I thought last week was an emotional tumultuous. I was not quite expecting this week. I am also in complete disbelief that I have only been in Azerbaijan for a week. Today made it official.
So much has happened that I don’t know where to begin. I think the best way may be to split the days into two categories: good day; bad day.
Friday and Saturday: good days. We stayed at this amazing hotel that had wireless internet, hot showers, and a lot of food. It was incredibly luxurious. The hours were spent with orientation sessions ranging from health, safety, language lessons, and culture. We also received a few immunizations. There was so much information; it was at times very overwhelming. We crammed four days of material into one and a half. (But this cramming of information and being overwhelmed is the story of my Turkmenistan-turned-Azerbaijan group.)
Sunday: good day. I met my host family! They are the nicest people and I feel so lucky to be with such great people. It’s a young couple (in their 30s) and a young girl who is almost two years old. She is the happiest and most precocious child I have ever met. She comes and just sits on my lap and repeats words that I say such as “This is umm…” When I came back from getting a cell phone (!) I was greeted by a large extended family.
Monday: Good day. My host mother took me on bus number 12 to Karvan market which is at the gate of Saray, the town that I am living in. All trainees are living in towns that are the suburbs of Baku, the capital. From there, I met with the two other trainees in my language class (or cluster as PC calls it) to go to Masazir, the town where are language lessons are. Usually, you live in the town where your school is but they were not able to find host families for us. The buses are terribly crowded to the point where the door is open and people are hanging out it. Fortunately I haven’t had to be one of those people yet. The language lesson was fine. We just learned more conversational sentences. There is a lot of curiousity as we pass by. Teenage boys yell things (fortunately I don’t know what they’re saying ha), young kids yell out “Hello! Hello! What is your name?!” But the biggest crowd getter is another trainee in our former Turkmenistan group because he is African American. When he is around, the rest of us don’t exist. Most of them have probably never seen a black person before and they are always surprised when he turns the corner. He’s such a kind person though that he takes it all in stride. After language class, we have to take another bus to Jeranbatan (spelling?) which is where our technical classes for TEFL is. In total I take 6 buses a day which can be wearing but do-able.
Tuesday: Bad Day. Language lessons were frustrating. There has been quite a bit of confusion with our LCF (Language and Culture Facilitator) in our Azeri class and also with the logistics of things. It’s been difficult to get our questions answered… with the right answer. I understand that the arrival of our group has been a bit of scramble and an experiment, but the communication lines are not clear all the time. The technical class was also frustrating and all the little things that added up that day and the addition of one HUGE transportation disaster which included walking along the highway for an hour and a walk home in completely darkness (fortunately I was not alone, for a large majority of it anyway) made me think “What the f*** am I doing here? I am going to die” feeling for a minute. But then I came home to a happy little girl and I felt better again.
Wednesday: Good Day We went to observe two English classes. The first one was awful. The teacher never looked up at her students, made them recite a dialogue one by one (This is my father. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. This is my Mother etc.) She never spoke English except to correct them when they forgot a line in the dialogue. The second one was much better. The teacher was engaging and corrected the students by telling them why their answer was incorrect instead of just feeding them the answer. Then we had Azeri lesson and actually started on some grammar rules. The biggest triumph of the day: I got home before sunset and got off at all the right stops!!!!!!! This is HUGE! The greatest feeling of accomplishment I’ve had yet. Then a lot of family members came over and we ate and had tea. BUT the best part of the day was the phone call I received from home!! SO EXCITING and it was so great to hear my parent’s voices.
Thursday: Bad Day Language lessons are so frustrating. Not because the material is difficult, but because our LCF does not know how to present the material to us and many things go without explanation and require asking her five times for the information. Then we went for our technical lesson where we would meet the rest of the TEFL volunteers. It was… depressing. They had gone to visit current PCV sites and experience what is was really like to be in one. I’m terrified that we won’t be able to experience that during training and I think it’s such a crucial element to our understanding of what is to come in the next two years. We also were not introduced to the group by the facilitators either. It’s just frustrating because I feel like we should be given an adapted version of Pre-Service Training but we’re not. While they condense our tech lessons, logistics, and language are left for us to sort through almost. I feel like we’re always getting the short end of the stick and we are neither in the this group or in our own. The only good part of the day was that I made dolmas with my host mother. They were delicious.
My impression so far has been good. It’s just the tasks that I have to do that are PC related that are difficult. And again. (and also not to point fingers) not because that they are difficult in general, but because I am not getting all the information that I need. It is hard, but it is worth it. I am eating a lot of bread and a lot of tea. My house is more than comfortable. I can shower every day. I have a toilet that doesn’t require sitting (haha) A host father that does not ignore me and the cutest little girl to play with. My AZ 7 and a half group is wonderful and I already feel like I’ve known them for a lifetime. I know things will get easier and I can only tell myself that this will only make the hard things that do come in the future easier to deal with. I am so happy to be in Azerbaijan. The people are friendly and welcoming. I feel safe.
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