Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: A-Team - Bǝzǝn

The more I find by A-Team, the more I like them.  Their production and rap flow is consistently good and they are one of the few Azerbaijani rap groups whose album I enjoy listening to in its entirety. Bǝzǝn is their newest single, posted on the blogs over the weekend.  I just posted some A-Team last week (which is one of my favorite Azeri Rap tracks, by the way), but since I'm still feeling them and I think the single is solid I figure I'd throw it up here.  Check it out below.

props to RapRock.Az for the post.

A-Team - Bǝzǝn (which means 'sometimes' or, perhaps for this track 'now and then')



Previous Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: A-Team - Don't Fall Down

Oh What A Difference 1 Hour Can Make

This week my Assistant School Director informed me that winter was over.  I told him it didn't look like that; snow was still falling and it was freezing outside (and inside).  However, he assured me winter was most certainly over, and now we had entered into böz ay, or grey month. The land and sky may still be grey, but no longer are we in the dark nights of winter.  Later on in the week, it was sunny and I would go for walks simply to soak in some much needed vitamin D.  The heaps of snow are almost completely melted, rushing water through the sidewalk gutters.  Even the pipes and water tanks for peoples' hamams, outside bathrooms, are finally starting to defrost, allowing plumbers to repair the burst pipes and get these showers working again.

Well, not everyone's shower-Glendene and Lannea's shower is still completely frozen and broken, their landlords don't want to repair anything until it is guaranteed not to snow again.  Which means that the last time I took a shower was in late January, during our mid-service training.  In that space I've taken 3 bucket baths, so rather than feeling completely disgusting and miserable, I only feel mostly disgusting and miserable.  Its not too nice.

But all this changed today.  After yoga with Glendene and Kelsey (a first year Khachmaz sitemate), we talked about how gross we were and that we finally might need to brave the public hamam.  We knew Khachmaz had a bathhouse but we had no clue what the experience would be like-pictures of massive gym showers featuring mashrutka-loads of naked Azeri grandpas, who all had a kid at my school, raced through my head.  But to heck with these Azeri grandpas and their desire to gossip about a naked American, I needed to clean myself in a way that a single bucket of water couldn't do.

So, I called my friend Elvin to serve as our cultural translator and walk us to the baths.  It turns out that we each got our own room and the water supply was constant and hot.  Concerns about a rushed shower were dashed upon learning that it was 1 manat for 1 hour, which gave a luxury of time for the finest shower I've ever taken in Azerbaijan, and possibly my life.  I washed my hair 3 times, bathed twice, washed my face three times, and used an entire razor.  It was gooood.

But what was better was the way I felt leaving the shower.  The sky was that much bluer and I found myself thinking of school tomorrow positively instead of begrudgingly.  For the first time in a month, I felt confidence that these next nine months of service would be good, or maybe even great.  I didn't even realize how much my winter griminess was bringing me down until it was all wiped away.  The idea of 9 long months, or 3 long months, or 3 long weeks of waiting for something to happen didn't seem so bad, because I now know that there is a hot shower that will always have my name on it.

Hǝmişǝ Tǝmizlikdǝ!*

*Hǝmişǝ Tǝmizlikdǝ: said to anyone who has just bathed, it translates as 'may you always be as clean'

Staying In The Now

Lets get one thing straight before you read this blog post: it is winter.  Not only is it winter, its the last throes of winter, shaking out its last big of agony upon us before it is killed by our champion Spring.  Its easy to understand there is a bit of seasonal affective disorder influencing the last few (months..) of posts, its a bit more difficult to act upon that knowledge when you are teaching in unheated schools thousands of miles away from the nearest bottle of Bullet bourbon.

The past few weeks have been rough.  I've often been looking back on the past and questioning my decision for joining Peace Corps.  I'm far enough away from leaving that I've forgotten what my reasons were; why did I decide to commit 27 months to an under-developed country?  I don't remember thinking critically about this decision 2 years ago and I'm certainly critical of the decision right now.  I'm concerned the course I've steered my life for these past two years will provide little benefit for me in the years to come.

I've also been projecting myself into the future.  There are so many good things to come that I can't wait and everyday I wake up wanting today to be tomorrow.  I really like initiating projects, helping ideas come into being and putting thoughts into reality-but I'm not so good at finishing projects.  Once the project is no longer fresh I want to move on, leaving it in someone else's capable hands.  I'm feeling that about winter, I'm feeling that about school, and I'm feeling that about Azerbaijan in general.

So, I'm caught between questioning my past and anticipating my future.  But I'm displaying little attention to the now, the moment that I am in currently.  As my thoughts race to the past and fly towards the future I find that I am lacking the ability to ground myself in the present.

Earlier this week I had a great talk with Margaret, whom I had lived with for three years, and she gave her perspective on this situation.  She reminded me, as only a former roommate could, that there were a multitude of well-though out reasons motivating my decision to join the Peace Corps-from dissatisfaction with work to desire to travel to an excitement for the mystique and awe the Peace Corps conjures up.  She reminded me that I had done plenty of research to help me reach this decision and that, far from a lark, it was a very long process of application and reflection.

She also pointed out that at this moment I probably won't be able to see the benefit of Peace Corps; it may only be something I see months, or even years, after.  It reminds me of graduate school in colorado.  Obtaining my MA was nice, but the real benefit for me was moving me to the setting for the next stage of my life: Colorado.  And it was only because of that move I began working for Apple, met numerous lifelong friends, and set myself up for the next stage of my life: Peace Corps and readjustment.

I'm still strongly looking forward to frequent showers, machine washed clothes, going to bars with friends, and 3G networks, but it was nice to have a moment of clarity in my mind's winter sky.  A realization that I actively made this decision and will receive benefits many times over that I may not understand in the present moment.  Winter is ending, spring is coming, and soon enough, I'll be leaving.

Hip-Hop From The Land of Fire: A-Team - Don't Fall Down

A-Team released their solid EP 333 in 2011, but I've only now gotten around to checking it out.  Its compact, only 9 tracks, but each one feels complete and thus its a more enjoyable listen than most albums rappers, Azeri or other, are putting out.  Its a pretty active album, more celebration than self-examination.  And a refreshing break from the February drudgery.

English titled 'Don't Fall Down,' is the strongest track in this vein from 333.  It catches you in the opening with a stomping beat.  The first verse crescendos in vocal and musical intensity, then the mini-helicopter ride whirling us into the chorus.  You're rooting for the song at this point, no one likes a letdown, "just deliver the chorus you're promising".

And it does, 'Don't Fall Down' drops the bass; you start jumping up and down, you rock the fist pump.  You realize that A-Team's 'Don't Fall Down' never was a wish for themselves, its a warning to their crowd-don't fall down.

A-Team - Don't Fall Down



Previous Hip-Hop From The Land of Fire: Remo

Winter Thaws and Spring Breaks Through

This week has been above freezing, and the beautiful, if not frigid, world that was blanketed in snow is now regressing rapidly.  First we got to see mini rivers carve their way through the two inch icepack glaciers which covered the ground.  Next came lake-like puddles, enveloping entire streets and intersections. Finally we came to a Khachmaz mired in slush.  Having waterproof boots, its actually sort of cool.  Due to plowing in the States you rarely see an entire city figure out what to do with its melt; even the cars gingerly picked their way across the newly formed lakes and rivers manifesting in the streets.

After such a dramatic cold spell it was nice to be able to walk to school unhooded.  On one sunny morning I caught a birdsong and felt an immediate thrill of relief-spring is coming.  It might not be right away-Azerbaijanis insist weather will get ugly once more-but it is in sight.  February, the world's least favorite month, is coming to an end.

And as winter comes to an end, volunteers' thoughts turn towards Spring, and last week I hosted the Khachmaz crew for a dinner where we could discuss what was about to be on our plate this upcoming year.  Most of us are entering our second year and our principal work has changed from what our initial assumption was.  Its not surprising that there is a slowing of activity during the cold winter, but once spring hits, there is a resurgence in interest and activity-whether in our community or in others.  So, each of us came ready to discuss the activities we were planning and our responses to emails requesting Khachmaz's participation in various others.  A cold slushy evening was the perfect time for a risotto tasting menu and discussion of 2012 in Khachmaz.

The four of us are extremely productive so it was empowering to see what was on our plates.  Glendene is kicking off her yoga classes fully, offering two more classes-one for women and one coed.  Softball is starting soon, this time owned by me and Kelsey, because Lannea is going to focus her energies on starting an open mic night in Khachmaz.  This will fit well with her newly started guitar club.  And of course, we have WriteOn! (formerly Writing Olympics) in March and summer camp-which is expanding to two more cities this year.

It was also interesting to hear about our shifting focuses in our individual projects.  Kelsey has begun her conversation clubs at work.  Glendene and CBT (the tourism company she is chairing) are turning their attention towards applying for real money to more substantially launch this as a business.  Lannea's computer center for girls has become a huge success, and she is now focusing more on youth health awareness.  Between these and our community project, the impromptu calendar Lannea started writing was rapidly filling up more and more.

I recently found out one of my site mates, during her site interview, said she didn't really care if she had site mates our not.  But she would rather have no site mates than site mates who didn't take their work seriously.  I feel good about the fact that none of us are letting her down and we're all going full speed ahead, breaking through the spring thaw.

What's Getting Me Through: The Digital Edition

I'd love to write a blow-off excuse right now, that these past couple weeks I've been running around with meetings and clubs, too busy to write and post to the blog, but the fact is, it hasn't been.  These past two weeks have been really really lazy.  In fact, this is the first week I've been back to school after almost two weeks of closure due to snow and cold (yes, it is an adjustment going back).  So, in honor of past wasted time, here is What's Getting Me Through: The Digital Edition.

Climax - Usher (produced by Diplo)

If you haven't heard this song yet, you really need to.  Diplo described it as 'radiohead quiet storm' and every other blog/music site is basically spending 500 more words trying to describe it better.  Its very very good, the best song of the year as yet.



The Cat That Got The Milk

This is a very simple game that is beautifully done.  With only two moves (up and down arrow) and you must deftly reach your goal.  But what is so exceptional about this game are the backgrounds and soundtrack.  Its like playing a video game in an abstract painting.  Also, it only takes about 10 minutes to play the game fully.  Worth your time.



Zite

Everybody loves Pandora right?  Zite is Pandora for blogs and news, crafting a magazine daily for you based on your thumbs up/thumbs down reading preferences.  I've been enjoying this greatly.

Kill Screen

Kill Screen is an online game magazine, but a description that simple is a bit misleading.  In terms of its content and writing I would compare it to The Atlantic Monthly or AdBusters rather than XBox Magazine or Nintendo Power.  Kill Screen writes sophisticated articles with games as their platform to engage in discussions of culture, society, or philosophy.  I'm really enjoying it and plan on purchasing a physical issue in time for summer boat trip.

Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: Remo - Здесь Не Было Любви

I find that I'm a sucker for rap tracks that have somewhat of a 'quiet storm' melody; like, smooth jazz seduction under some rap.  Is this corny?  Does anyone else find these tracks catchy?  I sure do.  And I immediately dug on a track from Remo's strong new album that had this sound.  Listen to it out below, and listen to the entire album HERE.

Props to AzRap.Az for the drop.

Remo - Здесь Не Было Любви (which means: There Was No Love...daaamn Remo! you cold.)



Previous on Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: Xan ft Kavkaz Clan

Skills Transfer: 4 Steps To Successfully Train Azeris (Or Anyone) To Write A New Training

Whether it's a new job or a new country, as one becomes more familiar with a new culture, less time is spent learning the norms of the culture and more time can be spent achieving goals.  Its for this reason that second year volunteers are more productive in their 'work', because we're able to achieve more within the rules and traditions of our host country's culture.

The more I accomplish (in Peace Corps, at Apple, in life, etc), the more my thoughts turn towards the time beyond mine.  Will everything I'm working on come to a halt when I leave or will it continue?  Whether its a project or skills, anyone who spends their time developing human capital wants to believe that what they are doing will have a lasting impact in some way.

Currently a lot of the work I'm doing Azerbaijan is workshop and training design; writing trainings together with host country nationals and, in the process, teaching them how to do this independently (inshallah*).  In general I've been pretty successful and thought people may find my process useful.  This process requires writing and delivering 4 trainings together (though I'm only focusing below on the skill of writing a training).  It usually takes me about 4 months to complete it.

1) The first time we work together is highly instructive.  Together we will brainstorm key ideas and potential activities.  Then, using what we've brainstormed, I will sketch out a potential outline for the upcoming training.  We then discuss the logic of the outline, I'll ask questions such as 'does this make sense as an outline?' and 'does it seem to flow together'.  I then tell them I will write a training based off this outline for the next time we meet.

2) The second time we write a training together is a bit more collaborative.  Just like first time, we brainstorm together.  Then we develop an outline together.  To give them a reminder of how a training flows, I give a copy of the previous training we wrote.  As we draft the outline I make comments about why certain parts make sense (like an activity after a new concept) or suggestions to what they have, or have not, written (like needing an introduction).  After, we split up the training for each person to write at home, usually with me taking the introduction and conclusion.  The next time we meet we combine our sections into one training and discuss the training as a whole.

3) The third time we write a training together I have them 'teach' me what they are doing.  Again, we have a copy of the previous training and I ask them to lead the outline discussion and explain their reasons after we brainstorm together.  If I have concerns about the training I ask questions like 'how will we see that they understand this main point?' or 'what is the goal of this activity?'.  After the outline we split up sections for each of us to write at home and I usually ask them to write the introduction and conclusion.  The next time we meet we combine our sections into one training and discuss

4) The fourth time we write a training together we don't do it together.  I ask them to write the training and we discuss it the next time we meet.  At this meeting I may give one or two suggestions but I try not to have it be a massive overhaul.  Them writing this training is an activity to develop confidence, seeing that they can do this on their own.

This strategy has served me well in Azerbaijan and in Apple.  Because I know that this is a skill I can effectively transfer, its a main reason why I work with Azerbaijanis in writing trainings so frequently.

*inshallah-an Azeri word meaning God willing

Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Xan ft Kavkaz Clan-İmza

Right now Xachmaz looks as if a massive cotton ball has replaced the sky and is furiously shedding everything it can on us; its snowed about 8 inches already today and no one is expecting any slowdown on the dump.  For the last two weeks, its been ice and snow, with a distinct lack of water.

But its not all bad.  The snow coming down today set a gorgeous scene-turning the entire city into a never-ending snow globe.  And I best liked watching the snow fall with this playing on my headphones this week.  A track with an easy beat and repeating guitar strum, it seemed to fit the lopsided flakes blowing whichever way the wind might choose.  This is one of my fave tracks of the year so far.

Props to AzRap.Az for the drop.

Xan ft Kavkaz Clan-İmza (which means 'Signature')



previous Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Elşan ft Rǝhmǝn Atǝş

Februarys Are The Same Everywhere

I don't often look back over what I've written in my journal, its usually a mediation in the moment and my handwriting is bad enough to prevent much reflection on what was already done.  However, when searching for a topic on what to write about this week I thought it may be inspiring to see what I've been writing about over the past few weeks in hopes of gaining inspiration for ideas.

The thing is, its winter and these past couple weeks it's happened to be really really cold.  The city of Khachmaz broke two records this week-coldest day and longest span of coldest days in a row, meaning we actually continued to break the coldest day record day after day after day.  Actually, all over the country PCVs (and Azeris) are getting a taste of what a bad winter week can be like in a developing country.  Most people are without water (my friend's pipes haven't been unfrozen for over 10 days), electricity is spotty in some areas, and some places are having to ration gas due to it being so cold and concern over demand.

Back to the journal, much of my journal is filled with concerns over winter seclusion, introversion, and guilt.  During these months volunteers repeatedly tell themselves 'I should be out there making a difference,' 'I should be holding more clubs,' and 'I should really get out of this sleeping bag at least once today'.  But its hard to stay motivated when you hold a conversation club that only one person shows up to, and you end up canceling midway through because you both just want to go home.

Last year at this time I excitedly wrote about my success in using my minimal Azeri to order a camera charger (which-by the way-was never ordered).  Just like the toddler no longer thrilled by their parent's 'peek-a-boo,' a year makes a big difference, and the successful (or perceived success) of purchasing one item doesn't motivate me for the week.  Right now, there are no camps nor softball games to get excited about; my biggest accomplishments this week were finishing Season 1 of Game of Thrones and The OCD Project, not exactly something I'll be advertising to my Country Director during a close of service interview.

But its not hopeless, the end of winter isn't in sight, but 29 years of experience tells me that February ends.  Written these past few weeks are also anticipations and excitements for the future, for those projects that come, come the months that bring spring.  And these projects all have boring prep that must be done before they can even begin, just how the boring depths of winter must be survived before the trees can bud.  Camp occurs months from now, but my Azeri counterpart and I have already begun meeting to plan and organize how we will expand it to two more cities in surrounding regions.  Training of trainer sessions for Azerbaijani English Teachers won't begin for a while, but it wouldn't happen at all unless the time was taken this week to submit the grant.  And as much as I want this trip to Turkey to get here, there is also a need to submit vacation requests and purchase airline tickets.

So, though there is nothing much to report on as having happened, there is a lot happening to ensure that I will soon have something to report.  And screw it, tearing through Game of Thrones is something to be proud of.

Some Hip-Hop For A Snowy Day-2K12

This mix marks the 5th anniversary of my winter hip-hop mix, which strives to be a soundtrack for your snowed in day.  I've been working on it for a couple months and think you'll really enjoy it.  Its mostly hip-hop with a few random tracks to compliment the mood.  So decide to not go outside today, and get warm and press play.

Download it HERE (or at soundcloud)




1. A$AP Rocky - Palace
2. Yelawolf - Stage Lights (remix)
3. M83 - Midnight City
4. Drake - Lord Knows ft/Rick Ross
5. PRoMete - Sus
6. Madonna - Sorry
7. Big K.R.I.T. - Free My Soul
8. AiD - Hisslǝr Danışanda ft/Ayka
9. The Weeknd - Wicked Games
10. Terius Nash - 1977 (Miss You Still)

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