Tripping South Pics

What's the best way to prepare for a vacation?  By posting photos of the previous vacation-duh!  Below are the edited Tripping South photos, from Glendene and my trip down to southern Azerbaijan and Baku.  Don't get too excited-I didn't really have my camera with me much.  Really these are just pics from a night out in Baku, but I think they're pretty good.  Click HERE to see more.

Blondes do have more fun!

Glendene at an art exhibit for a contemporary Azeri carpet weaver.

A view of Crystal Hall, and the second largest flagpole in the world, from the Boulevard expansion.

Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Def Il ft. A-Team Kill A Motherf*cker

Certainly one of the more obscene track titles in Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire; I was assuming that the track would mainly be bluff and fluff hiding behind a shock-tastic title, but its actually quite solid.  New rapper (to me at least) Def Il begins in quadruple time over a plunking piano.  Its a relief to hear them trade off stanzas in the intro-you worry they'll do damage to their mouth rapping so fast.  This is a great intro track to Def Il and I'm excited to see more from him in the future.

Props to RapRock.Az for the post



Previous on Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Ado

Its Basically The Week Before Christmas

I'm not a big list maker, but right now to my immediate right are two sheets of paper filled with items and checkboxes, acting as a hovering boss, reminding me of everything I need to do before Turkey.  Choosing to have this vacation the very first week I'm out of school was probably the 2nd best decision made for this trip (right after deciding to rent a yacht with 15 friends and family).

But in this week approaching, a lot of very 'peace-corps volunteer' things are crammed.

Today, North Finger PCVs and community leaders held a Jr. Counselor Training.  18 kids from Guba, Xudat, and Xachmaz came to a day filled with games, arts and crafts, and leadership training to prepare them to help put on a camp.  Something we learned last summer was we needed to to train the Jr. Counselors and it worked out wonderfully.  It recreated a day of camp while at the same time explaining and reviewing the responsibilities that Jr. Counselors were committing to.  And the training will benefit 3 cities, instead of just one-which always makes me feel more productive.

School also officially ends this week.  Now technically, kids have already received their grades and books have been handed in.  For an education tradition focused on teaching exclusively from and by the book, once the book is out of their hands, the learning segment of school has ended.  But this week, the actual closing ceremony Son Zeng (Last Bell) will happen, and all AZ8 TEFLs will collectively exhale a sigh of relief strong enough to extinguish the eternal flame on Martyr's Lane.

Finally, on next Sunday we have our first away game for softball, in Baku.  Our team has been waiting for this tournament for a long time for one main reason-to defeat Khachmaz Maximum arch-rival: Bilasavar.  Bilasavar is good, really really good and the hyper-compteitive Maximum finish a tournament only to immediately plot for the next one.  At the Baku tournament in fall last year our team was most excited by the fact that they lost to Bilasavar 8-6, an improvement upon the previous defeat of 11-4.  I definitely will have the camera ready for this game, to capture the sweet joy of victory or bitter taste of defeat.

So, a lot is happening in these seven days.  Whether in school, at Apple, or in the Peace Corps, I've always had to earn my vacation most in the final stretch.  But that certainly makes the prize that much sweeter.

Ultralight Traveling in Azerbaijan

Just this for a week.  And if you can pack for a week, you can pack for a month

Once you accept it, traveling light is extremely easy to do.  No matter if you're in the US, or backpacking around the world, or hopping on and off mushrutkas in Azerbaijan-if you accept the ultralight traveling mentality you can do it anywhere.  The basic assumption of this style of travel travel is that you will enjoy your journey more by having less stuff to weigh you down, both literally and mentally.

So, for my trip south, I experimented with some ultralight travel, choosing to limit myself to a gym bag that normally is used to hold a pair of shoes and a workout shirt and shorts.  It was liberating to have a bag smaller than Glendene's purse, let alone her backpack.  Hurriedly hopping on and off mushrutkas and buses was a breeze, and I was able to easily traipse through the various cities we visited unencumbered by a heavy load.

Keep in mind the following when preparing for an Ultralight Trip:

1) You will do laundry.  I did laundry twice, once by hand and once in a machine.

2) To get rid of weight: buy and borrow.  I purchased 2 mini-soaps (total: 80 gepik) and borrowed shampoo and telephone chargers.

Here's my list for a week of travel that included hiking in the Talyish mountains, swimming in hot springs, and partying till 4 in the morning in Baku.  We were in very conservative areas and more progressive areas, and we hung out with Azeris and Americans.

Gotta Stay Fly:
Jeans
3 shirts
1 undershirt
3 pairs of underwear
2 pairs of socks
1 pair of shorts, for swimming and working out
sunglasses
sneakers

Of these items, I wore my jeans, a shirt, a pair of socks and underwear, and my sneakers on departure (so I only had 2 shirts, 2 pairs of underwear, etc in my packed bag)

So Fresh, So Clean:
toothbrush/toothpaste
floss
razor/blades
deodorant
travel sized lotion from a hotel
travel towel
mosquito repellant that plugs into the wall
earplugs
lip balm

Bring Da Ruckus:
iPod touch/charge/headphones
camera/extra battery
notebook (with two ripped out crossword puzzles-great idea!)
pen
kindle
2 phones (one for psn)
wallet
keys

Bag:
Nike gym bag

This worked out very very well for the week and will probably serve as the skeleton for my sojourn through SE Asia in 2013-though with some different clothes.  I'm glad I brought the iPod Touch instead of the iPad, I didn't need the screen real estate of the iPad-the iPod served me fine for my internet needs.  The mosquito repellant was a little bulky but a godsend.  I hardly had any bites throughout this trip, and Glendene would wake up covered if we weren't sleeping in the same room.

Traveling in-country is nice, people are cool with sharing toiletries and everyone has extra bedding.  The next time I won't even bring my kindle, I picked up a book at the first stop and didn't open the kindle once.  I also won't bring my razor.  I usually shave about once a week in country, maybe twice, and it would be simpler to just buy a disposable for about 50 gepik.  I do need to add a scrubby cloth to this list, which I ended up purchasing midway through and really is a necessary item.

I purchased water throughout the way, and would fill empty water bottles at volunteers' houses.  In the very beginning I also purchased a manat worth of almonds, which gave me a much needed something to munch on throughout the trip while waiting on mushrutkas.

My upcoming trip to Turkey will be decidedly much less minimal, but more glamorous.

Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Ado - Soz Verirem

Well, there's been a bit happening in the Azeri Rap micro-universe to catch up on after having been gone for a week (I can't imagine what coming back from Turkey will be like..)  Uran released a solid video, Remo and Hell Resident each came out with new singles, and Faust and Ramirez of Kavkaz Klan are busy doing more and more to promote their new album.

But, perhaps more consequentially, Ado, the first female Azeri rapper I've ever come across, released her first single (that I've been able to find) this week.  Simple production compliments the soft but strong voice of Ado, whether when she's singing or rapping.  Check it out below.

SEO love to RapRock.Az

Ado - Soz Verirem (which means 'I Promise')



Oh alright, here's the new Uran Video since you asked so nicely.



Previous Hip-Hop From The Land of Fire: Enemy & Black

Lets Take A Trip Down South

Martyrs Lane and Flame Towers as seen from the Boulevard

From family, from email, from school-I've been a bit MIA this week.  School is coming to a close and I've got a pretty bomb vacation coming up.  Yet even still I found I couldn't get that far without taking a break or losing my mind.  So Glendene and I decided to pack our bags and take a mental health vacation to the south for the week.

Traveling through my own Peace Corps country shows me everything good about Azerbaijan.  Its incredibly easy to travel around the regions-even when we ended up taking the wrong way when trying to get to the out-of-the-way Saatli we were able to eventually flag down a mushrutka headed in that direction.  Travel costs can add up when tripping around, but its costs like 4 or 6 manat-not like the 30 or 40 dollars that can easily get into a tank of gas.

Additionally, traveling in country really shows how much of an understanding of the culture and language I actually have.  Thinking of my first trip during PST, I was afraid I would either a) not get there, b) be unable to use a bathroom in a time of need, or c) get on the wrong bus.  None of those things happened, and none of those things ever happen.  The same language level that frustrates me in my community is the level that allows me travel with ease and make friends along the way.  Its great.

No region city really has a week's worth of sights and activities to do, but when visiting PCVs you get a nice highlights tour.  Its great to see the best of a city or village, whether its their friends, parks, or surrounding nature, with the American living there.  In Bilasuvar we visited the PCVs beautiful magnet school where he works and saw the Talysh mountains in Iran.  We hiked in the mountains and enjoyed the mineral hot springs before feasting on a southern speciality-levengie chicken in Lenkeran.  We traveled off road for about 3 hours to visit Saatli and saw some of the most extensive rose gardens in Azerbaijan.

And we got to see Baku in all its Eurovision glory on a beautiful weekend.  As winners of last year's Eurovision, Baku will be hosting Eurovision this week and it has spent millions, and possibly billions, preparing a week-long coming of age ball as it unveils itself to the rest of Europe.  They've expanded their boulevard, invested heavily in public art, built new entertainment centers and museums, and renovated hundreds of buildings.  At night we saw fireworks over the Caspian, animated displays on the LED filled flame towers, which tower over the city, and reinterpretations of Baku's Maiden Tower from artists all over the world projected onto the 1200 year old Maiden Tower itself.

To be honest, I was skeptical of Baku's ability to pull off an event like Eurovision in a way that would leave people inspired and impressed with the city, but they've done an excellent job.  Azerbaijan has a lot to be proud of in the way they are presenting themselves and Baku is frantic and beautiful right now.  I hope they maintain some of this creativity as Eurovision ends and I look forward to enjoying the city even more.

Photos coming soon.

More Pics From MyMic

Here are a few more pics from MyMic Khachmaz.  These pictures were taken by Glendene Wolf, who is also doing an interesting photo a day project documenting her life here in the 'baijan.  Check it out HERE

This guy's band, New Skin, won Baku's Battle of the Bands last year

Enemy, of Enemy & Black, from Baku

These two girl hip-hop dancers brought the house down.

Dustin, the Ganja PCV who started it all, reading some poetry.

Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Enemy & Black - 23:44

This past Saturday at MyMic Khachmaz was good for Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire.  I was able to hook up with 2 new rappers and get some contact info and material.  Both were really solid and I'm looking forward to some of the posts I have lined up.

This week's track comes from Enemy of Baku duo Enemy & Black, who came up for some stage time this past week.  I dig the barren aesthetic of this track, vocals and a slight supporting backing track.  No techno effects, no massive drums, just a man stressing over late night insecurities.

Also, Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire has started a radio show on GrupFM.com.  It comes on Wednesday at 9pm(ish) Baku time, which is Wednesday at 12pm EST.  This week will be week 4 and I'm fairly confident at this point that it actually will come on.

Enemy (of Enemy & Black) - 23:44



Previous on Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Burito

Khachmaz Has Got Talent!

MyMic'rs from Ganja warming up before the show.  Note the most Azeri backdrop ever.

Ali, the 2.5 foot Lesginka dancer.

I really like Khachmaz.  The people here are nice, its a place that's seen Americans before, and we've got beautiful (relatively speaking) shoreline only a few kilometers away.  Heck, we even have a pretty supportive relationship with our local government, which is to say, they are not explicilty unsupportive.  Yeah, Khachmaz has a lot of good things going for it.

But what I like most about my site are my incredibly sitemates, who continue to do things that amaze and impress me.

Previous causes of pride have resulted from activities such as what Glendene is doing.  She's teaching yoga twice weekly to a growing group of women.  In a country where so many aspects of the female body are shamed and objectified, Glendene is helping some of these women rediscover their own body for the first time since leaving school (and sports) over 20 years ago.

Or Lannea who, with her counterpart has opened a sustainable women's computer center, which not only provides computer lessons and internet capability to girls in a culturally safe environment, but also is creating leadership and employment opportunities for graduated students in teaching new girls.

These are pretty awesome things.  And on Saturday, another awesome thing happened; Khachmaz hosted its first MyMic.

MyMic is a program that was started in Ganja by a Peace Corps Volunteer, and its basically a monthly open mic night.  I attended one this winter and it was great-people sang and played piano.  There were bands and rappers, dancing and poetry reading.  It was an awesome way for kids and adults to showoff their talent and an enjoyable way for the audience to discover what Ganja has to offer.

Recently, Dustin applied for a grant to initatiate MyMic in two new regions and Lannea and Kelsey applied to bring it to Khachmaz.  We were selected and this past saturday 7 talented youth from Ganja came with Dustin to help launch Khachmaz's first MyMic and it was possibly the most enjoyable experience of my service.

The first act set the tone; two kids around 10 blew the crowd away with some great breakdancing.  A girl sang Adele's rolling in the deep.  Two guys from Ganja performed Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog' and afterward one of them performed an absolutely insane 3-minute guitar solo.  A trio of 6 year olds, clad in Minnie Mouse dresses, did a choreographed dance to 'Barbie Girl'.  The house nearly lost it when two girls from Ganja did their hip-hop dance routine, only to further be blown away by the next act-the smallest, and most adorable, 5 year old, performing Lesginka in traditional garb.  People rapped, read poetry, and sang mugam.  It was awesome.

I'm super excited for this monthly event.  After the show, people were rushing up to find out how they could perform next time.  We already had a crowd of about 100 people in the region's (beautiful) Culture House, I can't wait to see who shows up next time.

Like It Or Not Josh, You've Got Some Friends

Earlier, in winter, I was struggling with the idea of friendship in Azerbaijan.  I had definitely made some great friends amongst the Americans here but felt as if there was this invisible wall between me and Azeris.  These friendships always seemed a little distant, there was always this feeling that whenever I was socializing with Azeri friends there was a little bit of Peace Corps work going on.

And then, after feeling frustrated that I hadn't yet made any true friends amongst Azeris, I suddenly came to an 'Aha' moment; this wall was entirely of my own creation.  I remember laughingly telling myself that, like it or not, so and so people are my friends.  Real friends, not some sort of half way there, cross-cultural image of a friend.  I just needed to deal with the fact that I actually have some friends in Azerbaijan.

It was a weird thing to realize, it should be so easy to recognize the people you consider friends.  But in Peace Corps, so much of my everyday speaking, working, and living is tinged with an element of work, even if just providing a worthwhile representation of America.  By constantly looking at people as employees, colleagues, or students, even if only slightly, I was unfairly preventing them from just being a person wanted to be around.

This was a bit ethnocentric, a bit too much of a 'what I can benevolently grant to this unfortunate culture' storyline going on here, and I'm glad I came to this sudden, if obvious, insight.  There is a really good lesson for me here: to determine a friendship based on the person to person interaction rather than whether the context of the friendship is familiar to me.  Yeah,  maybe we don't go out to concerts and drink beer together, but that doesn't mean the friendship is any less real, its just simply in different locations with different activities.

Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Burito - Na Vostochnom

I like how this song throws you a curve within the first two seconds of opening.  Expecting a quick beat, it immediately drops out to half-time.  But when Burito comes in, he's rapping as if it the beat stayed sped.  The production is simple, it sounds like it was created in GarageBand, but its well crafted.  It will be interesting to see what else Burito has in store for us this year.

Props to AzRap.Az for the exclusive

Burito - Na Vostochnom (which I believe translates to 'The Eastside', I'm not sure because it is using an Azeri alphabet to spell a Russia title)




Previous On Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Hell Resident