The life of a Peace Corps volunteer is not an easy one. I have been fortunate enough to have regular free Internet access, which has helped with contact with the outside world. But sometimes just having contact isn’t enough, and I must turn to certain websites for the pick me ups necessary to get through the day. As that comes off sound worse than it is, I think I should get on straight to the main website in question: Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like.
The website lays out the numerous common preoccupations, obsessions and preferences of Expat Aid Workers, a group I’ve had a considerable amount of experience with, whilst living in Indonesia, and now as an Expat Aid Worker in my own right.
Highlights of the site, which are particularly accurate and amusing include:
Planning air travel—because as much as we enjoy our work, it’s exciting to think about getting a break
Bad English—We know our Azeri is bad, but we still get a kick out of humorously mistranslated sentences.
Facebook—How else could we show off the work we’re doing in the exotic places we’re doing it in?
Hot showers—Heavenly. I loved returning to long hot showers of the non-bucket variety while in Scotland.
Pets—We’re lonely. Pets love us no matter what, as long as we feed them.
Blending in—I want nothing more than to blend in most days. But, I’ll always be a thin, blonde white guy. I need to find an exotic long lost culture of pale white folks. Where’s Atlantis when you need it?
Jargon—We stole this one from the army. Peace Corrps (PC) discussions are full of acronyms and technical terms
Personal Drama—What else do we have to talk about? Long live gossip, and the emotional roller coaster ride!
The other site worth sharing is Eurasia News. This is the best site I’ve found for Azerbaijan-related news. It also covers the news for other countries in the area, most interestingly the neighbor commonly known as Kansas. Honestly, this is the site I use to find out about what’s going on in the country around me. The television news is run by the government, and my Azeri isn’t good enough to read one of the opposition newspapers. So I turn to this website.
One final thing that helps get me through is my amusement with the Azeri obsessions with certain celebrities. My students love Shakira and Michael Jackson. For the registration form for Writing Olympics, we asked what the students’ special talents were. One student wrote: “I can dance as Shakira.” The best obsession I’ve noticed is with Robertino Noretti/Loretti, an Italian opera singer.
Another good obsession is with cross-dressing. Homosexuality might still be off-limits, but boy do Azeris get a kick out of cross-dressing. A while ago, I watched the Big Momma’s House series on Azeri TV. They loved it. Easy to understand physical comedy and a guy in a fat suit, dress, and wig. What else do you need?
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