Staying In Your Comfort Zone In The Peace Corps

By design, Peace Corps takes you outside your comfort zone.  If you were placed in a country where you felt completely at ease, it would defeat the purpose of Peace Corps-its designed to shake you up a bit.  Socially, linguistically, culturally-everything is dramatically different.

Well maybe not everything, one area where I haven't really left my comfort zone is my professional life.  Part of this is also by Peace Corps design-people with 'industry' expertise are generally placed in that specific area.  'Have teaching experience?' 'Good, we need some teachers.'  This is especially the case in the TEFL sector, where the main structure of your week is the school schedule.

With counterparts, I teach numerous classes a week.  I work with other teachers in my community to design trainings to help teachers become more effective in the classroom.  I meet with teachers across the country sharing techniques they can use in the classroom to increase student participation and comprehension.

Sound repetitive? It is.

Its not to say I don't enjoy my work.  I do.  I'm passionate about helping teachers (or trainers, or mentors, or whatever term they are being identified as) become better teachers and I have a certain degree of expertise to offer in this field.  But, it also is quite safe and very little precariousness is involved.

As I begin to ponder what direction my life will take after Peace Corps (you wouldn't believe some of the dorky thoughts I've had regarding my resume) I've started to think about those lessons I'm looking for in future employment.  I've found just as much education in my professional life as I have in my academic life and I'm hoping my next steps will help me along two specific lines.

1) Risk.  As I mentioned earlier, I've been able to play extensively within my comfort zone in the Peace Corps.  One of my most valuable lessons learned in grad school was to become adept at re-articulating situations in terms of your expertise.  While this helps create confidence in new endeavors it also minimizes my experience with risk and taking risks. Don't worry Mom, I'm not looking to engage in 'risky behaviors,' but I'd like to deal with risk enough to know I'm not risk adverse.

2) Entrepreneurship.  It's a goal of mine to start my own business.  That's about as specific as this goal can get right now; I'll acknowledge, there's definitely room for improvement.  I want my next steps in my professional life to prepare me to take action on this goal.  I'm not looking to learn specific lessons rather, I want to experience the nature of a small, interconnected company.  Past the very surface level sheen of entrepreneurship, what is actually involved in day-to-day running?

Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Xan ft. Kavkas Clan - Yağış Olaram

Xan hasn't struck me as the most lyrically dexterous of Azerbaijan's rappers, for that I would reserve honor for Qaraqan or other members of the H.O.S.T. clan.  However he has good production values and is embracing the R&B/rap style that has been championed by Drake and The-Dream.  I dig this new track recently posted on RapRock.Az. Its short, with a lilting melody line; one thinks of past memories, maybe remembering them a bit better than they were.

Xan ft. Kavkas Clan - Yağış Olaram (meaning: I'll Be The Rain)

 Xan feat Kavkaz Clan (Luter) - Yagish Olaram by joshehr

Previous on Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Qaraqan - Qaraqan Qayitdi!

2011: A Review

I may be a little late in wishing you all a happy new year but believe me that you were all in my thoughts in the early hours and days of 2012. Last year was my first full year in Azerbaijan and this was possible due to the consistent support and spontaneous messages of cheering I would receive throughout the year.  Though much of my communication (both sent and received) is written, I feel much closer to you all when reading your emails or texts.  Thank you so much for that.

2011 has been quite a year with a lot packed into it.  I first began teaching with counterparts at my school in January, after being at my permanent site for only a few weeks.  January was when I began my first conversation clubs and first learned what it was like to be an American teacher in an Azerbaijani school (like being the most famous celebrity ever).  February and March saw me survive my first Azerbaijani winter and continue with my language lessons.  I began an advanced conversation club which provided access to some of the most engaging students I've worked with.  Also in March, my first regional teacher training were held, a project I continue today and which expanded the boundaries of where my service could be held.

Spring came with lots of non-school projects started.  Early April saw Writing Olympics, Azerbaijan would eventually go on to clean up at the international level.  We also held our first softball practice in Khachmaz-its pretty incredible to think where they are now considering where they began.  April also began one of the oddest relationships in my life-my landlady.  Finally I could be an adult again when I moved away from the host family and into the clutches of a kind, if not overly intruding, landlady.  May slowly, but surely came to a close and with it, the end of school.

Oh the beautiful freedom of summer.  Now that there wasn't school hanging over my head there was so much more we could do!  Summer was very hot, so much so that we put baseball on hold, but that didn't stop me from traveling and exploring this country.  I conducted more teacher trainings and helped with 3 different summer camps around the country.  Volunteers and friends around Khachmaz held our own camp, both here and in Khudat.  I began meeting with Elsean, the region's methodologist, and that became a really enjoyable friendship.  I also got to visit the fam in America for my sister's wedding.  Summer was extremely busy, but very very fun.

As summer changed to fall the weather began to cool, but the pace didn't.  Every weekend from September to mid November was scheduled with a different activity.  Softball tournaments, teacher trainings, new volunteers coming in, old volunteers leaving.  Traveling to Ganja and Goychay, Baku and Tbilisi or hosting volunteers who came to visit Khachmaz.  By the time Thanksgiving came around I wanted a weekend off.  So I took one and didn't go anywhere for the holiday.  It was a much needed respite and prepared me for a super busy December.  While preparing for multiple holiday parties it was shocking to see that the semester had already drawn to a close-it felt like it hand't yet begun.

There was a lot of sport activity this year, which was new for adult me and really, really nice.  Softball, though at times a pain, became one of my favorite activities in Azerbaijan.  I am looking forward to spring coming and the accompanying practices.  My site mate Glendene and I began practicing yoga together this year which has been a massive benefit for me.  It is like practicing with a private teacher multiple times a week and I can only continue to be grateful for this.

Regarding hobbies, 2011 saw the inception of my most recent 'once in a life time experience' to plan-renting a private yacht in the Mediterranean.  Deposits have been paid, flights are being purchased, and all of us are getting very excited for June.  I blogged more than ever this past year-publishing a new post about once ever 3 days (including my ever-expanding Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire series).  They say the best way to become a better writer is to write-lets hope that's true.

So what have I learned this year?  At times, I feel very little; this culture still continues to baffle me and I feel about as solid in life direction as I did when I left for the Peace Corps (which would be: somewhat).  If anything I've learned a greater ease in allowing others to run with ideas. Coming into service there were so many times where I felt the need to involve myself and my American ways; more often is the case now that I agree with an idea and find I'm providing more moral support than anything else.  This is an advanced skill for a leader and I'm grateful to receive practice in it.

I'm extremely excited for 2012.  This is the year will show the results of long term projects.  This is the year of a yacht trip.  And, this is the year I can return to my friends and family in the states.  Please check out 'New Year: New Goals' as well.  I can't wait to share my 2012 with you.

New Year: New Goals

I'm not really a person who makes resolutions upon the New Year.  My general thought on New Year's Resolutions are that they have already defeated you-if one was really resolved to make a change then they would do it then, at that moment, rather than waiting until the new year rolls around.  Thus, I don't really make resolutions to begin on New Years, but rather try to actively improve myself along my life when I feel there is a need to do so.

This past year, a friend turned me on to The Random Show podcast and I've been savoring their backlog of episodes while catching up.  In one they shared lists of goals to accomplish in the new year.  This was an idea I liked.  Instead of stating what you hoped to do from Day 1 of 2012, you prepared a list of objectives you hoped to accomplish in 2012.  Personal resolutions, like exercising and eating better, I try to begin right away, but there are numerous 'projects' I have put off, or been eyeing, that would be perfect for this.  So, without further ado:

Goals to Accomplish for 2012:

1) Establish my own wake-up time, as determined by me, and not by my work.  For my entire life I've been a slave to waking up based on the first time commitment of the day.  Usually this is about 1 hour before I have to be there, and this also usually makes for a thoroughly inconsistent wake-up schedule.  It was the worst while working for Apple, but even in Peace Corps I have about 3 different wake up times.  I'd like to establish consistency in my wake-up time in hopes of becoming have more productive, more enjoyable, and more stable mornings.

2) Focus on my hamstrings.  After throwing my back out twice in 2010, I really started to focus on my back in 2011. Obviously, this is a lifelong commitment, but it was a thrill to find myself in full wheel (a yoga posture with feet and hands on the ground pushing your back into a 180 arch) for the first time ever. I'll maintain this commitment, but I'd also like to add special emphasis to my hamstrings.  I have tight hamstrings, so tight that I will too often over accommodate in poses that should be working them.  This year I'd like to have a similar thrill I had in 2011 but with my hamstrings.

3) Practice yoga 5 hours a week.  This is not so much a stretch goal, as ensuring that I'm making it to the mat every day.  Regarding these last two goals, I'm not usually into 'goal setting' in a yoga practice.  One shouldn't be striving towards an accomplishment that their body is not prepared for.  But yoga is also about mindfulness and bringing consciousness into our actions, so I accommodate for these goals of increased awareness.

4) Learn Turkish.  Have I told you I'm planning a dream vacation in Turkey with 15 other friends?!  Its true.  I already (somewhat) speak a language that is extremely close to Turkish and have friends here I can practice with.  I've always wanted to visit Turkey and will not be surprised if I fall in love with it.  Finally, I have learned a little more about how I most effectively learn a new language.  I cannot imagine a better 'perfect storm' of reasons to learn a language.

5) Prepare for effective job hunting.  I really want to ensure that my next steps, whatever those may be, are fulfilling and in line with my personal values and life goals.  I acknowledge that this may be a lot to ask for in the economy that will be waiting for me, but I don't care, I think I'll be a candidate worth looking at.  So, to ensure that I'm appealing to whomever may be checking me out, I want to prepare a personal bio and engaging resume that will get noticed, rather than get lost.  And, of course, integrate it into all media I use.

6) Read the Brothers Karamazov.  I love Dostoyevsky and I really like the translators of the edition I have.  I've wanted to do this for a while-this is the year.

7) Go to an Azerbaijani Rap concert.  I haven't been to a concert in sooooo long. Update: Attended first Azerbaijan rap concert: 1/14/12

8) Buy a new iPhone and MacBook Air.  Hey, I'll finally be home in 2012 and I'm totally serious on looking at this as a goal to accomplish in 2012.  Maybe a reward as well...

9) Meditate daily.

Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Qaraqan - Qaraqan Qayitdi!

I'm a sucker for a good hook.  No matter how bad a song is, all can be forgiven with a great hook to rally around after a horrible verse.  This may be an unfair intro to Qaraqan's intro track from his 2011 album Isiq; the track is not bad, but the chorus is just so good.  In an affectation you here him chant 'hava, ot, su, torpaq' (which means: air, earth, water, fire...also can be written as H.O.S.T.) and its just so damn catchy.  This is a victory lap for Qaraqan, welcoming you to the album you've been waiting for simply because it was worth the wait.

Qaraqan - Qaraqan Qayitdi! (which means: Qaraqan Returns!)
 Qaraqan Qayitdi! by joshehr

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