Prague Is Beautiful, Here's Some Proof

St. Vitus Cathedral 

The Gang

Seeing Mom, Dad, and Grandpa this past week was absolutely outstanding; I saw the family after 7 long months, I left the country and was back in the developed world, I stuffed myself silly with bacon everyday (no exaggeration-this happened).  The joke of this trip was that I was basically a 5 year old who could drink, I had no money and no opinion-just happy to be in the company of those I love.  The fact that we got to tour around two of the most awe-inspiring old European cities was a bonus.

A very very large bonus.

Prague and Vienna are, expectedly, beautiful.  It's easy to get overwhelmed as you crane your neck from one side of the horizon to the other because you are surrounded by majestic, palatial, structures.  Kings and queens have seated themselves in these cities, people who's existence was supported by the economic activity of entire nations.  And they built churches and palaces and castles to say just that.

We saw a lot of sights and went on a lot of tours (which, actually, was really nice.  I've never been on an official tour before, but it was cool to have a guide give context to everything you see).  Prague was my favorite, so much of the city feels like a living museum and its great to see how the city stays modern while still staying true to its UNESCO World Heritage site certified roots.

In Prague, two of my favorite sites were the St. Vitus Cathedral, which is a breathtaking work of architecture who's completion spans hundreds of years, and the memorial to Prague area Jews who were killed in the holocaust, a haunting list of names, dates of birth, and death clearly written on the whitewashed walls of a former synagogue.  And, of course, beginning each morning with a warm cup of honey wine.

From Prague we took a train down to Vienna which was a pleasure, both to get the morning off from walking and to see the fairy-tale countryside.  Though not my favorite of the two, Vienna was still a great time.  The highlight was taking the elevator up the south tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral, casually you step out of the elevator only to look through the metal grate floor to you see you are standing 60 feet (at least) in the air with a view commanding the entire city.  I also recommend the Belvedere Museum, which is dedicated to artists who were based in Vienna.  The building itself is a former palace and it wonderfully showcases Vienna's rich artistic heritage.

For this vacation, I packed like an idiot.  I had absolutely forgotten how to pack for a vacation with normal people, who have normal standards of living and eating.  Numerous items ended up getting packed for an unknown (and unencountered need) whereas others (like my camera charger!) were left behind as I was still in the mental mindset of 'regular' Peace Corps Volunteer travel.  Luckily I was able to fully capture our trip to Prague, and I think there are some good ones.

Click HERE to see pictures.  More coming.

Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire Blast From the Past: A-Team - Arzularimi Qirma

Recently I was talking about the idea of musical memory, and the difference between a casual listener and a critic's musical memory.  I'm always impressed by the ability for the critic to make comparisons and identify influences and comparisons amongst other artists.  Its a skill that I wish I had, but alas, I'll never reach the lofty height of Matthew Perpetua.

So I thought about this question a lot when trying to identify where the melody line comes from on this track.  I'm convinced they're using a track I know well; it reminds me of 'Play' era Moby or a stripped down Four Tet, two very favorable comparisons.

Then, after finishing my first draft of this post, I finally realize where it comes from, it comes from the fact that I have already posted this track on Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire.  Talk about a lack of musical memory.  But I'm without internet at my house right now, and I basically have just one chance to write a post, so for the first time ever, we're doing: Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire Blast From The Past.  This is off A-Team's great album Repǝnt.

A-Team - Arzularimi Qirma (which means: Don't Break My Dreams)



Previous Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Uran

Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: Uran - Maşın Yolu

Over the last couple weeks there's been a lot of buzz on Azerbaijani Rap blogs about Uran, an affiliate of rap group Caspian Clan.  A new music video, a new mixtape; Uran is making a strong pitch for March being his moment.

Uran isn't nearly as polished as A-Team but that works to his advantage.  His voice has the frantic style of a person who's only way to save himself is with the speeded defense he puts forth.  Its a refreshing change of pace from the calm and collected bravado more frequently heard in (Azeri) rap in general.  His production is good too, its more experimental and halting than commonly heard in Azeri rap.  Maşın Yolu is a great example of this, and you can hear his effort of trying to push beyond conventions of Azeri Rap.

If I hear anything in Uran's work, its creativity.  I can't tell what he's saying, but the way he's saying it and what he's saying it over, I can tell he's a smart and creative rapper who is so focused on challenging himself that he may not even see how much he is challenging Azeri Rap as a genre in general.  I look forward to seeing more of what Uran offers us.

Props to AzRap.Az for the mixtape drop.

Uran - Maşın Yolu (which mean's 'Road Machine')



Previous Hip-Hop From The Land Of Fire: PRoMete

Traveling Teacher Roadshow…Reborn!

Right now I'm enjoying a wonderful week with my parents and Grandpa in Prague.  I just arrived this Saturday and am looking forward to a great week catching up with Mom, Dad, and Grandpa in Prague and Vienna.  It will be tough adjusting to these beautiful old European cities, eating wonderful food and taking hot showers, but I think I'll manage.

"Well," you may be saying to yourself "you probably would manage a whole lot better if you didn't spend your time writing a post for me to read".  Well, my royal 'you,' you bring up a good point.   But you can rest assured that this post was typed the thursday before I left, in the presence of absolutely no family.

Most of you know of the work I've been doing regarding teacher training in this country; throughout this past year I, and another volunteer, Kelly, have been traveling around Azerbaijan delivering trainings to English teachers across the country.  This project, developed by two AZ7s (props to Jenny and Shira) and funded by Rotary Club of Baku, was a great way to teach many teachers new methods.

However, when looking to the future of a project like this, a few problems became evident.  First of all, it was a huge commitment of time on Kelly's and my part.  There were times where our total travel time for a single one hour training would be 24 hours.  And that training had 6 teachers.  Certainly it was fun to visit PCVs and see the country, but just as certainly-it was inefficient.  Secondly, this method of training was completely unsustainable.  The fact is every training required an overnight stay somewhere, something that is completely out of the question for an Azeri counterpart to do.  If we ever wanted this project to survive beyond Peace Corps Volunteers we had to ensure that an Azerbaijani woman (English teachers are generally women) could reasonably participate in it.

So, we came up with a new project.  We're still traveling in this project, but we're traveling across the country to train motivated English teachers to hold a training of their own.  We've divided the country into 5 regions and will be holding a training in each one.  These will be longer, more involved trainings; in addition to interactive teaching methods, we'll discuss presentation skills, lesson planning for a training, and steps to take when setting up a training.  Our project goal is to create a country wide network of Azerbaijani and American English teachers who are prepared to deliver trainings in their own and nearby communities on Interactive Teaching Methods.

And we have a lot of support for this.  Three AZ9 PCVs are will support Kelly and I, acting as point people for this project.  They'll follow up with workshop participants and encourage them as they experiment with this new skill.  AzETA, the Azerbaijani English Teacher's Association is helping us advertise to its already existing network in the regions and has provided permission for use of their, not a small contribution in a country obsessed with certificates.

And, perhaps best of all, the US Embassy is funding this project in whole.  All workshops are paid for, all travel for failitators and participants to the workshops is paid for, and all travel teachers may do to hold their own training is paid for.  Sustainability means we have to minimize both time and money commitments so we're excited to fully fund teacher's participation in this.  We've even received funding to hold a handoff meeting between the AZ9s and Kelly and I where we can discuss the future for this project before Kelly and I finish our service.

Our first training is Saturday, March 31st and these past two weeks have been spent writing a new workshop from scratch, creating all sorts of handouts, and talking up the event in Mingechevir and surrounding communities.  Kelly and I have been working on this project for a while, and its exciting to see it become real as a fully written, and funded, training.

I'm really excited for where this project can go.  In every aspect of this project we are working towards sustainability, the main metric of success is the number of teachers who present the information they learn and bring it to their communities.  We want to get Azerbaijani teachers to become responsible for other Azerbaijani teacher's development.  I'm excited and optimistic to share our success with you.

How To Achieve More In Less Time: Process Scheduling

Most PCVs in their second year are finding their secondary projects have become their primary projects.  For me its my teacher trainings, for my friend its teaching yoga.  Both of these are projects we are interested in and dedicated to, willingly filling up hours of our free time in order to see them succeed.

Really, most second year PCVs are freelance workers.  At this point in our service the primary placement is a part-time job providing a few consistent bucks for rent and food.  The bulk of our work happens outside the office, outside the school, on our own schedule and our own time.

And, as written a million times before by those in the similar situations, this can be a blessing and a curse.  Having the luxury to do your work anywhere at anytime can easily lead to procrastination and inefficient work habits.  Aside from the times of lessons, everything in my schedule is pretty fluid, which too often can result in tasks and projects flowing into future days and weeks.

So, I've begun rigorously scheduling myself again.  When my manager at Apple decided all managers must schedule their days I resisted greatly.  I hated the idea of my day already being planned for me regardless of what I personally felt that day.  I needed flexibility, I needed choice.

But man did it work.  And it worked because my weeks and days are strikingly similar, and if they're not, I probably wanted them to be.  The idea of scheduling 365 days and 52 weeks to me is a terrifying thought, but putting a process in place that schedules a week template that simply repeats is something I can get behind.  I hate schedule, I love process.

My favorite benefit of this strategy is how much more efficient and productive I am with my time.  Instead of needing time for a specific project, I schedule numerous '90 minutes of work' segments throughout the week (inspired by this great 99% article).  Then, on Sunday, I just fill in what I'll be doing in these 90 minute segments.  I find myself not only accomplishing everything I wanted for the week, but also working on longer term, more future-oriented projects, the easiest types of projects to procrastinate.

When it comes down to it, my day-to-day life isn't that spontaneous, in fact, its actually pretty repetitive; spontaneity in my day-to-day life usually translates to 'not doing what you actually wanted to do'.  Though this type of process schedule reduces the amount of choice in my day, it also ends up increasing my sense of accomplishment for each day.  Spontaneity still has a place in my life, but process scheduling ensures that it stays as that magic, spur of the moment, type of event.

How I Did It

I use iCal for scheduling myself. I recommend a digital calendar program because of the ease in setting repeatable events, which are the essence of process scheduling.

1) Set repeating events for those items in your schedule that are necessary, that you have no control over.  For me, it was my class schedule and an already existing conversation club.

Oh school, how I wish you always started at 9:40.

2) Note, for the next few steps (steps 2-7), do not schedule repeating steps; we will edit this schedule for next week.  Schedule your lunches and (if you want) your dinners.  Azerbaijan doesn't have the eating out culture that US has, so I scheduled my dinners too.  This is important because it forces you to acknowledge your meals as important times that have every right to not be encroached upon as any other event you schedule.

Yes, I do include washing dishes.  Its amazing how much it encourages me to wash my dishes right after.

3) Schedule those items that you know can easily can lost after scheduling other things.  Often these are items for your personal well-being which we put off in order to 'do' work (read: watch tv).  For me it was yoga and exercise.  When I practice with my friend its basically a 3 hour commitment, 90 minutes + 40 minutes of walking + 50 minutes of socializing, so this is a very real time commitment.

4) Schedule various '90 minutes of work' segments throughout your week.  At this point, these are simply blank segments you will be working on a single project for 90 minutes.  Steps 1-4 serves as the template we will edit from.

Notice how some of my workouts changed based on new events plugged in.  Also, I schedule my laundry because hand-washing is a total pain.

5) Now fill in the actual work you will be doing this week in these 90 minutes of work.  I try and schedule my meetings to fit within these times as well.  Don't leave any blank; if you don't have the work, either choose a future-oriented project or delete the event and give yourself some extra free time.

Finished schedule, with plenty of room for free time.

6) Refer to this schedule multiple times a day.  And as you follow it observe where you change it.  Do you exercise earlier rather than later? Are you taking longer for lunch?  Change this week's schedule to reflect the true times you are taking.  The exception to this rule is the '90 minutes of work' event, stay at that task for 90 minutes.

7) Towards the end of the week, create next week's schedule in this described style but adjusting it to be more realistic with your past week.  A process schedule should enable you to work effectively, not force you to work in a specific way.  If you can only commit to 3 '90 minutes of work' segments in your week, accept that.  If you take 1.5 hour lunches instead of 1 hour, accept that.  Just like in the first week, monitor and adjust to reflect the actual weekly schedule.

8) As you create the third week's schedule, create repeating events.  You already have those times you cannot change, now add meals, then personal wellness, and finally '90 minutes of work'.  Set an end date for this schedule (for me it was the end of school) where you can reflect and adjust your process the new condition of your scheduled life.

9) Once a week plan your '90 minutes of work' for the upcoming week.

10) Bask in the luxury of lack of choice.

Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: PRoMete - Sonu Görünməyən Yol

Talk about perfect timing.  After all of this A-Team love, I was thinking this week that I'd like to be able to promote a H.O.S.T. affiliated track.  Then, what pops in my inbox, but an email from a former PCV (and current Caspian Dreamer) tipping me off to the fact that PRoMete (of the H.O.S.T. clan) just dropped a new track.

Its catchy-but I guess you could expect that when you're straight up ganking the instrumental from the Ratatat remix of Kanye's 'Diamonds of Sierra Leone'.  Still, its a listenable track, and helps me get my H.O.S.T. fix as the weather once again rebounds from winter.  Check it out below.

Hat tip to Aşiq Timo of the Caspian Dreamers for what's up.

PRoMete - Sonu Görünməyən Yol (which translates as 'Can't Be Seen At The End of The Road')



Previous Hip-Hop From The Land of Fire: Kavkaz Clan

Happy Day Off..err, I mean Women's Day!

Today is International Women's Day, something that the US doesn't celebrate but many other countries, such as Azerbaijan, do.  Its similar to our Mother's Day-lots of bright potted flowers for sale and pink boxes filled with chocolate.  But, there is one small detail which makes all the difference in the world: its a day off.  Yup, the 8th of March is an official holiday in Azerbaijan, and any reason that gives me a break from school is certainly a reason to celebrate, let alone one for such a worthy cause.

So, Qadımlar Bayramı Mubarǝk* to all those important women in my life.  To my counterpart Tamilla who is the best counterpart one could hope for in Azerbaijan.  To my site mates, Glendene, Lannea, and Kelsey who are hardworking in their service and fun to hang out with.  To my landlady, who thankfully has realized she has far more sense that I have.  To my Mom who appreciates the fact that my landlady has recognized this.  And to my friends and family, here and across timelines who are always there to support me and occasionally laugh at my jokes.

*Happy Women's Day

Hip-Hop From the Land of Fire: Kavkaz Clan - Show Must Go On

I like rap.  I like Queen.  So, how could I say no to a combo of the two?  On 'Show Must Go On,' producer, Synaps, used an awesome sample from Queen's 'The Show Must Go On'.  Kavkaz Clan hasn't gotten much love on Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire yet, but this track could change that.  This release is the highlight of the week.

Props to RapRock.Az with the post.

Kavkaz Clan - Show Must Go On

Previous Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: A-Team - Bǝzǝn

Quick 'Happy March' Post

Its nice its finally March.  By this point everyone knows my feelings on February, but the fact of it actually being March is a big cognitive shift. Even if it snows, its just March snow, spring snow, the snow brought in with the lion that will soon leave like a lamb.  March is here, winter is over, my last winter in Azerbaijan is done.

And that feels very good.

As the drudgery of winter ends Volunteers around the country awake from our sleeping bag hibernations and begin to ready ourselves for project work.  Spring, just like in nature, is a season of renewal for us: softball practices begin next week and conversation clubs can resume in our heat-less schools.  There's enough sunshine to make us all feeling happy about this country again and projects laying dormant throughout the winter emerge again.

I'm also glad March is here for another reason.  During the spring holiday I'll be traveling with my parents and grandpa to Prague and Vienna. Basically, since January I've been saying its only a few weeks away, but now that I'm in March-its actually only a few weeks away.  I haven't seen family since August and I'm really glad to visit them (and the first world) again.

A couple random things:

1) Currently the Azerbaijan Youth Softball League is raising money for its grant.  I don't think I've promo'd a grant we're raising money for-I don't really like the idea of trolling for money, but this is a very large project and I really like that its given Khachmaz the ability to participate in softball tournaments with teams around the country.  This grant pays for our, and all the teams, travel to tournaments.  If you've been entertained by my softball emails, or simply think its hilarious that Josh is actually and willingly playing softball, consider donating a few dollars to the Peace Corps Partnership Grant HERE.

And you can find some softball photos HERE.

2) I've changed my blog to dedicate an page to Azerbaijani Hip-Hop.  Currently, I think I'm the only English speaking blogger of Azerbaijani Rap.  Oh yeah, I'm a total tastemaker.  Check it out above or HERE.

2012-2 Months In: Goal Update

Before the turn of the year I was speaking with a friend about effective goal setting in 2012.  We talked about the fact that personal goals and professional goals are really the same thing, we're just better at evaluating and making progress on our professional goals.

Too frequently, the goals we set for our personal life are vague and go unmeasured.  Furthermore, there is little follow up on our commitments; its easy to dismiss a goal because we're never going to confront ourselves with the fact that we haven't achieved it.

So here's a quick update on where I stand on the goals I set out at the beginning of 2012.  Read the goals in detail HERE.

1) Establish My Own Wake-Up Time.  For the past month I've been setting my alarm for 7:30 for weekdays and 9:00 for weekends.  I may (do) hit snooze a couple (a few) times, but my body is beginning to recognize 7:30am as my wakeup time.

2) Focus On My Hamstrings.  Yes, the body awareness is there.  Yes, they are still tight as hell.  This is more of a theme in my practice, not really a goal I guess.

3) Practice Yoga 5 hours a week.  My average for the last 8 full weeks is 4.74 hours a week.  However, that also includes a week of travel where I practiced no yoga; taking that week out of the equation, my average is 5.41 hours.

4) Learn Turkish.  Yeah, this goal isn't really going well.  I'm about 4 chapters into my book and stopped.  The difficulty is, for me, learning a language is very time intensive and I really don't have that much time.  Also, learning a language, for me, isn't fun-its homework.  So its very low on my priorities of what I want to do after a busy day.  If progress is made here it will be in April and May.

5) Prepare for effective job hunting.  Not yet.  Have been keeping notes about a new resume, but haven't started this project yet.

6) Read 'The Brothers Karamazov'.  I'll finish this week (I'm on page 725 of 776).  I'm really enjoying it.  In Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut writes 'everything there [is] to know about life [is] in The Brothers Karamazov'.  I get it-it feels like it touches on everything, that at some point or another in it, it discusses everything.  I highly recommend it (get the Richard Pevear translation-it makes a difference) and certainly see myself reading it again in my life.

7) Go to an Azerbaijani Rap Concert.  I went, I saw, I blogged (HERE).  Super bummed about the fact that H.O.S.T. and A-Team are playing a concert in Baki this Sunday and I have an unbreakable commitment.  Inshallah, I'll get to see both before I leave.

8) Buy new iPhone and MacBook Air.  This is a December goal.  Feel free to send me Christmas/Birthday presents of Apple gift cards...

9) Meditate daily.  I've begun this practice and enjoy it.  I'm not at daily yet, but pretty close, for the month of February I got 15 minutes in 22 of 29 days.

So there you have it.  I think I'm doing pretty well so far, the things that I can 'accomplish' I have/will quite soon and those involving establishing good habits are well in the making.

Did any of you set goals for 2012?  How are they coming along?