Settling In

Sorry for the long wait between posts, especially to my parents and relatives who have been so long itching for a photo or two to peer at in rememberance of their long lost Kevy. Here are a few photos I've shot around Ujar, including a pic with my host dad and two visiting host sisters, both with children in tow (as well as my school, and some shots of the edge of town where the mountains can be seen off in the distance). Unfortunately the kids aren't in the pic, as the baby Alekper was sleeping and the 4-year old terror Ali was taking the picture. The sisters were in town for the International Women's Holiday on March 8th, which for me involved getting a day off of school which I spent in a çayxana reading and drinking tea because the women took over the whole house and sent all the men out on the porch. However, I did get fed really well, and got to meet some host aunts and my host grandmother, who upon seeing her son (my host dad) declared to me in broken Russian "I don't know this man, his mother is dead!". She was a trip, and though she is 76 she had a handshake that could break a finger or two, probably developed over countless years of housework, tilling fields, and the relentless murder of farm animals for great feasts of kebabs and such.

My new home is starting to feel a bit like an actual home now. I've gotten my schedule down, gotten used to the town and its logisitical and cultural workings, and met a few people to whom I say "salam" as I pass them on the street. I've got a barber, a couple of stores that know me, some taxi drivers I know won't rip me off, and a çayxana to go to when I want to drink tea and read. Additionally I've got a few friends who will invite me over on occasion for "guesting", an Azeri term for bringing someone over to your house, feeding them until they can't move, giving them tea, showing them pictures, making them watch wedding videos, feeding them again, and then playing backgammon until about midnight. I can't play backgammon, and I hate watching wedding videos, so I usually just eat as much as I can and then play with the kids (note: Azeri weddings, known as "toy", are nuts. It's more like a giant block party than any sort of wedding we are used to, and I'm sure I'll dedicate a post to it someday). Overall, I'm getting used to the day-to-day of things, existing on Nietzche's maxim of "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger" every time I'm presented with a meal of questionable cleanliness or the organized terror of Azeri traffic.

So, for those of you who are missing me or my posts, fear not, for I'm writing this from an internet club I've discovered in Göyçay (the town closest to mine) which has a fast enough connection to send pictures and such. I'll be sure to make it up here on my off days and send a few pics your way as I gather them. For the time being I'm still living with a host family, but hopefully I will find my own place soon, and optimally by mid-April I will be living alone in a place with my own phone line so I can connect to the net any time I please. Till next time,

-Kevin