Eye on Design, Azerbaijan-Part 1

I've lamented this before, Azerbaijan is lacking a visual tradition. It has a rich music tradition and folk music is heard everywhere, including on pretty much every Azeri television show. But when it comes to a visual aesthetic in this country, it is sorely lacking. In this country, if it functions, it is enough. Consequently most stores and restaurants (what few there are) are the cheapest furniture procured in a barren box, or wares stacked in garden maze of boxes upon boxes.

Other than purchasing a television set, which by now every restaurant and tea house has done, there is little to distinguish one locale from another. People come to these places as a matter of habit, not as a matter of experimentation or belief in the product, the same 5 people you see there today will most likely be the same 5 you see there tomorrow.

Recently though, as in since I've been here, two places have opened up that are strikingly different in that they have been decorated with an obvious thought towards the overall look and design of the establishment and a focus on a modern feel.

The first place is called Cinema Club and every night at 8:30 it shows, on a projector screen, current Russian movies. Its a tea house, and beyond the standard fare, it also serves coffee, hookah (flavored tobacco), satellite TV, and wifi. There is a consistent motif of cars; posters of sports cars on the walls, painted car tires are the base of each table, stacked tires serve as columns for the bar. And everything is done in red or black, the walls, the tires, the leather couches, even the cups and teapots. It opened about a month ago and is now consistently packed, whether or not there is a movie being shown or not.

The second place is a donna stand, doner being a Turkish sandwich and, without exaggeration, the only type of restaurant one can go to. (sidetone: This fact alone shocks me, the absolute non-existence of food innovation. Every single Azeri I've met talks about how much they love burritos. All the ingredients are here to make them, it requires very little overhead. But no, everyone opens up another doner stand, as if their doner is that much better.) Unlike many of the restaurants here which are dimly lit or using patio furniture, the people and very comfortable chairs in this restaurant invite you to sit down. This place actually does have doner that is that much better and has a great location, bordering one of the main parks. It also has a red and black theme (masculine colors for masculine cliental); red chairs, matching table clothes, red aprons, black prep area. It also features satellite TV and, the owner says, soon will have wifi.

Both of these places have seen great success in the midst of extraordinary competition. There are probably 50, if not more, tea houses already in downtown Xachmaz. Doner stands isn't that high but close. I am thoroughly convinced that what has set them apart, and has encouraged their customers to come back, is the focus on creating a enjoyable environment for their patrons and not just for their friends. These places feel like a place you want to spend your money, whereas their competition I've visited (which is a lot) feel like someone's garage. Hanging out in a friends garage is great, but its hard for me to get comfortable in some strangers garage. I would not be surprised if Xachmaz sees more similarly well designed establishments pop up as people try and imitate the success enjoyed by these.

Books So Far

A consistency amongst Peace Corps Volunteers the country over seems to be the amount of reading that we do. When living in another country, surrounded by the strange and foreign, reading is a great way to retreat away while still maintaining some semblance of brain activity. Apparently this theme has been pretty consistent throughout the history of the Peace Corps, returned volunteers laud the libraries volunteers have access to in the main office, and book swapping is extremely common.

But as with everything else, the information age changes things a bit and now most volunteers have Kindles, Nooks, or Sony eReaders. Besides the computer, the Kindle is probably the most important thing I've brought as it allows me to have a full library of books at my fingertips. I'm still a poor volunteer so I don't really have the money to be purchasing books, but the Kindle has a massive library of free books available for download. These tend to be the classics, which is another side benefit, as I'll return back to the US with a large amount of these classic books under my belt.

Anyway, since I don't have anything terribly positive to write in this email (the weather...has been...terrible...) I figured I would share my reading list.

Free: The Future of a Radical Price - Chris Anderson

The Book of Three - Lloyd Alexander

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel - Rolf Potts

The Blue Fair Book - Andrew Lang

The Pink Fairy Book - Andrew Lang

Japanesse Fair World: Stories from the Wonder-Lore of Japan - William Elliot Griffis

The Black Cauldron - Lloyd Alexander

The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles - Padaric Colum

Autobiography of a Yogi - Paramhansa Yogananda

The Art of War - Sun Tzu

The Gambler - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Grey Fairy Book - Andrew Lang

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Celtic Tales Told to the Children - Louey Chisholm

Ozma of Oz - L. Frank Baum

The House of Llyr - Lloyd Alexander

How to Tell a Story and Other Essays - Mark Twain

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Franklin

The Lilac Fairy Book - Andrew Lang

An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth - Ghandi

I highly recommend The Golden Fleece, or any book you find by Padaric Colum. He's my favorite storyteller. Also, I was surprised how much I enjoyed both the Autobiography of a Yogi and of Benjamin Franklin. And Crime and Punishment probably has the best ending of read in a long time.

Somewhere I read that there are two types of readers, those who read one book at a time and those who read many books at the same time. I am definitely of the latter, usually in the midst of three different books at a time, switching between them as one might change channels after a show finishes. Here are those I'm currently reading as well:

Making Ideas Happen - Scott Belsky

Processing the Experience: Strategies to Enhance and Generalize Learning - John Luckner and Reldan Nadler

The Witch and Other Stories - Anton Chekov

The Patchwork Girl of Oz - L. Frank Baum

The Sayings of Confucius - Confucius

Thus Spake Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietchze

What a Wild 21st Century World We Live In

There are a few things that I never conceived as being able to do while in the Peace Corps. Central among them is keep up, to some degree, my internet heavy lifestyle. The fact that having trouble with my wireless router is a point of frustration for me in Azerbaijan both shocks and awes me. Its a wonderful little post-modern snippet in our über globalized village. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I am thrilled this gets to be my case. I love the internet and I am so glad I get to use this incredibly powerful tool while on my extended overseas sojourn.

So what makes me choose to write of this now? As is usually the case-Radiohead. Radiohead released, and announced for those counting, a new album-'King of Limbs'. Its good, I hear a bit of Kid A in here, but I think its a bit mellower. But personally, I'm more immediately grabbed by 'Ravedeath 1972' by Tim Hecker, a beautiful piece of musical decomposition. Its similar in idea to the William Basinski's 'Disintegration Loops', but far more of an actual album with songs, rather than a neat concept with sound. On this album, the primary instrument-a church pipe organ-is morphed and battered, sanded and blasted, merging analogue and digital instrumentation into one. It has a dark and violent feel. I really like it.

The fact that I could even be writing this paragraph is weird to me. Both of these albums were released in the past 7 days and yet, here I am, typing these words out right after I took a dump in a squat toilet.

Other recently found digital gems:

Michael Pawlyn's inspiring and fascinating TED podcast on biomimicry gives me hope for the future

POVevolving's crazy and beautiful work

Response to The 99% '20 Questions to Ask'

Based on the 99% article, found here

The 99% recently polled Twitter followers on their favorite interview questions. The reasoning is sound-the average American switches jobs every 4 years and it is almost always more expensive to hire and train a new employee only to discover they are not what you are looking for than to take the time to search for the correct candidate. Coming from Apple this was especially true. The learning curve for a part-time specialist was about 6 months to go from completely new to fully proficient.

I was lucky enough to work with a boss who was insistent on hiring the best when we found them and no body when we didn't. This takes time and is impossible to uphold when you go through hiring spurts. Consequently we were always in the process of very actively interviewing and hiring. In addition to working with some outstanding people this also led me to really hone my interviewing chops, over the course of hundreds of interviews.

For me, interviewing is information gathering. Each question asked should be moving you towards your goal of understanding why the interviewee you are working with would be a good fit for your organization. Even in situations where you will have multiple interviews, or extended interviews, the time you have for this assessment is precious little compared to the amount of time you may potentially be working with that employee. In my opinion, finding out if you 'like' them is far less important then finding out why you 'like' them.

Below are The 99%'s 20 selected questions and my commentaries on each one. Many I agree with and encourage, others I offer what I consider to be more effective replacement questions, and some still I disagree with.

1. What is a common misperception about you? (There's often a seed of truth in the answer.)

- @aarondignan

I feel the presumed value from this question is based on an assumption that what the interviewee will represent as misperception the interviewer would believe is, to some degree, accurate. Though not the intention, I feel this question is a little duplicitous. If I were to use this question, I would phrase it as: "Can you give me an example of a misconception about people have about you? Why do you believe you might be perceived this way?"

2. What do you do on your days off?

- @nicolemwms

I like this question. I enjoy using this style of questioning to probe for evidence of certain competencies (action oriented, goal setting, etc) in a non-work setting, usually indicating a stronger presence.

3. Whose website would you want to design or redesign?

- @hugeinc (jessica bauer-greene)

I asked a similar question regarding retail ('What company, aside from Apple, do you believe to have outstanding customer service?'). I like to see if they can stay positive and focus on the positive attributes of the company rather than the weaknesses of competition or the company itself.

4. What would your previous boss say is your greatest weakness / strength?

- @brannonmc

I preface this question with 'Have you had previous employers give you feedback on your strengths/opportunities?' This way you can reduce the likelihood of a bullshit answer. I can tell you exactly what my previous employer said were my greatest s/o, and they are different from my own assessment.

5. Are there any accounts or types of work you would not want to do?

- @tfollowell

This may work for certain industries, but I do not see benefit of this question from my field. Every job has their worst parts, this doesn't mean we should feel entitled not to do them.

6. What are you reading?

- @kbordwell, @oktlouisa, @rumblestrut

I like this question, similar in approach to Question 2, as well. But for this to give truly worthwhile information about the interviewee I would ensure there is a follow up. I might ask for them to explain a character they empathize with and why, or what they find interesting about the topic they are reading.

7. What are your dislikes/pet peeves/frustrations? (Reveals more than asking about their likes.)

- @reneefishman

I do not believe this reveals more than asking about their likes. I believe this reveals about as much information, which is little, and keeps the interview negative. I no longer ask this question.

8. Who do you follow on Twitter, and why?

- @samwilson1

I find this specific question arrogant. However, I do like the question, 'Who do you find to be a fascinating personality, and why? to be enlightening.

9. What would you do in a panicky situation (e.g. the printer calls at 5:59pm to say a file is corrupted, and your boss already left)?

- @fitforpaper

This is a must have question for any job on a team that expects any sort of personal initiative. I have asked a question like this in almost every interview.

10. What's your dream job?

- @toflee

I think this question is interesting, and I sometimes use it as an opener to get acquainted or a closer if I've already made up my mind but still have time. To me, the key here is that the answer should be value oriented, rather than specific profession. Instead of hearing 'teacher' I like to hear 'a job where I can teach people'.

11. How many pianos are there in New York? (A variation on this classic question 'how many piano tuners are in new york')

- @CalinBalauru

The goal of this question is to hear how the interviewee reasons out an unknown or ambiguous situation. The gained information is very interested but be aware that sometimes it needs a bit of explaining. It helps no one if you get a one word answer (Uhh...1,000?)

12. If your boss offered your choice of reward for a job well done, what would you pick?

- @spence7zero

Similar to Question 10, how much true information about an interviewee can one gain from fantasy? And fantasy drenched in reality at that ('a million dollars' doesn't make much sense as an answer). Instead I like, and recommend, to get to the meat of the question and point-blank ask, 'what did your last job provide you that you valued most?'

13. What sort of education are you looking for in your next job?

- @scottbelsky

I would expect nothing less from Scott Belsky. This question provides critical information if you are looking to hire the best of the best. This allows the interviewer to get a glimpse at the person in the organization, not just the employee in the organization. With this question the interviewer gets insight into their critical thinking, expectations of employer, hopes and aspirations. I frequently used this as a question in final interviews.

14. How does this position relate to what you really want to be doing?

- @POVevolving

Wow, this question is great. I used a similar variant when meeting with employees during our regular development exchanges, but I never thought bringing it into the interview. I love it.

15. What was your first ever job, and how did you get it?

- @MShahab

As an icebreaker, I like it, but it will not be giving me specific information. On the other hand, the interviewee may provide extra information that I would be very interested in and allow me to follow up on it.

16. Pepsi or Coke? (Shows me how the interviewee responds to the unexpected.)

- @JaseMiller

I am not impressed with these types of questions. This type of 'unexpected' is in no way an accurate reflection of an 'unexpected' in the work environment. Furthermore it leads the interviewer to a dead end afterwards. This is a question to rattle the interviewee, as opposed to ascertaining information that can help you make a decision about one's life. If you like using this question, I would encourage you to try a question similar along the lines of Question 11.

17. If you weren't getting paid for what you do, would you still be doing it?

- @DeElgena

'No, I'd get another job' This is what I always think when I hear this question. In my interviews I always give the interviewee an opportunity to ask me questions and I've been asked more than once. I believe this question is trying to discover what (if any) overlap in values exists between the job and the individual. As an alternative to this, I like asking 'What aspects of your job do you find yourself carrying over into your personal life?' or 'What similarities do you see between your work and personal life?'

18. What do you know about us?

- @pylondesigninc

This is a good intro question. I try not to judge people too much based on this question but do like knowing what our common foundation is.

19. Why are manhole covers round? (This comes from an old Microsoft interview question.)

- @Halaylah, @johnnyfyve

I'm not the biggest fan of questions with definitive answers, unless it is industry related technical knowledge. I know this answer only because I know the question. What does my correct answer tell the interviewer? That I owned 'Mindtrap' when I was 8?

20. When is it okay to break the rules?

- @coopbranding

In an effort to reduce some corny answers to this question, I prefer 'Give me an example of a time in which you broke the rules? Why do you believe this was the correct thing to do?'

Snow!!

I was asked in November if it ever snows in Azerbaijan. At that point it was a beautiful fall, temperatures frequently in the 70s, sunny and mild. And due to my lack of research, I honestly had no clue about snow in Azerbaijan. Then I was assigned to Xachmaz, which is about 10 kilometers from the largest lake on earth, and was consistently told how much I would enjoy the mild weather.

Upon arriving to site, people insisted that it did snow here, but through winter, into February, the closest thing I saw to snow was what we saw in the nearby mountains. Occasionally a cloud would squeeze out a snowflake or two, as if it was trying to make itself cry-unconvincing and not much to show for it. Then this last week hit, and a snow cloud straight out of the claymation Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer decided to set up shop in Xachmaz.

In two days we got about a foot of snow. And it was the perfect type of snowfall with big and fluffy flakes, where the temperatures while snowing being warmer than when its not. Xachmaz was now a city in a white cloud which was actively bringing the stores, tress, and earth under its alabaster blanket. The snow was wet too, perfect for snowballs. In Azerbaijan you don't have a snowball fight, you play snowballs, and every child would race outside between classes to play snowballs as much as possible.

Lannea and I had a conversation club one of the days and we ended early to have a snowball fight which you can see in the above video. Its a bit shaky, I was trying to avoid getting clobbered while filming.

What Am I Doing?

That subject line is really a question I ask myself everyday for a variety of reasons, but in the context of this update, I mean it in the sense of 'What I actually am doing' over here. At this point I've been at site for a little over 2 months and have gotten myself involved in a few different projects (one might say too many) and have been brainstorming a few ideas for upcoming projects.

My primary responsibility in the community is my teaching. I am teaching 15 classes with 4 teachers which is, to put it bluntly, way too much. There is not enough consistency with any one teacher to really develop a strong relationship and there is not enough consistency amongst the classes due to the fact that I am trying to balance 4 different teachers' schedules. You live and learn; I will certainly be making changes to this strategy next semester.

The not so glamorous truth for an AZB TEFL volunteer is that there is a lot of standing around. I mentioned in a previous email that I have to remember that I am not dealing with Azeri teaching robots; well the teachers are working on learning that I am more than a hugely interactive visual aid. I love the times when I am actually teaching, however it is also the case that often I am like the map on the wall, waiting to be referred to and pointed at. This experience will decrease with time and students and teachers will become a bit more accustomed to my presence as a teacher in the classroom.

Lannea, a fellow PCV, and I are in the middle of our first Conversation Club, which is with 12 10-14 year olds. And is as awesome, funny, and exhausting as you might think a club with a dozen tweens who all speak one language that we don't speak is. We meet twice a week and have a program that is directed at beginners. It is in the Conversation Clubs that PCVs really get to have fun because we get to do whatever we want. In one lesson we taught town and city vocabulary by having them draw a huge map. In another lesson we focused on the emotions with charades. It also allows Lannea and myself to try out some potentially effective teaching techniques. This will last until mid-March, in which we will start another one up.

Every other Saturday I have a Teachers Conversation Club, which is aimed at teachers in Khachmaz that can speak the English language. Teachers continue to tell me they want conversational practice and this is one way I am trying to assist them. Last time we met our lesson was to each describe a good memory. Then we described it just by sight, by sound, by smell and taste, by touch, and by one word. The objective was to focus on summarization and imagination with descriptive vocabulary. I don't know if that was achieved, but it was fun.

Lastly, I'm on the committee for the 2011 Writing Olympics. In late March students from 6th-11th form and University will compete in a creative writing contest. They will have 1 hour to write essays on topics like 'Would you rather be a kangaroo or a butterfly?' or 'What would it be like if army service was mandatory for women, and not men?' Winners are chosen for each grade level. Then, winners from each country (there are 11) have an opportunity to compete in Tiblisi, Georgia for the International Writing Olympics. Its a ton of work but really cool. Look forward to more info about this soon.

Warning: this contains toilet humor part II

There were two things people in the states continually recommended for me to pack as I was getting ready for Azerbaijan: toilet paper and ziplock bags. The toilet paper isn't as necessary; for all you potential post-soviet state travelers, the range of consumer goods when it comes to personal hygiene products is pretty good. Yes, they have toilet paper here and no I don't really discern a difference between the two countries offerings. (As an aside, Azeris are incredulous to the fact that Americans would believe there is no toilet paper in this country.)

Up until yesterday night, the ziplock bags have remained unused as well. Seeing the lack of their presence anywhere, whether in an America or Azeri household, I believed these would become part of my (growing) 'unnecessary items' pile, joining the world radio, twin sheets, and half my ties.

Then there was the night when guests were over and I drank 6 cups of tea. Around 10, I had retired to my room and before I knew it, it was late, people were sleeping in front of my door, and I had just disobeyed my 'always use the hamam (outdoor bathroom) before bed). Frantically I looked around the room to figure out a plan. "The window! but its too high;" "Any empty bottles? no;" "THE ZIPLOCK BAGS!" With no time to waste I hastily triple bagged one (there was no way I was going to risk having to explain that situation) and smiled to see a packed item used to its full potential.

And so, life goes on...

While mentally preparing to leave the country for 2+ years, I knew I would miss some major happenings back stateside. 2 years is a long time, and a long enough time to expect major developments in friend and family lives beyond the general growth that accompanies our day-to-day lives.

I just recently received an email from a good friend with awesome news; she got engaged. I had already faced the facts that, unfortunately for me, I would probably be missing some weddings while in the Peace Corps. Most of my friends are in their late 20s and are smart, funny and handsome/beautiful and I somewhat expect them to be scooped up. I was prepared for the fact that this would happen.

What gave me pause over this email was the sudden though of what life would be like when I get back, in 2+ years. The prospect of missing a few friends' weddings is sad, but whats dizzying is to think of coming back to the states, after a couple years, and figuring out how to interact with some of my closest friends who are now married. There's no preparation for that.

Have you seen this?

This is a great new blog that caught my eye. Its really well done. The title alone should motivate you to go there now. Bangable Dudes in History

Where is the excess?

Azerbaijan isn't really a country of excess. From an American's perspective, there's very little hedonism to be found in this country. I guess my life in the US has spoiled me from the thrill of a bare ankle or a cup of tea.

So where is an American to get his buzz. There's always cigarettes, but we're trying to avoid this habit. (Sidenote: An Azeri recently asked me why the PCVs always looked so much younger, I responded because we don't smoke and we smile). The 'buzz' is something we are constantly searching for, some normalcy through escape. There are no bars or chipolte burritos here, so what can we retreat into?

Well, there are a few things. Often we'll get together and cook, Xachmaz has the hookup on one of the more olmas (not allowed) food items among PCVs-bacon. I've instituted a rule with friends that if I am picking up bacon I get to cook it and must be referred to as bacon master. Cookies are another form of retreat, there is a Turkish cookie here that may be the best cookie in the whole wide world. They're called Tutkus, and they're a cookie filled with chocolate cream.

Hookah, which is flavored tobacco, is relatively common here and can also provide a nice escape. It also has the added bonus of being a great place to socialize with Azeri men. Really bad and cheap vodka is available here a plenty but it poisons the soul. Better are the rum balls sent from home (thanks mom!) that my host brother said he was getting drunk on.

Of course there is the healthy release of endorphins with exercise, which satisfies two goals-giving you something to do and de-stressing. But the best buzz, the best retreat, I've found so far is the long, hot shower. Waiting until the water heater is full and then braving the winter cold to the outdoor hamam to have a nice long shower and shave is one of the best feelings in this country. I can't do it too often, but when I can, its a great feeling. Alone in the outdoor cement bathroom is the one time I truly feel there is some semblance of escape from the world.