A new chapter has begun in my Azerbaijani and overall existence. For the 1st time in my life I am living on my own. After 3 months of searching and seeing one overpriced dump after another I have finally found a new home and am currently the proud renter of a 3 bedroom decent apartment that has been recently repainted and slightly renovated. Of course it is not without problems in the sense that I don’t have a fridge and frankly I can’t afford one since they cost more than my living allowance. That should be interesting since the weather is already starting to get warmer and storing food will become an issue. Through this fridge experience I also learned another interesting fact about Azeris. They tell you what you think you might want to hear, even though five minuets later you will figure out that they were lying. For instance I had found an old fridge to buy from my counterparts relative. Even though I had not seen it I felt I could trust her since she is the Azeri I am closest to. When my 80 dollar “barely used, small, working fridge arrived,” I came to discover that the thing is at least 30 years old, is huge, rusty, and with 20 year old muck on it. When I turned it on, it not only sounded like a tractor but it vibrated the floor so bad that one could mistake not only the kitchen for a vibrator factory but also the whole floor! At least now I know…Furthermore, my neighborhood is not the friendliest looking and at night it is quite scary. I live next to the bazaar which is empty and dark at night and also right next to another refugee school which is almost as creepy looking as mine. I have to restart doing my pushups in case I have to fend the hoodlums off with my mighty fists. They won’t know what hit them!! Secret parties are already in the plans in order to break in the crib.
Other than that my first vacation passed. I went back to Bulgaria where I enjoyed a week of much deserved fun and civilization. I realized that I have changed, in the sense that I appreciated everything so much more. I couldn’t sleep the first two nights because my room was ‘too warm’ and got stomach problems eating my favorite foods. I have also never found clean toilets as exciting as I did then! Coming back to Azerbaijan was a whole different story. I had a panic attack on the airplane and made myself sick having to miss school for a week. Apparently most of us go through similar emotions when coming back from vacation and I have now begun the countdown for my next out of country experience.
In other news, winter is finally over (even though it is still freezing at night!), there are 8 more weeks of school, and I initiated the start of a new Peace Corps committee! Things are actually looking better, even though I feel there will be a future blog entry about the scorching heat that is about to befall me. Summers in Barda are hot and dry and with no air conditioning I will be a sweaty mess. At least showers will not be a problem…or will they (my apartment building hasn’t had water for 2+ weeks, but more about that issue next time)?
3 comments:
Ina, I don't care what you say, if I was there right now I'm sure we would be making out! Sounds like times are tough over there, I can't immagine but I am so impressed with everything you are doing. I am kind of scared of when you return to the states, I think you could kick my ass I will get off lucky with a little dirty talk and a quick spanking. I can immagine how difficult it was to return to Azerbaijan after vacation in bulgaria but it seems like you handled it better then anyone else and and as always have keep a positive outlook on everything. We miss you so much here and I always enjoy your blogs, take care, be safe and keep the stories comming!
Poor Ina! Panic attacks on the airplane? Girl, you need a real break! Hope you're doing better now! :-) Pammie
Ina! I'm so glad to hear you finally got a house with all the essentials. and with plenty of fresh fruit in the summer that sounds beautiful. It was devistating what happened at tech and I consider myself to be very fortunate that no one I know was injured or killed yet it still hurts. I know that there were no dz's or sigma chis injured or killed as well just in case you hadn't gotten word from anyone. I myself felt detached even being in NOVA, I felt like I needed to be in blacksburg for the vigils and whatnot but the community around here realy stepped up, the entire nation really with support, it has been very impressive. Well anyway, my new job is going well, working a lot, I'm doing pharmaceutical sales for Eli Lilly now selling osteoporosis drugs. Basically I call on OBGYN's all day and although I never get involved with the patients I did accidentally walk into some sort of V exam the other day. luckily the room was dark and I didn't see anything and the womans husband was not in the room but the doctor was pissed and threw me out of the office, I still haven't gone back. There fault for putting the drug sample closet right next to the exam room and not labeling either. Other then that I'm about to move into the Clarendon area and finally get my life settled the way I want it. Lauren and I are doing well, we actually just got back today from Newman's wedding, yea Newman is married! it was so much fun, lots of our old crowd there and lots of young people. Both family's were so much fun and sarah, newmans wife is so cool, she went to roanoke not sure if you ever met her or not. There was an open bar of top shelf liquor from 7 pm until 1130 pm and we took full advantage, then we went to a bar and did late night in the hotel rooms until about 4 am, well some of us did, I was actually disappointed when some people went to bed at 2 am. Dale was the best man and his speech was well very daleesk, and during the wedding ceremony he kept giving me the wink and the guy, gave me a high five when he walked by, and acted like he lost the rings when they asked for them, then he just handed the minister the full boxes instead of just the rings, it was great. Well hopefully you found this email entertaining, I miss you so much and am glad to hear things are getting better and better over there, summer break is just a few weeks away! by inster!
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