Escapism and Cut Copy

There is so little opportunity to escape into some semblance of America in Azerbaijan that when volunteers get together to socialize there are always significant resistance strategies at play. People will cook American recipes, will drink, will smoke, will do anything to forget, if only for a few brief hours, that we are in a place that calls for such resistance. And as sure as we can be that there will be opportunity and support for retreat we can be as sure that the emotional hangover will be there the next day.

On the mashrutka (mini-bus) back to Xachmaz the day was grey and rainy. Even on a day like that, its easy to see why Azerbaijan is one of the oldest places of human civilization. Its winter and the countryside is still green and the soil fertile. Yet the landscape evokes a national emotional hangover; Azerbaijan dealing with the nausea of a polluted and restricting Soviet past. The very earth itself works to process the toxins out of its system.

And I suppose this sense of moving beyond the excess, working towards a potentially never obtained state of balance, is the theme I hear in Cut Copy's excellent new album Zonoscope. Moving beyond 2008's electro banger excess In Ghost Colors, Zonoscope, musically, is the morning after, dealing with the after effects of all-night parties, club hopping, waking up after not going to sleep.

Zonoscope is an album of reflection. Channeling Echo & the Bunnymen and New Order, Cut Copy pieces together last night from texts, voicemails, and souvenirs buried in pockets. Looking to each to clarify the doomed question 'What happened last night?' We all have our moments of escape, but there is the process of rediscovery when we retreat too far back.

'Need You Now' is an immediate standout and will certainly be a top track this year. Listen to it here.

Lets talk about success baby

Its pretty easy to get down on oneself here. Its cold and grey, there's not a lot of vegetables, you don't speak the language-blah blah blah, complain complain complain. Most of the problems brought up are those that will be minimized in the long term (language, not knowing people, etc) and its usually better for volunteers to look at the short term. Peter Hessler wrote that in the Peace Corps, the "pragmatists survived, and the smart ones set small daily goals" We need these goals so badly because most times they're the only way we can feel successful.

So here is a small list of some small success that have come my way recently.

-Finding a just opened Cinema Club, which has free wifi, coffee, tea, and hookah. Introducing myself to the owner, asking if girls can come there

-One of my teachers now uses an interactive teaching method without me prompting me to (its called sentence cross-out)

-Starting a conversation club with Lannea that has become a surprising success-we still have to turn people away from the door

-Starting a conversation club with my teachers, where we didn't do the lesson plan, but we began to plan an upcoming English Party

-Convincing the teachers that tackling Shakespeare for this English Party might not be so wise, lets start with fairy tales instead

-Getting my kindle to download new books

-Correctly telling the shop owner that 'I need a half kilo of Holland (yellow) cheese) instead of pointing and grunting

-Using grunts and pointing to get behind the counter to check out the wine they have

-Finally finding the 'good' cheap Azeri wine

-Visiting a new friend in a village, playing chess with him

-Figuring out that direct and indirect objects totally mix me up in Azerbaijani and getting my Azeri teacher to give me homework specifically on that

-Learning how to wish someone happy birthday

-Getting on a daily greeting basis with maintenance staff at our school

-Getting kids to prepare a Bingo board in less than 20 minutes

-Teaching kids how to play charades

-Watching them get better at playing charades

-Getting teachers to begin using drawing as part of their lessons

-Finishing the massive PCV first month report

-Finalizing my first intra-country teacher training

-Troubleshooting and fixing a counterparts computer problem

Not necessarily moving mountains here, but we've all got to start somewhere.

Carmel Hagan - A History of the Harlequin

The incredibly savvy Carmel Hagen recently gave a TEDxBoulder talk on the the romance novel industry. Its a very funny presentation on an industry most of us look at (apparently mistakenly) as some bizarre stepchild of paperback publishing. Check it out.

The Ultimate Test: The Host family

Once accepted into the Peace Corps I began to receive a lot of information about ways my life was going to get more difficult. I heard about culture shock and how it will affect me in different ways. 'You'll get sick;' 'You'll sleep more;' 'You won't feel motivated;' etc etc. I heard how wearing it is to live in a fishbowl, to live in a place where I am so obviously different from every other person there. How everyone will know who I am, how my every move and dress will be watched and noted, how people will sometimes stare at me with mouth agape. I heard a lot about all the modern conveniences I would be forced to forego. The way things get done here, from washing clothes to eating at a restaurant to going to the bathroom, are different from what I am used to.

All of these items certainly have a stress associated with them, but I've found I've been able to take them in stride as I led Peace Corps to believe I could (phew!). No, it is not these that is the massive stressor in my, and most of my fellow volunteers, life. The ultimate stressor is the host family.

In previous emails I've emails I've written how I didn't really have the greatest host family situation during training. What I have currently is a 180 from then. My host family is great now. The house is great. My room is great. And I can't wait to get out of there.

The thing with a host family is, when you are living with one you never have any downtime, any escape from the culture you're in. After you finish your long day teaching classes in an Azeri school, after meeting with teachers who have much different ideas about what is effective knowledge transference, after the various conversation clubs you might hold, and after the long walk home, it is then when you have to begin the real cultural work. Now you're in an intimate setting, the home, with people who don't speak your language. And navigating the balance between assimilation and maintaining some degree of your own personal identity is both difficult and exhausting.

After a long day of working with Azeris, I want nothing more than to go home and veg out. Whether that be watch tv or read, I want some alone time. This idea is so foreign to this culture, to come home and immediately try and separate yourself is bizarre. You've been away from the family for so long, you need some family time! Its nice, but not what I want.

There are also the physical demands of a host family. I no longer have any control over my diet or eating schedule. As I get used to the country it can be sort of nice, but it creates a feeling of dependency I don't remember the last time felt. My senses are always in a state of alert. Always preparing myself for the potential guest or dinner or trip to the village that I possibly was informed of but certainly had no clue was coming.

I really like my host family. I completely lucked out in my site placement in every way. But I can't wait to be an adult again.

Much love,

Josh

Some Hip Hop for a Snowy Day-2k11

One of my favorite times in winter is at night, during a silent snow fall, and every sound is muted. Its as if God has turned the volume down on the Earth. There is a sort of warmth in this silence and it lulls you. This is the feeling I go for in Some Hip Hop for a Snowy Day.

Some Hip Hop for a Snowy Day may be one of my favorite mixes to make. I usually keep it shorter in time with a tempo that encourages one to get warm with some hot chocolate and be glad you're indoors. Though hip hop is the main genre represented, I try and push what could be considered, or incorporated within a hip hop mix.

So, without further ado, here it is the 4th Annual 'Some Hip Hop for a Snowy Day'

Listen to it here (it takes a bit to load)

Download it here: files.me.com/joshehr/ij96l6.mov

1) Flying Lotus - Galaxy in Janaki

2) Big Boi ft/Jamie Foxx - Hustle Blood

3) Kanye West ft/Rick Ross - Devil in a New Dress

4) The Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey

5) Nas - Memory Lane (Sittin' in Da Park)

6) James Blake - CMYK

7) Four Tet - Sing

8) Drake - Over

9) Pink Floyd - Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-5

1 week down, 80+to go

Last week I wrote of a realized perspective of the foundation I would have to lay before I actually began to do the real change work. It was a little depressing to get all ready to set sail, have the sails fully unfurled, and find that there wouldn't be any wind for a bit. However, this week I got to start rowing and though its slower going it still feels good. So one week of classes is now finished.

Classes themselves are pretty good. At this point the students are very excited to know that they will have an American in their class a couple times a week. They are pretty attentive and seem interested. I attribute this to the fact that everything about me-from who I am to the teaching activities I'm using is so new. I'm curious how they'll be acting after a few months, once the glamour of Josh has worn off (I know, I know, hard to believe thats even possible). Classroom instruction in Azerbaijan is a very aural in nature, its a lot of oral recitation and repetition. I'm trying to compliment this excess with more visual techniques and utilizing the board a lot.

I have a pretty full schedule. I teach a total of 15 classes with four different counterpart teachers. I also meet with each of these counterparts to disseminate the previous week and prepare for the upcoming one. At this point my goal is to introduce different methods so we can begin a dialogue on teaching that doesn't exist between us yet. Every time they make an observation, I ask them about it: What did the students think was interesting?; What do you think they were excited about?; What did you like most about class?

Answers aren't immediate but I've been able to write down the questions to serve as follow in our meetings. In my opinion this is a very important process as it helps develop critical thinking about teaching. At this point my praise is extensive, discussion is high, and my opinion is checked. I've got two years here; there is no need for me to rush. Once this foundation piece is in place we'll be able to better brainstorm learning activities different from, or complimented by, the textbook.

Beyond this are extracurriculars which hosting organizations unappreciatively demand. One PCV and myself have started a conversation club through her organization. It meets twice a week for 8 weeks and is beginner focused. The advantage to conversation clubs is that you work independent of a counterpart and therefore can use whatever activities you want. Additionally, you are not restricted to a specific book.

However, the conversation club that I am most excited about begins this Saturday. It is a teachers' conversation club, for the English teachers at my school. Holding a club for intermediate-advanced speakers is significantly easier than for beginners and you can talk about far more interesting items. Additionally, this is a way for me to make good on my promise that I truly do want to work with all teachers. But most excitingly, for me, is the fact that I get to model various activities with the teachers that they might not see in the classroom and their level of English is good enough that we can have dissemination about the activity, which will help them further with their English and prep them for utilizing it in the classroom. Its a train the trainer situation and I am so excited to begin it.

So, there you have it, my first full work week. Its pretty tiring, especially when you factor into it that I have a 40 minute walk just to get to school. But its good to feel productive again.

So What's Getting Me Through...?

In a very previous post I mentioned that I had somewhat of the winter blues. The honeymoon period at site is coming to a close and now the reality of the work that needs to be done is making itself evident.

So what's getting me through this? Of course there are all those 'normal' stress managers that I spoke to in my interview-yoga, writing, friends, blah blah blah. To be honest there are three main things I have been going to over and over this past week. My 'Chunky Monkey' in a land of chunky potatoes

1) Fyodor Dostoyevsky. As MD can attest, I usually turn to darker fiction when overwhelmed. I really like Dostoyevsky as an author and I don't find him depressing or lengthy. I think he has great flow and find myself plowing through his books. I just finished The Gambler and am beginning Crime and Punishment. After that I have a great translation of The Brothers Karamazov I'm super excited for. Hopefully this will take me through winter.

2) Flight Control. This is a 99 cent app for the iPhone/iPod where you guide planes to the correct landing strips that has (once again) become an addiction. I've already beaten my previous best on all airfields and am working through them again. I can easily lose an hour to this game.

3) James Blake. James Blake is a musician who received a lot of buzz in 2k10 for a couple of released EPs that combine elements of dubstep and R&B into one seriously smart and sexy sound. His upcoming self-titled release has leaked onto the internet and it is awesome. I've been listening to all of his stuff on repeat when writing, reading, or any time I could be listing to it. Check out 'Limit to Your Love' here.

There's definitely some work to be done

This past week we finished winter break only to go back to school for two days and break for the weekend. Its sort of a nice schedule, especially for the Peace Corps Volunteer. Before break we have observation and selection of our teachers then winter break, and then we come back for a couple days to begin our teaching in a easy, 2 day, kind of way.

However, this Friday I wasn't reflecting on how good it was to finally be teaching. And I wasn't reflecting upon the fact that finally, after so many months of training and so many more months of waiting, I was doing what I had applied to. Rather I was reflecting on my mood and the fact that I was sort of bummed to be here.

For TEFLs in Peace Corps Azerbaijan we don't have our own classes for two years. Rather we work with other teachers and co-teach our classes. The point (and one of my favorite points) of TEFL PCAZB is not just to teach students, but to develop current teachers and help them utilize more effective teaching methodologies. Thus, we must be working in cooperation with the teachers instead of simply usurping their role in the classroom.

There are a ton of things that could be done differently immediately to have a more productive learning space, but the objectives of TEFL PCAZB isn't designed to promote that. Success isn't leaving out a worthless activity in the textbook or using a new teaching technique in the classroom; success is your teacher counterpart suggesting to leave out what is now realized to be a worthless activity or to suggest a new teaching technique s/he has learned or created.

And, as I realized on Friday, that is going to take a lot of time and work. I'm not just dealing with malfunctioning teaching robots I'm dealing with real people who need time to absorb and time to digest what is new. Change isn't going to happen instantly but they would take time, and they would take very real work, and that sort of bummed me out.

By this point in the bum out I had roused myself out of my room onto the misty muddy streets walking towards town center. And on the way I chanced upon my friend and fellow PCV Glendene who shared with me her (re)learn of the week, to stop putting too much pressure on herself to accomplish things. And she also told me I had a package waiting at the post office. And at the post office I met a student who was so excited to say 'hello' to me. And leaving the post office I got a call from a friend who wanted to invite me to a dinner on Saturday. And then I got another call from a friend asking if I wanted to play football (soccer) on Saturday. And then I met up with my host brother and my tutor and we talked over starbucks via.

And finally, at this point, I realized that I was supposed to get out of this funk. Yeah there's work but thats what I signed up for. And to only look at the amount that has yet to be done disregards the amount that already has been done like integrating into my community.

New Years in Azerbaijan

The entire time I've been in Azerbaijan, I haven't seen masses of people out socializing. The idea of a packed coffee shop or a Pearl Street bar crawl still evades this society. Socializing largely takes place in the home, the teahouse, or on the corner. On New Years Eve, however, everyone was out and about. The streets were filled with excitement and the parks were packed with people strolling, kids throwing fire crackers, and families taking photos. Men and women held hands, teenage girls and boys looked like they were on actual dates. It was unlike anything else I've seen in Azerbaijan.

Preparation for New Years have been going on for a long time. In almost every way, New Years has the same trappings of Christmas. They have New Year's Trees and Şokta Baba, a jolly man in red and white plush coat, with a large red cap and a long white beard. You string up New Years lights and listen to Christmas(?) carols. These Şokta Babas can be seen roaming around town, in schools, in the parks, on the corner, with the restlessness of a street boy, who very likely is the person most likely under that garb. They can do whatever they want, they're Şokta Baba, the school is paying him to be there now. Like ask the American to come to the canteen with him. Yes, New Years in Azerbaijan means having Şokta Baba ask you to drink Vodka with him at school.

New Years is a big holiday all over. Xachmaz is very much a city and I haven't really experienced village life in the way that my fellow volunteers are. On New Years Eve day however, we all piled in the taxi to head towards the family's home village to visit relatives, friends, and my family's orchards. It certainly gave me a broader perspective on Azerbaijan, such as the wooden toilet or the massive nut shell pile enclosed by brick (about 8x8 feet). Apparently they burn them. When I inquired to Fargani why they burn them he laughed "because they're village people." Truly no other explanation was needed. We left around 4 to head back to Xachmaz, but not after many many meals. New Years in Azerbaijan means eating 3 dinners before 4pm.

After walking with the crowds for about 4 hours, my host brother and I headed back to home to spend time with the family. We stayed up late playing Şeşki, a waaaaay better version of American checkers, and eating fruit and candy. And at 12 we toasted with Azerbaijani Champagne, which tastes as god as it sounds, and rushed out to see the fireworks. Eventually we all went to bed after a long day of guesting and celebrating. But it didn't end right away, New Years in Azerbaijan means waking up to a breakfast buffet of chocolate cake, baklava, honey cake, buttercream frosting cake, and russian candies (with tea of course).

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years Eve and wish you the warmest blessings for the upcoming year.

And for those who want to know...my birthday!

I celebrated my birthday in Azerbaijan this past week. Though away from family and old friends it was really nice. It started when I headed to Şabran in the morning, about 30 minutes south of Xachmaz. I met up with Sanyo and JM and we made outstanding pizza. This pizza was exceptional by American standards. While Sanyo was preparing the dough I cooked bacon brought down from Xachmaz. Then we roasted the garlic cloves and onions in the bacon grease, shredded the cheese, and chopped the peppers and tomatoes. At this point all my stored Pizza Hut experience came into play. The secret to a great pizza is topping moderation, just because you cut three peppers doesn't mean you should use three peppers. If you put too many toppings on your pizza it won't cook well.

After eating one of the best pizzas ever, I headed back to Xachmaz and purchased a wireless router for my house-happy birthday to me! I was so excited to get home to get it working. Two hours later the excitement had evaporated and it was still not working. I trust we'll be able to figure it out, but as of now I am still lacking in my wireless internet-annoying. Luckily, at this point, some friends came over and we had dolmas and delicious double chocolate birthday cake. Afterwards we played monopoly which I haven't played in possibly 20 years. It was really fun and good to see a different, cutthroat, side to people.

So basically, for my 28th birthday I basically had the birthday of a 9 year old-it was great. Thank you everyone for your b-day wishes!