The adventures continue as spring gradually turns to summer. A little geography for you: Salyan and many of the surrounding villages are located right on the banks of the Kür, a river that originates in Turkey and cuts across the whole of Azerbaijan. My first memory of arriving in Salyan involves the seeing the river and thinking that indeed, I was going home across the Mississippi to St. Paul (this reverie did not last long). I would later find out that flooding in Salyan is an almost an annual occurrence which often involves the complete submersion of whole courtyards and sometimes, the bottom levels of houses. Schools have remained closed due to reduced ability to travel from houses which may or may not have water or electricity access. Whole residential roads are currently underwater and one can observe rocks gingerly placed as walkways to sections of dry street. In a recent conversation with my landlady, she asked me if I missed America and informed me that “you have the same problem in America with flooding—they showed us on the news.”
On the more tasty side of things, I have continued my adventures in the world of culinary arts. Recent discoveries include: toasted garbanzo beans with garlic and cayenne pepper, cinnamon lentils, sweet coconut spiced buckwheat, and oatmeal pancakes. It is still an oddity that spices like paprika, ginger, and saffron are cheap or free here when they are so costly at home. As it is, the more exorbitant expenses are reserved for indulgences like toilet paper, milk, and talking on the phone. It must be mentioned that the last expense listed includes nights and weekends—come to Azerbaijan, Catherine Zeta Jones! The recent roadblock of forgetting my beloved self-annotated cookbook in Baku has produced an unexpected silver lining: I am pleased to report that my recent ad hoc experiment in lentil and vegetable stir fry spaghetti was quite a success! Due to the high number of May birthdays in Salyan, I will be reentering the realm of sweets. My friend Kubra has recently donated a package of the elusive delight that is powdered sugar to my cause. Life is quite good.
When not at the library or participating in various activities around Salyan, I have begun to really learn a new place. For me, this activity is an exercise in patience. I myself do not possess the gift that so many of my international travel counterparts seem to have—that is, to land in an unfamiliar city, town, or country and, almost overnight internalized the geography and good eating spots covering a 5 mile radius. Jumping feet first into the unknown, these remarkable people make connections with little effort and shovel new and unidentified food into their mouths with even greater ease. Let’s put it this way: I was painfully awkward at “networking” in college during Christmas Festival and since graduating, not much has changed. As far as the food issue, I have not had the opportunity to try Xaş (soup featuring the head of a sheep), and we can be fairly certain that my lazy-vegetarian yogi tendencies may stay my culinary feet for a moment or two. While my more cautious and gradual approach to exploratory travel practice is something of a carry-over from my since Global Semester trip a few years ago, the extended amount of time has allowed me to take community learning one step at a time in my own fashion. In the past few months month, I have discovered which stores to frequent for the kind of tandir çorək (flat bread made in large circular stone tandir ovens) that is soft and fluffy in the middle but also dark and crisp on the ends—evidence of the product’s “tandir” authenticity in my mind. I have learned that I will brave the busy and no-“I am still learning this language”-nonsense bazaar for lentils, chives, cilantro, and carrots but not for apples or spinach. I have selected routes to and from home in order to reduce bad karma and maximize “salam qızım!” (“hello my girl!”) exchanges with friendly kindred spirits. A work in progress. I am, I am.
Looking toward, the next two months look bright though busy. Later this week, I will depart for Baku to accompany a student to a ceremony for some young men and women studying in the United State this year (yes, that’s right—she is really going!). It promises to be an excellent day and it will be nice to spend time in what has seemed to become the object of a second homesickness over the past few months. From Baku, I will go north to the city of Ganja to help at the International AIDS Memorial event. I have not done a whole lot of traveling in Azerbaijan and this will be a good opportunity to see what other volunteers are up to and introduce myself to a new city. From Ganja, I will return to Baku for various meetings before heading back to good ‘ol S-Town where I will continue planning this summers’ various activities. In addition to working in Salyan proper, my site mates and I are planning to spend time in a few of the villages surrounding the Salyan Rayon, spreading the joys of “Red Light, Green Light” and volleyball. Additionally, many of my dear and kindred spirits in the United States may soon hear of an opportunity to support youth development and health education in Azerbaijan. A few PCV friends and I are putting the finishing touches on our grant request to fund “The Azerbaijani Yoga and Women’s Health Project,” a set of free retreats set in five regions throughout Azerbaijan that will combine yoga instruction and health education seminars for young women between the ages of 15 and 35 this summer. While we have excellent support from other PCVs and community members, there are still residual costs for educational materials, transportation and food for yours truly, etc. This grant is a PCPP which means that the funds are accrued from supportive community members in the United States. Aware that economic times in the United States are not great, I will make the following request: please give if you have the chance and know that any contribution would be greatly appreciated. More on this if/when we are approved!
Apart from these things, I have some things to look forward to. Firstly, my fantastic and beautiful former “Global” mate, Greta will be visiting me in June which promises to be an excellent opportunity for adventures and laughter. Secondly, I am aiming to go Georgia (the eastern Europe kind, not the Jimmy Carter / peach producer kind) to take the GRE at the end of the summer. One step closer to making some decisions about what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe. That’s what I said about the LSAT so don’t hold your breath…
That’s all for now but I hope that your semester endings, springs, and May are off to a great start and so GREATLY appreciate all of the letters, e-mails, and care packages! Chocolate tastes infinitely better knowing that it is from my grandfather, almonds so much more supportive to my health because my aunt and uncle sent them. Take care and know that I am sending so much love!
0 comments:
Post a Comment