AZZZER-What??

Southern Azerbaijan

2007-05-27T20:04:00.001-04:00

It was REALLY cold

2007-05-27T19:50:00.000-04:00

When I say cold, I mean in your bones, chilled so bad it takes days to warm up again. A good reason for this may be that all day long we were meeting in old school houses and government buildings that had no heat, often times no electricity, no running water - and only on rare occasions, a tiny wood burning stove to heat the whole room. It was cold. But the work was simply fantastic. Amazing. Gratifying. I worked for 3 weeks in the southern-most region of Azerbaijan, near the border with Iran, and traveled to 14 different communities and villages. I listened and spoke with community leaders and various women in these more remote villages about their views on gender issues facing women in Azerbaijan. It was an incredible journey, so the suffering cold and challenging food issues were well worth it. I hope for an opportunity to continue the work began, in some capacity of another, some day in the future.

The Return

2007-02-07T10:16:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since I updated the blog. It could be that I was unwilling to put a close on my experience in Azerbaijan - and an update would have required some sort of conclusory reflections on my time there...time that I was not ready to say goodbye to. Or it could be that I was just lazy and caught up in the daily goings-on of life. But there is almost too much to say to capture here.

I ended my year in Azerbaijan a touch early (work and funding issues allowed my contract to close as of December 31st). There were numerous celebrations and parties since I last made an entry- a fun Baku-style Thanksgiving dinner, totally ludicrous nights of dancing and debauchery at a local disco, crash bellydancing courses, late nights and difficult goodbyes.

I returned to the States just a few days before Christmas, and spend the first week in a blur of culture shock, Christmas madness, Wisconsin confusion and surreal acclimation back to my former life. Despite a few other interesting opportunities, I decided on a job in New York back at my prior organization (which was kind enough to want me back, so that was nice and cushy for me). A month has passed and, as I had been warned, I have spent a large part of that time feeling a little itchy...

So...it will come as no great shock to many of you who know me when you read that I am leaving again at the end of this month. This time for a short term assignment in Azerbaijan (3 weeks). My job in the U.S. has been generous enough to allow me to do it, and we hope it will be useful and beneficial for the organization abroad and at home for me to spend some time continuing the work on gender issues. I won't go into detail on this public blog as to the nature of the work, but I am excited and interested and intimidated by the challenge of what I will be working on next. And I am thrilled to go back to Azerbaijan for a short while to see the people I miss there and the good friends I've made along the way.

While this was always meant to close out my Azerbaijan adventures, it turns out that it is just the beginning of a new one. A new job, a new city for some of the time I am over there, new challenges, and certainly new hilarious adventures all await me. So stay tuned. Its not over.

Did you ever think it would be?

Above, Beyond and (sometimes) Below the Call of Duty

2006-11-08T07:51:00.000-05:00

I've found that living abroad adds a certain element of surprise to what would normally be relatively mundane daily experiences. Sometimes those surprises are good amusing ones, and sometimes they are gentle reminders not to get too comfortable.

On Saturday I went with a group of friends to a disco for a night of dancing. The dancing was great, the music was good and it was a much needed release. After about an hour and a half of nonstop dance action, I went to the bathroom to try to wipe some of the sweat off my face, since I was drenched. In the bathroom was a little old Azerbaijani woman (babushka) working as a bathroom attendant. This is not an unusual thing in many countries. The lovely little babushka handed me a paper towel and I proceeded to wipe my face- ridding myself of layers of sweat. What I didn't know was that the babushka ALSO took a piece of paper towel for herself...and suddenly, quicker than I could realize what what going on she was up the back of my shirt and was helpfully wiping all the sweat off of my bare back...under my shirt. Well needless to say this was a surprise and a little awkward....but feeling accustomed to stumbling into different cultural norms I sort of went with it and tried to thank her in my poor Azeri Language skills. And then, just when I thought it was over (as I had discarded MY paper towel and she was finished with my back) she hikes up my shirt all the way to my neck and starts drying my entire stomach and chest. This woman barely stood as TALL as my chest...and she was generously taking care of all my sweat removal needs without my even asking. She even motioned me (through skilled pantomime) to lift my bra so she could get at all the sweat that might be hanging out under there as well. Of course I complied, it is culturally insensitive to not listen to your elders. Sadly, after this little woman went, what I would say was. above and beyond the call of duty - I had not one penny to give her as a tip (which presumably was part of her motivation to be so thorough in her duties). So I gave her my thanks only and returned to the dance floor feeling refreshed and ready for another hour of boogying down.

I wish the veterinary doctor I took my cat to today had taken his cue in professional thoroughness from the bathroom attendant. Sadly, I took my male cat to the one cat clinic that exists here (through the support of the international community) for a simple neutering procedure. It was supposed to take five minutes and by tomorrow he would be back to normal. After about twenty minutes I poked my head in the operating room and found the doctor and his wife exploring my cat's abdomen in search of HIS ovaries. It may not surprise those who know me to hear that I got just a touch upset. My male cat was put completely asleep (not what is supposed to happen with a male neutering procedure) and he was cut open and they had been looking for, without any luck, female organs! After the office manager intervened and it was made clear to them that this was indeed a BOY cat, of course everyone was very apologetic and kind...but I was somewhat inconsolable. I guess I feel like one of the small details of sterilization procedure on an animal would be to first determine what sex the animal is. A step that was overlooked in my little koshka's case. Tears all the way home with him (and with a wonderfully hilarious meowing taxi driver...that's right, my cat was passed out by the friendly driver decided that he would meow us all the way home...perhaps to try to cheer me up given my obvious emotional state). And now Koshka is on the bed, hopefully recovering after having not one but TWO procedures today, with his little side all stitched up for no reason other than the fact that, unlike the babushka, this person performed today just a touch BELOW the call of duty.

Prison Tattoos, Stale Alcohol Breath and Long Pinkie Fingernails (on men!)

2006-10-20T05:58:00.000-04:00

I went to KIEV! And yes, that is what my final impressions were when I boarded the plane back to Baku - the men in the Ukraine seem to have an awful lot of prison tattoos on their knuckles; they smell of stale alcohol all of the time (but what can you expect in a culture where people start drinking vodka at 9 a.m. and all day long it is common for people of all social classes and occupations to wander the city drinking beer out of the bottle any time during the day as if it is made of water); and it is mysterious to me why so many of them also have long pinkie fingernails, except that it is pretty gross.

I arrived in Kiev and had the fun of navigating from the airport to my friend's house on my own- fumbling in bad Russian. In another taxi ride I was certain the driver told me to be careful of bad drivers who hike up their prices- and he called them "communist bandits" - which was pretty funny to hear in Russian. The sites in Kiev are interesting and old - but it is COLD IN THE UKRAINE! Women there all look like supermodels, tall and skinny and decked out in high fashion (even in freezing rain). And if you don't know this already - people there are VERY RELIGIOUS. They are Orthodox Christians - so even women in the smallest skirts you have ever seen on the highest heels anyone could barely walk in will cover their heads in a religious place and weep and pray and kiss the religious icons and cross themselves over and over again.

Lankaran - on the border with Iran

2006-10-19T14:00:00.000-04:00

On a recent trip to the southern region of Azerbaijan, Lankaran, on the border of Iran I had the good fortune of checking out the local bazaar. It was an incredibly interesting place, and the cultural and religious issues facing women there are even more intense than other areas of the country. Here are a few photographs of some of the women there, who are rarely seen outside the home after 6 p.m.

Bellydancing!!

2006-10-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

So on this latest trip to Istanbul we decided to go for it and buy ourselves semi- authentic bellydancing outfits at the grand bazaar. Why you may ask? Well to go along with the bellydancing lessons that I (and a group of wonderfully fun friends) have started to take. And let me just say now....it is hard work! We are working muscles that I didn't know I had. But our amazing teacher promises us that soon we will all be Shakira!!

Florence!

2006-10-02T15:02:00.000-04:00

I had the incredible good fortune to be sent to Florence, Italy last week on work-related business. It also happened to coincide perfectly with my birthday. Naturally I took the trip as a welcomed break from life in Baku, and while the work was long and hard, I had two days at the end to simply enjoy the amazing food, beautiful people, sexy language, and mind blowing gelato. It was a perfect way to spend this birthday. Of course the experience wasn't entirely without incident. I did suffer an unfortunate cheese-related-injury (or CRI, as I am calling it). All due to my intense love and devotion to parmesan. My final night in Florence I found a shop and bought a big block of parmesan to take (smuggle) back to Azerbaijan with me. And in my excitement to taste it (it has been so long since I just ate a really good chunk of parmesan cheese!) I tried desperately to break off a piece...but it was too hard, and I was too impatient. I had no knife, so my next poorly judged moved was to use my fingernails. Well, let this serve as a warning to all those who follow after me - good hard parmesan cheese under the fingernails can CAUSE SERIOUS BODILY INJURY. At the moment it was happening I didn't realize it, perhaps because I was focused on the taste of the thing, but once my little feast was over the pain began to set it. I had cheese PACKED under the nails of my forefinger and thumb SO hard that I had actually separated skin from nail. Cringe. Days later and I am still feeling the effect of that CRI.

A better outcome was had when I made the somewhat impulsive decision to get my haircut in Florence. It had been almost a year, and I was getting tired of looking like a hippie...and, right or wrong, I assumed that even a bad haircut in fashionable Italy would be better than most haircuts I would get in Azerbaijan. So upon recommendation of a woman who lives in Florence, I fumbled through making an appointment (in very very poor Italian), and when the time came I went in armed with a photo and the spirit of pantomime. With no common language, I had a hilarious time communicating with all the staff, trying to show what I wanted, trying to compromise with the woman who was doing my cut (and insisting that she needed to take a LOT more off than I wanted) - and in the end I am pretty sure she just did what she wanted, with a team of cute Florentine shampoo girls and stylists all looking on and talking about the crazy foreigner with the ridiculously long hair. And although she took about 5 times more off the length than I wanted, she was right. Her sense of style is much better than mine, and in the end I love the cut. And she even did a quick eyebrow plucking before I left as well. Florence is dreamy.

A Make Believe World

2006-10-02T09:52:00.000-04:00

So here are a few photos from the make believe world that some of us expats create here in Azerbaijan to pass the time. Three different parties are represented here, one is the 70's and 80's Disco party (where I went as Madonna in her "Like A Virgin" era, because I like to make myself laugh and it seemed appropriate here given the cultural emphasis on virginity and my job as the Gender Liaison :); the other two parties were a Murder Mystery party (characters and costumes assigned) and a Pirates of the Caribbean party (it turns out that oddly enough I have a lot of pirate-attire in my wardrobe in general so only a fake sword needed to be added). These theme parties are a lot of fun, and are an excuse for us to get dressed up, wear wigs and laugh a lot - which is a fantastic break from the real world for a night.

Other fun updates to report (other than my night as an unleashed Madonna - where my adolescent spirit rejoiced!) I should mention that this has been a packed month of busy work and travel, both for pleasure and work. In the midst of it all, I have been suffering for more than two weeks with recurrent eye infections that I apparently contracted from a kitten I was fostering (did anyone know that conjunctivitis is one of the few diseases that can be transmitted from animal to human?). So after numerous antibiotic eye drops and a recent visit to the health clinic I am hopeful that this week I will be able to rid myself of it. We'll see. Another new experience for me was learning how to give my cats injections of antibiotics (since my whole household got ill from the little rescue kitten I was fostering)...Injections in the back of the cats' necks. A scary thing but I did and feel a whole lot more capable now.

Nabran

2006-08-23T11:30:00.000-04:00

So I went to a place in Northern Azerbaijan that is considered a summer house area (the dacha is one's summer home in the country). The area was called Nabran, and while I was there for 5 days for work reasons- we had expected it to be a luxurious break from big city Baku life. Of course it WAS a very nice break from the daily grind here, and very interesting to see another part of the country (about 20 minutes from the border with Russia). But is also was VERY VERY hot, had limited air conditioning, we ate all our meals outside in pretty areas in the woods by a stream (read: MOSQUITOS) and because I am a vegetarian I lived largely off of bread, cheese and the sunflower seeds I brought with me (and occasional Pringles that were sold at the on-site shop). The fantastic diet, coupled with perhaps the drinking of some sketchy water, brought on my first go around with fun stomach problems. Those stomach problems lasted through my return to Baku, but eventually I was able to go back to my only somewhat better diet of too-few vegetables and too-little protein. Life is good again.

Soon after my return from Nabran, I went on a short trip to London to visit with a a friend. It was so nice to eat fantastic Indian food and spend time relaxed in absolute luxury and pampering. It is good to have a break and rejuvenate. I don't have any major plans scheduled until October, but you never know what September will have in store for me.

Istanbul - I recommend it!

2006-07-24T07:25:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a beautiful week in Istanbul (followed by a relaxing solo trip to Vienna). I was in Istanbul for work and then my sister joined me for four days of exploring. Beautiful sights in Istanbul include all of the Sultanahmet area, the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, The Basilica cisterns, The Grand Bazaar, and so many more. It is a colorful, wonderful and interesting place!

Some highlights of our trip (aside from my unhealthy love of Starbucks and the fact that it became the evening meeting place on nights that we went into Taksim for dancing) include: first and foremost the wonderful and hilarious hamam experience (to be described in detail below), the incredibly polite and soft-spoken heckling on the street (quiet little "Excuse Me"'s and "I have what you want" and "oh heavenly angels" and "is it my turn?" as one walks by...but ever so quiet and soft and almost meek... It does not at all leave one with the feeling of being assaulted, instead it is actually mildly amusing and oddly apologetic), the waiter who was referred to as Al Pacino but looked nothing like him, the silent handy man at the hotel who was called Jay Leno and DID look exactly like him, the frequent use of the phrase "Life is short" to answer any concern about what to do or the consequences of any action (it was the reason given to do anything by some of the Turkish folks we met there), grilled corn on the street, smoking strawberry tobacco out of the waterpipe, dancing on rooftop disco's with work friends to Shakira, the amazing stuffed peppers (green peppers sweet and stuffed with rice and barley and spices!) and the fantastic ultra-thin crepe-like pancakes stuffed with cheese, spinach and potato. I loved Istanbul.

But no visit to Istanbul is complete with a visit to a hamam. The 300 year old hamam (featured in the book "1000 Places to See Before You Die" was the place that my sister and I went (after MUCH cajoling on my part to make it happen...she wasn't that interested in it at the mere description of it :) . The experience is so funny and surreal and amazing! A hamam is a group bathing facility, also known as a Turkish Bath. They were originally built at times and places when water was unreliable in homes but Islam promoted cleanliness...and so people went to public hamams to get clean. They are old and beautiful and go WAY beyond your ordinary steam room and sauna.

We entered the hamam and looked at the range of services to pay for: self-service bath (you wash yourself), scrubbing (done by an employee), massage, shampoo, and so on. I knew that I wanted the full experience of the scrubbing and massage, my sister was not so convinced. We paid (seriously around $20 for an hour of the best services!) and then were brought to the women-only part of the building. We were given a changing room for us to share, that had beds and a mirror in it and was very relaxing, and there we put on a towel and locked our room. We then stumbled in funny wooden shoes (meant for use in the hamam, I suppose for hygiene reasons) into the big beautiful steam room. The room was large and round and had an amazing dome ceiling with holes in it. All around the room were little washing stations with sinks and water flowing and silver pans to fill with water and dump over yourself, and in the center of the room was a slightly raised round marble slab that was large enough for a dozen women or more to lay around the circumference. After some time sitting naked by a washing station wondering what the hell was next, my sister and I were each led by a very large Turkish women (wearing a bathing suit) onto the marble slabs...this would be one of the last times I saw my sister before the whole experience was over, since soon thereafter I was completely covered in suds and soap, being pushed and pulled and scrubbed down. It was so funny but also so incredible the kind of cleaning and exfoliating that was done by this woman with her version of a loofah. I mean no fancy spa salt scrub has ever given me the sort of body polish glow that I had after my afternoon at the hamam. On the marble slab, covered in soapy suds that smell amazing (olive oil, lavender, who knows what it all was but it was great), this woman could turn me over and slide me around with ease it was so slippery! The scrubbing and sloughing was followed by a really good massage (that included her sitting me up, moving me around, pulling my arms into the folks of her very large body and breasts - which she wasn't afraid to leverage to push, pull and scrub me at all). Then I went to the washing station to rinse off all the soap and dirt, and was led to another washing station where I sat down with my back to the woman, who proceeded to shampoo and lather my head and face up with more shampoo and bubbles than I think I have had covering my face since being a baby. It was great and funny and the whole time I was being worked over by this woman I was finding it both incredibly hilarious and a true funny scene if anyone had been watching, but also so pleasant and wonderful and clean and soft! Both my sister and I left the hamam very happy and relaxed. It was the perfect thing to do after an afternoon navigating the Grand Bazaar. And the quality of the service surpassed any spa in New York or Boston that I have been too :) .

Pure Vegetarian

2006-07-04T11:50:00.000-04:00

Recently a friend was leaving Azerbaijan for good, heading back to New York after a year of doing important work here, and we threw him a little going away party. As one of his parting gifts we gave him a traditional Azerbaijani hat, which I am modeling in this photo.

I am still finding myself a little challenged in the food department, particularly when going out with Azerbaijani friends - as one may imagine, almost ALL food revolves around meat here. One Sunday night I was at an Azeri restaurant and we ordered grilled vegetables for me (while meat was aplenty for my friends) and I semi-happily ate my grilled pepper, and had some yummy grilled eggplant skin but left most of the rest of the eggplant on my plate. I gave the other half of the eggplant to one of my friends who kindly pointed out (nearly too late for me!) that the grilled eggplant had been STUFFED WITH SHEEP FAT THE SAME COLOR AS THE INSIDE OF THE EGGPLANT! Needless to say I was more than a little queasy at the thought of what I had accidentally consumed that night.

But this has been a fun week. The excitement over the World Cup games is enormous, and pubs are packed with internationals for games starting at 8 pm and then second games air at midnight - it is easy to get into the spirit of this major worldwide event, despite the U.S.'s tragic loss to Ghana.

The Airport Bazaar

2006-07-01T08:01:00.000-04:00

Today was another adventure to a new bazaar near the airport. It stretches for miles and miles and sells ABSOLUTELY everything you can imagine - carpets, toiletries, kitchen goods, clothing, shoes, bedding, lighting (chandeliers!). It is impossible to see it all in one day and walking through it, as four Americans, we were quite a spectacle. Needless to say, everyone was very nice and very interested in showing us their wares (and once brandishing a camera, everyone wanted to be in the photos).

THE BIRDS!

2006-07-01T07:39:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to find a way to convey this amazing thing that has been happening here recently - at the Maiden's Tower there is a whole school (of hundreds!) of birds that swirl around in a mad frenzy all day every day. Walking to work each day it is as though I am passing through an imaginary set for Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds." They are zooming around in circles around the tower at a rapid pace...it is almost ominous - like a sign of something serious to come! This photo is the closest I have come to being to capture it - and still it doesn't do the scene justice (they are just moving too damn fast to get with the camera!).

Tezza Bazaar - Market for produce, hardware, meat and kitchen implements

2006-06-26T07:52:00.000-04:00

So I went with a friend to the bazaar to explore. I bought some gorgeous peppers and a cheese grater, and for the most part the day was starting off uneventful. I mean sure we had a young boy around 12 or 12 years old following us around for over an hour talking to us in a language we didn't understand. And sure as we walked through the bazaar more than 20 different men whispered "caviar, caviar" as if we were there to buy illegal goods. We weren't. And then, we found an area that had live animals in cages, and while my friend went inside to find out the cost of the parakeets, I bent over to get a closer look at the cute rabbits. That's when a tiny little babushka (old woman with a scarf on her head) smacked me on the back harder than I have been hit in decades! I was so startled I swung around, and that's when she lifted my shirt up to reveal my tattoo on my lower back, then she laughed and laughed with a totally toothless grin and then embraced me in a sweaty strong hug before she disappeared into a small shack of a store. It left me reeling and laughing hysterically. We think she might have spotted the tattoo while I was bending over, thought it was a huge bug and smacked me to smash it, then laughed when she realized what it really was. Whatever happened it was one of those totally funny strange moments when I don't really know what was going on but now have a hilarious memory of her lifting my shirt, laughing so hard and hugging me even harder...of course that major smack on the back was a serious jolt!

Back in Baku

2006-06-25T14:24:00.000-04:00

It has been a wild month of a lot of change and movement! Work has been fantastic but busy. I went to New York for a wonderful week and had a beautiful time there that flew by too fast. I had many sugary coffee beverages from Starbucks and great food and stocked up on American goods before heading back to Baku. I arrived in Baku late late Monday night and our trusty driver was at the airport to pick me up, and I felt a real sense of contentment and excitement to be back as he drove me through the silent dark streets of Baku. It is when I knew that my work here was not done and while it was very hard to leave New York again, I was happy to be back to continue what I started.

I then had my second night in my new apartment in the Old City. I love the Old City, and my apartment is fantastic and full of character. I have my own hot water heater that I have to plug in an hour before I want any hot water...and there are two light switches that I must switch on in order to turn on the motors to get any water pressure at all. But it is beautiful and charming. And I now have cable with over ten English channels, including many movie channels. It is so exciting for me! Of course the world cup is also on and that is a really exciting thing to most of the world...so I watched the U.S. lose to Ghana.

This week has been full of good company and events. There have been parties and events and wonderful people. This week two local attorneys took me to the Philharmonic to see an amazing symphony - an hour and a half of incredible classical music and then an hour and a half of jazz that just blew us away. It was really a great night and the people I have met here have been so generous and giving to me.

That being said, it's also a VERY good thing that I bought those mirrored sunglasses in New York- they come in very handy here. Walking down the street they are the most important accessory a girl could have. They are needed to block out the peering eyes and leering stares. Crucial.

Two more weeks of work before an exciting trip to Istanbul. I can't wait. Life here is one big amazing adventure. Some of it good, some of it challenging, but none of it boring.

Guba, Azerbaijan

2006-06-04T11:05:00.000-04:00

Here are a few photos from my wonderful day trip to a region called Guba. It is in the northern part of Azerbaijan, about 20 minutes from the Russian border. I was guided by two local attorneys that we work with and highlights include: off-roading it in a Mercedes (the status car of choice), drinking tea in the mountains, having lunch in the open air in the woods (all of this served to us of course on fine china by lovely local cayhanas and restaurants), being caught in the road by a massive multi-herd sheep crossing with the infamous four-assed sheep, being visited at lunch by a MASSIVE bright bright blue beetle twice the size of my thumb, walking along mountain streams, having ice cream in a tiny and beautiful all-Jewish town in the north where it is a source of great national pride that people of different religions (Muslim and Jewish) live peacefully side by side, and watching a group of ten fully veiled women on a picnic play volleyball in hijab. It was a truly wonderful weekend.

SUMQUYIT Children's Cemetery

2006-06-02T04:31:00.000-04:00

Weight, Death & Kittens

2006-05-31T07:57:00.000-04:00

So there are all sorts of cultural oddities that surround me. And no offense to the lovely and kind Azerbaijani people, it is some INTERESTING stuff and confusing to a foreigner like me. One of these inexplicable phenomena is the cultural fascination with weight. People are constantly weighing themselves. It is not clear to me why. But on all the big pedestrian walkways, in the large public park and fountain square - every big public place one goes - there are men with big height/weight scales (like those found in doctors' office) right there outside and for a small price they will weigh you. People love to be weighed. Many of the scales have hilariously loud (and to me, utterly incomprehensible) recorded and automated messages that these scales burst out at all passersby - trying to bully us in Russian to get our weight checked I think. It seems that this public weighing is more than just a concern for weight as I tend to think about it (overweight, underweight, etc.) It is more related to health in some way. Maybe people feel healthier when they know their weight.

I was in the huge main post office today, picking up a care package full of kitten necessities and chocolate (much appreciated!) and right there, as I am picking up my package a big older male postal worker climbs on to the huge scale that was clearly meant for weighing packages and checks his weight! Why...I don't know.

Which brings me to fun things that people seem to say once they learn English - little phrases that replay over and over during the course of a single conversation as if on a loop. One of my favorites is "Why? I will tell you..." over and over again....Its the asking of why and then answering it, instead of simply stating one simple word (that they do not always know) "because"...the word "because" could really simplify things....but instead over and over it is "Why? I will tell you..." seriously, by the 5th or 6th time in one conversation, it can lead to the giggles. Another fun one is "Can you imagine?" over and over again....that is a nice one actually.

A not so nice thing, but certainly interesting, is this creepy place that I visited this past weekend - the children's cemetery in an area called Sumqayit. This region was the site for most of the chemical factories in the 1980's and at one time it had the highest infant mortality rate in the world. So it is a strange industrial wasteland of old factories and dumps where people still live. The graveyard is huge - and the tombstones are large with portraits of the deceased on them. The detailed portraits on them are amazing, frequently life size - most are engraved portraits but some are old photographs. This is what makes the children's cemetery extra eerie - those who died over the age of 1 years old have portraits on their tombstones...the younger ones just have stones marking the hundreds of graves of the children who died in the early 1990's. Sadly, the children's cemetery is full... many many children in Sumqayit didn't live past the age of 4 in the 1990's.

Unfortanately I will be moving to a new apartment next week - it seems my landlord isn't as fond of these little sweethearts as I am....and its a deal breaker for me. I mean just look at them!

Two Is Better Than One

2006-05-19T16:01:00.000-04:00

Gozel got a new playmate to keep her busy when I am at work, and to keep her from attacking my ankles and hands when I am home. As you can see, she is quite happy with the new addition to our home here.

The Lesson Is - Wash Your Hands After Touching Pepper Spray and Don't Be Afraid to Trust Just a Little

2006-05-19T14:47:00.000-04:00

A few nights ago I came home a little late after another night out carousing (which in actuality was dinner out with coworkers and then a little quick grocery shopping) and found that the elevator in my apartment building is not working. Now there is a second nicer and larger elevator RIGHT NEXT to the other small broken one, but we are not allowed to use it. The story is that the second large elevator is just for our very very important tenant here (the current President's uncle, and previous President's brother). He lives in a multifloor apartment all around my apartment.

So I come home a few nights ago and the guards motion to me that my elevator is broken...and it becomes clear that I cannot use the second elevator, and instead I am shown to a stairwell. A deep dark cement stairwell that is scary. I proceed up the 6 flights of stairs with not ONE SINGLE LIGHT to guide me. It was dark and creepy - so in addition to carrying my bag and groceries and massive gallons of water, I also had my pepper spray out and my finger on the trigger, safety off. As per my usual routine, I spent the next two hours on the computer, and then my right eye started to itch. And itch. And I rubbed it. And it itched. And then it started to hurt. A lot. And so I went in the bathroom to find out if something was in my eye and what I saw in the mirror scared me! I started to cry and called my boss, then called a coworker (it was midnight at this point) and discussed going to the emergency clinic. My top and bottom eyelids of my right eye had puffed up, swollen as if sting by bees! The swelling was so severe that my right eye was barely visible between the lids and it hurt to blink and tears were flowing. So I did what any 33 year old alone in Azerbaijan after midnight would do - I called my mom. I got on the webcam and she put me on speakerphone and had a nurse come to her computer workstation while I held the webcam up to my swollen face. The nurse did as good of an assessment as she could under the circumstances, and advised me to take allergy medicine, advised me to go to the clinic (which I didn't want to do at that hour unless absolutely necessary), and we ran through the options. If my lips started to swell then I was in bad shape and needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. But after talking to some loved ones and starting to calm down, the allergy medicine started to feel like it was working, my boss kept checking in to make sure I was okay, and I called Ben on the webcam to show him my puffy face and tell him of my scare. My mom then got back on to tell me the nurse had another theory of what it was (instead of a terrible allergic reaction) - she said that the symptoms and the look of my face were consistent with exposure to tear gas or pepper spray. PEPPER SPRAY. While the true reason for my temporary facial attack that left me puffy for a day (and gave me a triple chin directly beneath my right eye when I smiled) may never be known.....it does seem like the likely cause was my own damn pepper spray.

That was 2 days ago.

Last night I got home again late (I go out a lot) and I approached my building and it was the same deal - broken elevator and dark scary stairwell. This time I asked the guard through my expert pantomime skills and the ever-useful Russian word for "Please" if he would walk me up the 6 flights to my apartment in the dark. He was a different guard than the night before and very sweet, and although we couldn't really communicate he got the big industrial flashlight for us and walked me up the whole way. At the top of the stairs he put the number to the security desk in my phone in case I needed help or if I wanted to go out of the building at any time but was too afraid to go downstairs in the dark.

That was last night.

Tonight I got home again after 9 p.m. (cause, well I go out a lot) and again the elevator wasn't working. I asked a third guard if he would walk me up the stairs, and this one brought me onto the forbidden big second elevator! Very exciting. There was just one catch - that elevator only stops at certain floors....so we went to the 9th floor and had to walk DOWN 3 flights to the 6th floor. These 3 floors were the scariest flights of uneven cement steps in complete and total darkness- and this guard had no flashlight with him. But he bravely went ahead of me and took my hand and he literally GUIDED me slowly down these uneven stairs while holding my hand. He also only speaks Russian and Azeri so the whole production was an exercise in trust for me really. Though in the darkest moments of our climb together I was very thankful to have him there, though I had the pepper spray in my hand just in case.

And tonight, I washed my hands afterwards.

2006-05-14T11:18:00.000-04:00

Gobustan, Azerbaijan

Crazy cool mud volcanoes in the middle of nowhere. Gurgling and bubbling away a cold wet mud out of small walkable volcanoes.

2006-05-10T06:07:00.000-04:00

Meet my new girlfriend Gozel (which I am told means "beautiful" in Azeri). She keeps me company and shares my apartment with me - basically she's the boss of me now.

Dead Seals, Frisbee & Justin Timberlake

2006-05-10T05:44:00.000-04:00

On a beach, just north of Baku...where the sand isn't soft, the birds aren't alive, and the water isn't safe for swimming.

My latest adventures in Azerbaijan have led me to spending a Sunday at a beach an hour outside of Baku. The scenery - both en route and once arrived - was a little Thunderdome. And my hopes of avoiding any contact with dead birds while in bird flu territory quickly went out the window when the dog that was with us (belongs to another expat) spent the day with dead duck after dead swan after dead seagull in it's mouth....this is how diseases get out of control. I stopped french kissing the dog after that. There was also the unfortunate sight of the two dead seals near our truck....just dead right there far on shore in differing stages of decomposition.

But here is another expat factoid- these folks are crazy for their Ultimate Frisbee. There is a whole Ultimate Frisbee subculture, with tournaments and regular Frisbee sessions and one might say that there are some expats who are never far from a Frisbee. It should be noted that, like my lack of love for the billiards, I am no Frisbee player.

I am, however, very much a lover of Justin Timberlake - especially when sitting in the backseat of a car barreling through the mean streets of Baku, being driven by a lovely Azerbaijani man who ALSO knows all the words...so together we belted out "Cry Me A River" at about 60 mph as we swerved through the city. It was a bonding moment.

2006-05-01T12:24:00.000-04:00

Flying Carpet Wonders! This fantastic Old City carpet shop is a great place to spend an afternoon.

2006-05-01T11:57:00.000-04:00

The Carpet Guy - hours and hours of fun. He will roll out beautiful carpets for hours and give you a great deal! Who knew carpets could be addictive? It's a small but powerful shop in the Old City.

Flying Carpets and a Belly Dancer

2006-05-01T11:19:00.000-04:00

In the past week, a lot of interesting but disjointed things happened (which is so Azerbaijan, really). I had the wonder of DSL come my way after much adventure - first the IT guy and I went to the DSL office with a million documents, and were turned away because we lacked one bureaucratic detail...A few days later our IT guy went back without me and paid the fee and provided all the documentation, and we were told that I would receive a call the next day about DSL installation. And then, that night, I lost my phone (it slipped out of my pocket in a taxi and we fruitlessly called it repeatedly as the taxi driver drove away with it, never to be seen again). So the DSL company couldn't call me. SO the IT guy called them and all of a sudden there was a tall blonde Russian guy at our office to go to my apartment and install the DSL. In a moment of wisdom I asked our IT guy to accompany us, which was a good idea because as the DSL was ATTEMPTED to be installed, the Russian Internet guy proceeded to engage me in all manner of debate. He covered everything, including Race issues (he believes Azerbaijan is paradise partly because there are no black people here, and here I had to give him a lesson on offensive language), then he moved on to Gender issues - where we discussed perhaps why Azerbaijan is not paradise for all women, and then we moved onto the sexual harassment simulation part of our discussion - where he made multiple advances toward me, some of which he had my office IT guy translate for him when he didn't know the words. In the end, he offered to be my "private Russian tutor" and said that he sure would like to have a boss like me if you know what I mean. All that and my DSL didn't even work! Turns out something was wrong with my computer's Ethernet port - it was a hardware problem. SO not I had the equipment, paid for the service, but my computer needed repair. Thanks so come advice from back home I cam to the office this morning armed with information about an external Ethernet card that slips into my computer. So our IT guy called around, a shop said they had them in stock and I was sent to buy it - address and information in hand, as our IT guy had just hung up with the store and everything was all confirmed..Or so I thought. I arrive at the store and there is a sign on the door saying it had moved somewhere down the block...I go down the block and get confirmation that the store is on the 3rd floor of this large building - which I enter and, among the stray cats in the stairwell, all of floor two smells like a disgusting slaughterhouse! I get to floor three and find the right room and enter it and there are NO products there for sale...Every shelf is empty and two guys are sitting at a desk. They don't really speak English so I repeat what our IT guys tells me, and I know the cost and name of what I need. They ask me if I have a car outside..I try to get them to tell me why they ask but it was futile, so I say yes I have a car (the office car and driver were outside waiting for me). He says he goes with me to another store to get what I need. Its all very fishy, but that is the way its done here - fishy and making no sense. In the end, at this final store, I did end up buying what I need and I am now currently a happy DSL user in my apartment. But everything is a production here.

My weekend consisted of exploring more dance club options, which were fun and interesting. And while there was a rumor floating around that Sting, Sade and Enya were all in town this weekend to attend the President's daughter's wedding, I didn't run into any of them! But it does make one question Sting's politics if he's hanging out with the President here. Other miscellany to mention include the fact that gold teeth are THE THING here...For men and woman...And not just gangsta's either....lawyers, NGO leaders, they are all into the gold teeth. It's hilarious. And one totally giggle worthy thing to mention is that in Azeri there apparently isn't any distinguishing between he, she, they or we....the only word used is the equivalent to "it." So in all discussions all the time with absolutely everyone, you can count on men being referred to as "she" and women as "he," and you just have to try hard to keep it straight in your mind.

The photo is from my night out Friday for Lebanese food with a small group of internationals. The real fun of the evening (besides the 30 small dishes that graced our table, the passing on quails' eggs and sheep balls) was when the bellydancer showed up and proceeded to "entertain" us all. She truly loved to smash her breasts into the noses of any of the men who tried not to pay her any attention. It was a sight and we were howling with laughter. The weekend was a full one, from bellydancers to clubgoing russian kids, Baku can provide loads of entertainment.

How to make your own fun in Baku

2006-04-25T00:43:00.000-04:00

So in the past week I have learned the different ways people make their own fun in Baku. One option, one of the best I think and certainly the most amusing and creative, is to have theme parties. My first such party was a "Top Gun" themed party where the movie played a central role as a constant source of humor and hilarity (it is particularly all the more funny against the backdrop that is Baku - shown projected against the big white wall of an Old City apartment where a kind and funny British couple live). But there have been others of course, the most infamous of which so far has got to have been the Austin Powers themed party- where party-goes went the extra mile and had costumes and Austin suits made at the local tailor. THIS is how to have to fun in Baku.

Another simpler way is to frequent a local pub or restaurant with friends, where the company is good and the talk inevitably turns political. Whether it's nachos with fellow American, Russians and Dutch folks at an area pub, or dinner at a nice Italian restaurant with Italian, Swiss, Dutch, Austrian, Polish, Ukrainian internationals - the talk still makes its way to the political situation. But even so, it is only here where I have experienced such conversations with this broad an international group. It is diverse and interesting and the people are among the most aware and thoughtful that I have ever met, I think.

I have several mini-announcements. One- I am well aware of the dozens of grammatical errors and the numerous misspellings of the city of Tbilisi - I just can't be bothered to go back and correct it now (and one some computers I have too much difficulty with the spell check features being blocked). The other - this will not be a forum on which I will comment on my work here. Since the primary audience is designed to be family and friends and loved ones and not a political platform, posts will be limited to more social aspects. Rather an eye into my life in Baku and daily adventures as I make my way in the new cultural terrain.

For example, I received my first care package yesterday. A welcome box of nice soft sheets (lets not even go into what they have for sheets here) and loads of chocolate, hot cocoa and other goodies. It was a fun surprise - and proof that I can receive packages at the address I listed in earlier posts.

I also went to the fancy gym for the first time. It felt very serious and full internationals - a place where power goes to work out and work off the excess energy and stress of being away from home. The facilities are very good, and I was happy to go and have that place to get to that feels like a normal to me that I understand. And similarly, in that gym and in other places, meetings, buildings, I feel very much like I could be in my own "West Wing" episode. One that particularly stands out (don't laugh, this is all Ben's fault...Ben and his "West Wing" addiction!) has got to be when Donna is in Israel. Seriously, I am SO Donna right now. And the other night, in an Irish-named pub when we said hello to the Italian mysterious drifter of an election monitor could be right out of the episode where Donna meets the reporter in the expat bar in Israel. Perfect. Not to mention all the journalists here and war photographers that make it all the more surreal, mysterious and ready-for-television. I have to say, I love it.

As always, feel free to email me at kristine.herman@gmail.com for more personal updates of course.

2006-04-16T08:27:00.000-04:00

My living room in Baku. Two dozen large calla lillies cost under $3 here! Here is a link to many more photos of my lovely apartment-
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbNmLdw3ZqLsI

More Tiblisi Photos

2006-04-16T07:25:00.000-04:00

To see more photos of my Tiblisi trip (and my skinned knees) go to shutterfly at this link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbNmLdw3ZqLqQ .

2006-04-15T19:38:00.000-04:00

Tiblisi

2006-04-15T19:36:00.000-04:00

Tiblisi

2006-04-15T19:34:00.000-04:00

Tiblisi Bazaar

Georgia Brought Me To My Knees

2006-04-15T18:36:00.000-04:00

I just got home from Tiblisi, Georgia where I was observing an ABA CEELI training on domestic violence for law enforcement and advocates in Georgia. Actually, I got home from Georgia about 7 hours ago - but I JUST got home from a night out with L and the commandos. L and I had dinner together around 9:30 and then joined the commandos at a local pub, enjoying the hilarious cover band until we moved on to a nightclub where we danced for hours. It was actually nice to go dancing, it had been awhile.

But here are the things that are important to mention about Georgia. Firstly, I benefited from the amazing generosity and kindness of an American couple there, who treated me with such hospitality and showed me the entire city. The next thing that has to be mentioned is the food, the incredible, rich and decadent food. Its really all about the cheese. Cheese pie, cheese filled dumplings, the bread, - it was basically a vegetarian's dream with all the options. We ate Georgian food every night and it was delicious! Another critical thing to mention about Georgia is that most of the country is Orthodox Christian, and so there are millions of churches everywhere. At all hours of the day- as they are on their way somewhere- the Georgians will stop and cross themselves (or do the holy trinity if I've got that right) three times and/or bow..sometimes staying a moment to pray right there on the street in front of the church.

Another fun thing to mention about Georgia (but its true also in Azerbaijan) is that frequently the water comes out of the spouts in serious explosive spurts. It's quite startling actually when you turn on the faucet. In Tiblisi, the water was shut off in the middle of the night. An important distinction between Baku and Tiblisi - Tiblisi is a dog city (with street dogs aplenty) and Baku is more the stray cat capital.

I would be remiss if I did not point out the fun of traveling to Tiblisi from Baku - particularly the multiple security checkpoints at the Baku airport. One full metal detector and baggage x-ray machine at the airport door, one to get to the ticketing and check in area, and then a third at the gate. In addition to this 3 time xray and metal detector, there is a VERY THOROUGH pat-down by a female officer. Lets just say that its just shy of a cavity search and there is extra emphasis on the bra and breast area to make sure our underwire is all we have in there.

But once in Tiblisi there are fresh flowers everywhere for sale. There are bundles and bundles of large calla lillies - it reminded me of my wedding! The substance of the conference was great, but not necessarily the stuff for blogs. However, the scene was impressive and if you've seen the Nicole Kidman movie "the Interpreter" then you pretty much have an idea of what it was like. Thirty people in a room around a U shaped table, an interpreter booth with two interpreters in it and everyone wearing headsets so their language would be heard despite what the speaker's native tongue was. When someone asked a question in Georgian, I heard it through my headphones in English in the lovely interpreter's voice.

As I was about to leave the city, having had an amazing time thanks to my wonderful hosts, I arrived at the airport courtesy of the office driver. And I got out of the car, loaded up my arms with my bags, and with the stuff, my hair, my scarf, and my natural grace - I had what can only be described as a MONUMENTAL WIPE OUT. I had taken not even two steps, and clearly hadn't seen the 3 inch step right in front of me and so I flew forward and down I went! Bags flying. Coat flying. Hair flying. SMASH. On both my knees. I basically sort of stayed there in shock, on my stomach in front of the Tiblisi airport and a ton of people. It was a major spectacle and I am sure I provided people with material to talk about for the rest of the day. The driver and a nearby Georgian man helped bring me to my feet again and I hurried into the airport in shame. Once I made it through all the security checks and had my requisite pat down/feel up by the officer there I checked out my knees in the bathroom and sure enough, skinned and bruised like a little kid. Both of them, my poor sad knees.

Remember the video game "Frogger?"

2006-04-11T12:28:00.000-04:00

In order to get to the office from my new apartment I have to cross a busy 4 lane road- and up to this point I have neglected to mention how insane the traffic is here. The rules are there are no rules. Pedestrians have the difficult challenge of hopping through traffic trying to avoid getting hit, street lights and walk signs are virtually non-existent. One travel book put it the best- it is exactly as though we are playing a gigantic game of frogger, with our lives! If you lack the requisite courage you could end up waiting on one side of the street for hours. Instead, local practice is to literally hop across one half of the road in between the zooming cars...And then stand at the middle white lines with the cars zooming in front and in back of you as you wait for another mini-opening in traffic so you can try to squeeze and shoot to the other end of the street. You are playing "Frogger," bopping and weaving through traffic. And there is absolutely no regard for pedestrians, no right of way, no slowing down. Its simply terrifying.

On another note, I have moved into my new apartment. Two nights ago, when we were finalizing things with the landlord Elza, I had a hilarious mini-adventure. Once we had settled things up in the apartment, I walked out with Elza so she could speak with the guards about me. After nearly 20 minutes with the guards and Elza speaking their vigorous Russian about me and the move (with no one there to translate so I was totally in the dark) we negotiated that I would move in the next day and provide documentation for the guards (passport information and employment). We then walked out, and she started walking with me - no discussion, no idea how it happened or what would happen next. We walked and walked, and she just wasn't saying goodbye. In fact, instead of saying goodbye she was talking up a storm! All of it in Russian of course, and very enthusiastically, excitedly. Soon I found she was taking me on an impromptu walking tour - the philharmonic, the museum, the best hair salon....and then all of a sudden she is taking me into the Moscow market - showing me what she thinks is Baku's best sausage. Since most of our conversation, taking place entirely in Russian, was largely one-sided - I decided not to try to convey that I was a vegetarian. I was just hoping she wouldn't BUY any and expect me to taste it! We walked and walked, past the Literature Museum and the Old City, and around Fountain Square and then we were approaching my old apartment (where I was going to spend my final night) and STILL we weren't parting ways. I was getting nervous, and sure enough as we approached the old apartment building she followed me in and as we started heading up the 4 story walk up I began to think about what I would do once she was in the apartment with me! I supposed I would offer her tea and show her the place. Then, all of a sudden and surprisingly at Apt #5 (my temporary place was Apt. #6) she said her goodbyes to me and we parted. It might not translate as funny and surreal as it was, but trust me- spending a full hour with a large funny severe Russian lady talking your ear off in a language you don't understand and nearly walking you all the way to bed is completely funny!

Tomorrow afternoon I am off to Tblisi, Georgia to observe the domestic violence conference there. I can't wait to see what Tblisi is like - its supposed to be beautiful.

Irish Pubs

2006-04-09T05:19:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to 3 pubs (Finnegan's, Tequila Junction and O'Malleys) all frequented by a large expat community made up of international organization employees (ABA CEELI, International Rescue Commission, etc), and oil people...a lot of oil people. Pub #1 had a loud cover band (made up of Azeris) playing Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Rolling Stones songs. Hilarious. Not so hilarious was the fact that there were 40 or 50 westerners (mostly oil men, but some wives of oil men too....most folks in their 50's). And at around 10:30 or 11 p.m. another group of people starting flowing in - Azeri prostitutes. It was so surprising - and sad, pretty YOUNG women (mostly) in the smallest skimpiest clothing on, I mean TINY clothes. I watched one of them closely and she would walk up to a guy sitting at a booth and grab his hand and bring him onto the dance floor and it would all go from there. It was crazy to watch and very depressing.

Its important to remember that women may "go into" prostitution for a variety of very sad oppressive reasons - a girl who has been raped isn't a virgin, and so she will never be married (as in this country mothers-in-law wait outside the marital bedroom to receive the bloody sheet as proof that her son married a virgin)...so if a woman here can't marry she has very little means of economic support, and she is already tainted so her options become very limited. That version doesn't even include the women who have been trafficked. Russian women here are all considered prostitutes (out of latent soviet resentment and because so many have been forced into prostitution perhaps) - and they are referred to as "Natasha."

It got so crowded, and loud and distracting that we went to Pub #2 - which was also quite crowded (but no prostitutes there) and with no place to sit we moved next door to Pub #3. There we were joined by our big hulky european friends (from Ireland, Sweden and Holland) - we call them "the commandos." I was walked home by a couple people and seen safely inside.

And please, check out this amazing website www.expatmonkey.com to see what this place and the expat community here is all about...these are the people (a few of them) that I am spending my time with. They are amazingly special and interesting and creative and smart. I feel lucky to be among them.

Saturday in Baku

2006-04-08T07:11:00.000-04:00

After watching one of my new DVD's ("The Legend of Zorro") and eating Annie's whole wheat mac and cheese I went to bed and slept for 12 hours! I was exhuasted from a week of too little sleep and a world of newness. This morning I lingered in the apartment and emerged around 2 p.m. to wander the city and take a few photos. So below I have posted some of the images captured today in just a couple hours of meandering. I don't particularly like the format (and how the pictures interrupt the flow of narrative blog postings) but I'm a novice at this so it'll have to do. Later tonight I am to have dinner with some more friends from work and tomorrow most of my things will be moved into my more permanent apartment and I'll have another hilarious and totally confusing meeting with the new landlord. I can't wait to stop living out a suitcase.

2006-04-08T07:09:00.000-04:00

Me in Baku (while updating blog) captured via webcam

2006-04-08T07:02:00.000-04:00

The ABA CEELI office where I work is the building on the left and Maiden's Tower, Old City Baku is the building on the right

2006-04-08T06:59:00.000-04:00

The view from my back balcony (yes, there is a front balcony overlooking Fountain Park)

2006-04-08T06:54:00.000-04:00

My temporary apartment is straight ahead, between those two cars and the balcony midway up (just above those clotheslines)

2006-04-08T06:52:00.001-04:00

The scary entrance to my temporary apartment

2006-04-08T06:52:00.000-04:00

The local grocery store (near the temporary apt.) where I found traditional Ragu pasta sauce!

2006-04-08T06:51:00.000-04:00

Hong Kong (for $3 DVD's and knock off purses)

2006-04-08T06:50:00.000-04:00

The Caspian Sea (across the street from our office)

2006-04-08T06:48:00.000-04:00

Ocean Deck Restaurant/Bar (for nachos, pool and darts)

2006-04-08T06:40:00.000-04:00

Old City, Baku

2006-04-08T06:37:00.000-04:00

Old City, Baku

2006-04-08T06:27:00.000-04:00

Old City, Baku

2006-04-08T06:23:00.000-04:00

Artist's Alley, Baku

Where to Start?

2006-04-07T08:06:00.000-04:00

What is more interesting to read about: the ultra muscle-y men who are ex-military cops who we hung out with last night (they are training Azeri special units in anti-terrorism techniques, and these guys are HUGE), or trying to negotiate a lease through a Russian interpretor (they always sound like they are yelling and arguing, but apparently they aren't...just like Sicilians ;) and how we were at an impasse over the landlord's wish that I hire her cleaning lady once a month (and pay for it myself) because it turns out I am living in the apartment above the President's brother (no wonder there are guards!) so I have to have clean windows!

Or should I describe the power outage our office had today in the middle of the afternoon, and we just went on with our fancy meeting with five representatives from another international organization in the dim, with computers and all sorts of technical equipment yelling loud beeping noises at us for nearly an hour until the power magically returned. I could desribe the fun of being driven to the United Nations in our big dark Ford Explorer, with our lovely formal driver Javonshir and going through all the security for an intro meeting to catch me up with the projects we are collaborating with UNIFEM on.

No, I think I'll express my minor nervousness but enthusiasm for the next week of adventures that are planned for me. The current plan is that I will move into my new apartment (above the President's brother of course) on Sunday/Monday, and have two normal work days Monday and Tuesday with meetings at the U.S. Embassy. Then I am flying to Georgia! Georgia...the country that my lonely planet guide recommends that one has hostage insurance for (which I don't have). I am going to attend a 3 day Domestic Violence training in Tblisi (Its a train the trainer training and 2 days are for training law enforcement and 1 day is for victim advocates). Interestingly, the two trainers are Americans and I have seen one of them at a national DV conference in the states. Busy times. And really so interesting. I could go on and on about how people speak about "gender issues" here and have no idea what they are talking about and sort of seem to resent even the topic being on the agenda - they do it grudgingly and with no training or information or dialogue. So it will be interesting to see what Georgia is planning to do on the domestic violence issue.

2006-04-06T18:12:00.000-04:00

These are posted on the outside of the fancy apartment that I am planning to rent next week - they are Bird Flu warnings...they say "Attention! Attention!" on the top in Russian and then have informative drawings about how to NOT get the Bird Flu. It is not very reassuring I have to say (and a week from Sunday I am going into the heart of the Bird Flu region for a human rights training). Americans here seem to think its no big deal so long as I don't do any feather-plucking.

Prostitution

2006-04-06T00:41:00.000-04:00

Last night I went out to eat with about 8 other expats (Americans and Brits) not from the ABA CEELI office. Everyone was lovely and funny and not once did they talk about work. They are all interesting and adventurous - great company. We went to a Georgian restaurant, which was really good (and my frist time eating Georgian food), lots of bread and cheese products....very tasty and vegetarian friendly. In the middle of dinner, with the 8 of us tucked in a back corner of the small restaurant, there was a minor explosion in the kitchen and then the place went completely pitch black. The electricity blew out and it was total darkness. People lit the table with the light from all their cell phones until the waitress brough us a couple candles. We finished the meal in candles, and people joked about my introduction to electrical problems. On our way out of the restaurant there was yet another explosion in the kitchen and we walked past an electrical fuse box that was literally ON FIRE.

From there we walked as a group, got some people home and the rest of us proceeded to the same Ocean's Deck place as before. It had a ton of expats playing pool and darts and we met up with a group of people who might work for the oil industry (everyone seems sort of secretive about what they are doing here...so that is interesting. No one talks about work or what they do when they are out). I stayed there until a group of about 4 of us left...and Lynn and Sam walked me home.

I definitely need to be walked home while here - there is this little nuisance that the police here do when they see women walking after 9:30 p.m.....(and this has happened to several American women here) the police will stop a woman (even if its two women) walking at night and acuse them of being prostitutes (which is not illegal here) and demand a bribe....if you don't pay the bribe they literally haul you to the VD hospital (because spreading STD's IS illegal here) for a forced gynecological exam! No fun. So that is an experience I am going to try to avoid.

When I got into my temporary apartment, I was a littel restless so I put on my trusty Angelina Jolie DVD ("Tomb Raider" of course) and tried to hook up my computer to get dial up...no luck yet. Then, in stumbling around late and night and jet lagged, I caught my pinkie toe on a piece of furniture and stubbed it like mad. Its almost as bad as when I broke it this past August, hurts like hell to put on shoes and when I walk - so that is fun. No need to go to a doctor though because a) that's not fun here and b) not much can be done for a broken pinkie toe anyway and I am not wearing that damn velcro boot again.

That is me, Day Two in Baku. There is a pregnant cat at the office and I am contemplating adopting one of her kittens when she has them....hoping they don't carry the bird flu.

My Arrival

2006-04-05T08:10:00.000-04:00

I am here. The overnight flight, Frankfort layover and evening arrival in Baku left me a little disoriented and crazed. Lucky for me I got through passport control uneventfully, collected my 5 massive bags and made it through customs and was greeted by the lovely office driver named Javonshire and our coutnry director here, Lynn. I am staying at a temporary apartment that is larger than my Brooklyn place with Ben, and lovely with big windows overlooking Fountain Square (and of course within visibility of the local McDonald's - evil).

My first useful piece of advice given to me by Lynn on the drive from the airport was this - don't even brush your teeth with the water. It'll make your gums bleed. The water is dangerous....full of metal and toxins. So we use bottled water for everything and its likely I'll actually have water coolers delivered to my when I settle into an apartment.

I don't have internet at the temporary apartment, so I have to rely on sneaking in office time for now. But the digs are great here and the office is nice, and full of friendly and kind people ready to help out. I had lunch with a group from the office (6 of us) today and we went to Ocean's Warf where I had a surprisingly good plate of vegetarian nachos! And then at 4:30 today the office had a cake and champagne celebration for the old Kristine and the new Kristine - so apparently I won't starve here.

We already have a lot of work planned for me in the next couple weeks - including a 2 day seminar on coalition and network building for NGO's working on anti-trafficking. The trafficking of women and children here is a huge problem and one that needs a lot of support and services and training. Training is key here- even the women's NGO's look at trafficking victims as prostitutes who deserve what they got....so we have a lot of work to do. I am so excited to be jumping right in with both feet.

I've also been warned -on this, my first day- that at some point my apartment will be "visited" by government officials....they usually visit when you are not home and they go through all your thigns and turn on your computer and look at your files and leave you signals that they have been there (like an ashtray with a cigarette in it next to your turned on computer with files open, so you know they were there). Kind of scary. And they only really do this to the single women here, but they are never in your apartment when you get home....they just leave you little messages that say they are watching. These are the things they don't tell you when you interview for the job.

Tonight I am going out to dinner with Lynn and Kristine to meet more friendly folks from the ex-pat community in Baku - people outside the ABA CEELI office. The city is interesting, and while one mostly sees all men on the streets, I feel right at home because in this city everyone wears all black!

Contact Information

2006-03-31T09:38:00.000-05:00

So here is some contact information, in case anyone wants to send me care packages of toilet paper, good coffee, books and whatever else is hard to get in Azerbaijan:

Kristine Herman
c/o ABA CEELI
97 Neftchilar av. apt 23
370004 Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan

The office direct phone lines are +994 12 497 20 78 or +994 12 497 20 79

BUT, I can be reached directly through a New York-based phone number that rings me on my computer from any phone (cell or landline) in the States - and if I am not at my computer to pick up you can leave me a voicemail. It is the same price for the caller as any call to a new york number would be....so please, call away!!

My number is 646-736-7863.

And if you haven't checked out Skype yet, you should. Its a great service that lets me have this New York number tied to my computer, gets me free incoming calls there and also very very cheap outgoing calls to the U.S. and also video calling (if you also download skype for free and have a webcam). I plan to use my webcam often so if you have one, or are on either Skype of msn messenger, you can add me as a contact so we can chat. Its amazing to me what is available through the internet - and all my long distance communication options for this next year.

Vaccinations/Immunizations

2006-03-14T18:28:00.000-05:00

So in case anyone was wondering, when traveling to Azerbaijan its good to have been immunized/vaccinated against Tetanus, Hepatitis A and Typhoid. That last shot was a doozy and not only made my left side ache for 24 hours but gave me one of the worst headaches and feverish nights in recent memory. Also important is malaria medication for the summer months (a prescription that I plan to fill soon) and - much more alarmingly - Tamiflu. The whole idea of Tamiflu, and the scary virus its meant to meagerly address, is a little concerning. It is all that the news is reporting on in Azerbaijan these last few days....the bird flu. Now granted, not only do I not have plans to touch or work with any live or dead chickens - I feel like I also have an advantage because I do not eat chicken. So I am hoping to be doubly less likely to be exposed. But if I am- I am hoping I have some Tamiflu with me! I'm still waiting to get a doctor here to prescribe it to me.

2006-03-12T21:58:00.000-05:00

K in her Brooklyn-based apartment 3 weeks before departure

Preparations for Departure

2006-03-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

Okay so already my usual disdain for blogs in general is validated by having spent 30 minutes drafting my first post and then it magically disappeared on me with no record to be found. So now I'm just mad.

That being said, it is now countdown time. I am scheduled to leave for Azerbaijan on April 3rd. I have accepted a one-year position with the ABA/CEELI program as the Gender/Human Rights Liaison in Azerbaijan. Only a couple months ago I was a very happy newlywed with a fantastic apartment in Brooklyn, loving and supportive husband and a secure and interesting job. I am still a very happy newlywed, but now I'm headed out to live in Baku for a year doing who knows what with the CEELI office there (which also has lawyers working on anti-corruption and anti-torture efforts in Azerbaijan). It's exciting and challenging and it was one of the most difficult decisions Ben and I have faced as a couple thus far. And while I am out there on the coast of the Caspian, Ben will be patiently holding down the home front; focusing on his music career and taking care of kitten and keeping things warm for me for when I come home. Is there anyone as amazing as he is? I think not.

My preparations have me trying to concentrate on my past, present and future simultaneously. In these final weeks in NYC, I am looking backwards and trying to wrap up five years' worth of work at CCI, and I am focusing on being present for every moment I have with Ben before I go, and am trying to think about the future and what I could possibly want and need to have with me for the next year in Azerbaijan and packing! It is a lot. A lot to do, a lot to think about, a lot to plan for, and a lot of people and opportunities to be thankful for.