Almost done!

My service is slowly coming to an end and there are only 2 weeks left till I must go to Baku and close out my Azeri life. Who would have thought that through all of the anticipation to finally finish I would actually become nostalgic? It happened and I am realizing how many small things have mattered a lot to me, and how leaving them won’t be a piece of cake. At the top of the list for that is Kiwi (my dog) who with the help of my friend Meredith, I will try to bring to America next summer. I have become so attached to her, and I miss her even when I travel within Azerbaijan. Too bad she can’t drink beers with me in the summer heat…Some other things that have mattered to me and I will miss are:

• My two favorite students Fidan and Shabnam.
• My house, since who knows when I can afford to live on my own again.
• Famile, my counterpart, who has always stood behind my decisions and has helped me through my problems.
• My Peace Corps friends.
• Making my own work schedule and not working a 9-5 job.
• Not worrying about money (too much) and having hassle free health care.

There are probably more aspects of my life that I will realize I’ll miss as my time here diminishes. Needless to say I am also looking forward to plenty when I come home, such as: a social life, supermarkets, sit down toilets, sushi, and washing machines among others.

Two things that I am most definitely happy to be leaving behind are Azeri men and being a teacher. I take my hat off to all of my current colleagues because teaching is not as effortless as it may and in fact is pretty hard! Maybe it’s a bit different teaching here, but still, I can’t picture ever being able to handle the job with the little amount of patience I possess.

So you probably wonder what I have been doing for the past 2 months? The answer is: not much! Once school ended and the heat cranked up to 90-100 degrees everyday, it is not only I who wanted to hide out with a fan in my face. All summer I have had one conversation club which would meet bi-weekly for 2 hours and that’s about it. I left Barda a few times to go help out friends with their clubs and camps, and finally took a trip to go see the mountains with my friends from Baku. Other than that I have been sitting at home in front of the Internet, cuddling a frozen water bottle and waiting for the sun to go down so I can function. Don’t ever take your air conditioning for granted people!!!

So everyone has been asking about my return. As previously mentioned I arrive on September 21st at Dulles, at 8:53 pm. Its taking me a little longer to get home because I'm taking a week to go to Berlin and re-civilize myself. When I come back home base will be my mom’s house in Alexandria for about one month, and around October 19th I’m heading out to Breckenridge, CO to live for the winter. I will email ways to reach me as soon as I get a cell phone and then the reunions shall begin. I can’t wait!!!

Pictures: 1) At Ilisu in Gax 2) Fidan and I 3) Museum in Sheki 4) In Sheki with Bulgarians 5) The Kiwi