These Are A Few of My Favorite Things...

My New Talysh Socks...
FYI - a great way to support Peace Corps Azerbaijan and the Talysh population of Lankeron - not to mention very cool hand-made gifts...Here's the link:

http://talyshsocks.blogspot.com/

Little Ones...because they do this at softball practice.

Springtime...because who doesn't love this...

Jack and the Beanstalk

Our little team of actors performed their hearts out last week. It was a great success, thanks to those kids. Dustin and I were blown away by how much this project affected us. Neither of us have a background in drama (dramatic background, yes - but that's not quite the same thing), but it wasn't about the theatrics, although there were plenty. This was about creating something together - making the script at the kitchen table, watching them turn words on a page into their own little personalities...
In the end, these kids reminded us of home -- goofing off when they're supposed to be serious, girls pretending to be shy, guys being too cool for school...kids are kids no matter what country you're in...
We are so proud of them...not for their English ability or their dazzling performances...we're proud of them because they have such good hearts. This group took us in...foreigners, strangers they'd never met before, and trusted in us. They showed commitment, dedication, goodness, and a hunger for something new.
We can't wait to try it again in May...
Here's a link to the abbreviated version of their play. Hope you like it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3bWdjRu5mU

Novruz &The Mystery of the Missing Picutres...

MINOR IRRITATION...
First...for any technology savvy people out there...does anyone know why pictures are disappearing from the blog at random? No idea where they're going, and trying to re-post is useless...and annoying. I've never wanted to strangle an inanimate object so much in my entire life -- ugh.
Anyway...

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. We've celebrated the Novruz holiday with our family and taken a trip to Tbilisi, Georgia. I'm going to post some pictures of both, so get a quick look - they'll disappear into the blog picture abyss with their brothers and sisters within the week.

NOVRUZ....
This Azeri holiday is a reminder of the culture's Zoroastrian roots - a celebration of new life through the worship of water, fire, earth, and wind. The unofficial celebrations begin the first Tuesday of March with plov (a national dish - mainly rice) and fire jumping - literally. That continues each Tuesday until the fourth week (20th - 28th), during which everyone is off of work and there are family and community celebrations. Some of the traditions of Novruz are: the growing of samani (wheat grass) to symbolize the coming of new life with the beginning of Spring, "Spring" cleaning to get rid of the old and start clean and new, egg dying - after which you play a little game where two people bash their boiled / dyed eggs together and whoever has the dud (the one that gets crunched) loses their egg, door-to-door candy collection - boys go around to their neighbors houses, take off their caps and put them on the doorstep, knock on the door and run...the caps are filled with candy, and the boys come back to pick them up after the door is closed again - sound familiar-ish? I'm sure there's plenty I'm leaving out, but you get the picture...

Gul - Fire Jumping...

 Kelly - Post Jump, Nabat On Deck...
FYI - Prior to jumping, they will say a prayer for good health, long life, etc...I heard lots of "bebe...bebe" in my prayer...hmmmmm....

Samani Grass

 Traditional Azeri Dancers - Getting Ready to Perform

 Yep...That's A Camel...

TBILISI, GEORGIA
Our official three month travel leash was off in March, so we decided to use up a few leave days and take a little trip to Tbilisi, Georgia. It's about a 3 hour trip from Ganja, much closer than the 6 hour ride to Baku. Tbilisi's an incredible place -- feels much more like "home" than what we're used to. Lots of diversity...lots of food...lots of music. Unfortunately, we both got the flu in route and were sick for the entire trip. Boo. 
Oh well...still got to see some amazing things, still got to have some amazing food, still got to feel "normal" for just a little while. Can't wait to go again...