A Few More Photos From Chrismatukkah

Most of the pictures taken during Chrismatukkah were from the low-res photo booth, but the camera did get busted out towards the end to snap some candids.  Here are some group shots from the party.  Check out more pics from Chrismatukkah, and the first round of English Party edits, in the 'Around Khachmaz' Flickr Album, HERE.

Group Picture

Reindeer Antlers!

Waiting to go on stage at the English Party

Check out the World Premier of the Story of Hanukkah...in Azeri HERE

Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: AiD ft. Jamal Ali - Biz İnsan Deyilik

Its a few days after Christmas, a time in most volunteers' lives where we wish a little harder to be home.  School goes on break soon, but its not tomorrow.  And today, I just completed my third party in as many weeks (this time-a children's concert, pics soon).  I'm tired, but mainly I'm lazy, and everything just read is rationalization on why I have a right to be lazy and not go grocery shopping, do laundry, change sheets, or whatever else I should be doing.  Luckily its Tuesday so I can take false (okay, maybe not totally false) satisfaction in a new Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire post.

We've heard from H.O.S.T. Alliance rapper AiD before, but that was a demo; this is a fully produced track off his album Biz İnsan Deyilik.  Like last week, this melody line is pretty simple, but whereas last week's was restrained and reflective, this one is upbeat and confident.  Its got a nice sing-along sway to it, until AiD breaks out in the 2nd verse, showing off some serious speed.

AiD ft. Jamal Ali - Biz İnsan Deyilik (which means: 'we're not human)

 AiD - Biz İnsan Deyilik ft. Jamal Ali by joshehr

Previous Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: Okaber - Pianocu

Merry Christmas!

Over the past week I've been receiving numerous Christmas emails wishing me and others success and warm fuzzies this holiday season and in the upcoming year.  Wonderful sentiments and warmly reciprocated but I've found that these don't really provide me with any sort of template to send to all of my friends and family whom I've been communicating with on a weekly basis.

This is my last Christmas in Azerbaijan, but in some ways it feels like my first.  Last year, Christmas was more a frat party than holiday, a house party filled with new volunteers drunk on the freedom granted by a house with no Azerbaijani influence; waking up to piece together unremembered conversations and broken household items.  I remember in Sheki asking a couple people if they wanted to skip the mass group going to lunch so we could clean the kitchen-its not often I pass up fast food chicken for kitchen cleaning, but that night messed with priorities.

This Christmas, in contrast, was a true family Christmas.  12 other people joined Glendene and I in Khachmaz for relaxed holiday.  We threw a classy soiree and found ourselves going a little adjective crazy with the menu:

Hors D'oeuvres:
Potato Pancakes with homemade applesauce and creme fraiche
Mulled Wine

Main Course:
Rosemary Roasted Chicken in Root Vegetables
Oven Baked Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese
Winter Carrot Beet Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Desert:
Pumpkin Pie
Savory Apple Pie

And we spread a table that truly looked like a traditional Christmas feast, from the lit candles to the origami stocking place cards.  We were joined by our fellow North Finger Volunteers with a few others traveling from different regions to join us.  Rather than having the biggest party this year, we ended up having a Christmas surrounded by those friends that have become our family thus far into service.

As I grow up and my life unfolds, I become more and more grateful for the occurrence of these type of holidays.  I always want to be with my family in Colleyville on our major holidays, but part of adulthood means making decisions that prevent this hope from materializing.  Whether through work, marriage, or international travel our lives take paths that don't exactly mirror our family's.  I've been lucky enough to find out that this doesn't mean the holiday simply doesn't happen, it just happens with a different, more expanded definition of family.

I know these Christmas wishes are coming a little late, but New Year's is right around the corner (...*ahem* and my birthday).  I hope that you found yourselves amongst those you love this past week, whether or not they happened to be your family.

A Hanukkah Play...in Azeri

Well, I guess the title really says all you need to know.  One of my site mates is Jewish and she pointed out that, of the two holidays represented at our holiday party, Azeris are mostly familiar with only one of them-Christmas.  So, she proposed that we perform a play about the second one, Hanukkah.

Now, I know what you're thinking.  'Josh, I'm sure there are hundreds of Hanukkah plays in Azeri, how on earth did you narrow it down to one?'.  Well it may surprise you to learn that this is actually not true, and we ended up writing, what we believe is the first Hanukkah Play in Azerbaijani.  Most of the credit really should go to Sabina (the narrator) who did the translating.  The rest of us really just thought of visual gags to make the play entertaining.

Though there are jokes in the play, its important to note that almost all the laughter is due to our atrocious pronunciation.  Which admittedly, was the biggest joke to begin with.  Check out the 5 minute video below.


A Story of Hanukkah...in Azeri from josh on Vimeo.

Hip-Hop From The Land of Fire: Okaber - Pianocu

Its the second longest night of the year.  Though the weather has been unseasonably nice lately, the general feeling of exhaustion of holiday stress is as strong as ever this winter.  Throwing a massive party in Azerbaijan usually means a full week following of various commitments to cay and dinners.  Its generous and kind, but you can't help thinking in the back of your worn mind that there are a few other things happening during this end of December.

Right now, I really like the simplicity in 'Pianocu' melody line, just a simple repeating 5 note refrain under a voice that sounds like he is ready to for a similar escape from stress and commitment.  Whatever the lyrics may be, it sounds like Okaber was just looking for a moment alone this year, and I can completely relate.

Okaber - Pianocu (which means: Pianist)

 Okaber - Pianocu by joshehr

Previous Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: A-Team - Arzularimi Qirma

What Exactly Is A 'Chrismatukkah' Party?

5 months ago the Khacmaz PCVs threw a 4th of July party as a gift to our community of friends, work relations, family members, and counterparts.  It was pretty freakin' big and adding together the community the three of us had amassed and the 20 or so Americans there we were able to show Azerbaijan a classic 4th of July barbecue.  It was a huge success and we enjoyed a tinge of pride when we would hear staff members or other PCVs talk about how awesome they heard our event was.

Yesterday, we upped our game and threw an even larger Chrismatukkah (Christmas + Hanukkah) party for our community of friends, work relations, family members, and counterparts.  Only now, we have been in country for 5 more months, which meant this community was 5 months largers.  And by that, I mean we had a guest list of over 90 people that we 'had' to invite.  Staring down this list a few weeks ago it was easy to feel intimidated about what we were planning.  It seemed that every idea we threw out would create three more ideas to also include.  It was easy to see that this party was not only going to be big, it was also going to be a lot of work.

What type of work? Well, for starters we can probably boast of having performed the only play describing the origin of Hanukkah in Azerbaijani.  Thats right, we wrote and acted out the Hanukkah story in Azerbaijani.  And, whether it was the visual gags or our atrocious pronunciation, the audience loved it.  Or making holiday props such as Santa's beard, Rudolph's antlers, or a holiday wreath for the photo booth we set up.  Count at end of party topped 200 photos which had been taken using this photo booth.  We made dreidels and wrote out rules for people to win some candy and set up a crafts table for people to make holiday cards and ornaments.  We sang carols and taught Jewish folk dances.  Moreso than the 4th of July party, this party was about activities.

Which doesn't mean to say we didn't have any food.  Throughout the week Glendene got down and dirty making 300 potato latkes.  And Lannea and I baked, frosted, and decorated about 300 Christmas cookies.  Americans brought homemade applesauce, potato gratin, macaroni and cheese, cakes and brownies, eggnog and cider.  It wasn't necessarily the healthiest holiday fare, but eating healthy isn't what the holidays are about.

The party was a massive amount of preparation but it was incredibly worth it.  Over 60 people, including our program and training managers from Baku, came to help us celebrate the holidays.  They learned Christmas carols and the story of Hanukkah and ate a lot of cookies.  We even had two former PCVs from Sengeal who just finished their service and are now traveling through Central Asia join us.  These parties that Glendene, Lannea, and I throw are a massive amount of work and guarantee a stressful week preceding but they have paid off to a huge degree and are amongst the best gifts we have ever given anyone in our community.

'Are You Gonna Finish That?'

A couple posts ago I write about the difference between the last year, which often felt like it was trudging, and this upcoming year which seems as if it will fly by.  One of the reasons I talked about was that it already seemed as if my last year was already scheduled.  A lot of you have asked 'Well, what is on your plate this upcoming year?' which is a pretty good question.  Obviously we can expect some changes and not all projects are included, but here is an outline.

December:

Chrismautakah Party

Christmas Sleepover

Birthday/New Years in Baku

January:

Mid Service Conference

February:

'Interactive Training Methods (ITM) in the Regions Project' begins, first training session

March:

Second ITM Regions training session

Europe with Mom and Dad

Softball season begins

April:

Third ITM Regions training session

May:

Softball tournament

June:

Istanbul and SW Turkey...on a yacht...with 15 other amazing people

July:

4th of July Celebration Madness

Khachmaz Summer Camp

August:

Other Summer Camps

Close of Service Conference

Fourth ITM Regions training session

Tbilisi

September:

Fifth ITM Regions training session

Softball tournament

AZ10 PST begins

October:

ITM Regions Training of Trainers session

Softball tournament

Final Softball exhibition game

November/December

Leave Azerbaijan...?

Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: A-Team - Arzularimi Qirma

A-Team's newest track just dropped last week.  The beats are simple and melody swept along by a flute and softly plucked guitar.  The result is soothing and familiar, something you've heard before but can't quite place where (actually, I do believe I've heard it before, and can't quite place where-help me out in the comments).  Its a refreshing break from the more aggressive rap cuts frequently produced here.  This is one of my favorite recent tracks.

There's also some pretty cool stuff going on with the track name.  'Arzularımı' technically translates as 'regards' conjuring up ideas of a Dear John letter.  But contained within this word is also 'I want' with 'arzularım' and 'wishes' with 'arzular'.  There's nostalgia and wistfulness at play here.  The word 'Qırma,' means 'a small shot' or 'bird shot,' but its also the command form of 'to break, to fracture' or more extreme 'to exterminate, to do great harm'.  The choice of these words indicates great pain and loss.  Depending on where we translate place the verb, we could translate this as 'Shotgun goodbyes,' 'Break down my wishes,' or 'Kill my desires'.

Props to rap100 on the find.

A-Track - Arzularımı Qırma

 A-Team - Arzularimi Qirma by joshehr 

Previous Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: Albay Ǝfǝndi - Sǝs Sal

Less Than A Year To Go, The Halfway Point

It finally happened. A significant milestone occurred in my Peace Corps service on December 8th.  On that day the AZ9s swore in as volunteers and thus began my 'last' phase in the Peace Corps.  Thus, today is my last December 11th and Friday was the last time I would have to teach the 7th form traveling lesson.  I'm in the middle of my last December, and soon the North Finger Crew will be holding our last Christmautakah Holiday Celebration.  If Peace Corps service has been a seemingly endless hill rising in front of me, I have just crested and am now on the downward slope.

Swearing In ceremony is a dramatic halfway marker for current volunteers, I mean there is literally a ceremony.  Even if you aren't consciously looking back and seeing what you've accomplished, you can't help but put yourself in the shoes of the newly sworn in volunteer.  Only one brief (or endless, depending when you ask) year ago, we were in the exact same place.  I remember all too well not feeling comfortable with the language, the soul-sucking prospect of living with a host family for another 4 months, and the anxiety, exhaustion and fear felt while in the taxi ride up to site.  I empathize with each of these new volunteers.  They're doing something incredible and site will eventually be amazing, but I'm thrilled to be beyond it.

Compared to now, being a new volunteer sucks.  You're constantly in fight or flight mode and your brain is actively analyzing every little thing it encounters.  I remember trying to figure out how long I should let it slide that the shop keeper just took my 10 manat and walked out the store.  Now I understand that he first told me 'I need to get change'.  I'm happy to be in Peace Corps, but I am even happier to have finished that first year.

This midway point is a unique perspective in time.  All of us have accomplished a lot since arriving in Azerbaijan, both for our organizations and ourselves.  And that was just a single year.  Now, we still have one year left but we have the connections.  We have the language ability and we have the momentum.  If this first year was devoted towards clearing our the obstacles to create paths, this next year will be all about using those paths as much as possible.  Talking to the right people first and being so much more effective in our time and our energy.

Looking forward to this point last year seemed like it was going to take forever, like looking down a deep deep well into complete darkness.  Looking forward to our COS, a year from now, has the opposite experience, it seems like it will rush by and is already completely scheduled.  Recently a volunteer and I were drafting a potential schedule for a grant we were working on and we found that if we kept a strict, but reasonable, schedule we would wrap up the project in October. Thats only a month before people will start COSing!  And it feels like that for most things I'm doing.

Last year was a filled with accomplishments that allowed me to say 'I can do this'.  This year I'll be working on those accomplishments in which I'll say 'I did this'.  Last year built confidence, this year will build resumes.  Last year was about 'service,' this year will be about 'my service'.  And I'm pretty excited for it.

2011 Music Year in Review

2011 has been a very different year, musically speaking, for me.  2010 was filled with guaranteed successes for me.  Kanye's epic album, LCD's final and arguably best LP, and Robyn's frantic schedule of amazing dance hits were all surefire hits.  2010 was a booty shaking year and, no matter when the album was released, it seemed made for summer.

This year, my favorite albums were quieter and more subdued.  If 2010 was the party, then 2011 has been the after party.  The crowd, the strobes, and the dancing had passed and what we were left with was the hangover, the regret, and the threat of overdose.  If asked to name one album to represent 2011, it would be The Weeknd's 'House of Balloons'.  It perfectly represents the expanded 'R&B' sound that kept showing up in my iTunes this year, something that was a bit more experimental and a bit more dangerous than normal.

Below, you'll find my unranked 2011 Year End Roundup Mix.  I forced myself to get in under the 80 minute mark for CD burning purposes (sorry Radiohead).  I think its a pretty good compendium of some of the best sounds of 2011 and I'm enjoying listening to it myself.

Download it HERE (or at soundcloud)

 2K11 in Review by joshehr


1. Beyonce - Countdown
2. Patrick Stump - Spotlight (New Regrets)
3. Holy Ghost! - Wait and See
4. The Rapture - Sail Away
5. Cut Copy - Need You Now
6. Drake - Take Care ft. Rhianna
7. Adele - Someone Like You
8. tUnE-yArDs - Powa
9. The Lonely Island - I Just Had Sex ft. Akon
10. John Denver (Pretty Lights Remix) - Country Roads
11. Bon Iver - Beth / Rest
12. James Blake - Wilhelms Scream
13. HEALTH - Goth Star (Pictureplane Cover)
14. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Why I Love You ft. Mr. Hudson
15. A$AP Rocky - Palace
16. Terius Nash - Wedding Crasher
17. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
18. The Weeknd - Wicked Games
19. Big K.R.I.T. - Rise and Shine

Favorite Albums of the 2011 (in no particular order):

The Weeknd - House of Balloons
Drake - Take Care
James Blake - James Blake
Beyonce - 4
Adele - 21


Additionally, I finally got around to downloading Nicki Minaj's 'Pink Friday' (released in 2010) and its definitely a fave of the year.

P.S. to make room for this track on soundcloud, I had to remove the 2K11 Summer Mix. But you can still download it HERE

P.P.S. Check out my 2010 in Review HERE

One Year Left

Today the AZ9s were sworn in, which also means that I officially have only 1 year left.  Last December 8th in Azerbaijan!

What Does Azerbaijani Sound Like?

Somehow in the past year I've learned the Azerbaijani language.  I'm certainly not grammatically perfect, but I can basically express almost every thought I might have and can understand people about 80% of the time.  Honestly, I have no clue how this happened, but it gives me hope for my upcoming goal of learning Turkish.

Many people have asked me what spoken Azerbaijani sounds like.  I post a lot of rap tracks on this blog but as of yet there hasn't really been a post that highlights what Azerbaijani spoken language is like. So, below is a track of myself and a few friends (1 American, 2 Azeris) having a conversation in Azerbaijani. To give you an anchor point, its about music.

 Snippet of an Azerbaijani Conversation by joshehr

Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Albay Ǝfǝndi - Sǝs Sal

RAPressia Clan member Albay Ǝfǝndi just posted his first solo track.  It definitely is a 'throw your hands up' track and a solid listen.  Check it out below.  via AzRap.Az

Albay Ǝfǝndi - Sǝs Sal (means: Make Noise)

 Albay Ǝfǝndi - Sǝs Sal by joshehr

Previous Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: Elshad Xose - Genclik

Really, I Should Just Be Looking Forward to June

Yesterday something shocking happened.  Returning from Ganja yesterday, after 8 hours of traveling, I actually had a moment where I looked forward to February.  Because in February I could foresee life being a little calmer.

This is obviously a myth.  February is just far enough out that I can't actually see what will specifically be going on, but I can guarantee by the time it gets here there will be numerous things on my plate to keep me busy and bounce me around Khachmaz city, region, and the country.  If Peace Corps is preparing me for anything (and it damn well better be) its probably a job that requires travel.  Almost every other week I'm packing my bag and boarding a bus for some training or meeting or event.

This is fun in the sense that I get to see a lot of the country and visit with people I may not have otherwise, but it can be draining, especially over the long term.  You don't eat as well when traveling; routines you carefully protect at home are immediately disrupted; and frequently when crashing at a friends place there are others crashing there as well, such as the four other guys who happened to be in Ganja when I was.

The nice thing with Volunteers is that we're really low maintenance and we're really easy to share our house's with.  Much of our jobs boil down to simply being inclusive and we all know fun group games to play while being completely understanding and accepting of those times each of us might need a little escapism.  Easily we can prepare meals that have multiple courses and take hours or be happy eating just bread and cheese, using napkins instead of plates.  Bed, couch, or floor, we can sleep wherever, we hardly expect western luxuries such as showers and flush toilets (though thrilled and enthusiastic when we're offered), and we're very used to weird house-specific rules to ensure things like gas, electricity, or water keep running.

So prepare yourself, in a year, for when I start making my rounds to all of you back in America.  You may find yourself playing host to one seriously easily pleased Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who may forget that we are now in a country where toilet paper is flushed down the toilet.

Photos from My Trip to Tbilisi

I've been going through the pictures from Tbilisi and haves selected and edited an album.  Below are some previews, but check out my Flickr to see more.

Cat lady in the streets.  I gave her a lari and asked if i could take her picture

Night shot of Tbilisi

Tbilisi badass crew-Jane, Sanyo, and some stud muffin

Incidentally, if anyone would like to know more about the shadowy personalities I spent my time in Tbilisi with check out Sanyo's (great) cooking blog here and Jane's PC blog here