They Say It Helps to Drink Hot Chai

Its summer and its hot. Really hot. Not since I was a kid living in Buffalo did I feel my life dictated so greatly by the heat as right now. If its 12 and I haven't left the house yet, I'm not going to be leaving the house until evening. If, for some infernal reason, I am required to leave the house between 12 and 7, upon getting home I immediately strip off the clothes I was wearing. I have absolutely no clue why, but aside from playing sports, shorts are incredibly inappropriate for men to wear here. I've heard it said its just as bad to wear no pants as to wear shorts (when you are not playing sports). I have yet to confirm this but its getting hot enough I might try.

Its not just me. Khachmaz could be confused for a ghost town around 2, its so empty and quiet. No one wants to move. If you're a business lucky enough to have air conditioning you stay in your closed door cube. If you're in a house which doesn't have air conditioning (such as: all of them) you will do everything in your power to avoid walking in the heat. I've been without gas for 4 days simply because I didn't want to go out in the heat. Why should I pay to have heat when that's what I'm trying to avoid.

Its not so much the actual temperature (which is high-though not as bad here as other towns in Azerbaijan) or the humidity (which is constant) as much as the direct, unblocked sun. With the lower caucuses to our immediate West all clouds are blocked for days at a time. We'll have sunny, pure blue sky days for a week. Its actually quite beautiful if one could stand to be outside during this time. But this geological obstacle is also one of our greatest benefactors. Because at the end of a week of uninterrupted skin-cancer causing sunlight the mountains can no longer hold back the clouds that have been accumulating and they pour over the peaks readying themselves for a rain to fall in a couple of days. And after this early morning rainfall we'll have a couple of 70 degree days which make Khachmaz seem like the most wonderful place on earth in the Northern Hemisphere.

ps: Oh and that think about the hot chai cooling you off...doesn't work

Seriously, We Need to Come Up With A Better Name

As has been frequently observed (such as here and here), 2011 has seen a sizable amount of material coalescing around, for lack of a better term, 'Arty R&B'. This really is a bad term, but it helps describe what I find to be some of the most interesting sounds this 2k11. Artists like James Blake, The Weeknd, and Thundercat are playing with sounds that are both soulful and haunting, while one of the biggest names in pop this year-Adele-is achieving major crossover success from an R&B sound.

Anyways, I guess this is really just a long winded way of saying: 'Hey its still interesting'. Check out this new track released by The Weeknd - The Birds (Part 1) and fall in love with drums again.

The Weeknd - The Birds (Part 1) by The_Weeknd

Hard questions

Goal number 1 of the Peace Corps is to promote cross cultural exchange. Usually this is of the 'smile and nod politely' kind, like when you are being served your 15th cup of tea. Other times it is of the 'I am learning' kind, like when someone opens up to you about why they liked the Soviet Union better. And once in a while it is of the 'holy crap, what the hell is happening here' kind. This week I had one of those experiences.

This story largely centers on my friend who is also my site mate. She was at our favorite doner shop getting lunch, when a gypsy girl came in to beg for money. Now, the gypsies are annoying, they get in your face, pull at your hand, and follow you for blocks, usually only leaving you alone when you forcefully tell them (Men pul yoxdur!) (tangentially, they surprisingly have good teeth). The man who prepared the doner yelled at her and grabbed her by the hair and aggressively shook her, yelling at her to get out. Pretty shocking stuff.

And in less time than it took you to read that paragraph my friend jumped up from the table and started shouting at the man to let go. She shouted at him in front of everyone in the store, in English, saying things like 'you can never do that' and 'she is only a child'. Apparently it got really intense and each was getting in each other's face. Quickly she went and got the owner to bring him there and explain what happened. It was at this moment that I cluelessly walked in (which has become an all too frequent script annotation in my life). Everyone was shaken, each for different reasons.

It are these moments that really challenge my values and perspectives. It's been extremely easy for me to maintain my middle class values of equality and tolerance and justice in the United States because they rarely are challenged beyond the abstract. Just like the Ivory Tower dilemma thrown at academia, there is a gulf of difference between theory and action.

After lots of though, I agree that my friend took the right action; regardless of cultural perspective or upbringing that was unacceptable behavior, and I admire her for taking immediate action to bluntly communicate that. Every Azeri woman she told this to also agreed with her actions. What freaks me out is the unknown if I would have reacted the same way.

This event slapped me in the face with the big difference between saying and doing and the really messy grey in between. I'm a pacifist but can I recognize, and do I have the courage to rise above, the line that separates this from compliance. I consider myself a cultural relativist but I certainly wouldn't want to become a nihilist through laziness of thought and action.

These are hard questions, especially for the post-structuralist volunteer who has difficulty believing in absolute truth. Finding an appropriate balance between cultural sensitivity and cultural assertiveness is difficult enough when you're trying to think of a way to refuse the third helping of dolma. What about when the situation actually matters? I want to think that with this case study situation under my belt I would now act in the same way, but I also hope I won't have to find out.

First Cut of Softball Pics

So I finally got my camera battery, which means I finally can begin taking pictures again. It also means that my former goal of 10% of shot pictures are keepable has gone down substantially. But, inshallah, this will improve again.

Check out some of my faves from the Softball Tourney. More here

Good 'ol American Music

This past week had some interesting events contained within. My clubs started this past week, which was a relief to get that first day over. I also met with the Minishter of Education and the Methodist (responsible for the region's English curriculum) to clarify my role as a volunteer and not just a free teacher. That went well and already promises to lead to some great possibilities (like attending the Methodist's birthday party-booyah). There were also some other, more dramatic events, which I'll leave for the blog as I don't want these emails to become 'Josh's Sad Pants Hour'.

One thing that was unexpectedly awesome was a concert which I had begrudgingly committed to attending on Thursday. Now concerts in Azerbaijan are a dime a dozen, and for a jingoistic country with so many holidays no one knows what is actually being celebrated, or mourned, or remembered, there is an opportunity to attend one about twice a week. But in an act of 'you scratch my back I'll scratch yours' I committed I would be there.

I'm glad I did. Apparently this concert was funded by the American Embassy and it was startling to walk in and see four African Americans sitting on stage. They embassy had brought an American gospel band and they were in a room full of students from the music school, with their instruments, doing a cultural swap of musical ideas. It was really cool to watch.

Afterwards there was to be an outdoor concert, and during the time in between I got to speak with our new Cultural Attaché. I asked him about some of the events he's done and those coming up. As we were talking he happened to mention that he really wants to bring a hip-hop group out, and even try and sponsor a hip-hop festival. Barely keeping myself from salivating I asked him if he was big into hip-hop and he said not really and would love any help I could provide.

The outdoor concert was great and it was so nice to experience those things that I only now recognize as distinctly American. There was a 30 minute soundcheck. Before coming to Azerbaijan I've always thought they were annoying. After being here and listening to microphone scream and at least one speaker blow up every time a PA is used it has become welcome. Or crowd banter, everything is highly scripted in Azerbaijan, so hearing off-the-cuff crowd banter was nice. Or music I understood-that was a welcome feeling.

Anyways, overall it's been a nice introductory week to my summer work in Khachmaz. Next week will be a bit busier, but that will be welcome.

What's On My Plate this Summer

I'll be going into far greater detail in future posts about what I'm doing this summer, but I figured it might be nice to give a sneak peek of what I have going on.

Advanced Conversation Club: Lannea and I are continuing our highly successful Advanced Conversation Club. We've invited a few more students to join us and we're keeping with the format of focusing on life skills. Throughout the school year we discussed problem solving, decision making, and assertive behavior. We're starting summer off with active listening and emotional intelligences. What I really like about this club is that we're discussing valuable and necessary life skills in the context of an English Conversation Club, its a really effective way of skills transfer that is based on the students expressed wants.

Photography Club: I first had this idea a few months ago. This photography club is going to based around the idea of the camera phone, assuming that most kids don't have a digital camera. Each week will have a different topic (color, composition, lighting, etc) and a scavenger hunt. For example, this first week we will discuss color in photos, look at examples of good vs. poor color choices and have a scavenger hunt to find the most perfect examples of different colors. Eventually we'll discuss photo sharing and editing as well.

Softball: After our first game our team wants to get serious about softball (yay). Now we will have practice every Sunday for 3 hours, from 5pm-8pm. This way we can avoid most of the heat.

There will be other camps (in Khachmaz and other regions) and clubs (hopefully more conversation clubs and a computer club) but this is the initial attack.

The Dirty Dirty South

One of the greatest blessings of being placed in a country like Azerbaijan is the public transportation infrastructure. Though the roads aren't incredible there is a massive and pervasive bus system that can help you get from any part of Azerbaijan to another. Its one of the many things PCVs here take for granted that really is something exceptional. This isn't common amongst PC countries, or even many states in the US for that matter.

So, with school done I decided to get out of dodge, and explore South Azerbaijan for a week. Already in Baki for the softball tournament, I hopped on the other team's bus heading south and stayed with a friend in Bilasavar. Bilasavar is quite close to Iran, we actually took a walk to the stadium there which has a beautiful view of the Iranian mountains in the distance.

Also in the distance we saw a massive rain cloud that only grew darker, larger, and closer. By the time that we were walking home sheep were silent, dogs were hiding their heads, and birds were nowhere to be seen. Ignoring all the signs, we idiotically decline a ride and soon found ourselves caught in monsoon. It was the type of rain where when you get hit by one drop you get soaked and by the time we ran to a construction site for shelter we already were waterlogged. The workers took pity on the unworldly Americans and tried to hail a cab for us. Finally one made its way to us, weaving through a newly created river carrying trash and tree branches.

He stopped for us a block away from my friend's house, telling us he could go no further. So the three of us took off our shoes and glasses to make dash for it. It was like running through a water park at night and we all kept an even 20 feet behind the other, should our nearsightedness prank us. I can only imagine what was going through the heads of the 50 or so Azeri men who gawked and pointed at us from the crowded comfort of their overhang. "And he doesn't want to get married! He doesn't even realize its raining!"

But the rain had stopped by the next day and I went west to Neftchala to deliver a teacher training and help out with a summer camp. Summer camp was really fun, we played kickball (which is about as frustratingly difficult to explain as softball) made potato stamps, and played elbow tag. I learned a couple really good ideas for camp, like a new icebreaker, a craft idea of team flags, and instituting a 'no-football' rule.

I retraced my steps east to visit a former cluster mate. It turned out that I was arriving on the day of a wedding so naturally my presence was expected at that. Weddings in Azerbaijan are massive affairs, but they're not as formal as in America. Friend of the grooms high school teacher? No problem! American friend of the friend's landlady? Welcome! This might not be the case for Azeris so much, but American's are always welcome, especially if they will dance and give a speech.

So after a day of festivities and a morning of sleeping in, my friend and I headed back up North for another friend's birthday party and finally I made my way back up to Khachmaz. I'm lucky in that I really like my site and have still found no city yet in Azerbaijan I'd rather be placed. I'm also lucky in that I have my own apartment and there was a true sense of relief in getting back to my home, locking the door, and settling in. Now, I just have to motivate myself for work this upcoming week.

First Ever Country Wide Assassin

There's a really fun game played on college campuses called Assassin. Basically the idea is that you have a group of people, each person is assigned a different target within the group to 'kill'. Once you kill your target you take their target and plot to kill again. Its really fun and a great way to foster paranoia.

So about a month ago I announced to Peace Corps Azerbaijan that I would be organizing the World's First Ever Country Wide Game of Assassin. There's a sizable amount of PCVs playing. But the best part is that in order for your kill to be official you have to write your target's obituary. This past weekend began the game and its been a bloodbath. Check out some of the first-blood obituaries at the site I've created here.

A is for Azerbaijan, B is for Baseball

This past week was a world wind. Monday I went to my first Azeri wedding. Tuesday I went to Song Zeng, which means last bell, and is the ceremony marking the end of school and graduation for 11th formers. All of thursday was spent getting internet in my house, which finally started working Friday (...let me pause a moment to let the gravity of that last statement sink in-I now have internet in my house). Saturday was spent preparing the First Ever Country Wide Game of Assassin and readying myself for a week long trip that commenced Sunday, with Khachmaz's first softball tournament, in Baki.

Which brings me to the subject of my email. Over the past couple of months myself, a few other PCVs, and a couple of Azeris have been coaching a group of Azeri youth in softball. The word 'coaching' may be a bit strong for kids who only have 7 weeks experience with catching, throwing, and batting. As recent as a couple weeks ago the minutes before practice were closer to a challenge in American Gladiators, with softballs misaimed in every direction, rather than an organized team sport.

But they've gotten a bit better and we finally had nine who understood about half the rules of baseball with a vague understanding of a position or two to play. Last week we had our first simulation game to prepare for this week, our first tournament game. Our opponents were the mighty Bilasavar, who had been playing for two years and practiced four times a week, Sunday alone was a four hour practice for them. But with a promised paid-in-full after game meal at McDonalds sweetening the deal we were all pretty excited to give it our all.

We approached the field like every sports movie ever made featuring a rag-tag group of kids. And just like every first game played in those movies, we got slaughtered. I mentioned that our team only had about half the rules down. Baseball is an incredibly complicated game and our team just had begun to understand where shortstop stands and which base they'll throw to; we had to save concepts like tagging the base after a fly out or force outs for game two preparation.

With this in mind, it wasn't surprising that we got trounced pretty royally. However we did score some runs and make some good plays so the coaches were certainly satisfied. And once we told the kids how hard Bilasavar practiced to give them some perspective they became pretty satisfied with how they did too. Unfortunately this also means that they now want to practice 4 times a week.

For Americans, baseball is part of our cultural heritage. Whether one like baseball or not, it is well known that there are 9 innings in a game, or the layout of a baseball diamond. For Azeris baseball is 100% foreign and the idea of not running after the ball you just hit, or throwing the ball to the base where the runner is going rather than was just at really has to be taught. This is just one more item to add to a long list of times in my service where I must explain and justify a concept or preference that I take as tremendously fundamental. Raising hands in class, preferring to drink water, waiting to let someone finish speaking, not wanting to live with a family; what ever it is the Peace Corps really showcases just how cultural all of our taken-for-granted assumptions truly are.