My Life in Azerbaijan - Packages from home

October 23, 2010
Nothing makes us (the PCVs) happier than getting a package from home. No matter how insignificant the items inside the box may seem, each piece represents love and concern for our well being and support for what we are doing here in Azerbaijan. Yesterday, I received two big packages from two special people; my sister and Gene Rose. My sister is always special to me. She sent me nearly one package a month to cheer me up. The other special person is Gene Rose, an American friend, whom I only met once.

I met Gene few years ago in Peru. We were in the same trekking group to Macho Picchu. Gene showed interest knowing our hiking club (“Chinese Mountain Club of New York”). He is a friendly and an easy going person. Jomi, George and I found him a very good travel companion. We shared a lot of happy time up on the high mountains of Peru. After we returned home, Gene and I kept in touch with e-mail. Years later, Gene went to Iraq and did volunteer work for the American troop and I came to Azerbaijan with Peace Corps. We share the same passion as wanting to give something back to the world.

The package Gene sent me is the biggest by far. It weighted nearly 10 lbs and filled with all kind of goodies. I felt so guilt when I saw how much it cost him to mail me that big box. Inside the box, there were boxes of cake mixed that I had requested and the cheeses! I was thrilled to see so many of them, how much I missed them. I will save some for Vivian when she comes to visit me next month. Boxes of cake mixed, I can bake chocolate brownie for Rikki and Megan when they stay over in December. The chocolates, the bubble gums, and the bagel chips (it is the New York style!), my God, I am in heaven.

Then, I opened my sister’s package. All the Chinese moon cake I craved for were looking back at me, waiting for me to eat them. There were Chinese soy source, sesame oil, peanut oil, a Japanese bowl, DVD movies, and all kind of Chinese snacks that remained me of my happy childhood! Usually I watch what I eat. But yesterday, I did not care. I ate nearly the entire slab of cheese with salty cracker, then after dinner, I ate the whole moon cake. I was sure I consumed more than 5000 calories in a day. By the end of this week, I may gain back some weight to 100 lbs.

Yesterday was one of the happiest days of my life in Azerbaijan. I know there are people care deeply about what I do, love me for who I am. I am grateful to have a friend like Gene and a kind person like my sister. Thank you very much, both of you. Now with the burst of energy from the cheese, this evening, I am going to play football with those cute little kids by the Sea. I can image how their faces will light up when they see Gene’s chocolates and bubble gums.

My Life in Azerbaijan – Yaxşı Yol ! (Safe Journey Home!)

October 16, 2010 – Yaxşı Yol ! (Safe Journey Home!)

The AZ8s are here, and the AZ6s are leaving, while my group the AZ7s still has another year to go. All the comings and goings really make Autumn the busiest time for Peace Corps staffs in Baku office.

As for the AZ6s, some will depart on November; some will be off on December. All of them I talked to are excited to go home. When I asked about their fulfillment of serving the Peace Corps, most of them just gave me a smile and said “don’t hold up your expectation too high”, which I already knew, but none of them has any regret. They are glad that they have finished the full two years term. Some of them have accomplished their missions, some may not have. No matter what the final outcome is, they represent a small group of America who can endure the hardship of daily life surviving on a foreign land. Here are only some of those hardships: (contributed by an unknown writer from us)

In winter, you have to walk outside to the toilet in the cold
You have to build up your thigh muscles to survive the squat toilets and
where the heck is the toilet paper?
Every day, you have to walk through fields of mud, trash, and other things
Your hands hurt from wringing out your clothes in freezing cold water
You have to wait a week for your clothes to dry
You have to set aside valuable time to boil water and set up filter because you have seen what is in the water
You have suffered from diarrhea and the effects of HA’s revenge due to too much oil in the foods and stress
You have lived with swarms of flies and mosquitoes and might be one of the lucky PCVs that get to live with the side effects of malaria pills.

Having the experience living outside of the US, we become conscious that how lucky we are as American. The freedom, the right, and the opportunity, which we used to take for granted, are now genuinely appreciated by us. Being a PCV, we know that there is no country in the world we will love more.

When the AZ6s return home, they may have to re-adjust themselves to deal with the “luxury” life in America, but slowly and surely they will put those challenging living conditions behind. Nevertheless, one thing they should never forget. They have given up two years of their life to serve the unprivileged, the world, and their own country. They will forever be remembered and identified as “Returned Peace Corps Volunteer” (RPCV) for the rest of their life; a designation only a small handful of American has the privilege to be given.

For all the AZ6s who have completed their service, I wish you all a safe journey home!

Chi S. Chan, CPA
US Peace Corps Volunteer
Azerbaijan 2009-2011

Umm, I like how it looks

My Life in Azerbaijan - Not "so lovely" Encounters

October 8, 2010

The weather has been cool and damp. It rains often and the route I walk on now is nearly deserted. All the teahouses are closed for the winter and most of my Azeri friends do not come out to greet me. I guess they are in “Hibernation”. I think I ought to be a more careful or I should change my route to avoid some of the quietest areas. These past couple weeks, I had some “not so lovely” encounters during my daily walk. Even thought I did not feel an immediate danger, I should have taken precaution.

One section of my routine walk passes through a dense wooden area. It has a little hill and is well hidden from the main path. Usually I feel very safe in this secluded spot because summer time, young Azeri lovers hide here to have their privacy. I like to walk here because of the hill. There are not many hills in the park, so I take full advantage of this section for my exercise.

Few days ago, I climbed up to this hill as usual. Half way to the top, I heard a man shouting “Kıtçay”, (means Chinese). His voice did not sound friendly, so I hurried up to the top. I could hear him running after me and repeating the word “Kıtçay”. The minute I reached the top, I looked back and saw this man with dirty suit and fuzzy hair racing up to me. I felt the goose bumps all over, so I surveyed around me and “dam!” no one was nearby. Immediately, I started to run and luckily the man was in no shape or form to compete with me. He lagged behind. Once I kept my distance, I held up my phone and told him I was calling the police, so he stopped. He was angry, continued shouting “Kıtçay” waving his hand with a bottle of liquor, jumping up and down. He was drunk. I should have called Jeyhun, our PC security officer, but I did not...

Yesterday, another Azeri man approached me by the park entrance. His style was entirely different but it scared me as well. I met this man few days ago, he introduced himself to me and I felt his friendliness, so I chatted with me and told him about my Peace Corps story. He was on his forty but he looked much older. (most Azeri look older than their real age) He dressed well, had arrogant attitude, he probably was quite well off. I did not recognize him right away, so when he walked towards me, I just said “Salam”. He stopped in front of me and blocked my way, and then he said.

Mən sənə xoşlayıram, .....mənim seviləm....” (I like you.....my lover...)

I did not catch 100% of what he said, but I understood some of the words which made me feel very uneasy, especially the word “seviləm”. So I explained to him my Azeri was very poor, I did not understand. He at once repeated the sentence with a much more firm tone of voice and put two figures next to each other to clarify his meaning, this time I caught another word “istəyirəm” (want). Now I was sure I understood him correctly. Nevertheless, I pretended I did not. Politely, I said “Sag olun” (goodbye) and walked away. He went on saying something to me, but I could careless, just continued walking.

Finally, it was this crazy young fellow, who kept saying “I love you, I love you, I love!” every time I met him. He is Russian man who loves to meet foreigner. Carol and I met him once months ago, and he remembers me. I know that he did not mean any harm, just expressed his friendliness in a wrong way. He did try to grab my arm and asked me to dinner once, I just told him that I was married and that was the end of it.

Again, with three different encounters, I still did not feel unsafe. Most Azeri men I met were very friendly and courteous. There are bad apples in every tree, so I am not going to lock myself inside my own apartment just because of those incidents. Usually I have my cellular phone with Jeyhun’s number ready, as soon as I press the “send” button, Jeyhun and I will be connected.

But starting tomorrow, I will take my daily walk earlier and avoid the quiet sections.

My Life in Azerbaijan - Autumn in Azerbaijan

October 2, 2010
There is only one word can describe Autumn in Azerbaijan, LOVELY, simply lovely. I used to think Autumn in New York was lovely, but now I would rather use the word “gorgeous” not “lovely”. Autumn in Azerbaijan processes certain loveliness that I was unable to see in the Autumn of New York.

What makes Autumn in New York “gorgeous” is the color, the multicolor foliage in the forest. Harriman state park, the place I often visited should be coloring with yellow, red, orange and green foliage at this time. Around the Figure Board Mountain, the hill side is carpeted with wild blue berry shrubberies. In Autumn, their leaves turn into crimson, similar to the red dye dress wore by a Chinese bride. In the forest, the foliage is bright yellow, when filtered by the sunlight, it transforms to dazzling golden, like the bright light encircled an angel descending from heaven. The Autumn color not only displays on the mountain, it also mirrors on the lake surface, can be found on the forest floor, and the bottom of every stream in the park. Combining with the dry weather and cool temperature, Autumn in New York is definitely gorgeous!

Here in Azerbaijan, Autumn has arrived few weeks ago. You hardly notice it since the temperature remains hot in the afternoon. I think it is the rain at night that marks the official entry of Autumn. The first rain arrived in the middle of August. Thunders and lightings rolled and rumbled throughout the night, then they completely disappeared in the morning, left no trace of the rain since it was totally absorbed by the bone dry desert floor. However, if you are insightful enough about nature, you can sense the difference. It is the morning air, less humid, less warm, with just a light touch of cool breeze. If you pay attention to the plants and trees, you can see them revitalize overnight. The long hot dry summer has tormenting them near to perish. Something at night creeps in quietly and injects them with a doze of remedy which gives them back a new lease of life. I can nearly hear them sing when I pass them during my daily walk. At last, it is the sun. Unlike the unbearable hot sun in the summer, the Autumn sun has just the right temperature. It does not burn you, it merely “tan” you, gives you the healthy chocolate color that you can not obtain from the weak Autumn sun in New York.

What makes Autumn in Azerbaijan so lovely is its gentle, subtle, peaceful, un-dramatic, unnoticeable arrival. One September morning, sitting by the kitchen window with a cup of coffee, I felt this sudden sensation, so unbelievable comforting, a feeling I did not quite experienced in my New York apartment. Then, I said to myself, “Ah, Autumn is here!” My PCV friends, Vivian, Meagan and Rikkie were here few weeks ago, they all sitting on the same spot, complimenting the same loveliness they felt. Another thing that makes Autumn so lovely here is the way in which the locals embrace Autumn. Autumn is the time when every household in my town stores, jars and pickles the summer fruits and vegetables for the winter. This traditional act I hardly saw in the city of New York. I found myself taking a great pleasure to learn it, to participate it and hopefully to bring it back with me to New York next December.

Just a few days ago by my neighborhood, I saw an old man holding a stick, pounding on an olive tree. Shortly, many olives scattered around the floor. One black shinning one landed on my foot, I picked it up and handed it to the old man. He thanked me with a warm smile, all the wrinkles on his face deepened. He held out his big cupped hands with lots of black olives, explaining to me how he would preserve them for his family. I left him with a lovely image lingering in my mind.

What I saw in him is a face with ancient culture, traditional Azerbaijan value that never died. It was a lovely encounter on one Autumn day in Azerbaijan!