Greetings from Turkey pt. 2

(Here are some of what will hopefully be many pictures to come. The first is a ridiculous sign that will surely make Ilya and Brian laugh. The second is a mosque in Baku. The third is a picture of me in front of the Maiden's Tower in the Old City of Baku, and the Fourth is my cluster, including my teacher Ayten in the middle.)

Though this place is generally known as "Azerbaijan" to those of you who've looked at a map of Eurasia since the fall of the Soviet Union, or happen to know where the Caucus mountains are, it's essentially just a big front for a post-Soviet version of Turkey. The people are ethnically Turkish, the language is mutually intelligible with Turkish, all the music and movies and television shows are Turkish, and once you get to know some people here you will constantly be reminded that Turkey and Azerbaijan are "two countries, one nation". I find this to be quite interesting, since the people of these two nations are essentially the same but have been separated by various occupying forces throughout history. If only I shared their enthusiasm for futbol, awful music and soap operas I'd be in heaven.

There are quite a many things about this place that are vastly different from my home. The respect you recieve is determined by age and gender, with older males being automatically allocated more respect than anyone else regardless of their position in life. Women here definitely don't have the same sort of freedoms and equalities that they do in the United States. Though they are not forbidden by law to participate in any activities that men do, the overwhelmingly conservative nature of the culture here dictates a majority of their actions. For instance, women do not smoke or drink, do not drive cars, do not go to teahouses, and are not to be seen in public with men unless they are related to them by blood or marriage. This is driving many of the female volunteers here insane, as they are expected to fall in line with the cultural expectations of their host country, if not just to fit in then for fear of ruining their reputations. Women who cross the lines of cultural expectations are often immediately labeled as "loose", which essentially means prostitute. It's even harder because they, as women of the Western persuasion, are already considered to be "loose" due to the fact that the majority of exposure to western culture here comes from movies, which leads people to believe that most Americans spend their time being involved in car chases, conspiracies, shootouts, and general decadance and debauchery.

Needless to say, these false perceptions of America have created some problems for me here in explaining myself. On more than one occasion I have been regarded with great suspicion by authority figures who believed that I was a spy. People tend to think I am filthy rich and ask how much money I have, how many cars I own and other such intrusive and bothersome questions. I find this annoying, but use my limited language skills to ease my way out of the conversations by saying "Basha Dushmuram", which means "I don't understand" (it literally translates to "it did not fall on my head", which is kind of funny to think about). Sometimes it helps to be a stupid foreigner who doesn't speak the language!

Anyways, that's it for my first post. I've got plenty to talk about in the future, so keep a watch on the blog. Drop me some comments, I wanna hear what you've got to say. Peace out,

-Kevin