First few days with the host family

Alrighty folks. I’ve been with my host family since Monday the 5th. Amazing. They are super funny and the lack of English has made for the most ridiculous week. Most of what I know from my family comes from a host cousin who is fluent in English and unfortunately has to translate everytime he is here. I still try but it ends up in a lot of possibilities, no absolutes with charades. So to begin, I live with a family of 5 (mom, dad, and 3 sisters). I call my host dad Ata, the traditional azeri for father. He calls me Lalə (pron. Lay-lah) because “I need an Azeri name,” pretty much he has a hard time with pronouncing Lori. Host mom – Maman or Maman SUPER! 18yr old sis - Ramilə, 15yr old sis – Nayrmin, 13yr old sis - Həbibə. They are all super sweet and want me to be as happy as humanly possible. Since the beginning of typing this I’ve received 4 visits to my room each with food or tea in hand. They also came to laugh at how I befriended this cat. They will not let me name it, but I call him Buddy. Everytime they hear this I am reminded that his name is psh psh. The cat may or may not be theirs but I saw Maman feeding it from her plate so I assumed I could pet it and now it loves me. Currently, Buddy is asleep on my bed, He has slept with me every night since I got here.

Speaking of animals…they’re everywhere. Cats and dogs you’re not supposed to pet or feed because most of them have diseases so I really hope Buddy is a pet but because of the language barrier I do not actually know. Chickens, hens, and geese are roaming the streets and mini yard where they stay at night, as I walk to school. Of course the dogs and cats are thrown in as well. Speaking of school, what a trip! I was told I’d be like a celebrity but this is ridiculous. As the 6 of us walk through the hallways every eye is on us, everytime. Children bust out of the classroom and yell hello or just tell us their names. It is a bit less on the streets but those hallways echo and I think my brains will pour out of my head soon. My little sister’s friends all think that they are special when I greet them by name and that is always fun.

I have had a few language classes and soooo much gets covered. I wish we could just be like The Matrix and download a language, but alas I shall study. Ramilə gave me some awesome Azeri pop and on our breaks my cluster has little dance party’s. There are 6 of us in Ceyranbatan Cluster #1 and we’re super cool. 2 bionic people who walk/run super fast and never get tired, Mike and Jess. My neighbor Myriam and I walk to and from school together, while talking about all of the ridiculous events of our day. Mary is our blonde, who definitely fell into the van we take into the city, hilarious. Beca, through host family’s is my cousin. Beca and I never stop laughing so that’s good for me and my abs! Our teacher is Nurana, and she is not only amazing and sweet but of course she’s super pretty. Pretty much this whole training thing kinda rocks.
More to come later, be advised that our dance party has resulted in the creation of an azeri music video. Be afraid

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Hotel Magic Times

Hello from Baku. Travels were intense and as fun as we could make it beginning with a 3-ish hour long bus ride arriving at JFK about 4 hours early. Not too bad, it gave me loads of time to talk to people, eat a panini, and watch an episode of Family Guy. Then we flew to Frankfurt where I unfortunately forgot to drink the water out of my bottle. The security guy told me to drink quick, so I did much to his amazement. "You could do so fast with beer?" "Absolutely." Tim thought I should make him buy me abeer to see if it was true but alas I let him work We hung around for about 7 hours until we flew in to Baku where we are now sleeping before training tomorrow.
The rooms are very nice and I was lucky enough to get the bottom floor so I didn't have to drag all of my things up stairs. There are some AZ6's here and we willl be geting to talk/know them for a few days. I did go all around the hotel with some cool people and we explored and found where breakfast will be (note to self: this room is also where I will receive my shots). FYI if any of you were curious, Eli can work a cat walk over water, and Aaron is very funny to follow down hallways.
All in all the two days of travel were fun and included bonding with PC folks, creating some fun memories, and making pacts. I've made two or three so far, I'm not so sure, but I will be sticking to them!
The second I got off the bus there were hugs and realization that we are actually here, so bring it on AzerbaiUruguay!

PS. I know I said I'd upload pictures but it has been 45 minutes so I do not think the internet wants you to see them. Maybe later.

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Staging for AzerbaiNigeria

Alrighty, almost time to go. I've finished my staging session met loads of cool people and sufficiently diminished my funds by about half in one fun last American night out. My room mate, Gretchen, is amazing and a saint for waking me up so I was not late to staging. Had great party time's with some cool people (have not jumped on a bed since I was 5), and all in all am having fun getting to know people. There is another staging group for Mozambique in the same hotel and while talking on the phone to Elaine I just said goodbye to a few of them, as they have to leave at a ridiculous hour to get there on time. Also, down the street are the Turkmenistan kids so it's a big ol' Peace Corps family Staging!

Thanks to Mr. Nich Prax I am now calling Azerbaijan anything but that. The formula goes thus: Azerbai(insert any country name). So AzerbaiSweden should be super fun times. Also Kit's lovely yet awkward Jellyfish handshake/hug combo has begun, so we shall see if this ostracizes me. It's 2:45a and I need to be downstairs in under 4 hours so in honor of the yet again most amazing person ever, Gretchen, I shall bid you all adeu. Love you all and after epic amounts of travel and shenanigans I shall update from Baku!

AzerbaiThailand here I come!

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