Key Points for TEFL Knowledge Transfer

Effective knowledge transfer is a main area of concern for anyone involved in teaching. I've been especially interested while I in the midst of a very interactive learning environment (in the form of immersion in a foreign culture) while at the same time in a rather limited interactive teaching environment that I hope to bring about at least some change to (in the form of the Azeri classroom).

Currently I'm reading a really interesting (text)book called 'Processing the Experience' (Luckner & Nadler, 1997) which is one of the seminal books in experiential learning and strategies to employ to generalize the learning from a specific activity to larger life scenarios beyond the specific structured activity. They list seven important factors (pg. 21) in working towards more conscious and effective knowledge transfer techniques. They are:

1) Individuals must see similarities between situations that happen during the experience and situations that have occurred in other aspects of life.

2) Individuals who see that new knowledge or behaviors bring about beneficial results are more likely to be motivated to use this new learning.

3) It is helpful if individuals can identify opportunities to use new knowledge. This is encouraged by realistically comparing a structured experience with specific past and possible future situations in their lives.

4) Meaningful learning promotes better transfer than rote learning.

5) The more thoroughly something is learned, the more likely it is to be transferred to a new situation.

6) Numerous and varied examples and opportunities for practice increase the extent to which knowledge and skills may be applied in new situations.

7) The probability of transfer decreases as the time interval between the original task and the transfer task increases.

We can go over these principles again, but this time specifically orienting them to teaching English as a foreign language:

1) The student must see the connection between language subject matter taught in class related to the language used in real life.

2) When the student sees benefits of learning English they will be further motivated to learn the language.

3) It is helpful if the student can identify real opportunities to use this language. Whether helping with employment, their social life, or new information, it is useful to discuss specific past examples where English might have benefited them and future potential scenarios.

4) Learning English in a way that is meaningful to the student is always more effective than rote memorization of the language.

5) The more confident a student feels in an aspect of the language, the more likely they will use that aspect of the language in real life.

6) It will be more likely that English will be used in new situations if the student's knowledge is reinforced again and again in a variety of ways.

7) The likelihood of the student speaking English outside of the structured classroom decreases as a natural occurring scenario takes longer to appear.

Of these seven factors the one that jumps out as the most difficult to me is number 7. All other aspects of effective knowledge transfer can, to some degree, be accounted for in the classroom environment. But number 7 requires us to find validation outside of the environment. Perhaps this is why Conversation Clubs and Summer Camps are pushed so hard by Peace Corps, it gives validation outside the classroom.

Happy Holidays from Azerbaijan

Myself and two friends are speeding down a highway, at times paved, at times gravel. Though we're near sea-level, its as if we are driving through a cloud, the driver is only able to peer no more than 40 feet in front of him. Specks of life appear as we push through the vapor; boulders become grazing sheep, broken telephone poles are men by the roadside. In the distance we see shadowy peaks breaking through the clouds. And the road continues to unfold.

Its about 10 in the morning, we are in the middle of a 2 hour ride to Baki that will take us to the clatter of the Baki Bus Station. From here we will make a not-so-brief stop in the Peace Corps Office to pick up Christmas packages for volunteers and board a bus to make our way to Sheki. We settle into our seats, relieved to finally remove ourselves from the chaos that is navigating Baki.

We take a deep breath, finally we can relax. Suddenly the televisions flicker on and blast Azeri wedding music. This will be another long ride. Just how long was it? Long enough for my travel buddy JM (and for matters of traveling convenience, my temporary fiancé) to decide that now would be the perfect time to pluck all the lint from her peacoat with tweezers.

At last we arrive in Sheki. We came the furtherest and arrived the latest. Everyone has already eaten and has certainly already started drinking and there is a huge welcome for the last to arrive. Soon we have ditched the weariness of the road and are laughing over food and drink with friends we haven't seen in two weeks, though its felt like two months.

This weekend was interesting. Its the most unusual holiday I've spent and yet there were so many consistencies. The full day of traveling to be with the people I love. The all-to-brief celebration of Christmas before rushing back to real life. It was sad that I couldn't be with those I loved, but it was a good holiday.

Merry Christmas!

More substantial blog post coming soon, but until them here is a quick card created by the extremely talented Nick Fauble. Nick is an artist living in Denver and has hung work at Dazzle, Ink Tattoo, and Mead Street Station. His works range from decoupage, to wood cuts, to ink illustration. Check out his portfolio here

What is the cost of friendship?

Bribery exists in Azerbaijan. There. I've said it. For us, and by us I mean Americans, someone who accepts a bribe is immediately viewed as a corrupt person. Those who engage in a system of bribery are unscrupulous individuals who lack basic values such as honesty. However, in a country where bribery is so pervasive that it almost goes unquestioned, bribery isn't so much corruption as proactive tipping. My friend owns a taxi, and I think he put it best: 'Ah yes, the Xachmaz police are all my friends'. Friendship; now thats a worthy value.

As a Peace Corps volunteer I don't have to participate in this system. If a police officer seems to be implying something, I can simply call a number to get things all sorted out. And I don't have to worry about bribes at school because, though I'm working for the school, I'm not employed by the school. But I do get to see it happening and, at this point in my service, I get a pretty big kick out of it. Some volunteers affect an offended stance on this, I just feel pretty cool that the people I'm with get to do something that we normally couldn't do. I know, I know, so mature.

The best example so far was a recent night when I was invited to go swimming with my host brother and his friends (who are a great group of guys by the way). We were going to an Olympic complex in Guba, near Xachmaz. It was dark when we pulled up and, from the lack of cars around the building, the complex appeared to be closed. But our group confidently strode up the steps and into the lobby.

They're talking to the guy at the reception desk and one of our group members pays for an entry ticket. We're asked if we have anything we'd like the desk to hold on to while swimming and the driver gives his car keys and another guy gives his phone. And under his phone is a folded twenty. The twenty wasn't hidden by the phone, it was more like a coaster for the phone to rest on, like he didn't want to scratch the laminate desk. And with that little transaction we were all motioned to head on our way.

So what did this get us. Well it turns out the complex was closed, so we basically had the entire olympic sized pool to ourselves. I probably haven't been swimming in 4 years and when I was asked whether I was a good or bad swimmer, I asked what he considered a bad swimmer, it turns out, in AZB, I'm a great swimmer. It was really fun, good ol' horsing around with no lifeguard to yell at us.

And who can put a price on friendship?

Time for the Year End Roundup..

Every December I look forward to the coming end of the year, not because of Christmas or New Years' Parties, or because of a new year's resolutions or goals. No, I look forward to the approaching end because we are flooded with Year End lists for music. For the lazy person, one could easily keep in the know (at least, within the year) simply by going to a few sites.

As of now, I'm most impressed with the behemoth Matthew Perpetua put together at Fluxblog, an 8 disc survey of the best of 2010. Its not ranked but simply broken into 8 segments. It provides an outstanding review of 2010 including great songs regardless of mass appeal or cult following. Download it here.

Pitchfork's annual tradition of Top 100 tracks of the year has, over time, become an emblem of pride for artists listed. Keeping with the P4K elitism, its ranked, and I am always rooting for certain songs to be ranked higher than others. Check it out here (still looking for download UPDATE: torrent it here)

So with the flurry of year end music writing, I figured I needed to get my list out before it was contaminated by all the other great lists out there. Below is my unranked 21 track listing for 2010. Certain artists (Robyn, Kanye, LCD) could have easily been represented even more, but I chose to limit it a little.

Download it HERE

1) Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun

2) Cee Lo Green - Fuck You

3) Big Boi - Back Up Plan

4) Robyn - Dancing On My Own

5) The-Dream - F.I.L.A.

6) Caribou - Kaili

7) Kanye West ft/Bon Iver - Lost In the World

8) Gil Scott-Heron - New York is Killing Me

9) LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change

10) Drake - Karaoke

11) Four Tet - Angel Echoes

12) Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

13) Nicki Minaj - Girls Fall Like Dominoes

14) Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em

15) No Age - Glitter

16) Justin Bieber ft/Ludacris - Baby

17) Kanye West ft/Dwele - POWER

18) Antoine Dodson & The Gregory Brother ft/Kelly Dodson - Bedroom Intruder

19) Clipse - There Was a Murder

20) Free Energy - Free Energy

21) HEALTH - USA Boys

And, my Top 6 Albums of 2010, in no particular order:

Robyn - Body Talk

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Four Tet - There Is Love In You

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

The-Dream - Love King

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here

And for those who want to know, the song I listened to the most in 2010…Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus. Lord, that wasn't even released this year..

How many times a day do you shower?

How many times a day do you shower?' That was what Fargani asked me when our tour took us to the bathroom. I assumed I mishear and asked if he meant weekly and how often he showered. He laughed and said 'Every day of course'

This is a good introduction to my set up in Khachmaz (or Xachmaz, or Xaçmaz). I have a great living situation in a great site. We have internet in my house. The house is beautiful, the nicest I've seen in Azerbaijan so far, and my room is bright, big, and calm, a room where I can feel completely comfortable in. Fargani's family is wonderful, they are kind and patient. Unlike my previous host mother who shooed me away when trying to form a sentence my current host mother offers word choices and seeks to understand. I haven't seen his father and brother much but they seem nice and happy to have me. We also have a little girl, Fargani's niece, who is living with us for a while. She is adorable and, unlike the babies in Tagiyev, does not cry when she looks at me.

Fargani himself is incredible. Currently he is working at his English center he opened two weeks ago and already seems to be quite a success. All the classes offered are booked for the month. He was a former LCF for the Peace Corps and a MUSKI alumnus (a highly competitive program through which the US embassy sends a few AZB adults a year to post graduate education in the United States) and consequently speaks truly fluent English. He is very active in developing his community and has been involved with the Peace Corps, the US Embassy, and the United Nations. I will learn a lot from him.

He has taken it upon himself to be an ambassador of sorts for his community, not only taking around all the Peace Corps volunteers but ensuring that their families know each other and that he introduces us to his friends and key spots. His friends are great, they are active in their community, they have jobs, they're learning English, they have a hope for the future that is unlike what I saw in Sumgayit or Tagiyev. They remind me of my friends back home.

Khachmaz itself is a beautiful city. The streets are clean and the air is fresh. There is sunshine unfiltered by a haze of pollution. And everything feels new. New schools, new parks, new libraries, new arches over streets, its wonderful. The city planning feels progressive, focusing on creating a livable city, not just an efficient city. There are trees, sculpture, unique street lights. Its more liberal then other regions in Azerbaijan, you see women and men socializing in public, you can buy bacon.

The school I will be working at is also beautiful. It is a new school, dedicated to the memory of the first president's wife and Khachmaz ensured it spoke well of her. It is a stone building (like, it seems, all the buildings in Khachmaz) with marble floors. The classrooms have visuals on the wall and new furniture. There is an assembly hall and classrooms with computers. There is an English resource room and the oldest AZETA chapter (AZB English Teacher's Association) is based there. Afterwards I guested at her house and met her husband who was very warm as well.

In general my impression from the first 48 hours here is great. I have completely lucked out on a great site and have every reason to be happy. I kept telling people who asked if I liked their city that my first 10 hours here have been my favorite 10 (or 24, or 35) hours in Azerbaijan. When talking with friends I have to temper my excitement as not everyone feels as lucky as I.

The Moustache Project

Nick and MD sent a great care package this past week (thanks guys!). Included in it were for moustache masquerades, or moustaches on a stick. And of course, they are a huge hit. There is some scientific rule about the relationship between good times and moustache's on a stick. So, here are two new creative endeavors for you to get wildly excited about (share buttons below..)

The first is 'The Moustache Project,' where I am documenting people in Azerbaijan, while wearing moustaches. As you can see its pretty American heavy at this point but expect that to change once I get to site. Click here

The second is 'A Moustache a Day,' where I will be taking a picture of a random object each day with a moustache. My irregular internet might not allow me to update Flickr every day, but you can be certain there will be one every day. Click here

And to whet your appetite. Here are some flavor saver pics:

Thanks Apple! A (very) first draft of a strategic plan for 2 years in Khachmaz

I'm not much of a day-planner, but I am most certainly a quarter, year, or even longer planner. It was at Apple where I learned to effectively strategic plan and do long term goal setting and I have frequently made use of this skill in my professional and personal life. As I prepare to go into Khachmaz as a community development worker (for isn't that what we all are?) I thought it made sense to arm myself with a loose strategy of what I hope to accomplish in the next two years.

Consistently Peace Corps has discouraged us from thinking of huge projects or specific activities that we want to start, they reinforce the idea that we should seek community inspired projects with support from our actual site. We've also heard consistently from PC Volunteers that many the official PC 'expectations' are not grounded in reality and can quickly go out the window as one actually begins work.

Thus, my plan is set up to have few specifics, but rather themes that I plan on focusing on. For example, instead of demanding lesson plans for each class, I am focusing on a specific aspect of lesson planning as we were taught each 6 months, with the hope that I can teach the methodology as opposed to the specific product. Focus on the benefit of a 'motivation' step instead of on the specific 'lesson plan' product. This way I can develop skills that an be applied over a range of items rather than the ability to achieve a specific task. I believe this will be more sustainable in the long run, which is PC's largest goal anyway.

This is a draft. Some boxes aren't filled in yet, and this will evolve in the next month as I get to my site and conduct my observations. As I edit this, I'm sure I'll find that some of the results are actually indicators and vice-versa. I readily appreciate comments and questions. I believe that strategic planning is an effective exercise to help sort one's thoughts and give a starting point, whether required or not. This was not required by PC but will help me greatly as ensuring that I am not getting lost in the minutiae of today and focus on the success of completed service. I think it provides a good example of a long term strategic plan with lots of variables and few knowns, which is how most long term strategic plans are.

Click here to view

Creativity and Volume: Crank it to the Max

Two musical artists in particular have had an exceptional 2010. Swedish dance queen Robyn and global hip-hop superstar Kanye West. This isn't characteristically uncommon for either of them, they are highly talented artists with lots of past successes, but this year was exceptional for both.

Back in late August, Kanye began releasing a free track each week under the guise of his G.O.O.D. Friday mixtape. The high consistency was only matched by the high calibre of each track. Many of these tracks made it in one form or another onto his near flawless album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. (Read an amazing review here).

Early in 2010 Robyn announced her Body Talk series, which would be a three part series released throughout the year. Each album had at least a few tracks that were dance-pop perfection. And, as soon as one album was released, a video, mp3, or live performance of a new song previewing the upcoming album was released.

We frequently hear that volume is the key to success and improvement. The best way to become a better writer is to write more, a better painter is to paint more. Volume of output is a key part of the creative process, the more work you produce the more likely you'll produce good work. I find great motivation in Kanye West and Robyn this year, to produce more and more and know that some of it will be amongst my best.

Thanksgiving, Azerbaijan style

Happy belated Thanksgiving from Azerbaijan. Its sort of a weird phenomena to celebrate Thanksgiving outside of the US. This is a purely national holiday and, though some Azeris are familiar with this US holiday it is largely unheard of. We were minimally accommodated by Peace Corps, having language class in the morning and no afternoon classes, but maximally accommodated by one of the trainees' host family. They let 20 Americans take over their large kitchen and dining room for the evening.

Having been assimilating the Azeri culture for so long, we were almost aggressive in asserting our American-ness and preparing a feast. We had all the necessary elements-a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, wine, a control freak, massive cleanup. It was wonderful, like a little slice of America.

However, procuring these items was very Azerbaijan. The mashed potatoes for 20 people were all mashed by hand, with a fork. And in order not to be thought of as alcoholics, we purchased our bottles of wine across 5 stores in 2 different cities. But the best example of this was the turkey Matt brought. From day 1 of thanksgiving planning, Matt said he would be providing the turkey. And 25 manat later, Matt had purchased a good looking, fully alive turkey which he named Adolf in order to prevent any bonding issues.

On Sunday, I received a call from Matt stating that he was rushing home to kill the turkey. It was sick and his family told him he would need to kill it that day. Obviously I rushed over to Matts to ensure I could see this. Arriving at his house, Matt, Emily, and I saw a 'failure to thrive' turkey. It was lying in his box, looking up with eyes that said 'lets get this over with'.

The turkey was brought onto the lawn and, after Matt was shown how to restrain the bird, which was already still as a corpse, he was handed a knife and the international 'cut off his head' sign was made. Matt took a deep breath and started at it. The family was roaring with laughter and Emily and I couldn't help but laugh, whether out of nerves or absurdity. Matt is sawing away with a completely dull blade, akin to the knife my host mom uses to tear bread and spread butter, lamenting the complete inefficiency of it. After about 5 minutes the deed was done and after another 2 hours Matt's heart resumed its normal beat.

Its Khachmaz!

Last week were our site announcements and it was a very exciting, if not nervous, meeting of the TEFLs. One by one our names were announced with our region and we went up to the map to try and figure out where that actual region was. I'm not too good with Azerbaijani geography yet so when Khachmaz was called, I was excited to be called but clueless on where or what I would be going to.

The more I learned the more excited I get. Khachmaz is the northern most region in the first (eastern most) finger. Thus we get some of the most temperate weather throughout the year. The region is ancient and has been densely inhabited since early human history with numerous artifacts and settlement areas left. I will be living in Khachmaz the city, which has a population of about 66K. It is very close to the Caspian and the city enjoys a bit of tourism due to the nice beaches. It is considered a beautiful city by Azeris and there are many parks and fountains in the city.

The school I will be teaching at is one of the largest schools in the region. It is only 3 years old and quite big, about 1200 students and over 100 teachers. There are 16 English teachers and they teach a minimum of 18 hours a week, which is very uncommon for Azerbaijan. Speaking with my counterpart, it sounds like we also have a library and a computer lab. The Azerbaijan teacher organization, Zeta, for Khachmaz is based out of my school, and in fact out of my counterpart's classroom. Also, I'm less than 2 hours away from Baki so if there is anything at all that I need, I can easily take a day trip to Baki and get it.

In general I am excitedly waiting to go there. Obviously I must manage my expectations, everyone is going to a wonderfully fantastic place before they get there, but it sounds like the school has been eagerly awaiting my arrival and the Zeta chapter is very active. In technical training we've been talking a lot about ways to run the classroom and there seems to be an unspoken idealism of effectively transferring western styles of teaching to a hungry and motivated audience.

Speaking with current TEFL volunteers it is confirmed that the teachers we work with are excited for us and passionate about teaching, but they must also work within the constraints that are presented to them. In general a teacher will teach in the morning, rush home to do housework and clean the house, and then tutor children privately, which is where they actually make money. My main goal is to focus on interactive teaching techniques that require little to no setup or preparatory work, believing that these activities and methods will be most readily used when I am gone.

Getting Lost in Baki

Here are photos from our past trip to Baki. It was our first visit so we quickly broke away from the birthday crew who wanted to drink and worked on getting lost in the city. It is a beautiful city, worthy of its place amongst other world cities, with lots of fountains and public art.

Getting Lost in Baki on Flickr

On Matt's and my fountain scale, we rate this a 4.

1st wish: more toilet paper

Hear no evil; see no evil; speak no evil

22 years a man does not make

In my host family, there are three adult children. Two women are married and out of the house. The youngest, Elşan, is a young man of 22 years but acts, and is treated, far more like a boy and the baby of the family. He declares himself right and others (me) wrong with the confidence of a 14 year old and demands attention from his mother similar to one younger than that. Though closer in age to me I continued to feel more and more that we had very little in common.

The Azeri men I have most actively enjoyed the company of tend to be older than me, in their 30s and have families. This past weekend I spent a good 4+ hours talking with my host sister's husband, Tehran, about everything ranging from operating systems to religion, from career movement to his kid's judo lessons. Elşan would drift in and out of the room and Tehran never really made an effort to include him. If he did it was usually in a way adults might address a young teenager, not as a young man.

In AZB there is not much of a spectrum between youth and adult. In the US, we see varying degrees of responsibility granted as we become older which help develop our maturity. We may go away to college, start to pay our own bills, move out of the house, etc. In the United States adults will ask for adolescents' opinions or include them in discussions to help 'train' them to be an adult themselves. In AZB one is considered a child basically until one is married, even if you have a full time job and are contributing to the household budget. Even at 25 my LCF confirmed she is still considered a child in her family and addressed as one.

This realization has helped me in a few ways. Since arriving to my host family i've been placing undue pressure upon myself in forming a relationship with Elşan. As he is relatively close to my age I've been looking at my relationship with him as representative of my ability to form relationships with those in my community who are not my students. It's been a relief to release myself from this pressure, recognizing that similarity in years lived is in no way a basis for a relationship.

But wait, there's more..

Also, here's a ringtone for your phone that is a 5th grade class of Azeri children singing the ABCs.

copy and past link into browser to download: files.me.com/joshehr/thim36

Yoga and Goal Setting

This past week I accomplished a goal I set for myself back in March, 26 weeks of daily yoga. The focus wasn't a perfect pose or flexibility, but to strengthen a commitment to my practice in preparation for upcoming life abroad. I can state that I have improved many of my poses and achieved greater flexibility. But the true gain was in taking my practice away from the realm of exercise and into the realm of body awareness.
I found that what was most useful in achieving this goal were the same items that were most useful in achieving goals at Apple and grad school, and will most likely be the most useful in achieving my community development goals in Azerbaijan. They are discovering what tools are most useful; identify what is unnecessary; measure progress; know what you're measuring.

1) Discover what tools are most useful.
I found the most useful tools for this goal was a simple 10 dollar foam block and a yoga book (Light on Yoga) that contained detailed photographs and instructions of all the postures, plus a massive 300 week recommended curriculum. These were the two most useful items I obtained for this, both of these allowed me to gain confidence in performing poses and helped keep my practice accurate and appropriate for my level.
Aggressively pursue what is truly useful towards your goal. Many times I try not to do something because it will cost a little bit of money or take a bit of time to set up. But my delay costs me lots more time or money because of inefficiency or apathy. Having the right tools to accomplish a task makes one want to accomplish the task. This extends beyond physical tools, like a foam block, to life skills such as leadership or public speaking skills.

2) Identify what is unnecessary
A few weeks in, I found my studio completely unnecessary and unhelpful. I would force myself to go too often and began to associate daily practice with a negative chore. A class at my studio felt more like a cardio workout rather than a yoga class. Once I canceled my membership it was months before I went to another class, but this time it was at a place that furthered my goal in the form of a six week series that was designed to give extremely detailed instruction to the 15 most fundamental postures.
By eliminating what is extra you keep your plan focused and reduce the risk of burning out on side projects that don't truly help. Though it may sound like a good idea, and maybe at some point would show itself to be a good idea, it may not be a good idea for the specific stage you are at in. And deciding to take it up might not just distract you, it might prevent accomplishment.

3) Measure progress
First starting out, I would notate what I had done each day and what my focuses for the upcoming week. As I got more used to this new habit of daily practice my notation switched to weekly, identifying the current routine I was on and focuses for the week. I also would mark up my book and write down any extra pieces of information to keep in mind.
Whether it be work or personal, I find that tracking progress is one of the most helpful things I can do and most difficult habits to get into. It requires reflection instead of action and is easy to push to the side while you are busy with all the other things in life. But when we give ourselves time to do this we can see if we are making headway, identify if anything needs to be changed, or simply validate what we've already achieved. Finding time to measure progress in the Apple Store was extremely difficult but well worth it. After some time with the numbers, I knew who to praise and thereby reinforce, who to follow up with and thereby course correct, and the new behaviors to focus on in order to not just achieve our forecasts, but blow them away.

4) Know what you're measuring
Measuring progress is important, but measuring the correct variable in your progress is more important. When I first began, I tracked the time I spent daily on the mat. This was great for a few days of early enthusiasm but quickly started to frustrate me as I continually felt my daily practice was inferior to a 60-90 minute class. I assumed I wasn't going anywhere. Eventually I switched my tracking of time to tracking of routine completion. Each week I would identify the routine to practice and tracked my completion of my identified routine. This kept the focus where it should be, routine vs. time, and kept me motivated.
Many times we default to the variable we have most frequently used as measurement in the past thereby restricting our creativity of what might be a more accurate assessment. In grad school when I switched tracking my progress in paper writing from pages written (measured in pages) to pages of outline written (measured in paragraphs) I ended up writing better papers, faster, and more enjoyably.

This is probably the best thing I've done so far

Each day we have been brining 5 new vocabulary words to language class with the end goal of writing a story in Azerbaijani. I assumed that this would be a total b of an assignment, and it was, but it was also really really fun. The following is my story. Its sort of one part 'Just So Story' and one part myth of Echo and Narcissus. Translation at the bottom

Bir varidi, bir yox idi bu dişi medusa okǝanda üzdü. O gozel dişi medusa oldi. O yaranliq okǝanda, heykǝlin arxasincain üzdü. Bu gozel heykǝl ölmüş şǝhǝr Atlantisdǝyib. O derhal heykǝl sevilib. Dişi medusa hǝr gün, hǝr dǝqiqǝ, heykǝlin yanindayınıb. Amma, heykǝl hǝç vaxt medusayın rıyakalıq cavab vǝrmib.
Bir gun tısbaḡa dişi medusayilǝ üzüb.
"Bu heykǝl sǝnin yanındayın niyǝsǝn?"
"Mǝn sevilir"
"Amma aydin başa düşmǝyir"
Vǝ yuxda tısbaḡa üzdü. Dişi medusa heykǝl heyat gǝtirsin. O yeyanǝ şey tikǝdǝlǝr özü vǝrmǝk fikirlǝşsin. Tikǝilǝ tikǝ onva vǝmdi vǝ dişi medusa kiçiyi ve kiçiyi işigli yaraşdı. Vǝ bir gun, sonra keçmiş vǝrdi, ruh yaraşdı.
Vǝ bu mǝdusa tutqun niyǝdir.

Once upon a time, a jellyfish was swimming in the ocean. She was a beautiful jellyfish. In the dark ocean she swam past a statue. This statue was a beautiful statue from the lost city of Atlantis. Immediately, the jellyfish fell in love and began to woo the statues love. She never left its side and the statue never returned her affection.
One day a sea turtle swam by and saw the jellyfish besides the statue.
"Why are you besides this statue?"
"Because I love him"
"But he is not alive"
The sea turtle then swam away. At that moment the jellyfish resolved to bring the statue to life. The only thing she could think of was to give pieces of herself to bring him to life. Giving piece by piece, she became lighter and lighter until one day she became as a ghost.
And that is why jellyfish are translucent.

This is my awesome cluster

We are definitely the best Cluster of our trainees, mainly because we have the most fun. From bottom to top, left to right: Matt, Michael, Alec, Carrie, Emily, Josh. Lale is our super amazing LCF.

Basically, we're all getting fat

There really aren't many things for Peace Corps Trainees do to on a day off in Azerbaijan. There are no movie theaters and not many restaurants to frequent. In addition there is a strong gender distinction that limits the amount of places that unmarried men and women can be together. Women aren't allowed in the cayxanas (teahouses) which are the main place of socialization for men and there are few other public places to go.

Thus, on our elusive days off, there is usually one thing we do do. Binge eat. We are living in a culture where it costs 50 cents for a coke and I can, and do, buy hohos in kilos as opposed to individual packages. Peace Corps told us that many people experience of weight gain of about 15 pounds. What they didn't tell us is that its usually due to us stress-eating turkish cookies and paprika flavored lays.

Its a technology!

Best cross branding of 2010

i heart alt teachrz

One of the unnecessary items I granted myself permission to bring to Azerbaijan was a graduate semester's worth of teaching textbooks to dive into while serving here. I knew I was going into a program that had a 'train the trainer' element and I wanted to take opportunity of isolation to further research alternative knowledge transference methods. Little did I know that I would be getting a second semester worth of textbooks upon arriving. Some of them are pretty badass.

If you teach or facilitate any sort of training you may want to check these two resource out. Though primarily aimed at teachers of a foreign language I can see immediate use in other avenues for each, especially in helping you reach multiple learning styles (such as kinesthetic and auditory, rather than just visual).

Chalk Talks by Nomra Shapiro and Carol Genser. Chalk Talks showcases effective symbol use (very simple chalk drawings) to compliment foreign language learning. Its divided into three main parts. The first gives an excellent explanation of the premise of relying on symbols rather than translation. The second part provides over 30 sample lessons doing just this. And the third part is a dictionary of over 500 easy to copy symbols to incorporate into your lessons. I immediately loved this book and plan on purchasing my own copy once I am forced to return it. Heavily relying on chalk-drawings (and charades) I have been able to almost completely eliminate my need for Azeri translation in vocabulary.

Five-Minute Activities by Penny Ur and Andrew Wright. 5MA is a resource book for quick review activities or motivating starters to get a classroom actively engaged with material as opposed to simple recitation. They require very little setup, time commitment, and presumed knowledge and can be adopted for a variety of levels. Simply knowing a few off hand is an instant lesson plan and a big confidence booster. Again, this book is aimed at foreign language leaning, but most activities can be easily adopted for other subject usage. I find myself flipping through it before I begin lesson planning as they are great (and fun) ways to begin class, and thus begin presenting material.

Josh Ehrenreich, the Azeri

Just got my first haircut in Azerbaijan. There seems to be pretty much only one hairstyle, certainly at this point in my language skills. If you're curious what Azeri men look like, its basically this with less cool specs (also I'm smiling).

Glimpses of adulthood

Its gone around that Azerbaijan is part of the Posh Corps. We're not sleeping outside in mosquito nets or having to dig our own latrines, but instead get to sleep inside on beds where our feet can hang off and squat over holes. For some reason, some volunteers in struggle with this feeling they're not getting the full Peace Corps experience. I have none of these concerns and feel more than blessed to have running water and electricity. One gets a pretty legit experience simply from living in a developing country, speed learning a language, and trying to work with youth and adults who speak little to no English.

Instead of having to adapt to a completely different way to exist within the natural world, the biggest adaptation required has been back to a lack of independence. We have been, accurately, described to the families that host us as incapable of doing what they might think are the most basic tasks. Cooking our own food, washing our own clothes, etc. Now this is only partly true. It is not that we are incapable of accomplishing these items, only that we are not versed in the Azerbaijani style of doing it. Thus we trainees recess to the capability of a child in this environment remembering with nostalgia and angst our time in the US, as an adult.

The food has been a mixed blessing. Azerbaijan natively grows a massive variety of foods, yet the day-to-day cuisine is startlingly limited and swimming in oil. However, this past week offered a glimpse of future salvation. On Monday we all left for Site Visits and I got to stay with a Volunteer who lived on her own, transforming into an independent adult again. The site visit was awesome in every way, but most exceptional was the ability to cook again. The three of us (myself, the volunteer, and another trainee) were all cooks and eaters. The following is what we ate. All the ingredients were fresh and local. Prepare to drool.

Monday lunch: Eggplant and tomato pasta

Monday dinner: Deep dish pizza with homemade tomato sauce, gouda, peppers, eggplant, and onion

Tuesday breakfast: homemade granola and milk

Tuesday dinner: leftover pasta and pizza, zucchini fritters, gouda apple flatbread sandwiches

Wednesday breakfast: homemade granola and milk

Wednesday lunch: chocolate pomegranate pancakes

Wednesday dinner: fried green tomatoes, twice baked potatoes, beans, homemade salsa, homemade pita chips

Total cost: 28 manat (about 35 bucks), cost per person: about 9 manatee.

When in doubt, add a -dir

The Azerbaijani language is a language of suffixes. When you conjugate a verb, you add a suffix; when you demonstrate location, you add a suffix; when you make something plural, or possessive, or negative, you add a suffix. This can lead to some unwieldy word creation for the novice speaker and a scrabble player's wet dream. For example, the root word for behind is 'arxa' but if you were to use this word in the sentence 'the chair is behind the desk' the word becomes 'arxasindadir' which is a full 3x, or eight letters, longer than the original. Sweet.

This is a pain when writing, but especially annoying when you're speaking, and forced to create this new word on the spot. As a mnemonic device, my language group has come up with the rule 'when in doubt add -dir' which works with surprising accuracy. -Dir is the suffix you add to a word with an i, e, or upside down e to give the statement an 'is' in the third person (he is going to the store). When we've made a statement and our teacher is waiting on us as if we didn't make a statement (because we didn't..) we've found that adding a -dir to what we said gets it right about 100% of the time.

Last Sunday in Sumqayit

I kidnapped a friend's SLR and took some pics.

Check them out here

Music 'from' Azerbaijan

I don't really have the luxury of downloading, let alone learning about, new music in Azerbaijan, so most of my music listening has been based on what I already have. Since I don't really have anything interesting to blog at this moment I decided to post a text podcast of what I've been listening to.

The-Dream-F.I.L.A. - quickly becoming one my favorite song of the year.

Katy Perry-Teenage Dream - a little slice of America so far away

The Refreshments-Girly - a total throwback to '96 from a total one hit wonder band

Bowie-Black Country Rock - Every podcast, audio or no audio, has got to have a lil' bowie

Robyn ft/Snoop Dog-U Should Know Better - Robyn featuring Snoop Dog! And he kills it.

Kanye West ft/Kid Cudi, Pusha T, John Legend, etc-Christian Dior Denim Flow - I am so excited that Kanye is doing all this work with Pusha T. He's got mad talent.

HEALTH-USA Boys - Super great noise dance pop. Get their Disco 2 compilation

Caribou-Eli - and some great psychedelia to round it out.

What's good US? Tell me what I should be listening to. Even better, email/snail mail me the music.

Photos!

Hey everyone, I know that many of you have been asking for photos and here they are. Most of these were taken by me, some were taken by my very talented friend, and fellow trainee, Allison Breed (appropriately marked). All were edited by me. Either way, they're pretty rockin'-check them out here:

Photos of Sumgayat

Meeting the Host Family

There have been few weirder moments in my life than the one I enjoyed on Tuesday afternoon, when I met my host family. During orientation, the host family was a main topic of conversation, and it seemed each session that focused on it seemed to make everyone more anxious. Every person wanted to know exactly what it would be like and unsurprisingly the Volunteers and Staff weren't able to give specific answers. The learning was the easy part, the controllable, but the host family would involve the very important uncontrollables; what we ate, how we cleaned, how we went to the bathroom, whom we would interact with.

A fellow trainee, Gio, put it best when he exclaimed "I just want to get in there, fuck up, and get over it." It was the most reasonable statement I had heard regarding meeting the host family the entire orientation. Of course it was going to be awkward, and of course there would be nothing we could do, short of being born Azerbaijani, to prevent it from being so. We were going to mess up and make embarrassing mistakes. This was such a certainty that the Peace Corps actually holds orientation sessions with the Host Family to prep them for the amount of mistakes we would make and the cultural differences they would observe. And we would get over it.

The first person on our bus to meet their Host Family was a young man named Kevin. He was told by his LCF (Language and Culture Facilitator) "Kevin, this is your Host Mother and brother." Kevin exclaimed "I have a little brother!" and immediately introduced himself and asked his name. We watched his little brother beam as he obviously bragged to his friends about Kevin while he was unloading his bags. It was one of the most adorable things I've seen. Suddenly all the anxiety building during the Orientation sessions melted away. And this scene happened again and again and again as siblings came to pick up trainees.

My first introduction to my Host Mother was just like every other trainees'. Accompanied by extremely stuttered greeting statements and lots and lots of gestures. I said I was hungry even though I was completely full, I just didn't know how to say I wasn't-and its not like I had anything better to do. The Peace Corps prepped us with days of language training which basically gave me the capability to communicate in broken Azerbaijani a few phrases and the ability to say I want to eat, sleep, or wash. It shocks me how much they nailed it. I've made a ton of mistakes, but I'm also working more intensively, and progressing more rapidly, then any other point in my life.

The Division between Public and Private:

During orientation, we heard a lot about gender roles and content prepping us for a situation quite different from the US. For example, there are teahouses in Azerbaijan for men to go and drink tea, talk and gossip, and smoke. Only men can go to these, women are not invited nor allowed.

At first I assumed this was an example of patriarchy at work again, but I believe it is something different. In Azerbaijan, there is a very distinct division between the public and the private. In the US, we tend to privilege the public-restricting someone's rights to participate in the public eye is to restrict their individual freedom. The public has more acreage, therefore it is primary. In Azerbaijan, the public and private seem to be weighted equally, with women receiving privilege in the private and men receiving privilege in the public.

As a man, I cannot simply go to someone's house to study or enjoy an afternoon. Usually we have to involve an LCF to translate our request to the Host Family. However, my friend Carrie can go to any of her friends' houses with no warning. Another example was at a family member's birthday party I recently went to. The men and women stayed in separate rooms the entire time. The men's room was sparsely furnished, eating off a communal platter, on older furniture. However, as a guest I was invited to eat with the women during dinner. They were in the formal dining room, eating on fine china, on luxurious dining chairs.

I'm not sure if my assessment is completely accurate on this, but my observations so far have continued to confirm this idea. I'm also not saying that this results in equal opportunity, but it has been a very interesting and useful lens for me to view through.

Thoughts on Packing the Carry Ons

(303 represent!)

As most who know me will attest to-I'm a little crazy when it comes to packing. I'm a minimalist and love chances to compress life into as small a quantity as possible and down to the bare necessities. Packing for the Peace Corps presented a challenge since I don't really know what the bare necessities of a developing country are, let alone when staying for two years, and I plan on jotting down any efficiencies or key things for me to remember over the course of these 2 years.

On my flight over here, I took a computer bag that had a ton of stuff in it, all stuff that I figured would be useful for the full day of flights and layovers. But when it came down to it, all I really used were the Kindle, my journal/pen, the Board Game Book, and iPod/iPhone/Headphones. I could have just as easily used my Nike satchel rather than a full backpack.

My second carry on was packed perfectly for arrival. I basically packed two suitcases, one that I could live out of for at least five days and a second, massive one with everything else, that I've hardly yet gone into and if it was lost, would not have missed it until it was found. The only regret I have is that I know I am already going to need a bigger backpack for traveling purposes and I wish I got it in the states rather then being forced to order it online. I have a feeling I'll be utilizing the expertise of my stateside sister and resident Ehrenreich wilderness expert to help with this.

Carry On Contents:

2 pairs of pants (wearing 1 pair of jeans)

2 short sleeve collars (wearing 1 collar)

2 long sleeve shirts

1 sweater

1 suit jacket

1 light jacket

5 undershirts

5 pairs of briefs

3 pairs of socks

1 pair of shoes (wearing loafers)

1 pair of athletic shorts

toiletries

yoga block

suspenders/belt

Day 17 and 18: Dead Horse State Park and Hanging Lake

It is easy to fall in love with the American Southwest. It has a martian like quality, red monoliths towering above you, striated cliffs, plateaus thousands of feet above sea level just hundreds of feet from canyon drop-offs. As we wandered around, from camping spot to mountain town to camping spot I had to balance a rational knowledge that it would be too rural to truly live here with a captivation rarely felt before. You become infatuated with this mountainous deserts and obsess over how to stay in a past moment.

Our last campground was beautiful, the ground was a red sand the color of a schoolhouse and soft as chalk. Our tent had had enough however, and struggled to stay up as one of the poles finally broke. We dined better than any other campfire, making grilled zucchini, onion, and pepper quesadillas.

The next morning, in a flash of genius, Nick remembered that Hanging Lake was open again after being closed for the season and as we drove back to Denver, we took a detour at Glenwood Springs and take the steeply graded hike up to the mirrored lake. We ate lunch in front of a waterfall that poured 30 feet down into the lake below. It was our last hike together and the last activity on Nick's, MD's and my mental checklist of things we wanted to do together.

We were blessed with another road trip miracle when we pulled up to Nick's house, his parents mysteriously away from the premises. We were able to unpack, put away, and get out, with only moments to spare. Pulling up to MDs we inhaled relief and exhaled nostalgia for our long and epic journey that had finally come to an end.

Day 16: Zion Canyon

Today was our last campfire. We're camping tomorrow but we're only allowed to use charcoal, so this one mattered. It was a very low pit but we made a huge fire anyway-Nick's become quite the fire genius after getting into the swing of things again. We pressed paninis with turkey, ham, avocado and swiss. Then we made Jiffy Pop, the popcorn in the covered aluminum pouch that you hold over the fire with a provided for handle. It came out wonderfully, probably the best popcorn that I've had. I'm not saying this because we were at our last campfire of the roadtrip, this popcorn was immaculately popped and perfectly buttered, not a single bad kernel.

This came as somewhat of a surprise because the cashier at Wal-Mart was rather ominous about our Jiffy Pop. "You can return this if it doesn't work, like if it all burns, you know. I mean, there doesn't even have to be popcorn in it". We weren't sure if this was a warning spoken from experience or a bit of Wal-Mart insider knowledge on how to beat the corporate machine. Watch out Wal-Mart, you've got a disgruntled employee at the Scottsdale store.

This evening was a perfect cap to a near-perfect day (more perfect only if Evan was still on the road with us). We spent the day in Zion, an incredible and spectacular National Park. This was by far the best run Park we've been to. Visitors used a free bus running every five minutes instead of your own cars. It would go up through the major trail heads and scenic views, narrated by a tour guide giving a bit of history and explanation of the park. And the trails were amazing.

We put on our watershoes and swimsuits one last time (..le sigh) to hike the Narrows, a great multi-terrain (read: land and water) hike through Zion canyon. The bus dropped us off at the top of the route and we hiked up another mile to a river bank. At this point we had to begin wading the river. Soon enough we were waist deep in the water laughing and splashing and taking photos. The hike continues down the river, at times we'd be wading waist deep or more across the river. Other times picking over rocks on land or under small rapids. Each meandered turn revealed a unique spot. Some beautiful, others dramatic, others still ancient. Eventually we had to turn back, if only to ensure we would be out of the narrows by sunset.

hustlers at a roller rink, blues in a jazz club

Yeezy's latest G.O.O.D Friday track is over seven minutes long, and it opens with Mos Def. Mos can be hit or miss, but here his lazy voice is poetry reclining under shimmering strings with a deep bass floor. Ye, Rae, Swizz Beats, and Charlie Wilson each pour out their soul rolling down on the beat. This is worth checking out.

From Mr. West's University himself: Lord Lord Lord

Shuffle/Play #6

A while ago I had a series called shuffle/play, where instead of designing playlists I would throw up the 25 minutes or so of music I had been most frequently listening to. With 7 days left, these are the seven songs I've been listening to most extensively. Its safe to say that if I'm listening to music on my computer, I've probably listened to one of these songs in the last 20 minutes.

Eminem-Cold Wind Blows

David Bowie-Rebel Rebel (2003 version)

Drake feat. Kanye West, Jamie Foxx, and The-Dream-Digital Girl

Robyn feat. Snoop Dog-U Should Know Better

Discovery-I Want You Back

Ben Folds Five-Not the Same

Kanye West feat. Pusha T-Runaway Love

Copy paste this link into your browser to get it: files.me.com/joshehr/bl13n5

Kanye West ft/Pusha-T - Runaway

i love pusha-t and didn't hear this, i love it. when i saw thats what you sent i watched the vma performance first. he is so brilliant. basically a great live music video and his moment back in the scene, basking in the glory of us waiting on his every move.

i've been addicted to this good friday shit. its all in my rotation. basically, as it has been for the past decade, i cannot stop listening to kanye.

Get vid and song here

15 Podcasts: Number 4

Next in the almost-but-not-completely forgotten 15 Podcasts project is 'Margaret's First Mix'. Unlike the other 14, this podcast was recorded by Margaret. MD is taking care of all my vinyl and stereo setup for the next 3 years and the goal of this mix was to teach her how to effectively navigate a mixer and appropriately use the levels, adjust the gain, and listen for transitions. You can hear some volume adjustments and level play, but its a pretty varied mix, ranging from Bright Eyes to Jay Z, Japandroids to Salt 'n Pepa, and a solid listen.

Download Podcast 4, MD's first mix, here (you'll have to copy and paste, I don't know why): files.me.com/joshehr/kofyy2.mov

Babysitting the turntables and vinyl may sound awesome, and it may be. But I imagine that it will have its annoyance come move time. Luckily there are flight cases for those bad boys. Thanks MD for taking care of them!

Day 15: Kanab, The Western Legends Festival, and Haley and Alex

We got quite a late start leaving Scottsdale and so we found ourselves arriving in Kanab late at night, and every intersection we passed, we saw cops. This was beyond a normal small town welcoming party, but we thought nothing of it as we were more focused on task of finding a hotel room. Apparently we had caught the culminating night of the Western Legends festival and sign after sign displayed 'no vacancy'.

We first met Haley and Alex outside a Roadside Inn. They were being told no occupancy as I was coming to learn just that. Haley had a face that smiled easily, which was having difficulty breaking through the frustration experienced. Alex's smile, through disposition or delirium was glued on. This was the fifth place they had tried, and it was our fourth.

We saw them again at Best Western and once more at Comfort Inn. As we walked outside I decided it was time to pool our resources "There's a room at Best Western a bit more than we wanted to pay" Apparently the Western Legends showcase was hot stuff out here in rural Arizona. Also, Haley informed us, a sniper had shot and killed a police officer that very night filling the remaining rooms with news crews.

As our room was being processed we got to talking. They were on a cross country road trip from Miami and camping along the way just like us. At this point in our trips we were on the same route. Just like us they were coming up from Scottsdale after hitting Vegas and heading towards Moab and then Denver.

We began comparing notes in the room. Coolers were necessary for manageable food costs (us), and craft supplies were necessary for sanity (them). We both agreed that Scottsdale sort of sucks and Bourbon and boxed wine are the beverage of choice. There were only two of the in a larger car so their packing was a bit more eclectic. We nodded approvingly of their fake moustaches and Nick gasped with delight at the integrity, if impracticality, of hefting a 40lb typewriter across the country. Alex showed us the drummel he had purchased on Route 66 to begin glass engraving, largely using Mountain Goats' lyrics. And somewhere between 'I have weed' and 'god bless you' we knew that there was much more to do with Alex and Haley.

After seeing Boggle and their excitement over the Board Game Book, Nick decided it was a perfect duo to introduce Bananagrams to and we spent the night shouting 'Peel,' drinking bourbon, and laughing at each others puns. It was awesome to meet people completely new after weeks of the company of each other.

A couple studly pics from the wedding

I've begun the editing process from Sam and Jessica's wedding. Its great to see some of the outstanding shots of the bride and groom, but let's face it, we're always interested in our own as well. Here are a couple of yours truly as a total stud.

A brief review of the new Kindle

Apparently it is not uncommon for the Best Man to receive a gift and yesterday I was given a Kindle Wi-Fi by my brother. I was really excited and its a great idea for me especially. Not only do I value the portability digital books give but a few months ago I had to make the difficult decision to return my iPad being uncertain about wireless coverage in Azerbaijan.

There are many great points about the Kindle. First and foremost is its size. The Kindle is startlingly slender, the size of a thin paperback book. Amazon really crafted a device that could create an emotional reaction to the user. Light enough for one hand but inviting enough for both, it is an enjoyable replacement for the physical book. Additionally it is easy for the eyes view for extended periods. The eInk is much easier on the eyes then an LED screen and it displays text with the right amount of contrast. The battery life, as has been frequently lauded, is outstanding, with or without the Wi-Fi on.

There are other details, more subtle, that make the Kindle a joy. The hold screen randomly selects an author image or classic book illustration to display while waiting for you to come back to it. Even watching the ink change from one page to another is enjoyable, simulating the space between transitioning from one page to another. The plastic casing, matching either the text or the background truly does enable the Kindle to begin to disappear in your hands.

There are certain annoyances, but these are more recommendations than downfalls. The store navigation, from the Kindle itself, could stand to be improved. I would like to see Amazon concept their store navigation more similar to the bookish way the Kindle operates. I love how you can use the page forward button to view a book from your search results, but allow me to continue to use the forward button to sample it. Its sort of a pain to go back to the home screen to sample, then go back to the store and redo my search. This is especially the case if you are looking for a specific edition. It would also be nice to customize my home screen in a way thats different from the standard author, date purchased etc.

The Kindle as a device is superb at doing one thing. I really don't view it as an iPad competitor (though it is certainly an iBookstore competitor) and Amazon might not either, as evidenced through its availability of Kindle software for numerous devices. The iPad is just too multi-functional to be truly considered in the same boat as this device. I could picture owning both and probably will at some point. What intrigues me most about the Kindle is the WhisperSync technology that Amazon is using to power its store. In a matter of seconds a book I've purchased online is on my Kindle, my iPod Touch, and my computer, not even Apple is doing that. This is a company that has very effectively capitalized its IT structure as packable services for other companies (such as Fulfilled by Amazon and Elastic Cloud Computing) and WhisperSync has tremendous potential for both furthering their retail arm and their corporate web services offering.

Day 14-A Postscript

Nick was driven mad last night by incessant chirping of a cricket and finally, in the dead of night, his rage had turned to bloodlust. He believed he had localized the sound to behind the refrigerator. Upon grabbing a cricket killing tool, in the form of a piece of cardboard, he wisely did a 'bug check' and found a scorpion hanging out and can certainly be assumed he was likely plotting the painful and agonizing end to Nick. As Nick recounted in the morning, he involuntarily dropped the cardboard and made a sound somewhere between chocking and dry heaving. Frantically he seized a scorpion killing tool as the evil 'Y' scurried across the floor, finally killing it in a primal surge of adrenaline.

Fueled by the success of one bug death, he furiously slid the cardboard under the refrigerator in a vain attempt of smashing the insect against the wall. The cricket must have wizened up after hearing the commotion of bloodshed because Nick told us how he sat in from of the refrigerator, silently in the dark, until he was satisfied that the cricket had learnt his lesson. Vindicated Nick sleepily made his way back to the couch, getting comfortable just in time to hear the cricket, now joined by older and louder brother, begin anew.

The arachnid slayer himself. Probably calling in a hit.

More of Evan's awesome photos

And here are more photos from someone far more talented that I. Check them out:

San Simeon

Venice Beach

Grand Canyon

Days 13 and 14-Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon, and Scottsdale

Day 13 was a driving day. We left Vegas after eating massive omelets (thanks slot machines!) and drove throughout the day to camp right outside Grand Canyon park. Thankfully we had Nick's burned Moth Podcasts. The Moth Podcast is an ongoing storytelling project, recording great stories, usually grouped by theme. Some are hysterical, others white-knuckle tense, others still tearful. All of them are true. I highly recommend checking out this podcast.

For our last campfire with Evan we drank box wine and fire-grilled peanut butter sandwiches while Evan took long exposure shots in the moonlight. We listened to the original War of the Worlds radio broadcast and fell asleep to Native American drumming and signing in the distant background.

We headed to the North Rim for the spectacular views and Nick's most 'not-approved-by-a-mother' Jumping Across America photo. Though almost directly north of Scottsdale on the North Rim, we had to drive a massive distance simply to cross the canyon to make our southward trip to Scottsdale. It was a relief to get there for all of us. Evan and Hanna were reunited, we all could shower, and our dirty clothes could finally be cleaned. We all felt ready to see what Scottsdale had to offer.

One of the best things Scottsdale has to offer is a certain Mr. Christopher Campbell and he made the excellent suggesting to head to a gourmet burger place called 25 degrees for dinner. We had a feast, with Christopher and I saying an emphatic yes to everything suggested and presented. Cheese plates, sweet fries, onion rings, and the succulent burgers we created. It was all outstanding.

Afterwards we headed to Karaoke. This was not a beginners Karaoke bar, the people here had talent. Singer after singer impressed us with their song selection, as well as their voice. And the crowd ate up each performer; they expected, and were given, a performance, song after song. We showed ourselves worthy of the microphone and were each rewarded with cheers of approval. We headed back to Evan's drunk and stuffed, smiling and exhausted.

Day 12-Viva Las Vegas

The most important part of our trip to Vegas was that the first dollar I spent (well technically it was Evan's dollar since I only had a 20) won me 150 bucks. I'm down with any Vegas trip if it goes like this. From there it was right to the bar for doubles for everyone including Will and Tandee, Evan's friends from Scottsdale. We wandered around the strip, drunk on the ability to go anywhere with open containers. So much pandering, so much indulgence. Vegas, is like the village Pinochio finds himself after being stranded at sea.

Day 11: Venice Beach

One of my favorite themes found across this road trip has been how much we've been playing in the water. Swimming in Teton, drenched by the Seattle fountain, sunning on the shores of Lake Tahoe, and cruising down the Pacific coast in Big Sur. Visiting the beach yesterday, we were immediately bummed we didn't have our suits on, but also knew that we really needed to give ourselves time and prep for an entire beach day.

And we basically became the poster children for excellent beach days. Laying out our towels to play in the ocean and body surf on the waves. Evan caught the best one, cresting at least 10 feet high. After waging our war against the waves we ran back to our towels, basking in the sun, deepening our tan, and reading magazines amidst the clammer of countless other people beginning their own war against the tides. We buried Margaret in the sand and ate fruit and nuts. This point in the trip, our bathing suits had become a second skin, and it was no small disappointment to leave our costal paradise and join the throngs on a stationary LA highway.

Ice Apocalypse

Due to events in our LA hotel room, now would be a good time to explain the concept of 'Icing Bros'. This is a phenomenon tracing its roots to the frat houses across our great nation, involving Bros and Smirnoff Ice, a malt beverage that tastes a bit like Squirt. Its a girly drink and, aside from its 4.5% alcohol content, completely worthless. A bro will hide a Smirnoff Ice somewhere another bro will find it, such as under a pillow, toiletry bag, etc. When that bro finds it, he has to drop to 1 knee and chug it, no matter when or where. But, and this is a big but, you can counter ice. If your bro has just 'iced' you and you have a Smirnoff Ice on your person, you can counter ice your bro and he has to take a knee and drink both. Originally, I was going to post some YouTube vids of bros getting iced, but they're as pathetic as you'd expect lo-res vids glorifying binge drinking to be.

Of all people, it was MD who introduced this hilarious concept to us. And it got real the night of Day 10. Nick and Margaret DD'd Evan and I back to the hotel after a long night of drinking. Getting ready to climb in bed, Evan lays his head on the pillow, only to find his hand lying on a 24 oz. MD sprang out of bed: 'You just got iced bro! Take a knee!'. I'm laughing pretty hard at Evan until I rest my head on the pillow and find a 24 oz underneath and my face turns to shock. The ice in our room is so intense.

Well, Evan and I will not this act of aggression go unanswered. The next night, I had to leave the group early to desperately catch up on Peace Corps emails. But before I get back to the room I stop to pick up a six pack and prepare an Ice Apocalypse. After Nick, MD, and Evan get back from the bars, they get a hint of what's about to come when Nick discovers an Ice under his bedsheets.

The mood next morning is tense. Margaret is convinced there is an Ice under anything that is capable of covering. After getting iced once more from his luggage, Nick immediately runs downstairs to pick up an Ice in the lobby. Evan is iced from his laptop case while Margaret refuses to change, convinced that she's felt an Ice in her luggage. It's not there but is in her backpack and she's finally forced to drop a knee. Nick finds on in his toiletry bag, but counter ices Josh with the one he just picked up. Mysteriously we're still missing one at the conclusion of the Ice Apocalypse and we leave glad to know that soon a member of housekeeping will be forced to drop a knee.

Day 10: Escape to LA

We woke up to the sound of cars peeling out. It was early, but groggily we emerged from our tent to begin considering the day. While getting my yoga mat, I'm struck with how bad I must smell due to the flies surrounding me. I share with Margaret that a shower will be a relief for me and my ego and she informs me its not just me. At this point I realize there are flies surrounding her as well, in fact, there are flies everywhere. We break camp in 20 minutes, faster than ever, to get out of the Den of Flies.

Margaret was able to use her mighty PriceLine abilities (seriously, they're incredible) to get us a room at the incredible Hotel Bonaventure, a beautiful 4 star in downtown LA featured in Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and Logan's Run. This hotel was space age, a cylinder surrounded by four circular towers which in turn were surrounded by 3 glass elevators apiece that shot up for spectacular views of the city.

Refreshed we piled back into the car in search of food and beach. We devoured some awesome Carribian food before heading down to the Venice Beach Boardwalk, gawking at street performers, crazies, exhibitionists on Muscle Beach, and an American Apparel factory outlet store. We walked up to a woman sitting out on the beach in hopes of socializing her three 8 week old puppies. The next hour was spent on the ground paralyzed with laughter as ferocious puppies licked our faces and brought our ears into submission.

That night we met up with Alex in the hip and trendy part of LA and headed to Malo, a grommet taco and tequila bar. I gorged on tacos like ceviche lime and barbacoa pickle while drinking tequila and Tecate, while Animal Collective played on repeat. Walking back towards Alex's, we dropped into 4100, a quiet bar with heavy draped curtains, buddha statues, and lots of candles. Nick and MD met back up with us here and drove us home.

Days 8 and 9: Big Sur

The Matrix is not a powerful driving machine, but when you're hundreds of feet above sheer drops into the ocean, switchbacking up and down the coast, going from 50 to 20 back to 50 you don't really feel at a loss. The drive was beautiful; uninterrupted views of the ocean as you raced downhill plunging into windswept cliffs. We caravanned with Adam's car to go camping along Big Sur and take the universally lauded drive down the coast to San Simeon. Within minutes of setting up camp we ran to the ridge where we could watch the flaming sun disappear behind silhouetted mountains. Now it was time to party. We had a good ol' campfire feast, hot dogs, corn, pork and beans and a lot of alcohol.

Adam heard good things about a place called Limekiln beach. so we headed back up for a hike. This area felt enchanted, like a fairy tale, as the hike unveiled. We came upon a crystal clear pool beneath a bubbling brook that seemed to be missing its crooning mermaid. It led us to the ruins of massive iron and stone kilns, silent and immovable. We even watched a tree fall beside our path, as if urging us to leave while we still could.

Once again we drove down the Pacific Coast racing convertible mustangs along the ocean. And when we finally found a pull off for a beach, we were finally able to touch our feet in the Pacific. We raced against tides and walked along the beach. Afterwards we ate seafood at an oceanside cafe. We played along Big Sur late and didn't get to our campground until well after dark

Back in Denver

And after 18 days, back in Denver. Final mileage reads 5427.7. Full posts coming soon. Pics aren't up on flickr yet but here's a quick preview:

Days 6 and 7: Lake Tahoe

We arrived at Lake Tahoe very late at night the previous day and collapsed into extremely luxurious surroundings. The house Carmel's family and friends rented was massive-almost 20 adults plus kids and babies were staying there, in completely comfortable and spacious surroundings. It is currently on the market for 4 million and we probably only saw about 1.3 million of it-having not seen the top or bottom floors. It was so large that there was simply no reason to do so. It was covered in bears (and Thomas Kinkade's-oh the horror!) from floor to ceiling. On chairs and shelves, on paintings and wallpaper, on cookie jars and curtains. They were all over the place, you could always find one more bear in the room you were in.

It was so nice to wake up in what felt like a home. Go downstairs and make breakfast, brew some coffee, not feel the immediate pressure to leave a hotel room or campsite. It was also extremely nice to have the space to do some office work, such as following up with Peace Corps emails and write. I was able to catch up with the wonderful Carmel as we worked side by side in Bear Hollow's dining room, like a vacation version of an oft repeated scene we shared in Boulder. After office we all went down to the lake. Just like our private lake in Teton, this lake was crystal clear and cloudless, though thankfully a bit warmer. We splashed and played 500 in the water, played backgammon and practiced yoga on the beach. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Coming back Nick and I left to pick up liquor. We stopped at Safeway where I asked a lady selling root beer floats at the front if they carried liquor. "Oh yeah, we have a full selection," she replied "This is Nevada hon!" Back at the house, we drank SoCo lemonades, laughing about the bedroom intruder video while people busied themselves in the kitchen preparing an incredible dinner of bbq roast, mushroom risotto, and root vegetables. That night we played scategories and paper telephone, until the four of us once again collapsed asleep into luxurious surroundings.

The next day I slept in and did a bit of computer work with Carmel and Evan. One of the things I love about Carmel, and her family, is how intellectually stimulating the conversations are. Her family is both fascinating and scintillating. I love how I gain so much from Carmel when with her, whether that be book recommendations, cookies, or perspective. I ordered 4 books from half.com, ranging from business models to alternative education just after being with her and her family for less than two days.

We eventually had to leave our mountain resort, resigned to the fact that we had already committed to being in Sacramento that night. Had we the ability to be flexible I would not have been surprised if we stayed for the week's remainder. But all too soon we found the matrix packed and on our way south from Nevada to Sacramento. In Sacramento we met Ovita, Nick's fabulous aunt who hosted us and Nick's Sacramento family for a taco and margarita bbq. Nick and Margaret went swimming in her pool while Evan and I lay on reclined pool chairs until woken up and told it was time to head to Nick's aunt Natalie for the night.

Natalie is Nick's waffle aunt, and we woke up to a massive breakfast for ten-chocolate chip waffles, breakfast casserole, bacon, and fresh fruit. Refreshed and rested, we continued our Great American Road Trip heading for Pacific Highway 1 to begin our west coast adventure.