More pictures

Here are more pictures from the yacht. Most of these are downloaded from people on the yacht and are not actually my own pictures. Thank you to Adam for his beautiful photos.

First set of pictures from the trip

The Hagia Sophia (Aya Sophia) By far my biggest recommendation for anyone visiting Istanbul. The Hagia Sophia was first used as a church, later a mosque, and now as a museum. It covers 7000 square meters and the dome is 56 meters high. In December of 537, its monument was dedicated in the city and was considered the most awe inspiring church in the Christian world. In 1453, it was conquered and turned from a church into a mosque. It wasn’t until 1931 that it was declared secular and in 1935 it opened as a museum.



On the very top sections of the domes you can see the depictions from the Christian times

The more eye level sections are almost all from Islam. Here is the mimbar, which corresponds to a pulpit in a church.

The Blue Mosque The Blue Mosque was another one of my favorite sites I saw. It is a quick run through, taking maybe no more than ten minutes to see. It was gorgeous on the inside, and certainly my photos do not do it justice. Everywhere is filled with beautiful blue and white tiled mosaics.





The Yacht

Our sleeping quarters. There were 16 of us and eight cabins.


El Capitan


The front deck of the yacht. This is where I spent most of my time soaking up the sun. The middle section between the rows of beds is where the Yacht Fashion shows took place.


A beautiful night on the Turquoise Riviera

Sailing on the Turquoise Riviera

I finally made it back to the village after my long and satisfying vacation. I have been trying to write a few blog posts about it, but my thoughts are kind of scattered and there is just SO much to say. This was by far the best vacation ever. Or rather, I think I will be hard pressed to find a better one in my lifetime, which is pretty neat to say as a 24 year old. Firstly, it was needed. The vacation was set up through my Peace Corps friend, Josh. He had been planning it for a little over two years (before he even left for Azerbaijan) and invited me and another friend of ours to join in on the experience. So almost every day for five months we sent each other text messages and emails about the excruciating wait. It was a really good event to look forward to, and frankly, I was losing my temper almost once a day with Azerbaijani culture and needed to get out. Secondly, the trip ended up being a perfect balance. We hit up Istanbul for four days without rest. We were still on the two hour behind time change, so the Peace Corps volunteers kept waking up everyone at the hostel by six-thirty. We drank so much Starbucks, walked everywhere and anywhere, hit the major tourist sites, ate pounds and pounds of food and Turkish ice cream, and then went out dancing at night (it was surprising I could even move). After that we did the yacht. It’s going to be hard to describe it all, but suffice it to say, after Istanbul, the only marker for time for eight days was when the cook told us to come eat meals. For eight days I swam, ate, tanned, read my book, swam again, ate again, tanned again, read my book again, and repeated this process at night. The only interruptions were stopping at a beach town for a few hours, participating in yacht fashion shows, learning how to jackknife cannonball off the side of the boat to see who could spray the farthest, and using 15 other people to help finish crosswords. The boat dropped us off in a town called Marmis, but took us back up to Bodrum where we spent one night in a “private villa” (thank you AirBed&Breakfast), and then we slowly started breaking up the mass 16 person group. Four of us went to a town called Selchuk, right outside of Ephesus. Ephesus is considered to have the best preserved Roman ruins in the Mediterranean. While we tried to get moving, nothing really starts in sleepy Selchuk until about 8:30 in the morning. Then we hitched a free ride with the hostel owner’s sister up to the top gate of Ephesus, and by 9:30, the sun was HOT. The ruins were really interesting to see, but we powered through them in about an hour and half when most people take three. It was worth it, though, and I’m not just talking about seeing the culture sites. A two Turkish lira bus ride north of the ruins takes you to a little place called Aqua Fantasy. That is, Europe’s Biggest Water Park. Yes. Nothing can beat the yacht portion of this trip, but boy oh boy, this is a close second. We rode every ride, rocked in the wave pool, floated down the lazy river, picked out our wedgies down free fall slides, and people watched our hearts out. Originally, we took a bus from Istanbul to Bodrum before we boarded the yacht. For the PCV’s, the 12 hour bus ride did not seem too intimidating. We should have known it was not just going to be twelve hours, though. It was two hours of a bus ride, one hour waiting for a ferry, one hour loading and being on the ferry (at this point without air conditioning because the bus was not moving), and then about ten more after that with a few gas station breaks in between. It was not exactly fun. Although, I think for Josh’s friends that came from America, it was almost scarring. Needless to say, for twenty more American dollars, on our return trip home we found a plane that would take us from Izmir to Istanbul the same day as our flight back to Baku, and we wisely chose that route. Finally, the vacation was phenomenal because I did not feel it went too fast or that I did not have enough time. I was hesitant to go back to Azerbaijan, but I was ready. I needed to start running again, going to sleep at a decent hour, eating an appropriate amount of food, stop spending money, do laundry, and sleep in my own bed. I cannot think of a single regret I have about this trip. We were almost late for our plane back to Baku because we stopped for one last Starbucks and Burger King. No regrets. (Judge not. In America, I would have never gone to BK. After two years I cannot stop thinking about milkshakes and greasy fries.) Highlights of Istanbul: *The Hagia Sophia – arguably one of the most beautiful and culturally rich architectural and religious sites in the world. It was gorgeous. Absolutely worth the 25 Turkish Lira and my number one recommendation for anyone visiting Istanbul *Turkish baths – My friend Mercedes and I opted for the half hour oil massage along with the regular soap scrub down at the baths. Worth it. We sat on hot stone slabs in the middle of a sauna type room and worked up a sweat. Later, a woman lathered us up and scrubbed off so much skin. We sat in the Jacuzzi for a while, and then proceeded on to a beautiful massage. *The Spice Bazar – In Turkish, it is called the Egyptian bazar. It has so many different spices, teas, and soaps. The spices are dried, full leaf, pre-packaged, or brought in under your nose while you are there. It is a beautiful bazar, and much less overwhelming than the Grand Bazar. *The Blue Mosque – This beautiful mosque was the first mosque I have ever been in (sets quite the standard). It does not take much time, and the only ‘admission fee’ is if you care to donate a few TLira after you leave. The inside is gorgeous, however, and a good respite from the sun. *The Funicular – Who does not love one of these? Highlights of the Yacht and sailing in the Turquoise Riviera *The food (and the good looking cook that came along with it) – There was honey every morning at breakfast. Honey! The meals consisted of so many vegetables, fruits, olives, mushrooms, and fresh grilled fish (head, eyes, tails, and all) *Swimming in the Sea – I was nervous before about not being a strong swimmer. Who cares in the sea? You virtually float as long as you move around every 35 seconds or so. *Seeing Dolphins – The very last day of our swimming, we spotted dolphins within swimming distance of our yacht. Need I say more? *The pictures – The view was amazing and virtually impossible to get a bad picture. One of Josh’s friends also happens to take brilliant photos which will be available for me to post in the next week. *Sleeping on the deck at night – It did not take long to figure out that the cabins were too hot, and the breeze at night on the deck was beautiful (although the sun in the morning was strong). *Being with Americans again – I was nervous I would have nothing to talk about except Azerbaijan. That might have proved to be a little true, but I had normal conversation, made new friends, and played so many card games. I cannot thank Josh enough for this trip. He planned EVERYTHING. I did nothing to help prepare except Paypal him money. He booked the yacht, the bus, the plane tickets, the hostels, and the hotels (There is more to this list, I’m sure). He also executed a perfect trip for 15 other people. Some of the booking could only be done through Turkish as not everywhere has English speakers. And, all of this was being done from Azerbaijan. Also, a big thanks to my parents who helped me financially with this trip. I had saved up some Azerbaijani manat from Peace Corps and had a little bit back home anticipating the trip, but with their help I was able to opt for the massage, or get Starbucks again, or not take a 15 hour bus ride twice. Thank you so much for that. (Pictures to come!!!)

Lahic - Lahij - Azerbaijan

A few friends and I made a trip to one of the must see sites of Azerbaijan, Lahic. It is an ancient village, up in the mountains of Ismayilli, famous for its copper artisans and cobble stone streets. We stayed with our friend, Nate, in the city of Ismayilli, and made a day trip up to the village. It was an interesting hour and a half trip up in the drizzling rain of steep mountains, narrow, crumbling roads, and Indiana Jones rope bridges (Don't worry, we chose not to cross it). It was completely worth it. This was the best tourist site I have seen so far. We stayed about four hours looking at the beautiful streets, shops, and people. Here is a Lahicite tapping away on his copper. He tried to get his little boy to get out of the way for a better picture, but really, the child is what makes it so cute.

A little break for lunch. Tasty Kabob, tomatoes, and cucumbers with Nate Storey, Allison Breed, and Alec Lisko.

Another nice copper shop. I kept having the "If only I had Lots and Lots of money" thoughts. These would be truly great (and heavy) keepsakes. While walking around here, Nate and I stopped, and spoke for a few minutes for a documentary a woman was making about tourist areas in Azerbaijan. Beads of sweat were gearing up when I asked her if we had to speak in Azerbaijani. Thankfully for all of us, she translated everything.

Allison and I outside of the Mosque

The CUTEST old lady ever. She wouldn't let Allison take the picture without her knitting needles in hand. We stopped by her shop about three times, and I finally bought beautiful blue and red hand knitted ankle socks in traditional style.

Every time we passed by the little old lady's shop, a man kept saying 50 cents for a picture. I understood after awhile he was telling us, we could pay fifty cents to try these beauties on (and then take our own pictues in them - no camera provided). Who wouldn't?

We stopped by the school to check out the murals on the walls. Instead, we were first directed to this. A typical Azerbaijani school decoration. A large soldier to remind everyone of the atrocities inflicted upon them during the Qarabagh war, and the continuing struggle for land and freedom. At this point in our tour, though, the director was alerted to our presence, came over, brought us into his office, and gave us tea and sweets. He was extremely hospitable and unconditionally grateful for the Peace Corps Volunteer they had two years before. It is encounters like those that are humbling about our service here.

Walking around the village

I love these cars

A major MAJOR thanks to my friend and photographer, Allison Breed. The first half and wonderful quality pictures I put up here were her creations.

Baseball, Bad Haircuts, and Birthdays

My cousin, Abdulla, the kids, and I at Abdulla's 17th birthday party. He's the youngest in his eleventh form class, meaning even though he'll graduate this year, he still has one more year before his mandatory two year service in the military.

Awhile back, Peace Corps volunteers decided to get some pick up baseball games going with their kids. They had some supplies donated from America, got a few rag tag kids together and had some fun. Now this has turned into a ten team league, supported by grants, with regional tournaments once a month through the season, and a big bash in Baku with special guests from the embassy. Here, Goychay hosted Yevlakh and Ismayilli for an afternoon match-up. Yevlakh boasts four girls, with two getting permission to travel to a different region. Here is volunteer Julie Nelson and her two brave girls.

Dan and I cheering from the stands

Goychay was short a player, so we talked our friend Konul into stepping up. She agreed, threw on a t-shirt, and after about ten minutes I had showed her (most) of the ropes. She said it took a full game before she understood, but she made it to first every time, and even if she didn't catch every ball, she made sure to at least stop it from getting to far.

Here are more of the Yevlakh Yahoos. Julie's university donated their awesome red shirts making them a pretty official first year team.

Here is Mehran from the Goychay Wild Cats (Veshi Peshik) making Ismayilli work for their win.

And as always, we end with some good sportsmanship.

This softball league has been really great. The majority of the region children don't participate on sports teams. They all play backyard soccer, but there is no sense of being on a team in the way we think about. Encouraging others, working for the greater good, keeping your head up even when you're losing, and not throwing temper tantrums are basics for our children at a young age, btu it is simply not the case here. The kids also get a chance to travel to other regions without their family (almost unheard of), meet friends from other parts of Azerbaijan, and learn a new sport. My sitemate, Matt Thornton, started up his team out in his village, but now some of the kids we know from the city come out to play as well. Even having the tournament at the stadium in Goychay was great exposure for the Goychay Mayor's office, police, and Education Ministry to see us with the children and prove we aren't teaching them secret military-op training.

Getting Hitched in the Baijan

The season of weddings has started again in Azerbaijan. For some reason, there are usually little to none in May, but my family was hit hard in April, and we already have many invitations for June. As I have mentioned before, weddings are the cultural climax of Azerbaijan. In any culture, it is a beautiful way to exchange traditions and rituals, understand old and new ways, and take part in ceremony. But for Azerbaijani’s it is THE way. In America, we just do not attend as many weddings. First and foremost, we do not invite as many people, and secondly, you can only come if you are invited. But here in AZ, it is much different. I have never been to a wedding below three hundred people and the biggest one has been my host brother’s at five hundred plus. And I have been to more weddings here than I have in my life in America.

I went to a wedding this past weekend in a neighboring village at a house that last year hosted the very first wedding I had ever been to in country. This was and still is the MOST “village” wedding I have ever attended. It had dirt floors, the cotton lettering to say “Welcome” on the sign was falling off, after all the men got extremely drunk, they shot off guns in celebration, there was a huge fight between the drunk men while the women scrambled over plastic chairs to get out of the way, and the groom did not allow the bride to be seen until he was ready to consummate the marriage (Again, this was a village wedding). My family still likes to poke fun at me that I was so scared last year. I would like to point out, there were guns being shot off in the middle of crowds and men were throwing punches next to our table and all of these participants were wasted. Also, I am 90% certain they were a little embarrassed I witnessed this so they joke with me to lighten the mood. So they gave me an extra hard time this year when they told me the other brother was getting married and I was going back. Now, even though I have described before what happened at my host brother’s wedding, I am going to give a brief (or not so brief) rundown of a typical wedding in Azerbaijan. Part of Peace Corps goals are to teach Azerbaijanis about America, and teach America about Azerbaijanis, and if there was one thing an Azerbaijani could tell an American about, it would their weddings. Usually there are two weddings for each couple. The first is called the Girl’s Wedding and the second, the Boy’s. They are nearly identical, except for a few key differences. The Girl’s wedding is always first and usually by a few weeks to a month. The bride can wear any color dress she would like and the guests consist mainly of her relatives, friends, and neighbors with usually only immediate family (first cousins, uncles, aunts) of the groom. At the Boy’s wedding, she must wear white with a red ribbon tied around her waist. Before the wedding, a few ceremonial customs take place, including the brother of the groom tying the red ribbon, walking hand in hand with her father around a lamp three times, and another ritual involving breaking a dish (but I don’t know the exact details and don’t want to be incorrect in saying them). Depending on how conservative the groom (and maybe the bride’s family – but usually he makes the decisions) and his family are, at his wedding, the girl’s mom may or may not be present, and there may be immediate family of hers there or there may not be. Before the Boy’s wedding, the groom along with a parade of cars goes to pick up the bride. Her family brings out all of her suitcases and things because she officially moves to his house that day. Then they bring her out to the wedding and it commences.

There are specific buildings in Azerbaijan solely for weddings. They are called “Wedding Palaces” and are similar to a banquet hall (except only weddings are held here!). Nowadays, it is much more common for weddings to be held at a palace and city folk turn their nose up at the village weddings. Or rather, everyone likes a village wedding as long as it’s not their own. At both the village and palace weddings, tables are split up for men on one side, women on the other (No set spots, sit with whom you like-keeping in mind gender separation). And either down the middle of the table aisles, or a designated spot near the front, people get up and dance. The tables are set with food and often so many plates there is not a place to set your glass for water. The food usually goes like this: Already set on the table is cold food or appetizers: mayonnaise salads, cold chicken legs, fried breaded meat deliciousness, cheese, bread, cucumbers and tomatoes. After people dig in for about a half hour on that, out comes a hot course: usually either the national dish of dolma (ground meat wrapped in grape leaves), or a meat/potato/soup combination. After that is usually kebab. Extremely grilled, usually charred, meat and fat with onions and greens sprinkled on top. All of these courses take about two to three hours (Remember: There can be up to 500 mouths to serve and feed). There is also juice and water (booze at the men’s tables), greens, napkins, salt, sugar for when tea is served, and all plates that haven’t been cleared.

While this is happening, music is usually (blaring) playing up front, and in between people are making speeches. However, unlike America, there are up to fifty people who will say something to the bride and groom throughout the evening, and most of the guests do not actually listen. Everything is videotaped, and the best part of the weddings is getting the DVD or video afterwards. (Truly, the best part is there is no editing, so you see all six hours of a wedding- from the twenty minute drive of getting the bride to every person’s bored face and attempt to avoid the video camera while they are eating). Throughout it all, people get up and dance, but you must be invited to dance. An invitation either comes from the singer/emcee (for example, the bride’s aunts and uncles please come up and dance), or while someone is dancing they’ll lock eyes with you and motion for you to get up and come.

Later in the evening, there will be a little ceremony in which the national meal, plov (good, oily rice topped with chestnuts, meat, and raisins), is brought out with torches and usually served to the bride and groom first and then brought out to the guests. After people eat this there is usually another cake cutting ceremony and then if the youngsters are lucky, a discotheque. Almost everyone gives money to the bride and groom, and it is recorded as it is given (this pays for the seats and food at the wedding, plus hopefully a little more to get the new family started). A region wedding is usually about 20 manat (Azerbaijani currency) per seat, a Baku wedding is 50 to 100 manat a seat. Towards the end, people also bring homemade cakes and chocolate and such because for about two weeks after the wedding, the family will host guests who have come to congratulate the happy couple. Palace weddings last usually five hours, village weddings last days. This weekend we went at 5:30 p.m., the bride arrived at six; everyone went home at two in the morning. However, there were over 100 guests the night before ‘helping’ to prepare for the next day, and there was about 60 more guests the next day celebrating the union of the marriage. Rumor has it at these village weddings, they show the sheet to confirm the bride was a virgin before the wedding. However, at both my host brother’s wedding, and both of these village ones I have been to, I have managed to avoid this ceremony, and therefore cannot confirm this (it absolutely happened in the past, though). I know there is so much more that could be said on this topic. After all, it is the main cultural event here. And while it is pretty standard across the board, there are always variations that could be explained. But, in my not-so-brief brief explanation, there just isn’t time. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them, though!

Bronchi-saurus

Being sick in Azerbaijan is not what I would call an ideally good time. In fact, I would identify it as the time when I am most frustrated by the culture or my service. For about the past five years, I have gotten ill at the same time every single year. This is no exaggeration folks. I say five years because the doctor records prove it, but it could be longer. It all started when I transferred to North Dakota State University and moved into the dorms with THE strangest roommate. Maybe ever. She would lie in bed day and night and hardly eat anything. When I asked her if she was sick, if she had mono, or strep throat, or was depressed, she always just said no. But then one day she was gone. Just gone. Most of her things were still there, but her toothbrush, computer, and the girl were missing. After about a week, I reported it to the Resident Assistant, who did not seem to be too worried about it. During her absence however, I developed major strep throat and mono. I had never had either of these before and was certain the devil himself had come into my room to take me to hell. Eventually after some strong medications and two weeks in bed/falling asleep in the classes I attempted to go to, I pulled around. Surprisingly, my roommate and her mother showed up one day, packed up all of her belongings, and left. Wouldn’t you know it, she had mono and strep throat and had gone home to recover. I cannot even recall her name anymore. That was the end of January, beginning of February in 2007.
In 2008, I went to the student health center where the nurse joked that I was admitted the same exact day the year before for the same symptoms. Unfortunately that year, I spent about four months doing a song and dance of strep throat, mono, and antibiotics, until it all culminated in chopping out my tonsils in April. Getting my tonsils out helped immensely. But last year I spent Valentine’s Day in the hotel in Baku from an acute case of bronchitis that had plagued me for a few weeks. And this year I repeated that story.
After being here for a year and a half, getting sick should seem relatively routine. Usually at home you would call work, stock up on juice and soup at the store, and settle in at home with some movies and books. I still find I am juggling a weird mixture of Azerbaijani methods and American methods, though. For example, I would love to retreat into a silence that is all mine. However, the only warm room in the house is the one where the two children are screaming and throwing toys, my host dad and brother are playing a really loud form of backgammon, and my sister-in-laws are gossiping with my host mom. Usually this means I take refuge upstairs in my cold, unheated room. However, I do that fully knowing I will then suffer from hearing every single person berate me on the evils of laying in my cold room and one hundred “I told you so’s” before the end of the day is over. I have learned to pick some of my battles though. For example, I would rather lie in the cold, cold room than be in the hot room with all of the noise. I have wholly accepted the cupping treatment because even though it is frightening, it is easier to do than hearing people tell me the reason I am not getting better is because I haven’t done it yet. I now wrap my head after I shower and sit next to the wood stove for a few hours so I don’t “catch more of a cold.” But some things I won’t back down on, either. I really dislike the tea with a certain bitter jam mixed in which is ‘medicine.’ It is not medicine and it tastes awful. Vitamins, sleep, and lots of water are the trifecta of recovery. Chicken noodle soup and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off make me feel like I’m at home on a day off from school. And mostly, I absolutely love taking American medications and immediately feeling better from them. We may be an overmedicated society, but it sure is effective.
I really hope this is the last time I ever have to experience Bronchitis again. It is no cup of tea, and twice was enough. I am happy I am starting to figure out the little things that make recovering from an illness easier. While it is not always smooth sailing, and usually I am pretty frustrated by the amount of people chiming in their thoughts on my sickness, I am happy that I live in a PC country that I can get to the doctor in less than a day.

**Fun Fact: In Azerbaijani, the word “Sick” is one of the most offensive swear words in the language. It is equivalent to the F word in English. I know have trained myself to only ever say ill, and often cringe when I hear others say sick.