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