The Day before the Last Bell - Son Zeng

It's been a rainy week in Masalli and that means no chance to wash clothes. Host mother does have a washing machine, but what's the point when you need sunny skies to dry clothes on a line outside. Today I finally was able to wash underwear and I'm sure my family thinks I'm rich because I hung several pairs to dry on the line in the chicken yard. There's another clothes line in the front yard for non-underwear.

While I was outside I noticed that the pomegranate tree in the yard is blossoming. I'll miss the fruit of these bright, trumpet-like orange flowers because I will be in America when they ripen. One tree produces a bit less fruit than an apple tree. I remember seeing pomegranates bursting on trees in my yard and mentally counting the price at about $3 per fruit. One tree could make an Azeris rich if they knew how to ship and sell them.

Thursday was not a school holiday yet few students came to school. It was the day before Son Zeng (Last Bell) a semi-graduation ceremony for the 11th form students. Many were at school to pick up a yearbook-like album with their photo plus photos of classmates and teachers. In fact, I saw more 11th form students at the school in the past month than I've ever noticed before. I attribute this to the new no-nonsense school director. Alas, she hasn't totally turned around school attendance, but it is improving.

Only 2 of my 4 English teachers came to school. In the past, all the teachers on this day would be in the teachers' room frantically filling out the registers, i.e. the daily marks for students. Again, thanks to the new director she has them recording marks daily, and not when they remember to do it. Apparently teachers who finished recording marks also thought they could take the day off.

Sally came over in the afternoon so we could swap photos we'd both taken in the past few months. I got photos and video from her of my English assembly program. I'm glad she was there to take these great memories for me and my teachers. I hope to print and give them each a few photos before I leave. The bottom photo here is my singing "London Bridge" for some primary students as they catch a "fair lady." They loved doing this!

I'm starting to get anxious about all the paperwork I need to do in order to finish my Peace Corps service. PC provides us with a long checklist and some reports need to be done a month before I leave. I need to figure out how to recall and document things I did last year. My diaries are back in America and I'll just have to estimate number of children I taught etc. Oy!

Winding down the school year.

So many things going on this past week – and yet to come! Not only did I help organize and plan the English Assembly (see previous post), but it was my host mother Valida's birthday on May 23rd and yesterday (May 25th) was a going away “surprise” party for sitemate Sally. How can it be a surprise that she is going back to America?

I had fun with Georgie and Igbal planning for their mother on her 31st birthday. I call her mother too, but they all call me nana (grandma #3). Go figure. I had paper and markers for Georgie to create a huge birthday card for her, we bought slices of cake with strawberry crème filling at a local bakery, and we also bought an exploding candle and lots of cookies to serve with tea. She always says the best present I give her is helping her sons improve their English. Gladly.

Another really big event was the going away party for Sally. It was organized by her English teacher Counterpart (and my former host mother) Konul, and she really went all out! She asked me to use a ruse to get Sally to come to a restaurant near Isti Su – a resort area near Masalli. There she had decorated a separate room, ordered a huge meal, and invited both students and teachers from Sally's school. I think there were about 40 people there.

Konul also had her daughter Aydan and son Layig perform several Azeri dances in traditional costumes. The 5 nearby PCVs were also invited, as well as 3 English teachers from my school. The meal was scrumptious with typical salads, chicken, kebabs, blintzes, and fruit juice. I'm surprised I didn't take any food photos.

After the meal and program, we went outside to another seating area for cake and tea and more photos. Did I mention Konul also hired a videographer? I want a copy of that! Several weeks ago I put over 100 photos on a flash drive and gave it to Konul. She had many photos printed and put into an album for Sally. There was also a large poster for everyone to sign.

We encountered a problem when it day ended, and that was getting enough taxis to take us back to Masalli. Konul had hired a marsrutka (mini-van) for the children, but the PCVs and several teachers were stranded – unable to call their regular taxis. So somehow we all squeezed into the marsrutka – boys standing in the aisle and girls sitting 2 to a seat! I just didn't have time to photo or count, but I'm guessing 20 of us crammed into it.

It was good to arrive back home to 2 lonely boys. They'd spent the day by themselves watching TV and playing on the computer. Their parents were in Baku for a wedding and wouldn't return until early Sunday morning.

Me with 2 of my English teachers at the party for Sally. 

May 27th begins the last week of school with Son Zeng (Last Bell) ceremony on Friday. I will announce plans for English fun for students during June. I suspect I will also be spending time in the village of Boradigah with the boys' grandma #1 as I countdown to July and COS on July 5th in Baku.

English Assembly - At Last!

The date for this activity changed many times, but it was finally held on Thursday, May 23 in the assembly hall of my school. It's been a roller-coaster preparing most English classes to participate and even more so to get the English teachers to not see this as a mini-Eurovision, ie, big production number. I wanted the children to have fun and not worry about memorizing words or even dressing up in their finest.

Alas, the day before the teachers were telling the girls how to braid their hair, that the boys needed to wear white shirts and black trousers (some of them don't have them), and that they must know all the words by heart. To me, every member of a class would participate, but the teachers wanted to single out their favorites to perform, and the other children would simply watch. I nixed that.

So the morning arrived, and the English teacher I asked to served as MC said she wouldn't do it without a microphone. So I got someone to go to the nearby mosque and get a microphone. Glad to have it. Then she started to re-arrange the order of the performers I had scripted. Oh well.

Enough of the tribulations, the hit was the square dancing by the 8^th grade students! I had brought with me kerchiefs from USA for the girls and got straw hats for the boys at the bazar. The girls were so enthused at the first practice that they found square dance videos on youtube and wanted to get those flouncy dresses too. And the boys were excited to wear the hats. (I thought they would object!)

I could go on critiquing the problems I noticed, but the next day the English teachers all said it was great. One said it was the first time they had had an English assembly, and how glad we had done it. I plan to leave the lyrics and skits for them to put on their own assembly next year. Truly, sometimes people here simply need to see how something is done and know that they can do it too.

I did give small gifts to the English teachers at the end of the program, and I think that is when they realized that I will be leaving soon. There was much talk about having a get-together for me at nearby Isti Su in June. It is beginning to sink in for me too that I will not be here for next year's English Assembly!

Dull Moments

Often, I'll be going about my daily routine and something will strike me as worth writing about. But then I get home and I forget what it was or else it's really not worth two sentences. So this morning I'm trying to recall a few items.

• Chevrolets. A small showroom opened in Masalli last year and since I've been back I've noticed a lot of the small Chevys – even being operated as taxis. I wonder if they are built in America?
• English-speaking marsrutka driver. There are several regular drivers, but one always speaks in English to me. He told Georgie he was educated in Baku. I think of driving as blue-collar work, but apparently these jobs pay relatively well.
• Weather. The past 4 days have been a mixture of light rain overnight, though we did have thunder one night. The dusty roads get muddy, but daylight dries them out enough that I can walk home. Mostly, I can't wash clothes because the only drier is a clothes line.
• Best things I bought from USA. A pair of black loafers, extra mascara remover, Uno deck of cards, markers and stickers for children's papers.
• Camera problem. Turning it off and on has been very temperamental ever since I dropped it while on vacation in Turkey.
• Becoming Nana #3. I am considered another grandma for this family, and I do believe I am more popular than one of them. Just sayin'.
• Frog in the yard. I hear it croaking at night, and found out that Georgie is afraid of it.
• Reading a condensed and easy version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with Igbal. It's much more interesting and enjoyable for him since he is not the serious student his big brother is.
• Eurovision. Yeegads, this annual song contest has become very important to small countries like AZ that want to be associated with Europe, ie, western-leaning. Incredible production numbers and competition.
  Food storage. It continues to amaze me that I don't get g.i. problems. I often see cooked food sitting in kettles on the stove overnight. It makes me wonder if American guts don't have necessary bacterial flora or if food here has fewer gut-wrenching microbes in it.
• Bracelet. One of my teachers gave me a bracelet with PEGGY spelled out in rhinestones.
  
  
  
  This photo was taken after Georgie and Aydan received certificates at the Masalli Ministry of Education. He placed first among 6th form students and she placed third among 7th form in the Peace Corps - sponsored Write On! competition.

Alphabet Holiday

I got a call on Friday from one of my English teachers that the annual Alifba Bayaminiz would be the next day, Saturday. I got to the school's assembly hall at 10 o'clock, but it didn't really start until 11:30 or so.

And then just to remind me that things fall apart, the electricity stopped at about 11:35am. The children were singing along to the Azerbaijani national anthem and looked confused just as their favorite part of the song was beginning. The sound system and music came to a halt.

The married couple (teachers) who organized the event were non-plussed. Have the kids sit down at tables laden with sweets and fruit and have them not touch a thing! I don't know their magic words, but these primary students obeyed.

When the electricity came on again, the children proceeded to put on a fine show for the parents and siblings in attendance. I'm not sure why only a few teachers attended, but it didn't seem to matter for the children. They had multiple costume changes and skits to perform. Two little girls spoke a welcome in English, and everyone sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. Not simultaneously, but all in fun!

As ever, I was called upon to say a few words which usually means I tell the children to stay in school and get a good education. Shalala Teacher did the translating for my few sentences. Later, I was surprised with a bouquet, and then asked to dance with the children – all captured for posterity on videotape. I thoroughly enjoy having fun with these kids and I hope the parents could tell by the smile on my face.

I did have to duck out at about 2 pm thinking that I needed to get something to eat. I have yet to figure out how people can go so long without eating, but then again there had been lots of cake and cookies and fruit served with tea.

It was a delightful day with lots of photos plus several minutes of the chicken song that every school girl learns.

Days Off

Note: In the past few days, my internet connection has become slower than molasses in January. Many items will not load so even this post is difficult to add. Good news is that my Close of Service date is July 5th so I expect to be in Minneapolis about July 7th.

I feel like I'm writing chapters in a book called The Adventures of Mrs. Peggy. The day's adventure revolves around school, air-conditioning, and rain. Thursday May 9th is a national holiday commemorating Russia defeating Germany in WWII, so it is another school holiday. It's been a week of perfect weather – sunny and warm, not hot. I sit outside in the afternoons and have lessons with Georgie and Igbal under the trees. Wednesday I even washed and dried some clothes on the line.

But it rained overnight, so a day off from school would have to be spent indoors. Unfortunately, Thursday was also the day that father arranged to install 2 air-conditioners in the house. That meant lots of noise and commotion early in the morning.

So while the rest of the household was still dreaming, host mom came into my room and started moving the furniture away from the wall. She was getting the room ready for the masters to come and drill holes in the brick walls for an air-conditioner. By 8:30 everyone was awake due to the noise. The day before Georgie had just used future tense at his language lesson, “Tomorrow I will sleep until noon.” Ha ha!

With the rain, the marsrutkas run less regularly, so I put off going to get some school documents printed, and buying 4 straw hats for the square dancers. I will do that today Friday because it's also a school holiday. This time it's Flower Day, a fancy name for celebrating the 90th birthday of the deceased father of the current president.

While I appreciate the effort to honor the man who served as AZ's president after the demise of the USSR, the phrase that comes to mind is “Cult of Personality.” Billboards, street names, and buildings abound in his name. IMHO, countries that rely upon a particular person and not principles for governance are stuck. When that hero leader died, he arranged for his son to become the next president.

It is quite difficult to turn the corner on communism when leaders steeply schooled in central planning, control and priviledge are still in leadership positions today.

Stuff I think about on my days off.

Weekend in Boradigah

I was invited to go for the weekend to Boradigah, a village nearby where my host mom grew up. Her 65 year old mother still has a house there. A big house with a large yard where she raised 5 sons and her only daughter. Her husband died about 25 years ago when my host mother was only 5 years old. I don't know how she managed, but her sons were already young adults and they have become successful businessmen – 4 in Moscow and 1 in Baku.

Host mom, Georgie and Igbal and I were driven to Boradigah by host dad in a little black Lada. I had taken this trip in the past via marsrutka and it took about 30 minutes. Georgie's dad: 10 minutes! What a ride. The family claimed he drove them in this car straight from Moscow without sleeping in a day! They laughed and told me not to worry. He dropped us off at nana's house and returned to Digah to run his shop, feed the chickens and look after the house.

I was amazed to see the size of nana's house. It is well-maintained and the yard includes a fountain plus several buildings where she used to make bread in tandir ovens and also preserved fruits. There was also a new but “extra” Mercedes with a dead battery parked near the house. Nana flew back from Moscow only last week, where she had been for 5 months. (Don't ask me why people live there in Winter but she was with her sons!) We needed to “open up” the house and a neighbor woman came over to help wash the paved yard.

While we were visiting an older woman stopped buy with a shopping bag full of things to sell. This reminded me 1950's America when peddlers stopped at farms with their wares. In her bag she had underwear, tablecloths, fabric, a dress, duvet cover and some curtains. Of course she was offered tea and we had a good time visiting when she marveled to see an American in Azerbaijan.

I spent some time relaxing in the yard and trying to finish reading The Round House on my kindle. The boys were up in an alchan tree eating many of those tart little green fruits. They also showed me the numerous fruit trees planted years ago: pear, black cherries, apple, guava, date, persimmon, lemon, and of course pomegranate. While I was reading, nana and Valentine (my host mom) made dolma and fried fish to go with the yogurt, tomatoes and cucumbers that are standard fare for supper.

They prepared a very comfortable bed for me upstairs in a room that also has a seating area, sink and stovetop. I had the upper floor with 4 rooms, toilet, and a large corridor to myself.

The biggest snafu was on my part. I forgot to bring along the battery charger for my camera, so I was only able to take some pictures when I first arrived. I also discovered that my data card did not work in my computer so I was unable to access the internet.

Saturday morning, nana fried piles of pirogies for breakfast. I also drank some raw milk which I had not done before while living in Azerbaijan. It was one of those moments when I didn't want to offend my hostess – unlike being able to refuse alcohol. One of nana's granddaughters came over to visit and I found out she remembers PCV Jade who taught at #2 school in Boradigah. Her name is Gulnur and she is currently living with her other nana while her father works in Moscow. She has one more year of school and needs to finish in Azerbaijan in order to be accepted in college in Baku. She said she wants to become a banker and travel.

After breakfast, I walked to a small store with Georgie and Igbal, but upon our return we were greeted by a foul smell in the yard. Nana had hired 2 butchers to come over and kill a sheep. The carcass was hanging and the innards were on the ground. I scurried past and laughed to myself about nana fulfilling the biblical story of “killing a fatted calf.” I thought we were having chicken and plov for supper, but it'll be fresh liver and potatoes.

As I write this it is about 2pm and any moment I'll be called to lunch. Again, I am feeling like I'm on a very interesting vacation: warm weather, sight-seeing, meal service, and a very comfy bed. Next week I'm back to teaching English.

A delightful day!

This morning and afternoon have been pure bliss. At school, I've been teaching songs to several classes as preparation for an English Assembly event on May 17th. The children want to sing the moment I walk into their classrooms. It's hard to get them to do anything else. I've taught the Hokey Pokey to several classes and they love the movements. Others will sing Raffi songs: Tingalayoo, Big Beautiful Planet, Like Me and You, and of course Wheels on the Bus. Primary classes will do Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes of course. And the teachers love the songs too. Next I need to teach Square Dancing to the 8th form.

Then this afternoon, I had a great English lesson with Georgie sitting out under the trees in the yard. The temperature was in the 70's so after the lesson, I decided to sit outside and read a book. That's when host mom Valentine appeared with afternoon tea and candies. I couldn't believe it. A couple of hours of reading and sipping tea. I got out my camera to document a leisurely afternoon.