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.