From the Field

 My host organization in the community is Ganja Agribusiness Association (GABA), one of the country’s leading Agriculture NGOs. GABA is committed to sustainable development of the country’s agriculture sector, which employs over 30% of the working population. GABA's activities include work in the following fields:
-Agriculture Extension
-Greenhouse Agriculture
-Organic Agriculture
-Agriculture Policy Reform
-Market Research
-Environmentally Sustainable Land Use
Last month we went into the field to evaluate some of our ongoing projects…

                                                          Greenhouse agriculture project

                                                                 A family affair

                                                        Farmer group meeting under the trees

                                                       The beginnings of a new barn

                                                         Collecting a soil sample

"Build It Bigger" - Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan made an appearance on The Discovery Channel's "Build it Bigger" a few weeks ago. Check out this link for a clip of the footage. It is broken up into three segments on You Tube, but once you view the first, it will give you the option to watch the rest. Enjoy...

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

Guess It's Been A While...

...but rest assured - we're here! It's 11 PM, and I'm pretty tired...so I'll give you the bullet point version of what we've been up to and then bombard you with pictures. (which, by the way, will only open in Internet Explorer...it's a technological mystery)

- D's started an Open Mic Night in Ganja that's been incredibly successful...
- We're addicted to The West Wing and have no idea what we'll do with ourselves once we've finished the last season...be productive, I guess...ugh.
- We've moved into our own little home - YEAH!!
- We're teaching a U.S. Government class and are totally embarrassed by how little we know about our own country...
- We're gearing up for some summer trips around the country...birding is on the list (shocking, I'm sure, for those of you that know Dustin Windham)
- We met some Aggies in Baku! Gig 'em.

We've gotten so much good news from home lately -- babies born, first steps taken, cancer defeated, milestones reached. Know that we celebrate with you...on the other side of the world, we celebrate with you. We love you all SO much! Thank you for your continued concern and support. We couldn't go on without you.

See...still here! We're at Dustin's work party at "Magara" ... the cave. It's one of two restaurants in town where women are officially "olar" -- allowed. Yeah, Magara!! :)



The Ganja Peace Corps Crew and the New U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Matthew Bryza. He toured the country with the Peace Corps Country Director to celebrate P.C.'s 50th Anniversary - Happy Birthday, Peace Corps!



Azeri Road Block - Water Buffalo



What will soon be the downfall of my waistline -- tendir bread. There's a shop around the corner from our house. Tendir bread is cooked, well - vertically. Sounds crazy...I know. I'll take some pictures at the bakery one day. The ovens are these concrete, open-ended domes about 3 feet tall. They've got a fire in the center, and the dough is slapped (literally) onto the side of the oven. It is, with the exception of Granny's, the best bread on the face of the planet. ISTI COREK....mmmmm... (hot bread).

Dustin and Ilqar (pronounced Ilgar). We're in the backyard of the home he shares with this wife, children, mother and father. The garden is incredible -- full of potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, strawberries, string beans, plus every fruit tree you can imagine. I love that about this country - everyone's got a garden. Ilqar's learning English and D's learning Azeri (much better than me, by the way)...so our dinner conversation is a crazy mix of both. Ilqar kept saying "organic, organic" every time a new plate of food came to the table. haha...

Kelly and Ilqar's Niece. Ilqar is one of Dustin's friends form work - he's such a wonderful man. When his family invites us over, they treat us like we're one of the gang.



Ilqar's sons and niece - (her name means Poppy - love it). The boys look like they've been in a bit of a marker war -- it's actually chicken pox medicine. HA...Every time I'd walk into the room, they'd start screaming and run away - does wonderful things for your self confidence, let me tell you. The giant yellow-haired woman... (AKA - Sari Sach "Yellow Hair")

 

Dustin and Saedat's Little One, Muslim. Saedat is our host sister-in-law from training in Sumgayit. We went back for an education fair in Baku this weekend and took a trip to Sumgayit to see the new baby. It was a strange feeling going back to that town, back to that apartment, but it was so nice to see them.

Aunt (Bibi) Kelly and Baby Muslim



A Packed House @ Dustin's Open Mic Night! 120 in Attendance - Way to Go, D! I'm sure he'll want to fill you in on all the details, so I'll leave it at that for now.

The Cure-All For a Crappy Day - Homemade French Fries and Beer

Rebecca and I on "Grown Up Night" ... although I'm not quite living up to the night's goal here. Rebecca's boyfriend, Mark, is here on a Fulbright Scholarship. Rebecca's been such a great friend these last few months. She'll be leaving in a week...along with my sanity! Ladies, never underestimate the need for and the power of a good friend!! To all my ladies at home, I miss you so!

Dustin & Ruzi at the Ganja International School Carnival - Ruzi was officiating the Ping Pong tournament.

A Little Bit of Hitchcock



The Lone Poppy - This is a walk along a road by the river. It opens up into a big clearing with an awesome view of the mountains...when they're not covered in clouds...





The New House! Two Bedrooms, A Living Room / Kitchen, and an INDOOR BATHROOM!! Lovin' It! - Dustin at the Kitchen Table - We've Got a 70's Thing Going On...We're planning to paint quotes on our walls in the next few weeks - put a little D&K into this place.



The Ganja Softball Team - YEAH!

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...

"Here comes the sun...here comes the sun, and I say... it's all right ..."

The sun made its first appearance in weeks the day before Kell's birthday and decided to stick around for a while..."and I say, it's all right..."

The Puppet Theater... 

Kukla Theater, once a church, now converted into a puppet and drama theater, is on the banks of the Ganja River near the city center. A few weeks ago, Dustin and I were walking around taking pictures and stopped for a few of the old building. The basement door opened and a few people came out to see what we were up to. We were expecting to be shooed away...asked to leave,  but they waved us over and invited us inside what turned out to be the sketch and sewing room. They gave us tea and cake and an impromptu Azeri lesson. We've gone back several times and have gotten nothing but kindness and generosity and continued invitations to return. Dustin and I started to wonder - would we have reacted the same way in our own country? Had we seen a "foreigner" snooping around our home or workplace, would we have shown them the same hospitality and goodness that these sweet people have shown us? Humbling...

Here are a few shots of the sketch room and the puppets...

The Drama Club... Jack and the Beanstalk

For the last few months, we've been leading a drama club at a local language institute. The goal was to build English language skills in a creative way. Some of our best moments in the country have come from these sessions. We have no clue what we're doing, but we're having fun, and I think our actors are too. They range in age from 15 to 23, and they are working so hard. They are doing the best they can with limited resources and time, but they're doing their best. Our performance is on the 29th...keep your fingers crossed.

 

The Wall of Fame...

Kelly-Made Cow...Nice, huh?

Little Bitty Birthday Party...

Every experience here seems a little surreal...a Twilight Zone version of "real life"... We were glad to have our friend Vivian (a fellow PCV and Texan, by the way) over to the house to celebrate my Twilight Zone birthday and bring a little bit of normalcy and home to the day... Thanks, Viv!

Lemon Birthday Cake -- Thanks, Vivian!

Kelly and Vivian

Gul, Kelly, & Nabat...In Our Birthday Best...