November drags to a close and I could not be happier. It’s been a pretty great month, all around, but as I sit here writing this, I am wrapped in blankets, wearing my long underwear once again. We made it though the first large snow, and gas levels rose, and my room was warm again. We got hit again, on Thanksgiving, which almost made it so I couldn’t get to Baku for our weekend Thanksgiving celebration.
The dinner, hosted at the charges d’affair (the second-in-command at the embassy)’s house, was absolutely. The cooking staff made us five huge turkeys, and we provided the rest. There were multiple gravies, mashed potatoes, rolls, stuffings, and tons of pies, cookies, and delicious desserts. After the meal, we had a talent show, though thankfully, participation was not mandatory (ha! Thankfully! Pun not intended when I started the sentence, but left in intentionally). Highlights included humorous excerpts from one volunteer’s diary from when she was 12, a ukulele song, and an original song about Azerbaijan to the tune of “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Finally, we left our poor hosts alone, so they could have their house back to themselves, free from the rampant horde that is the volunteer community.
We spent the weekend hosted at the homes of embassy staff. I ended up staying with a family that had lived in Indonesia several years after my family did. They had two great children, who I and the other volunteer staying there had fun playing with. Their son and I in particular had a good time playing Star Wars, which sent me back to my own childhood obsession with the films. He was also a great help when it came time to bake my contribution to the Turkey Day feast, pomegranate and chocolate chip cookies. All in all, we were completely pampered, with heat, with hot showers, with mattresses, with delicious food—including homemade pizza, good wine, coffee. A huge thank you to them for opening up their homes to us.
Returning to Ismayilli was considerably easier than leaving, though I found that once again the gas was low, and snow and ice still covering the ground. Once more I find myself counting down until the gas will be turned up. December 5th. While I understand that it is strange for it to be this cold so early, it seems strange to me that the gas cannot be raised as needed, especially in a country that is making billions on gas and oil. But, there’s nothing I can do about it, so I will curl up with my puppy, read a book, and wait till December 5th arrives.
Speaking of books, another reason I’m looking forward to the end of the month is the end of NaNoWriMo. I guess this could be considered a successful failure. A failure, because I didn’t reach 50,000 words, the goal of NaNo writers. A success, I suppose, because I wrote something. I reached 25,552 words, just over halfway, and I content to be done with it. Writing every day is unsurprisingly difficult, and took a lot of motivation, reminding me of my great skills of procrastination and distraction, which I was unable to completely conquer, though I had some days of 3,000 words or more.
I don’t know if I will ever pick up the story again. Not because the story isn’t one that I like, but it was one that I never got particularly inspired by. When inspiration hits, the words flow out onto the paper, but when I force myself to write, as I did this past month, writing becomes a chore, not a pleasure.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Holidays, Goodbyes, and Snow
In the last few weeks, life here has changed pretty drastically. First, my site mate was medically evacuated, due to ongoing stomach issues. She has until early December to recover or she won’t be able to return. I have all the faith in her and her determination to return, though I am of course worried she won’t be healthy in time, and we’ve heard horror stories about people who were screwed by bureaucracy.
Shortly after she left on short notice, we learned that Ismayilli would not be receiving a new volunteer from the new group. This wasn’t entirely a surprise, but was definitely a bit disappointing. On top of that, my other site mate, a member of the group ahead of me, is finishing his service. So Ismayilli stands to get a bit lonelier.
Lifting my spirits, my host mother celebrated my birthday by baking a wonderful cake, with Hershey’s chocolate icing, and a special pumpkin plov dinner, which my site mate shared on one of his last nights in town. The one benefit of his departure is that I have come into some inheritance, mostly consisting of some great food packets and cooking supplies, as well as an electric blanket, which comes in handy on the days when gas is low. I’d rather continue to have a site mate, of course, but a water heater and better cooking utensils ain’t too shabby neither.
Right after my former site mate left for medical leave, we got a huge storm, which certainly took me by surprise. A foot and a half of snow, which knocked down many of the power lines along my road, since the trees still hadn’t lost many of their leaves. Winter was here, whether we liked it or not. Altogether, the power was out for about five days. While it was difficult with the sun setting so quickly, I got some good reading done. My host brother, Orxan, visited at the time, because it coincided with the Qurban holiday, otherwise known as Eid al-Ada. This holiday commemorates when Abraham nearly sacrificed his son, Isaac. It’s typical for wealthier families to sacrifice an animal—a turkey, a sheep, a cow, depending on their wealth—and donate the meat to those in need. As far as I could tell, my family did not donate any food, but we did sacrifice a turkey for plov, which was quite tasty. I’ve been watching the turkeys grow (and in some cases, helping to give them food and medicine), from tiny chicks to large ugly birds, practically asking to get eaten—they’re not always the friendliest of birds, though positively welcoming next to geese. Having Orxan here was nice, since I see far too little of him, and also because he had to clear the snow off the roofs instead of me. That’ll change when we get more snow later on.
The time off for Qurban was followed up the next week by fall break, meaning we only had school on Friday, and due to cold, no one showed up to clubs. Instead, a couple friends visited, so they could check out Lahic, the nearby mountain village. Once they learned my birthday was coming, they treated me to dinner one night, and also showed me how to make some homemade chocolate fondue. Who says Peace Corps has to be all suffering?
Shortly after she left on short notice, we learned that Ismayilli would not be receiving a new volunteer from the new group. This wasn’t entirely a surprise, but was definitely a bit disappointing. On top of that, my other site mate, a member of the group ahead of me, is finishing his service. So Ismayilli stands to get a bit lonelier.
Lifting my spirits, my host mother celebrated my birthday by baking a wonderful cake, with Hershey’s chocolate icing, and a special pumpkin plov dinner, which my site mate shared on one of his last nights in town. The one benefit of his departure is that I have come into some inheritance, mostly consisting of some great food packets and cooking supplies, as well as an electric blanket, which comes in handy on the days when gas is low. I’d rather continue to have a site mate, of course, but a water heater and better cooking utensils ain’t too shabby neither.
Right after my former site mate left for medical leave, we got a huge storm, which certainly took me by surprise. A foot and a half of snow, which knocked down many of the power lines along my road, since the trees still hadn’t lost many of their leaves. Winter was here, whether we liked it or not. Altogether, the power was out for about five days. While it was difficult with the sun setting so quickly, I got some good reading done. My host brother, Orxan, visited at the time, because it coincided with the Qurban holiday, otherwise known as Eid al-Ada. This holiday commemorates when Abraham nearly sacrificed his son, Isaac. It’s typical for wealthier families to sacrifice an animal—a turkey, a sheep, a cow, depending on their wealth—and donate the meat to those in need. As far as I could tell, my family did not donate any food, but we did sacrifice a turkey for plov, which was quite tasty. I’ve been watching the turkeys grow (and in some cases, helping to give them food and medicine), from tiny chicks to large ugly birds, practically asking to get eaten—they’re not always the friendliest of birds, though positively welcoming next to geese. Having Orxan here was nice, since I see far too little of him, and also because he had to clear the snow off the roofs instead of me. That’ll change when we get more snow later on.
The time off for Qurban was followed up the next week by fall break, meaning we only had school on Friday, and due to cold, no one showed up to clubs. Instead, a couple friends visited, so they could check out Lahic, the nearby mountain village. Once they learned my birthday was coming, they treated me to dinner one night, and also showed me how to make some homemade chocolate fondue. Who says Peace Corps has to be all suffering?
Sunday, November 6, 2011
NaNo Update
One of the simultaneously most encouraging and depressing things about writing for NaNoWriMo and keeping the website updated on my progress is that it has a page with a lovely little progress bar, and as you add more words, the bar is filled in more and more. Below that, are stats concerning your writing progress. This includes my average words per day, words remaining, words per day to finish on time, and the worst figure, "At this Rate, You Will Finish By," which currently depressingly reads December 27th, 2011. To top this off is a bar/line graph which shows how many words I've written every day, compared to the target words per day to meet the goal.
What this page and the figures don't show is that I restarted my essay a couple days in, and had reached over 2,000 words before throwing in the towel on that story. So really, NaNo, I've written 7,000 words...which is still 3,000 short of where I should be. Patooie. Is it too soon to start looking for excuses? Like the fact that we've been treating a sick puppy?
No, it is not the time for excuses, because we're entering the best part of the month, Qurban Bayram, or Eid al-Ada, meaning no school Monday or Tuesday, and Flag Day on Wednesday, and next week there's only school on Friday the 18th thanks to autumn break. So plenty of time to catch up. Plenty of time to get those taunting graphs to start looking a little friendlier.
What this page and the figures don't show is that I restarted my essay a couple days in, and had reached over 2,000 words before throwing in the towel on that story. So really, NaNo, I've written 7,000 words...which is still 3,000 short of where I should be. Patooie. Is it too soon to start looking for excuses? Like the fact that we've been treating a sick puppy?
No, it is not the time for excuses, because we're entering the best part of the month, Qurban Bayram, or Eid al-Ada, meaning no school Monday or Tuesday, and Flag Day on Wednesday, and next week there's only school on Friday the 18th thanks to autumn break. So plenty of time to catch up. Plenty of time to get those taunting graphs to start looking a little friendlier.
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