. My friends, along with the hotel staff pulled off an awesome birthday surprise that I did not expect. 



Coming back to Azerbaijan was not the easiest thing to do. While I have learned to think of it as my home for now, leaving the freedom of SouthEast Asia and the anonymity of traveling was frustrating. For now, it's back to Azerbaijan...but the next trip is always on my mind.