After 28 hours of travel time, we are happily in the Twin Cities! After hearing immigration horror stories from several friends and colleagues, we were nervous to say the least. We had chosen the course of least forecasted resistance as far as flight plans went (Baku to Istanbul to Chicago to Minneapolis) and had more paperwork than I believed possible. Still, as a certain Beetle said, "if you want to hear G-d laugh, tell G-d all your plans." Ultimately, with the exception of a few really rude DHS officers at the O'Hare International Airport--I still maintain this characteristic is part of their job description--our crossing over came off without a hitch. We then proceeded to other complications.
Going through my undergraduate study abroad experience and "in between" trip home from Peace Corps Azerbaijan without the dreaded "reverse culture shock," I had decided returning after 27 months away would be no different. Once again, John L. was right. Perhaps it was the nature of my time in a country with not a decent toilet to be found or the length of time spent, but over the past two days I have noticed some serious differences in processing all that is going on around me.
Application No. 1: The day after I arrived, I enthusiastically volunteered to take on the task of walking to Trader Joe's for the breakfast groceries. Not only did I take unprecedented pleasure at the sight of cars adhering to the rule of traffic lights, but I almost teared up after noticing pre-made enchilada sauce available on the shelves. The thought process went something like this: "You mean I don't have to make it myself? Wait a minute--are those instant udon soup packages? Wait. They're organic too?!" There were so many options which had hitherto represented the seemingly unattainable prizes of diligent labor with substitutes galore: Lasagna, curry, pinto de gallo, etc. The irony is that I was so afraid of spending the entirety of my readjustment allowance that I bought nothing except some olive oil and orange juice.
Application No. 2: Yesterday morning, I turned on "Meet the Press" only to be greeted by Mr. Preibus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. A less-than-welcome sight by some standards but, having spent two years in a country where divergent public discourse for the betterment of the overall intellectual good is all-but nonexistent, I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and listen. For two years, I have lectured on the constructive social, political and cultural benefits intrinsic to public freedoms of speech, expression, assembly, etc. Amnesty International has recently listed Azerbaijan an as one of the "Five Countries Where Your Online Comments Could Land You in Jail" and Freedomhouse has consistently given it failing marks on political and social freedom. Azerbaijan's track record on human rights, corruption and political repression is, by any objective standard, deplorable (please do bear in mind, as an RPCV, I am allowed to freely discuss objective facts such as these). When I showed students episodes of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," my students immediately asked if this funny man was sitting in jail. As a result, I came to celebrate the fact that Fox News exists as an exercise in the resilience of a truly free society. So I don't agree with 99.9% of the statements made on that network but at least they are allowed to exist, right? In the words of Voltaire, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." Yes, proud to be an American.
All of this was well and good...until Mr. Preibus woke me up from my idealistic slumber. It seems to be a general Returned Peace Corps Volunteer reality that one feels compelled to binge on news and information upon coming home. Two years of isolation does not sit well with us. Hence, "Meet the Press" was just the tip of the iceberg as a proceeded to reacquaint myself with current events in the United States. As I watched, read and listened, I was struck by the unpleasant surprise that much of the political rhetoric espoused by the current GOP Presidential front-runners reflected the intellectual emptiness found in Azerbaijani political propaganda. Coming back, I had forgotten about the wholesale hatred, cult-of-personality and ten word simplifications common to our political discourse. Time to wake up. I needed only to listen to Newt Gingrich's diatribes regarding the working poor--or lack thereof, in his estimation--and Rick Santorum's blatantly ignorant endorsement of profiling Muslim men to understand that the practice of appealing to the lowest common intellectual denominator is not limited to post-Soviet police states. That both former candidate Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann could be considered even somewhat legitimate after one states "Americans need a leader not a reader" and the other couldn't place Libya in Africa says, in the words of "The West Wing," we have "set the bar so low, I can barely look at it anymore."
When I was in Azerbaijan, one of the most challenging parts of my service was enduring what seemed to be an unending progression of hate speech and political propaganda hiding a litany of human rights violations. It seems I spoke too soon in my one-sided critiques of public ignorance. I had convinced myself that access to political liberties would elevate the standard of public discourse and create more complex discussions befitting a free society. Transition fail.
I am sure that in the coming days, these reflections will continue. I only hope that when the next one comes, I will have a large cup of coffee next to me.
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