I Dream Of Shower...

I am sitting here trying to figure out what to write and I really can’t think of an exciting topic so I’ll just tell you about the logistics of my recent life. Work is trotting along, the weather is tolerable, and my Baku visits have been frequent due to work necessities. The one thing that has changed are the prices which has made me enjoy host family life less and caused me to spend my living allowance half way through each month. With the New Year and Russia flexing its gas muscle, Azerbaijan retaliated by raising the prices for everything (water, gas, transportation) including that of electricity which went up by 3 times! I never realized how much my life relied on power until now and this situation is really frustrating me. First, my bathing capability has worsened; if I want more than one shower a week I have to heat up buckets of water and bathe 17th century style because heating up the boiler uses a ton of power. Second, I am restricted on running my electric heater and spend cold nights dressed like a cabbage in my sleeping bag killing any desire to be productive. And finally the few rooms in the school that were heated are now the same temperature as outside making my life in Barda uncomfortable EVERYWHER. Additionally I can’t use my water distiller as much and have to pay 25% more when I travel to Baku and the regions. So yes, life has changed a bit and when I said, “I am pretty” before, post price increase Ina is even more fun to look at!! I hope that once I move out, things will get better, but finding a place is proving impossible, mostly because people are trying to sabotage me. It is rare, if at all existent, for women my age to live alone and the fact that I don’t get a salary also doesn’t help. To top it off I just found out host dad lost his job as a truck driver, which means even more restrictions in my weird existence

My work here is not really exciting and maddening at times. I have approximately 4 classes every day, where I co-teach with my older counterparts. Its tougher than it sounds, because all the ‘new methodology’ I am trying to show is just NOT sinking in. They basically teach to the 4 students that get it, and assign memorization of obscenely long texts for homework. If I had to learn the way these kids do I would definitely not speak English either. I also have conversation clubs, where I struggle trying to trying to make the kids think on their own, because children here have never been made to use their imagination. If you show them something on paper they get it and can translate it into their language perfectly, but if I ask “Why?” or make them play pretend NOTHING comes out. That is what takes up most of my time and since I don’t really like teaching I struggle with it more than others. Some other activities I am involved in are trying to start a Peace Corps Environmental Committee, renovate the school gym (which is a whole challenge on its own), and working on logistics for a summer camp for girls with other Peace Corps volunteers.

The picture describes my current state of mind and the blog is a bit on the depressing side mostly because I am cold right now. Other than that I am going to Bulgaria in a month and am going to come back in higher spirits. WOO HOO!