Chronicles of a Peace Corps Pet

For those of you cat owners around the world, I'm sure we all know that in any country, in any home...if there is a cat, it is Queen. (or King?) The rules are no different in Azerbaijan. Many PC volunteers choose to adopt animals, and in many cases (such as mine was) the animal adopts you.

A chronicle of how I've become "one of those" PC volunteers.

Quinn
It was a warm April night when a mangy little kitten wandered into my kitchen. I didn't want a cat, since taking them home is a hugely expensive operation, and I get attached. So I let her sleep on my floor and gave her water and some bread and figured that was that....ha

She knew a sucker when she saw one, and Quinn quickly because my buddy.

The bread that she ate at first, soon became store bought hotdogs and she started to fill out...at least, her belly did. It soon became obvious, that my sweet little kitten was in fact a "bad girl". May 17th, 2012 Mikro and Juno were born.

In Azerbaijan people do not keep pets like cats in dogs. Some richer people in Baku, maybe, but in a village? So my neighbors all thought I was crazy enough having one cat, never mind three. Especially three girls. I vowed to find homes for the kittens once they were big enough.

Mikro

Named for her size, she is still as snuggly as ever.

The smaller of the two kittens came with me on a road trip, 2.5 hours South to Baku and about 9 hours West to Tovuz. She now resides in a village on the other side of the country with one of my best friends in PC, Annie. 

Last Day all together, before Mikro's road trip to Tovuz

***In response to this blog, Mikro's mama provided this updated photo

Mikro in February 2013

Then there were two...

Juno

Quinn started doing her own thing, as all teenagers do, and the animal person that I am could not part with the other kitten.  Quinn comes every morning and every evening for her hotdogs, and on cold or rainy nights she sleeps in the kitchen. Perhaps it was her teenage pregnancy that led her to her independence, but I still get to snuggle with Juno. (whether I like it or not)

While I watch movies...

While I eat my dinner...

Steals my food

While I chop wood for my house... (she watches from above)

Annnnd when I try and sleep...

Winter time sleep...She crawls right in my sleeping bag

Conclusion: Life as a Peace Corps pet has it's advantages. 

Reflections, Realizations & Risks

With every New Year, there is a time when the inevitable question of "What are your New Year Resolutions? is asked" This question is dreaded by all procrastinators world-wide, who will more than likely get a glazed look in their eye as they stammer to improvise well-intentioned, heart-felt-sounding general statements. One usually walks away from such conversations thinking about the year past, wrought with a feeling of guilt and dissatisfaction. New Year’s is a time of reflections on the past year and the years prior, which often make us feel unfulfilled and the other dreaded ‘R’…regretful.

But why? Why is it that when we get to this point in our year, do we forget all the amazing things we did? If Peace Corps has taught me anything, it is to value the small successes.

A few years ago, I was one of those people who always said, Oh I wish I had had more time to do things for me, or I wish I had traveled or adventured more, and other such excuses we make for ourselves.

Living life full of What Ifs is no way to live. Sure there are realities we need to face such as health, financial and proximity barriers, but why not start small? Try a new food. Read that book that's been sitting on your nightstand for a year. Get in a car, without a map and just go somewhere unknown for the day.

The end of 2011/2012 saw the biggest risk I have ever taken in my life. I did something I never dreamed I'd have the courage to do; I joined the Peace Corps. I accepted an assignment in a country I had barely heard of, learned an impossible language and assimilated into the culture.

I had contemplated the idea of doing the Peace Corps since I graduated UNH in 2007, but had for one reason or the other, talked myself into other options. To be honest, I'm glad I waited because it is easily the most humbling and self-realizing challenge I have ever taken on. I have learned so much about myself and about the type of person I want to be.

My New Years resolution this year is to never have to say “What If?.  It is to push myself out of my comfort zone and take risks  everyday. 

Holiday Cooking with Corina

So it's that time of year and most PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) are getting a little homesick. The new volunteers here in Azerbaijan have only been at their new (permanent) sites for about a week, and us "Big Kids" have been in country over a year. It's not an easy time for us as we're feeling pretty far away from our friends and family back home. 

In honour of being away from home, today's recipe will be for holiday cupcakes. I've put on Home Alone and will be showing you how to make delicious frosted holiday cupcakes. A bit of holiday cheer is always welcomed :)

Holiday Cupcakes (Christmas & Hanukkah)!
Ingredients
1 Cup Sugar (white)

1/2 Cup Butter (soft)

1 1/2 Cups Flour

1 3/4 Teaspoons Baking Powder

2 Eggs

1/2 Cups Milk

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

Steps
1. Preheat your oven to 125 degrees C (about 250 F)
2. Mix all dry ingredients together
3. Mix all wet ingredients together (except milk)
4. Mix both mixtures together and add milk.

5. Divide mixture into 3 bowls, with a 1/2, 1/4, 1/4 ratio

5. Leave 1/2 mixture alone

6. Using food colouring (sorry, I try not to use American products as this is for PC, but I got a package!) mix red food dye into one of the 1/4 mixtures, and mix blue into the other.

7. In muffin cups (rubber or paper) drop a spoonful of the white mixture in 

8. Then drop a smaller spoonful of red or blue in. Alternate white and a colour until your cups are 3/4 full.

9. Bake cupcakes for around 20 minutes, checking on them frequently. 

10. When a fork comes out of the center clean, the cupcakes are done!

Once the cupcakes have cooled, you will be ready to frost them! If you want a "fancier" look, fill a Ziplock bag about half way full of frosting and twist bag (do not seal). Cut the tip off one of the bottom corners and holding the top, squeeze frosting out!

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pack Cream Cheese (Philadelphia can be bought in many big markets)
1/4 cups Butter (soft)
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 Teaspoon vanilla
**Food Colouring optional for the final step...

If you have candy canes in a package, great! If not....use these candies below as a substitute (they taste the same). Crush them up and sprinkle them on top!

Nuş Olsun! (Enjoy!)

Cooking with Corina

As a Peace Corps Volunteer, we have 3 options when it comes to food. 1. We can exist on pasta/rice/bean-based dishes that neither cost a lot of money, nor take a lot of ingenuity to cook. 2. We can shamelessly whore ourselves out to our host country national friends & neighbors for guesting experiences (no actual shame in this), or 3. We can get creative with the things we're given/are native to our area. 

I choose Option 3

I would like to make "Cooking with Corina" a semi-regular guest topic. I hope there are no objections!  

 ( I need something to do this Winter :D )

Today we will start with something I have an abundance of. Apples. Quba (my town, for those of you who don't know) is known for it's apples. Autumn time the whole region is filled with apple orchards, and people start giving you bag after bag of them. What to do? I can only eat so many. So I started thinking....


Apple Cider

Ingredients
8-10 Apples (whole)
1/2 - 1 cup Sugar
4 Tablespoons Cinnamon
4 Tablespoons Allspice (May have to be sent from home)
*Optional - Caramel

Steps
1. Cut the apples in quarters. (Apples can be cut unpeeled, and complete with seeds) Put in Pot.
2. Cover with (filtered!) water, just over the top of the apples.
3. Add Sugar
4. Wrap Cinnamon & Allspice in cheesecloth and add.
**Side note, who has cheesecloth in the PC, I mean really? If you have a woman's clean/new cheap knee-high or stocking, cut the foot out and put spices in. Tie closed. Viola!)
5. Boil for 1 hour uncovered
6. Simmer for 2 hours covered
7. Let cool & then mash the apples in pot. (A clean glass jar makes for a great masher)
8. Strain liquid out & Enjoy!

So after this delicious recipe was completed, I was left with a bowl of spiced apple mush. Looked kind of something like applesauce...what to do?? No sense in wasting it...

Mush on left. Cider on Right.

Applesauce Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups Apple Mush (complete with seeds, you won't notice them)

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cups Oil (vegetable/corn/sunflower)

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons Milk

2 cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Nutmeg

(Normal recipe also calls for 1 Teaspoon each Cinnamon & Allspice, but as it's already in the mush, no need)

Steps
1. Pre-heat Oven to 125C (about 260F)
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Put in muffin pan
* Can cook in normal bread pan also, just may need to cook for longer)
4. Sprinkle sugar on top
5. Cook for about 15-20 minutes (watch carefully, when fork comes out clean, they are done!)

As the Azerbaijani's would say, Nuş Olsun! (Enjoy!)

And if you're really ambitious.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pack Cream Cheese (Philadelphia can be bought in many big markets)
1/4 cups Butter (soft)
3 cups Powdered Sugar
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Mix all together and spread!

Ushering in the New Generation

It's hard to believe that I have been in Azerbaijan for 1 whole year. September 24th marked the anniversary of arrival for the AZ9's (my group). In some ways the year absolutely flew by, and then in others it felt like it would never come. Even though we knew the date was approaching, it was the arrival of the new group (AZ10s) that really brought the message home.

It is tradition that 4 volunteers are chosen to go to the airport and receive the new group of trainees. This group is known as the Welcome Group and the application process can sometimes be a fiercely competitive one. This is mainly because after a whole year of staring at the same 100 or so faces, we finally get some new blood in country. (Our social lives kind of depend on this turnover). This new group will be our future friends, sitemates and work colleagues and we really look forward to helping them enter the life that is PC AZ.

The group chosen greets the new trainees at the airport and then ushers them to a 2-3 day orientation weekend, where all manner of sessions are held from PCV Q&A's to Host Family Survival Skills and Development Work. It's a great time of reflection for us, as we finally realize that we have the answers to many of the questions we ourselves were asking only 1 year ago. This year I was lucky to be chosen as part of this group...

AZ10 Welcome Group (l to r.. Josh, Kelsey, Me, & Sam)

It is also tradition, as seen above, for the Welcome Group to arrive at the airport sporting Azerbaijani tracksuits. We are clearly the coolest of the cool (?). Ha

This year, the 50 new PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) were greeted not only by the Welcome Group, but also by the Mentor Program. This program is a group of PCVs that were selected to help the trainees with their questions, before arrival to Azerbaijan. They accompanied us to the airport for the arrival and naturally, we all donned the amazing tracksuits...

Badass PCVs

Needless to say, we caused quite the commotion at the airport.

With the arrival of the AZ10s there also comes a sadder element. The goodbye of the AZ8's. For many of us, these volunteers have been the ones we've turned to with questions and tough days. For me, all 3 of my sitemates are AZ8's and I will miss them greatly. It's the PCV circle or life as you will. For a year we've been looking to these volunteers for advice, friendship and knowledge. It's weird to think it's our turn to be those people for the new group but as the November COS dates fast approach (Close of Service) the reality is beginning to set in.

Even though my service is only at the half-way mark, we've turned a corner. We're no longer the Freshman and come January there will be a COS lottery in which we find out our dates of departure. The question of "What will you do after" has started to crop up and the end doesn't seem all that far away. They say the 2nd year is the best, as it is a time when your cultural and language knowledge is advanced and your projects finally start to take off. It's a really exciting time, but it's also limited. I guess we can only enjoy it while it lasts and make the most of it. I mean, we do have tracksuits now...so anything is possible. Right?

How Peace Corps Volunteers Do Summer Camp

    So this past week, along with 2 of my site-mates, Quba had Summer Camp. The planning of this camp has been going on for months, and the activities were mainly based on Creativity and Environmental- Awareness activities.

We had a a bunch of volunteers from other regions come up to help us with our week of activities and we had an awesome group of local kids. Our camp's focus was to get the children ( ages 7-13) critically and creatively thinking about different activities.

These types of learning skills are so ingrained in the schooling that we as Americans are exposed to, but that is not the case in Azerbaijan. Children here are not encouraged to use their imaginations and think about things from a different and unique perspective.

It is more-than-likely that this type of "uniformed" thinking stems from the country's Soviet history. During Soviet times, the government controlled many of the social aspects of culture in Azerbaijan. People did not have choices in the way that we as Americans think of them. Based on our perceptions of the Soviet Union, these were dark times,and yet many Azerbaijanis talk about them fondly as a time when everyone had enough and were equal.

This camp, and much of the type of work volunteers do here, is to help children use their imaginations and do the things we take for granted as children of the 1st World. We also try and stress the importance of the environment and the idea of recycling. The following is a recap of some of our daily activities...


Every Morning - Camp Warm Up Games

Create Team Flags & Names (2 teams)

The SuperStars

The Dragons

Paper Tissue Flowers

 

Creating Animal Masks & Performing an Animal Play

Trash Pick Up Contest

Yoga Lessons!

Recycled (Plastic Bottle) Bird Houses

 Healthy Teeth Presentation, complete with Goodie Bags!

The End...

Thank you to our Azerbaijani Bank Grant Sponsors

Then, for the kids that were really active and came all week, we selected a few for a field trip. We took the kids to Laza (Qusar Region) to play in the mountains and waterfalls...

Laza

Hazerat, Atilla, & Taleh

The Quba Volunteers!

American/Azerbaijani Picnic

Thank you to our American Sponsors who donated & made our camp possible!