Back to School

With school starting in less than a fortnight, I am trying to wrap my head around work mode again. I have been keeping busy being on the Program and Advisory Training Committee as the TEFL sector representative for my group. I also have been floating a hundred ideas around in my head to see which ones I can try and work out for this upcoming school year. Next week I am going to pop into school and track down my two counterparts and see if I can meet with them about what this next semester will look like. School starts the 15th of September in Azerbaijan for every primary, secondary, and almost every higher education institute in the country every single year.
The teachers start going approximately two weeks early to sign papers and get the books ready for the year. I asked my host sister-in-law what they exactly did, and she said they really do nothing, but the ministry requires them to go. Interesting. Although, absolutely nothing is computerized in the school systems, so every grade book, register, schedule, attendance record, and so forth is written in blue or black ink in large, leather bound books. Officials from the Ministry make surprise check-ups throughout the year to ensure they are being filled out correctly, and at the end of the year, they are sent in (I think) to be checked. Nevertheless, this is an extremely time consuming process. The actual schedule of hours and classes will be re-written in pencil multiple times before being complete sometime in late October or November. Until then, I most likely will not know which classes I actually have each day until then.
I am excited to get back into school mode again (like most Americans, I like routines and schedules). I will start clubs again after a week or so. This year I am trying to focus less on English and more on life skills. I was asked to guest write for my high school newspaper again, and am hoping to contact the teacher from Nebraska with whom I am paired up with in the World Wise School program to promote exchange between school students from America and Peace Corps volunteers across the world. I am still planning on throwing a raging Halloween party at school dependent on if my new school director likes my projects-or me. I am sure I will continue to tutor one of my host cousins in English. Lately, we have just been playing cards (Crazy 8’s, Spoons, Go Fish, and B.S. which I have renamed “I don’t believe you”) and drawing pictures. I also need to start tutoring my host sister-in-law after realizing this summer that while I can understand her broken English from living with her, no one else can. I have started getting back into running at night since it has slightly cooled down after seven p.m. and doing yoga in the mornings.
One of my goals for this semester is to be better at updating my blog. I think sometimes it is easy to get into routines here and feel that a lot of what I am doing is just normal day to day uninteresting stuff. The 23rd will mark my first year of being in-country and I know I have glossed over a lot of what has happened these past twelve months. I am going to try remembering the strange differences between the Azerbaijani and American school systems (no set schedule until November!), the cultural faux pas I continue to make (I never remember to only set the bread upright), and what goes on in the long days of the village. I am asking for a little help though. Is there anything particular you would like to hear about? Any questions about PCV life, the country, culture, schools, language, family, my recent obsessions (Rufus Wainwright, fig jam, Mad Men), language blunders (apparently the word “fool” which my host mom calls everything is actually a really bad word and I should not have said it when trying to translate the name of a card game to a ten year old guest), book recommendations, or whatever else tickles your fancy? Send me an email or leave a comment.