Mingachevir is the fourth largest city in Azerbaijan, and was absolutely beautiful, particularly in comparison to the urban sprawl we’ve grown accustomed to on the Absheron Penninsula. Mingachevir was definitely a city, but it felt small and manageable. Most importantly to my eyes, was it was clean. Partly this was because Illham Aliyev had visited a few weeks earlier, but the main streets had public trash cans, and the streets and grassy areas were clean of litter. It was beautiful. Mingachevir, I should note for geographical followers, is located on the bottom tip of the large lake (actually a man-made reservoir) just northwest of the center of Azerbaijan. The city was started by the Russians and because of a hydro-electric dam, powers around 60% of the country, and supposedly some of Georgia as well.
We traveled to Mingachevir via marshrutka, which is a small bus/large van which seats about 15 including people sitting next to the driver. Four people were wedged into the back seat. Needless to say, it’s a bit cramped. The bus traveled through the mountains (large hills), which were coated in a thick fog which slowed us down, though not as much as a couple long rest breaks. On the way back these hills were clear, and we could finally see some of the countryside.
On the marshrutka to Mingachevir, a young man who spoke English was sitting with us, and revealed after a short while that he was one of the youth that Sean regularly works with. Talk about small worlds, even in Azerbaijan. (Another super small world moment is that there is another volunteer here whose aunt works with my dad back home). Upon arriving at the city’s bus station on the outskirts, he then helped us fend off taxi drivers and got us on the bus to the bazaar. Despite our arguments, he even paid for the bus fare for all of us. He was on his way back from seeing a heavy metal concert in Baku.
At the bazaar we met Sean, as well as the other two AZ7 volunteers in Mingachevir, one of whom is CED, the other TEFL (there are currently 6 total volunteers, 3 AZ6ers who will be leaving in the next two months).
One of the biggest highlights for us visiting was the chance to eat some American food. Dinner the first night was a potato soup, with all sorts of exciting spices and sauces (jalapeno sauce, mmmmm). The second night we made spaghetti with tomato sauce that included eggplant, and more interestingly Taco Bell hot sauce packets for extra zest.
The second day, Jarret and I slept in (unheard of during PST!) and then went to lunch with Sean and had possibly one of my favorite Azerbaijani dishes to date: xengal. We have had another version at the bar (and is now widely referred to as the “man cave”) we go to on Saturdays, which is basically dumplings. This was entirely different—wide flat noodles akin to those in lasagna, cooked in oil with ground beef on top and yogurt on the side to be added on top. Absolutely delicious. Clearly, food is important to me.
After lunch we joined Sean to observe and participate in his work. (whoa the purpose of the trip!). Sean took us to a conversation club meeting, at which we had a back and forth question and answer session with the Azeris. Then we went to a TOEFL lesson (basically the GRE for Azeris who want to learn to teach English as a foreign language in university). It was a complete flashback to high school English class as Sean taught about how to write an essay—a skill that many Azerbaijanis are unfamiliar with.
The most fun project was saved for last: the softball team. PCVs have created a softball league between different sites. The PCVs coach the teams, but Azerbaijani team captains lead the teams, and the players are all Azeri. We played a fantastic scrimmage game, no one knew who had actually won, and everyone, even those who were unsure about playing, had a great time. In related news, the Mingachevir team had just returned from winning the championship tournament the previous weekend.
The next day was the most relaxing day I think I’ve had since getting to Azerbaijan. We went up to the reservoir and spent the better part of the afternoon at a chai place playing cards and talking. The tables overlooked the beach and on the other side of the water was almost Georgia. We moseyed back to town to a bar/restaurant called Wild West. Perhaps the most humorous interpretation of American culture to date, Wild West featured hamburgers, chicken tenders, swinging saloon doors, a fake bear pelt on the fake fireplace, and pictures from the “wild west,” including rodeos and Indians.
We recently had a speaker come in who told us that Americans and Westerners in general don’t know the importance of sitting, but you wouldn’t have known it from the way we spent that day. It was just the break from the rigors of PST and language classes that I, for one needed. Most importantly, to me, it was a chance to see the concrete that had been so abstract. We talk and talk about how we can get to know people and understand their issues and start all these projects, but finally we saw these projects in practice. It was the first time I’ve felt for sure like this is something that I would be able to do, and even better, something that I wanted to do. I had wanted to do Peace Corps as a broad concept, but Youth Development has been such a mystery to define that it was hard to know what we would be doing. Now I have a better idea, and I want to go out into Azerbaijan and start. I’m sure the last month after we find out our sites will be a heck of a drag.
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