Right now I am in bed, wearing many layers of clothing in order to keep warm. My host family has a heater on the 2nd floor apartment. I usually keep my door closed to have some privacy, so my room is not warm enough. However, I am not complaining. Compare to Vivian, I am so much luckier than she is. Few weeks ago, her host family left Vivian alone in the house without any heat and gas. For four days, she
did not take a shower, no hot water and she only had apples and cold breads for dinner. Vivian has lost lots of weight!Vivian is happy that she lost some weight but I am just afraid that if she continues to lose more weight, she will eventually get very weak and then sick. “Two more weeks, Chi, I am getting out of here, so I am not going to complain, only two more weeks!” Vivian has a positive altitude, but who knows what her next host family situation will be when she gets to her permanent site.
It is really not easy to be a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Azerbaijan. So far, e
veryone has suffered in various degrees. Sometimes, we have no electricity, some PCVs do not have enough food to eat, many of us do not have hot water for shower, and the heating system is not reliable or just not available at all. We are constantly feeling cold both indoor and outdoor. On top of that, we still have to worry about doing our laundries, catching up with our language lessons, preparing our CED homework, and last but not least, how to survive with our meager allowances from the Peace Corps.Vivian and I try to save money, so neither one of us is willing to spend money. Simple things like, soda, cookies and snacks which cost more than 1 manat (US$0.82) seem like such a luxury items for us that we refuse to buy them. Some of the cheap cookies which I would never consider eating them in the States are now look so yummy. When I received the allowance, I would buy ten cookies and ate one a day until the next allowance came. Its sounds so horrible, I hope my family in HongKong will never read this journal, or my sister will come to Azerbaijan and take me home immediately.
I am not upset about the situation. I was expecting the worse. The life I am living now in Azerbaijan will only make me appreciate things more. I am experiencing how other people live. What I am seeing now may not be so pretty but it is the reality outside of the United States. When I return home, I will have a new altitude, new prospective, and definitely I will be a new person. Finally, I am proud to write my name as:
Chi S. Chan, CPA,
RPCV *
Azerbaijan 2009-2011
* RPCV: Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
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