A Bike Ride in Agjabedi

This weekend I had a chance to take a trip out to the town of Agjabedi and participate in a 50k bike ride with a few other Americans and about twenty Azerbaijanis. It was a whole lot of fun getting outside and doing something active for once. We had a Police escort for the whole ride and drew quite a crowd of interested people while we were riding through the city. After we got out of the city however it was pretty quite. The pace was pretty slow and leisurely with lots of breaks. We even stopped at a tea house for cookies and tea to keep up our stamina.

Break time with our friendly police escort up front. They were nice enough to occasionally blast Azeri songs over their loudspeaker so that we could have some entertainment. Also yelled at cars to slow down as they passed our group.

Relaxing in the shade and refueling with tea and cookies.

One of the shepherds that we met during our lunch stop. They were very excited to meet us and see what we were all about. They even let a few people ride their horses for a bit.

This is me right before I broke the pedal on my bike and was relegated to riding in one of the cars in our entourage.

Support Creative Writing in Azerbaijan!!!

Well, let’s pretend I am a bird. I can do anything I want. I can fly, and the whole world is mine. The Sky is mine. I love traveling by air, of course. Also I have a “Green Card” to all of the countries. Have I ever been to Egypt or Italy? Sure! I know a lot of people who is dreaming about these countries, who want to see the Pyramids and the ancient Rome. –Sabina, Age 16

Greetings Friends and Family!

The above quote is taken from one of the winning submissions from the 2011 Writing Olympics competition we just held here in Azerbaijan.

The Writing Olympics is a creative English writing competition where students are given one hour (on a selected date) to write on one of three topics (in accordance to their form or year in university). They are not permitted to use dictionaries or other resources. They are judged not on grammar, but instead on the idea, the overall “essence” of their essay. This year Azerbaijan has also created a “professionals” category, which gives individuals who may not fit into the school categories a chance to compete too (this includes moms and teen girls who aren’t in university). The goal of the event is to help cultivate creative writing and, even more importantly, creative thinking.

We need your help to make this event a success! The winning students will have their essays published in a book which they will receive, along with a certificate, at an awards ceremony. Unfortunately, publication here is expensive. Your donation, which can be made at http://tinyurl.com/WODonate, will help us ensure that our students will remember this event, and their creative selves, forever. Your donation will help to pay for the publication of the book as well as the printing of certificates, the purchase of dictionaries and the awards ceremony.

Our goal isn’t much; it’s a little under $2,000 USD. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!

Easter has come and gone and it looks like a brutal summer is on its way in. Already the thermometer on my porch is reading eighty-five in the shade and its only going to get hotter. The plus side is that I will be able to do Bikram Yoga without paying a hundred dollars a month to go to a studio. This last month has been an interesting one. It seems like just yesterday that I was complaining about the cold and the muddy streets. After a few weeks of rain everything is blossoming like mad. Coming from the Northwest distinct seasons are very strange.

I spent this last Easter in Baku mostly for Early Service Training which was a lot of fun. About half of us went and it was really good seeing everybody all together again. The training was for two days and then we had the weekend to ourselves. Baku is a really interesting city and a lot of fun areas to explore. This last trip we found an old Russian Orthodox Christian church that was elaborately painted and decorated. We also visited a brewery for lunch and the owner was very excited to see Americans that could speak Azerbaijani. He gave us a personal tour of his resturant and brewery and you could tell that he was very proud of his little operation. We also found this old run down theater that had been converted into a ping-pong club filled with smoke and sweaty old men competing like thier life was on the line. On Saturday night we ended up staying with a very welcoming couple that worked for BP. The next morning we all went to the Catholic Church for Easter Mass where we got to meet the American Ambassador and chat for a bit.

It is always strange returing to Ucar after being in Baku with a bunch of Americans. It is like I was back home for a bit and able to hang out with friends and do what I want but then I come back to the real world and I am in Ucar where no one speaks English and I am back in the fish bowl. It is getting easier though as I learn the language and make more friends. Overall I really like where I am at and wouldn't change it for the world.