Cavity Free!

I know there’s probably only mild interest in this, but I don’t have any cavities.  At least I didn’t get any in my first year in the Peace Corps.  My dentist visit was part of my mid-service medical check up.  Everything is all good in that department, too.

Along with the medical stuff, we had a Mid Service Conference that brought in all the volunteers left in AZ5 (there were 55 when we arrived, now there are 44).  We went over lessons learned from our first year, how to make the projects we are working on sustainable in our second year, and things to think about as we consider our post-PC lives.

Honestly, it’s a subject I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.  I still have no idea what I’m going to do when I get done here, and if I thought I did know, it would be foolish to be closed to the opportunities that might come about in the next year.  Between grad schools, jobs, and whatever else people do after the Peace Corps, I’m still completely lost.  I’m giving my self a couple of more months to get a concrete idea so I can work toward something during my final months here.

Russia and Georgia and Us

I saw this on the new york times webpage reprorting on the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Russian air attacks over northern Georgia intensified on Saturday morning, striking two apartment buildings in the city of Gori and clogging roads out of the area with fleeing refugees.

Russian authorities said their forces had retaken the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, from Georgian control during the morning hours. They reported that 15 Russian peacekeepers and 1,500 civilians have been killed in the conflict.

So what does this have to do with Azerbaijan, and specifically, Peace Corps Volunteers in Azerbaijan?  Nothing, as far as I can tell.  I’ve realized since leaving America that there really is a significant difference between these little countries.  I always kind of assumed that such a small geographic region had to have semi-pourous borders, and much more in common than they have differences.  While there are a lot of commonalities in the Cacausus, they are indeed nations independent of one another.  So even though there may be an escalating conflict in the country next door, it might as well be a thousand miles away, because nothing in Azerbaijan has changed.  And I don’t think it will either.

AZ6

For those that don’t know, new groups of volunteers come to Azerbaijan every summer.  Since Peace Corps is a two year gig, that means one group leaves, and a new group comes in about the same time.  My group has been dubbed AZ5 because we are the 5th group to serve here.  I’m bummed the 4s are going to be leaving, but at the same time I’m happy for them that they are moving on.  I’m also excited for the new group to get here.  This is my post to you, AZ6.  If any of you come across this blog, and have any questions about anything PC or Azerbaijan, I’ll be happy to help.

update:  someone asked about the wire.  Here’s some info.

Balkan Trip Photos

Some pictures from my trip to the Balkans can be found here.

Take a look.

Back in More Ways than One

I’m back.  On the blog and in to Azerbaijan.  I’ve just returned from a vacation in the Balkans.  Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia were all visited.  I’m also back because I haven’t written anything on the blog since I posted the youtube videos of my house (which I’ve moved from).

Getting into the details of my trip would be one hell of a post.  I was gone for about three and half weeks and visited some pretty amazing places, including Zagreb, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Mostar, Dubrovnik, Hvar, and Split.  Feel free to do a google search on any of those places.

The short run down would be that I met up with my friend from Coos Bay in Zagreb, we’ll call him Mike, and we went to the EXIT music festival, in Novi Sad, Serbia.  It was a four day music festival held in an old fortress.  After the festival, we quickly went through Belgrade to go to Sarajevo, one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been.  We quickly went to Mostar so we could soak up the sun in Croatian coast, which started with Dubrovnik.  A few days were there fighting our way though the crowds of tourists and checking out what has to be one of the most amazing old towns in the world.  We left Dubrovnik by boat and went to three islands: Mjlet, Korcula, and Hvar.  From there, we went back to the mainland.  After a couple days in Split, Mike went back to Madrid, and I did a day in Zadar and a day in Zagreb alone.

So, now I’m back.  I’m not exactly excited about it.  I feel like I’m going to go from this really luxurious experience to a much more difficult one.  Coming here for the first time is one thing, but now that I know a bit more about what I’m going to face, the excitement isn’t the same.  I’ve got some things that I’ll be working on, though, so hopefully keeping busy will make things easier.