Happy (belated) 4th of July. If it wasn't already summer vacay you could be darn well sure that I would have taken the day off to celebrate my great nations independence/sleep in. The other side of the Peace Corps coin frequently feels is a repeating theme of asserting one's Americanness in a foreign culture, so it was nice to have a weekend dedicated to that very thing. Suddenly everything I did (or didn't want to) do this past weekend was because of national heritage. Looking back on the weekend, this means my heritage demands delicious bbq chicken, super fun water slides, and jungle juice-which is actually a pretty good sampling of just why America is so rockin'.
The weekend began with a trip to Nabran. Nabran is a resort in Azerbaijan in the Xachmaz region. The best thing about Nabran is that it is a resort town by East European standards, not by Azerbaijani standards. So bikinis, drinking, and smiling is par for the course. We began the day driving out to the beach to play volleyball while we drank our vodka infused watermelon (and of course-tea). Afterwards we headed towards Atlant, the biggest most extravagant resort in Nabran. Though a tad pricey, about 10 manat to get in, it was oh-so-worth-it. You first glimpse the crystal blue pools (stereilized with chlorine-yay!) through a forest of deck chairs and multi colored umbrellas. On one end you see a massive pirate ship, on the other side a tangled complex of water slides. And thats when you realize you have been transported to a magical place far far from Azerbaijan where no one cares that you are speaking another language or from a culture that doesn't care about wanting to have a good tan.
But the most fun had to be the massive inflatable toys you could rent in the pool and of these the best, by far was Egg Mountain. Egg Mountain looked like an 8 foot egg (surrounded by a massive inner tube) floating straight up in water. It had handles that you could use to pull yourself up onto it so people could play a pool version of king of the mountain. As it was completely top heavy the game invariably ended in capsizing the egg with people flying 8 feet in the air, over the egg, as it fell in a direction they were unprepared for. It was awesome and something that every American water park if they want to keep up with the Joneses We got back to the city around 10 o'clock exhausted but high on endorphins from the day, collapsed into bed knowing that the next day, our 4th of July BBQ, would continue the great weekend.
Glendene, Lannea (my sitemates) and I decided we were going to have a big 4th of July BBQ in Xachmaz for our American and Azeri friends. The one rule was that it would be completely American, which meant no slices of stinky cheese, no wedges of tomato and cucumber 'salads,' and absolutely no tea would be served to anyone under any circumstances. Between this and Atlant, word got out Xachmaz was the place to be this weekend and before we knew it we had 10 Americans who were coming from all over the country to join us. This helped extensively with our menu as we didn't want to take any chances on diluting our 100% American bbq offerings by asking Azeris to cook. We had all the staples: BBQ chicken and hotdogs (with buns), potato salad, pasta salad, fruit salad and watermelon, corn on the cob, chili, baked beans, chips and salsa, apple pies and cakes decorated like the American flag. It was one of the most stereotypical BBQs I've ever been to, let alone thrown. There was a lot of food, which was good because there were a lot of people-probably about 45 people in total-who came to devour it.
Normally when Americans share their food culture with Azeris they politely eat it and try to avoid any more. Not this time; everyone was pigging out on the awesome food laid out. We had American music playing and everyone was laughing and talking and having a great time. The Americans who visited helped greatly by circling around and keeping conversations going. Azeris don't talk to people they don't know at parties which is basically the opposite of American party culture, so it was nice to have a bunch of people mixing things up. This was especially a relief for Glendene, Lannea, and myself because it allowed us the ability to run around putting more food out, washing plates and forks, and ensuring we were good hosts.
This was the biggest event we had done yet in Xachmaz, and our goal was to host a party that could be a gift for all those people we looked at as counterparts in our community. The teachers we worked with and professionals who helped us along. The friends that made our lives tolerable here and the students that made our service worth continuing. It was pretty powerful to see our extended community, all in one place, enjoying a uniquely American offering.
The week of fun continues. My friend Emily is here this week and we'll head to Sheki together for summer camp towards the end of it. Make sure to check below for pics from Atlant and after the BBQ (I didn't have a moment to take pics during the BBQ but I'll get those soon
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