My New Sitemate

Ujar welcomed it’s 5th volunteer a few weeks ago.  Shawn from Texas, a strikingly handsome man (his own plug), will finish up his Peace Corps stint in our quaint little town.  He’ll be working at a local NGO, helping them help other farmers in the region.

It’s nice to have a new sitemate in the mix.  It’s also pretty interesting that he’ll be here for all of 5 months before he moves on from Peace Corps. 

Cefri Tomas Beli

Here’s a link to my school’s website.

And here’s their entry on me.

I’m famous.

Some Numbers

Two countries that are often in my mind these days are the United States and Azerbaijan.

It is interesting to see where they are on this list, an index published by the reporters without borders.

Are they where they should be?  I guess it depends on what you want.

bogarting the deveploment

Having spent the weekend in Baku, the oil-boom capital of Azerbaijan, it’s easy to realize that this country is coming up.  Construction sites are literally everywhere.  There is a feeling that Baku is stepping up to become a first class city.

I have a little bit of an issue with this because I live out in the country, where some of the basics are still not available.  I see the construction going on it Baku, and I can’t help but think about the fact that many cities and villages in Azerbaijan are still without 24 hour gas or electricity.

To be fair, there is a gap between urban and rural in any (every) country.  And I’m sure the issue that I brought up above is much more complicated than I am portraying it to be.  Still, as the old adage goes, societies are judged on well they take care of their neediest citizens.  I keep this thought in mind as I work here, often with people who don’t have access to many resources, and back in America, where the ‘have-nots’ and ‘don’t-gets’ are left behind in the greater narrative of the country.

But as the wealth of Baku trickles out to the other regions (states, provinces, etc) of Azerbaijan, I wonder what this country will be like. 

Jeff’s Kids

Here are a few kids from my fifth grade class.  Some are better students than others, but they’re all pretty cute.  This is probably my favorite class that I teach.  They’re the easiest to work with, and seem to pick up the concepts pretty easily.  There are definitely some students in this class that out perform some of the 10th and 11th grade students .