Khachmaz is unique amongst sites in Azerbaijan. Its a little more liberal than most of the country, due to its proximity to Baki and Russia. Many people in Khachmaz speak English quite well, and some of them have been to the US to study. Peace Corps has been at this site for a while, so Azeris are used to seeing Americans around, and many adults here have been friends with Americans for years. Due to all these reasons, Volunteers here end up having an active social life amongst Azerbaijanis.
There's a large base of support for clubs here, so that fills up our time, but there is also a large circle of friends. Visiting with them, guesting at houses, playing sports, all of this is in my schedule. And birthdays. With so many people comes so many birthdays. And each birthday is a birthday party, involving an of-average-tasting cake, balloons, candles, tea, pop, coffee, and juice. Usually we'll have it at my Fargani's office or a popular bakery, neither of those places are relatively comfortable.
These parties wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that they are pretty expensive for a poor volunteer when the result is, in my opinion, a pretty weak party. It's 3-5 manat a piece and we might collect 50 manat or more to throw a party. In terms of purchasing power, this might translate to around 120 US dollars. So last party I suggested something different; hosting the party at my house, which is way more comfortable, and making a really big and fun brunch. One of the girls, Sabina, loved this idea, everyone else did their best to appear unscandalized.
So, we had the lame party. And at this lame party Sabina and I decided that our idea was a great idea anyways, and we announced that next week, we would be hosting a brunch at my house featuring Chocolate Banana Pancakes. This was my first time hosting for a gathering of Azeris, rather than just Americans, so I was pretty excited. Socializing in Azerbaijan frequently involves drinking tea (very) late into the night and I'm not as into that form of hosting. However, brunch parties are right up my alley so I was glad when people, with the birthday now passed, were receptive.
So yesterday I had my housewarming party. Some of the guys had been over before, but women had not. Since this was a large group and it was during the day, it was much more acceptable for women friends to come over. In addition to pancakes, we had fresh fruit and yogurt, nuts and raisins, coffee, tea, and juice. Everyone had a great time and complimented the apartment. It was delicious, especially in comparison to the birthday cake.
This served as the beginning of a week of hosting. Today, my friend from Goychai, which is in the middle of the country, will be coming up to stay with me for 4 days. On Wednesday, 5 other friends will come up for a big dinner and sleepover before we leave, on Thursday, for a conference in Baki. I'm looking forward to this conference for two reasons; I'll get to see many people I haven't seen since December and I will be presenting a session on effective 2nd tier training (training of trainers). More on this late
No comments:
Post a Comment