Thursday, April 30, 2009
Busy
Last week we had a two-day meeting here in Ganja with Peace Corps Volunteers who started with me last September. It was the first time we were together in a group since we left for our assignments in December. It was interesting to see everyone and hear how they are doing.
Our assignments are broken down into three categories—those who work as English teachers typically live in small villages and team teach with an Azerbaijani English teacher. Often they are the only foreigner for miles and have to travel on the weekend to see another volunteer. Some villages have no electricity or gas at night and even in the daytime, gas and electricity are not guaranteed. A few villages do not yet have gas lines. So some volunteers keep warm with wood stoves.
Others are youth development workers—which means they primarily serve those under 25 years of age. They are assigned to a youth organization and spend part of their time working there. These workers are located in small villages and larger cities all over the country.
My group is the Community Economic Development group and we work in businesses, mostly in larger cities. All of us are to spend part of our time with our organizations and part on our own projects that interest us. I work 3 ½ days a week at a micro-credit organization and work on mostly non-business project with the rest of my time.
Last week, for example, I led a weekly English conversation club, which is a group of English speakers who want to improve their spoken English. I get to know Azeri people this way.. I also met with two different university students and walked around my city with them. We get to know each other and talk about things that interest us--half of the time in English and half of the time in Azeri. I taught two yoga classes and had one women’s health discussion group. I did these things with my friend Elaine, who is a Peace Corps Volunteer in my town.
Elaine is unusual for several reasons. After serving in the Peace Corps in Honduras some years ago, she has great perspective on the job. She has lived an interesting life and is extremely active and outgoing, dresses beautifully, (which is difficult here) and has lovely long hair that curls when it gets damp. She is a huge feminist and has volunteered for different women’s organizations all her life. She reads prolifically and text messages people all day long. Elaine is the oldest volunteer of all Peace Corps Volunteers world-wide and willl be 80 this summer. A party in Tblisi, Georgia with other volunteers is her plan to celebrate her birthday. I will be there.
Our assignments are broken down into three categories—those who work as English teachers typically live in small villages and team teach with an Azerbaijani English teacher. Often they are the only foreigner for miles and have to travel on the weekend to see another volunteer. Some villages have no electricity or gas at night and even in the daytime, gas and electricity are not guaranteed. A few villages do not yet have gas lines. So some volunteers keep warm with wood stoves.
Others are youth development workers—which means they primarily serve those under 25 years of age. They are assigned to a youth organization and spend part of their time working there. These workers are located in small villages and larger cities all over the country.
My group is the Community Economic Development group and we work in businesses, mostly in larger cities. All of us are to spend part of our time with our organizations and part on our own projects that interest us. I work 3 ½ days a week at a micro-credit organization and work on mostly non-business project with the rest of my time.
Last week, for example, I led a weekly English conversation club, which is a group of English speakers who want to improve their spoken English. I get to know Azeri people this way.. I also met with two different university students and walked around my city with them. We get to know each other and talk about things that interest us--half of the time in English and half of the time in Azeri. I taught two yoga classes and had one women’s health discussion group. I did these things with my friend Elaine, who is a Peace Corps Volunteer in my town.
Elaine is unusual for several reasons. After serving in the Peace Corps in Honduras some years ago, she has great perspective on the job. She has lived an interesting life and is extremely active and outgoing, dresses beautifully, (which is difficult here) and has lovely long hair that curls when it gets damp. She is a huge feminist and has volunteered for different women’s organizations all her life. She reads prolifically and text messages people all day long. Elaine is the oldest volunteer of all Peace Corps Volunteers world-wide and willl be 80 this summer. A party in Tblisi, Georgia with other volunteers is her plan to celebrate her birthday. I will be there.
Monday, April 20, 2009
My mom and Gorbachev
My host mother, a calm person up to now, is really annoyed with me. I can’t follow everything that she is saying, but don’t want to ask detailed questions. I think I know what I said that started her on this tirade, because I have heard all of this before from other people.
It started when she asked me what my daughter, Kelly is up to. I mentioned that she will be attending an event at her school in which the speaker is Mikayil Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR. Under his rule, the Soviet Union collapsed and the 15 countries became separate and mostly democratic. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
At the mention of his name, she stiffened and told me how he is despised in Azerbaijan. She is old enough to remember the time in 1991 when the USSR collapsed and overnight Azerbaijan was cut loose with no federal government and no system for running things. Effectively, no one had a job, at least not one that paid, no one was in charge, schools closed, there were no police, utilities, monetary system, medical services and of course, chaos reigned.
For about three years, things went very badly until the former head of the KGB, who was Azerbaijani, Heydar Aliyev, took over and gradually restored some order. He is widely revered here, with a statue of him in literally every city of any size. He died five years ago and his son took over as president.
Things are still not nearly back to being as successful as they were in the days of the USSR. The GNP is about 10 percent of what is was then, unemployment is very high, health and welfare problems abound (for example, there is a much higher infant and maternal mortality rate), women’s rights have regressed and poverty is high. Many people think that the country is not on an upward trajectory.
My host mother blames Gorbachev for the capitalist economy, which she says is bad for Azerbaijan. In contrast to a time when they could save money and had good schools and full employment, she points to her unemployed son, the low salaries that she and her husband earn (her husband, an engineer, earns about 90 cents an hour), the (in her view) poor medical care and schools (she is a teacher) and is angry that the Soviet Union went away. She is very satisfied with the job that the current president is doing, she just feels that the former system produced better results for the people.
I mention to her that in the US, we constantly read stories about how there was not enough food in the Soviet countries, that Soviets wanted to buy more luxury goods and better quality items, which were not sold there. Also, that they could not travel outside of the 15 country area and were effectively prisoners.
She said that the stories about lack of merchandise and food in Azerbaijan were “lies” and that she can’t afford to travel anywhere in Azerbaijan now, so having the means to travel to 15 countries then was wonderful. The Soviet collective farms produced much more food than privately owned farms produce now and there is no good way to get excess crops out of the country due to poor roads and lack of modern farming machinery. In many cases, the modern equipment that existed in Soviet times has been replaced by donkeys and wagons.
I know now not to discuss this situation with my host mother unless I approach it from a different angle—asking questions and empathizing instead of blurting out to her the American perspective as fact. I realize now how strongly democracy is a knee-jerk reaction for Americans—many of think that everyone would have a better life if they lived in a democracy like ours. But I am coming to appreciate how the type of government one chooses is a reflection on culture, values and a historical perspective.
I realize that what we have in common with people in countries with other types of governments is that we all want the same things—a way to earn a secure living, a good future for our children and the security of being safe in our own communities and countries. For some people, our type of democracy may not be their preference in providing the type of life and security they want.
One other perspective I have come to understand is that we always hear from immigrants in the US how much they like our country and our economic system. As a result, we feel that most people like our system. What I am beginning to understand is that many are not comfortable with our system and these are the people who don’t come to America or who come for an education and then return home.
It started when she asked me what my daughter, Kelly is up to. I mentioned that she will be attending an event at her school in which the speaker is Mikayil Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR. Under his rule, the Soviet Union collapsed and the 15 countries became separate and mostly democratic. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
At the mention of his name, she stiffened and told me how he is despised in Azerbaijan. She is old enough to remember the time in 1991 when the USSR collapsed and overnight Azerbaijan was cut loose with no federal government and no system for running things. Effectively, no one had a job, at least not one that paid, no one was in charge, schools closed, there were no police, utilities, monetary system, medical services and of course, chaos reigned.
For about three years, things went very badly until the former head of the KGB, who was Azerbaijani, Heydar Aliyev, took over and gradually restored some order. He is widely revered here, with a statue of him in literally every city of any size. He died five years ago and his son took over as president.
Things are still not nearly back to being as successful as they were in the days of the USSR. The GNP is about 10 percent of what is was then, unemployment is very high, health and welfare problems abound (for example, there is a much higher infant and maternal mortality rate), women’s rights have regressed and poverty is high. Many people think that the country is not on an upward trajectory.
My host mother blames Gorbachev for the capitalist economy, which she says is bad for Azerbaijan. In contrast to a time when they could save money and had good schools and full employment, she points to her unemployed son, the low salaries that she and her husband earn (her husband, an engineer, earns about 90 cents an hour), the (in her view) poor medical care and schools (she is a teacher) and is angry that the Soviet Union went away. She is very satisfied with the job that the current president is doing, she just feels that the former system produced better results for the people.
I mention to her that in the US, we constantly read stories about how there was not enough food in the Soviet countries, that Soviets wanted to buy more luxury goods and better quality items, which were not sold there. Also, that they could not travel outside of the 15 country area and were effectively prisoners.
She said that the stories about lack of merchandise and food in Azerbaijan were “lies” and that she can’t afford to travel anywhere in Azerbaijan now, so having the means to travel to 15 countries then was wonderful. The Soviet collective farms produced much more food than privately owned farms produce now and there is no good way to get excess crops out of the country due to poor roads and lack of modern farming machinery. In many cases, the modern equipment that existed in Soviet times has been replaced by donkeys and wagons.
I know now not to discuss this situation with my host mother unless I approach it from a different angle—asking questions and empathizing instead of blurting out to her the American perspective as fact. I realize now how strongly democracy is a knee-jerk reaction for Americans—many of think that everyone would have a better life if they lived in a democracy like ours. But I am coming to appreciate how the type of government one chooses is a reflection on culture, values and a historical perspective.
I realize that what we have in common with people in countries with other types of governments is that we all want the same things—a way to earn a secure living, a good future for our children and the security of being safe in our own communities and countries. For some people, our type of democracy may not be their preference in providing the type of life and security they want.
One other perspective I have come to understand is that we always hear from immigrants in the US how much they like our country and our economic system. As a result, we feel that most people like our system. What I am beginning to understand is that many are not comfortable with our system and these are the people who don’t come to America or who come for an education and then return home.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Clothes--What Azeris have in Common with the Man in Black, Johnny Cash
The clothing can be described as Soviet in appearance. Most clothing is all black, with some trim, such as metal studs, and for women, glitter, rhinestones, black vinyl purses and jackets. Clothing also features lots of silver brocade, mirror sequins, and plastic shiny stuff.
As Azerbaijan is a Muslim country, one might assume that modest clothing is worn. It is true that men don’t show their lower legs, chests or upper arms and swimsuits for men have tops. Women don’t wear shorts, but some do wear tight clothing, theatrical makeup and elaborate hairdos.
Women rarely have hair shorter than shoulder length and when going out everyone tends to dress up much more than we do in the U.S. My host mother is a teacher and women teachers always wear skirts—male teachers always wear suits and ties. However, in the house, women wear “house clothing” such as terrycloth pajamas or a smock over pants so they don’t ruin their good clothing. People have very few clothes compared with Americans and may wear the same outfit most of the week. My host sister, who is 16, has one pair of pajamas that she wears when she is at home and has worn them all winter. I think this is because clothing is more expensive here than in the US and since it is mostly black, there is no point in having five black skirts or pairs of pants.
Many men go everywhere in suits, having no casual clothing. My host father hangs around the house in his suit, but does loosen his tie. Azerbaijanis love gold jewelry, but it tends to be in very elaborate settings with many small stones. Women get expensive jewelry at their weddings and many wear the same jewelry every day. Young women enjoy wearing costume jewelry.
Azerbaijan is a good country for an American recovering shopaholic as most Americans would not be tempted by anything they saw in the stores. Besides being more expensive than comparable American goods, the clothing, furniture, jewelry and other goods is just not to our taste.
I have met a few women who wear a hijab, but saw about as many women in a hijab in St. Louis as here. I am getting to know one woman who does wear one. She is the host mother of another Peace Corps worker. She surprised both of us because she did not fit our stereotype of the hijab-wearing woman.
This woman is in her late 40’s and has two daughters in their 20’s. Her family members, like most Azeris consider themselves to be Muslims but do not practice the religion. She had a Koran and met a Jew who gave her a copy of the Torah. She read it and became interested in some of the common characters in the two holy books. After much reading and studying on her own, she decided to become an observant Muslim.
Her husband and family are fine with this, but don’t participate. She is extremely supportive of her daughters and their education and is not pressuring them to marry, as most Azeris do. One of her daughters has no interest in marriage, housework or cooking, has a professional position and an advanced degree. Most Azeri families would not accept a lack of interest in marriage, but this woman is completely supportive.
As Azerbaijan is a Muslim country, one might assume that modest clothing is worn. It is true that men don’t show their lower legs, chests or upper arms and swimsuits for men have tops. Women don’t wear shorts, but some do wear tight clothing, theatrical makeup and elaborate hairdos.
Women rarely have hair shorter than shoulder length and when going out everyone tends to dress up much more than we do in the U.S. My host mother is a teacher and women teachers always wear skirts—male teachers always wear suits and ties. However, in the house, women wear “house clothing” such as terrycloth pajamas or a smock over pants so they don’t ruin their good clothing. People have very few clothes compared with Americans and may wear the same outfit most of the week. My host sister, who is 16, has one pair of pajamas that she wears when she is at home and has worn them all winter. I think this is because clothing is more expensive here than in the US and since it is mostly black, there is no point in having five black skirts or pairs of pants.
Many men go everywhere in suits, having no casual clothing. My host father hangs around the house in his suit, but does loosen his tie. Azerbaijanis love gold jewelry, but it tends to be in very elaborate settings with many small stones. Women get expensive jewelry at their weddings and many wear the same jewelry every day. Young women enjoy wearing costume jewelry.
Azerbaijan is a good country for an American recovering shopaholic as most Americans would not be tempted by anything they saw in the stores. Besides being more expensive than comparable American goods, the clothing, furniture, jewelry and other goods is just not to our taste.
I have met a few women who wear a hijab, but saw about as many women in a hijab in St. Louis as here. I am getting to know one woman who does wear one. She is the host mother of another Peace Corps worker. She surprised both of us because she did not fit our stereotype of the hijab-wearing woman.
This woman is in her late 40’s and has two daughters in their 20’s. Her family members, like most Azeris consider themselves to be Muslims but do not practice the religion. She had a Koran and met a Jew who gave her a copy of the Torah. She read it and became interested in some of the common characters in the two holy books. After much reading and studying on her own, she decided to become an observant Muslim.
Her husband and family are fine with this, but don’t participate. She is extremely supportive of her daughters and their education and is not pressuring them to marry, as most Azeris do. One of her daughters has no interest in marriage, housework or cooking, has a professional position and an advanced degree. Most Azeri families would not accept a lack of interest in marriage, but this woman is completely supportive.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Normal
My new family has running water, no rodents, no crazy grandma, and has no plans to move to Baku. They are what we call in Azerbaijan “normal”. Just like all those other Azerbaijani words—noutbuk (laptop computer), biznes (business), kofe (coffee) and maşın (machine).
Of course, they are “Azerbaijani normal”, which means before I had been living in the home 24 hours, I knew (without asking) how much money they made, how much they spent on everything and got a rundown of their family background and history, including their medical history and issues with relatives and was asked all of these things about myself.
The home is on a wide major street and is an apartment on the second floor of a two-story building. It is considered to be a nice home on a nice street in a nice section of town. The apartment has a living room/dining room combination, a kitchen, shower/toilet room with a sink outside the door, two large bedrooms and a balcony. My family has a husband and wife, a 20-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter.
The husband, who has a degree from the local scientific college, is an engineer, although I am not sure what he actually does at work. He works 7 days a week for about 12 hours a day. The wife is a third-grade teacher. Teachers work from about 8:00 to about noon. She then has students to tutor for about two hours in the afternoon and makes extra money doing this.
This family, like all the Azerbaijani families I have lived with, is very friendly, supportive and understanding. They take me with them if I want to go with them on errands, to visit relatives or just to the market. They guide me when I do something incorrect--like cross my legs on the bus--and try to understand when I don't follow their advice--like continue to go to internet cafes when most Azerbaijanis feel that only "bad women" go there.
My host brother is unemployed after having recently lost a job in which he drove a truck to local markets, selling them toiletry and soap products. He worked from about 9 a.m. to about 9 p.m. seven days a week. My host sister has finished high school and is in a special course to study for university entrance. Those who do well do not have to pay tuition.
Peace Corps volunteers, when speaking with each other about their families refer to our "mom, dad, sister and brother." So although I have been older than all my moms, I still call them that. My host father makes about 160 AZN a month, which is about $200. My host mother, between her teaching and her after-school students makes AZN140 a month, which is about $175. Out of the AZN300 they make, they spend AZN200 on their daughter’s prep course for university. This course is for 9 months.
They spend nothing to live in their home, as Azeris own their own homes—they were given homes by the government. Their utilities run about $40 per month—gas, electricity water and phone. Food and clothing is their only other expense. Food is about $25 a week and is very meager—today we have two loaves of bread to eat (about 50 cents each), some spongy potatoes, some small, old apples, a can of fat, a few carrots, some onions and a little pasta. As I previously mentioned, the markets are full of beautiful locally grown produce, but we don’t have any of it.
My host parents sleep in one of the bedrooms, my host brother sleeps on the couch (and always has) and I inhabit my host sister’s room, so she sleeps in her parents’ room.
Once we are in our permanent assignments for four months, we are able to renegotiate our contracts with our families. I have renegotiated mine so that beginning April 12, I can pay them for my room only and buy my own food. I will have about AZN3 a day, or $3.60 to buy food. I am really looking forward to this because I can eat adequately on this sum—goodbye to spongy potatoes and white bread.
Of course, they are “Azerbaijani normal”, which means before I had been living in the home 24 hours, I knew (without asking) how much money they made, how much they spent on everything and got a rundown of their family background and history, including their medical history and issues with relatives and was asked all of these things about myself.
The home is on a wide major street and is an apartment on the second floor of a two-story building. It is considered to be a nice home on a nice street in a nice section of town. The apartment has a living room/dining room combination, a kitchen, shower/toilet room with a sink outside the door, two large bedrooms and a balcony. My family has a husband and wife, a 20-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter.
The husband, who has a degree from the local scientific college, is an engineer, although I am not sure what he actually does at work. He works 7 days a week for about 12 hours a day. The wife is a third-grade teacher. Teachers work from about 8:00 to about noon. She then has students to tutor for about two hours in the afternoon and makes extra money doing this.
This family, like all the Azerbaijani families I have lived with, is very friendly, supportive and understanding. They take me with them if I want to go with them on errands, to visit relatives or just to the market. They guide me when I do something incorrect--like cross my legs on the bus--and try to understand when I don't follow their advice--like continue to go to internet cafes when most Azerbaijanis feel that only "bad women" go there.
My host brother is unemployed after having recently lost a job in which he drove a truck to local markets, selling them toiletry and soap products. He worked from about 9 a.m. to about 9 p.m. seven days a week. My host sister has finished high school and is in a special course to study for university entrance. Those who do well do not have to pay tuition.
Peace Corps volunteers, when speaking with each other about their families refer to our "mom, dad, sister and brother." So although I have been older than all my moms, I still call them that. My host father makes about 160 AZN a month, which is about $200. My host mother, between her teaching and her after-school students makes AZN140 a month, which is about $175. Out of the AZN300 they make, they spend AZN200 on their daughter’s prep course for university. This course is for 9 months.
They spend nothing to live in their home, as Azeris own their own homes—they were given homes by the government. Their utilities run about $40 per month—gas, electricity water and phone. Food and clothing is their only other expense. Food is about $25 a week and is very meager—today we have two loaves of bread to eat (about 50 cents each), some spongy potatoes, some small, old apples, a can of fat, a few carrots, some onions and a little pasta. As I previously mentioned, the markets are full of beautiful locally grown produce, but we don’t have any of it.
My host parents sleep in one of the bedrooms, my host brother sleeps on the couch (and always has) and I inhabit my host sister’s room, so she sleeps in her parents’ room.
Once we are in our permanent assignments for four months, we are able to renegotiate our contracts with our families. I have renegotiated mine so that beginning April 12, I can pay them for my room only and buy my own food. I will have about AZN3 a day, or $3.60 to buy food. I am really looking forward to this because I can eat adequately on this sum—goodbye to spongy potatoes and white bread.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Food in Azerbaijan
I love the food here. I feel the food is of a better quality, more types of food are available, and it is healthier. Besides the fact that almost all the food here is locally grown without pesticides, most Azerbaijanis are excellent cooks and enjoy cooking.
The market in my town is amazing. It covers about four square blocks with huge quantities of lush, beautiful produce. This time of year, there are mountains of shiny, plump tangerines from southern Azerbaijan, cartloads of apples from northern Azerbaijan, every kind of winter vegetable you can imagine, the most beautiful spinach I have ever seen, and loads of freshly cut herbs.
There are stalls of freshly made yogurt, homemade cheeses and sausages, dried and fresh spices. Beautiful dried apricots, figs and prunes are displayed. The food is organically produced, but is not professionally certified, so is not technically organic. The food is inexpensive and mostly does not come in packages. Do you want yogurt, milk or cottage cheese? Bring your own buckets. Do you want eggs laid yesterday? They will be put into a small plastic bag instead of a carton. Round loaves of bread are stacked without any covering. As a result, Azerbaijani families generate very little trash.
The recipes are mostly quite different from the foods we eat. One snack food is lavash that is sprinkled with goat cheese. Different green herbs are chopped up and sprinkled over the lavash. It is then rolled up and eaten. This is made and eaten at home. Delicious. Another is a huge pot of freshly made yogurt with a couple of eggs, stirred on the stove until it boils. Then chopped herbs are dropped in and it is served. They also make a great sauce for meat and vegetables by mincing garlic in yogurt and leaving it sit for a day or so.
But snacks are not what they are in US. Azeri people in my town eat at meals, not in between. They don’t have paper cups or plates or plasticware because they don’t eat away from home. They don’t eat on the bus, drink while walking down the street or stash food in their purse or pocket. They are not very interested in eating out as the food is the same at the restaurant as it is at home. But they like to entertain and have guests often.
Men shop for food at the markets as well as women and men and women seems to be equally represented in owning and operating market businesses.
One of the disappointing things is that quite a few Azeris don’t much like fruits and/or vegetables. Bread and potatoes are staples as are paint-can sized buckets of beef fat. A family can easily use up one of these cans in two weeks. And my families have not spent much on food, even though it is cheap, so I go weeks at a time with only apples for fruit. Apples are the cheapest fruit in the winter. Of course, it is not appropriate to demand different fruit, so I eat apples.
Why is there so much cheap food here? One answer is that the food can’t easily be exported, as the transportation system is so poor. Bad roads, poor railroad tracks and little mechanization result in an inability to move crops out of the country easily. In Soviet days, the transportation system was better, and many canning factories existed to process food for the entire Soviet bloc, creating many jobs, which no longer exist. (In fact there are abandoned factories of many types in several regions of of Azerbaijan, especially near Baku. Near our training village, there are long stretches of road with huge plants abandoned in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. It is eerie to see the deteriorating infrastructure of huge buildings, pipelines, railroad tracks and abandoned boxcars that were ready in 1991 to take the goods to market.)
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, crop production is down some 75 percent as irrigation systems and machinery that existed then are no longer available. Also, as the collective farms were split into small farms for families to run, the abilities of the families to manage their acreage and basic knowledge of how to farm varies widely. It is estimated that 20 to 40 percent of crops spoil in the fields for lack of a market or the ability to get it there.
My current host family makes different hot and cold soups, and has lots of bread and potatoes on hand. All of it is covered in fresh herbs. Despite the abundance of cheap food, many families have very little cash to spend. I will cover this topic and meat in future blogs.
Beginning in April, though, we will be able to renegotiate our agreements with our host families and just pay them for our room. This way, we can keep the food money, buy and cook food ourselves. I am looking forward to this arrangement, although my budget will still be limited.
The market in my town is amazing. It covers about four square blocks with huge quantities of lush, beautiful produce. This time of year, there are mountains of shiny, plump tangerines from southern Azerbaijan, cartloads of apples from northern Azerbaijan, every kind of winter vegetable you can imagine, the most beautiful spinach I have ever seen, and loads of freshly cut herbs.
There are stalls of freshly made yogurt, homemade cheeses and sausages, dried and fresh spices. Beautiful dried apricots, figs and prunes are displayed. The food is organically produced, but is not professionally certified, so is not technically organic. The food is inexpensive and mostly does not come in packages. Do you want yogurt, milk or cottage cheese? Bring your own buckets. Do you want eggs laid yesterday? They will be put into a small plastic bag instead of a carton. Round loaves of bread are stacked without any covering. As a result, Azerbaijani families generate very little trash.
The recipes are mostly quite different from the foods we eat. One snack food is lavash that is sprinkled with goat cheese. Different green herbs are chopped up and sprinkled over the lavash. It is then rolled up and eaten. This is made and eaten at home. Delicious. Another is a huge pot of freshly made yogurt with a couple of eggs, stirred on the stove until it boils. Then chopped herbs are dropped in and it is served. They also make a great sauce for meat and vegetables by mincing garlic in yogurt and leaving it sit for a day or so.
But snacks are not what they are in US. Azeri people in my town eat at meals, not in between. They don’t have paper cups or plates or plasticware because they don’t eat away from home. They don’t eat on the bus, drink while walking down the street or stash food in their purse or pocket. They are not very interested in eating out as the food is the same at the restaurant as it is at home. But they like to entertain and have guests often.
Men shop for food at the markets as well as women and men and women seems to be equally represented in owning and operating market businesses.
One of the disappointing things is that quite a few Azeris don’t much like fruits and/or vegetables. Bread and potatoes are staples as are paint-can sized buckets of beef fat. A family can easily use up one of these cans in two weeks. And my families have not spent much on food, even though it is cheap, so I go weeks at a time with only apples for fruit. Apples are the cheapest fruit in the winter. Of course, it is not appropriate to demand different fruit, so I eat apples.
Why is there so much cheap food here? One answer is that the food can’t easily be exported, as the transportation system is so poor. Bad roads, poor railroad tracks and little mechanization result in an inability to move crops out of the country easily. In Soviet days, the transportation system was better, and many canning factories existed to process food for the entire Soviet bloc, creating many jobs, which no longer exist. (In fact there are abandoned factories of many types in several regions of of Azerbaijan, especially near Baku. Near our training village, there are long stretches of road with huge plants abandoned in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. It is eerie to see the deteriorating infrastructure of huge buildings, pipelines, railroad tracks and abandoned boxcars that were ready in 1991 to take the goods to market.)
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, crop production is down some 75 percent as irrigation systems and machinery that existed then are no longer available. Also, as the collective farms were split into small farms for families to run, the abilities of the families to manage their acreage and basic knowledge of how to farm varies widely. It is estimated that 20 to 40 percent of crops spoil in the fields for lack of a market or the ability to get it there.
My current host family makes different hot and cold soups, and has lots of bread and potatoes on hand. All of it is covered in fresh herbs. Despite the abundance of cheap food, many families have very little cash to spend. I will cover this topic and meat in future blogs.
Beginning in April, though, we will be able to renegotiate our agreements with our host families and just pay them for our room. This way, we can keep the food money, buy and cook food ourselves. I am looking forward to this arrangement, although my budget will still be limited.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Nice New Family—and Rats?
My new family lived in what could be called a compound. There was a large gate off the street which opened into a courtyard. There were four buildings on the ground floor, all small and one-room—the first was a hamam, with a shower and hot water heater. The second, a toilet (squat) building, also with a water heater, which acted as a furnace for keeping the building warm in the winter. Another was a tailor shop, my new host mother’s business. The fourth was my room.
My room had a sofa which I used as a bed, a dresser, sink, table, chair and for heat, a gas stove plopped along one wall. The family instructed me to turn on one burner when I was cold. There was a window, but the room was dark and very damp. The family lived upstairs in a home that was balanced on top of my building and the tailor shop.
Besides my mother, a widow, the family also had a daughter-in-law, a 3-month-old baby and a son who worked in Baku, about 7 hours by bus, and tried to come home as often as he could. A bonus for me is that the family had a small terrier and four 4-week-old puppies, which lived in the warm hamam. I was to go upstairs for meals and for any other time that I wanted. The host mother was an excellent cook, the baby and puppies were adorable and the daughter-in-law friendly and nice.
The first night after dinner I went to my room to study and heard rustling after awhile. Shortly, a mouse emerged. I went upstairs and the family came downstairs, found a hole, patched it and we all went to bed. I slept all night.
The next night, I heard some loud scratching noises coming from the ceiling. I thought the dog had gotten into the house, and went back to sleep.
The third night I heard the same noises before bedtime and went out to look for the dog. She was outside my door. I was puzzled about the scratching, but went to bed. I was awaked at 3 a.m. by loud scratching in the ceiling coming from several parts of the ceiling. It persisted for several minutes and I could hear different sets of feet that sounded much too large to be mice.
I decided right then that I could not sleep in that room another night. I reached for my phone and began texting the Peace Corps and a friend to I hoped to stay with the next night. The noises became so loud that I felt I would not be able to have a conversation with someone without raising my voice. I use the “record” feature on my phone to record the sounds. In the morning, I wondered if I had been dreaming, but listened to the recording and began looking for another house.
My host family was sad, but understood that I was afraid of rodents. They offered to move the tailor shop into my room and convert the tailor shop into a new place for me. By this time I had found another family.
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