I, Pincushion

I finished today with abroad-scholarship battle-scars. How?

Well, following in Russia’s footsteps, it is Azerbaijan’s policy that every foreigner seeking residence in the country must submit to an HIV test. I am not entirely sure what they would do if an applicant happened to be HIV positive, no one really seemed to know. Naturally, American test results are not good enough here (our medical facilities are not up to par, as it turns out) so I had to go to a local clinic.

Being a person who abhors needles and nearly fainted after giving blood for the first time, I was naturally a little tense. Unfortunately, I was right to be. One nurse spoke broken English and was very unsympathetic, coldly ordering me to take off my coat and put my bag down. The nurse who drew blood spoke no English, and the one who did was slow to translate, making the whole process even more uncomfortable. What was even worse is the fact that the blood-drawing nurse confused me with a pincushion and stabbed me with the needle about five times before finding a vein. Ouch.

Conclusion: I will not be seeking a career as a human guinea pig.

Also, this latest misadventure has made me truly sympathetic towards new immigrants to America. I don’t know whether or not they are required to undergo any medical exams before being permitted to stay in the US, but that is hardly the only difficulty. Being in a culture so different from your own is disorienting, scary, and (as today has shown) unpleasant. And often, the locals really don’t get why something upsets you.

For example, in our culture the government cannot force you to take an HIV test without your consent or a court order. I believe it is a person’s private business, very private in fact, to decide whether or not they want to know. And my hosts could not fathom why I had a problem with an invasive test like this. Just goes to show how deep cultural differences can run.

Basket Case

So, I’m not totally sure this is unique to life in Azerbaijan or if this is just another 20-something-year-old life experience.

I cook a lot of pasta and boil vegetable, meaning that a strainer is essential to my kitchen. When I first got to Baku and settled in to my apartment, there was no sieve to be found. Amazingly enough, not having one was really disabling and limited my ability to make satisfying meals. Naturally, I went a-forraging for the item I needed.

A few days into my Azeri experience I found myself in one of the big, western malls the city has, 28 May. Side note: the mall is called 28 May that because that was date the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was founded on in 1918; it was the first independent Azeri republic, but it only lasted until 1920. In this mall they have a Western-style supermarket with a kitchenware section. I was ecstatic. Finally, I would have a strainer and all shall be well in the world again.

Alas, that did not happen. The section seemed to have all other forms of kitchenware, but no dice on the strainer. Did I despair? No. I got creative. I bought a plastic basket with holes on the side, which I have been using as an impromptu strainer for the past few weeks.

I also don’t have a dryer in my apartment do I have to hang my clothing to dry. This week I urgently needed one of my dresses for the wedding party I went to, so I wanted to hang it in the porch… only to realize I had no laundry pins. With Baku being the Chicago of Azerbaijan (i.e. the windy city, as locals call it), I knew I couldn’t just leave my dress out. Once again, I did what any savvy, broke, 20-something-year-old would do: imagined a solution. I used my two hair clips to fasten my laundry to the cord, and presto! All set!

The Teaching Master

Today was my first day actually teaching English here, in Baku. What I was asked to do is seemingly simple: practice conversational English with my students. I was very well prepared for the lesson. I prepared a topic with rich discussion options, a PowerPoint presentation to organization the class hour, and activities. I was all set to go.

Except my students are, believe it or not, the English professors who work in ASEU. It’s not that these folks do not know English; in fact, they know the grammar perfectly and are very well educated. The issue is that they have very little interaction with native speakers of English. Therefore, their conversational skills do not match their knowledge of the language, and they are not confident about expressing themselves in English. I know this problem intimately from my days studying Arabic at Brandeis. The program is truly superb, I would even argue I am proficient in the language, but having little face time with native Arabic speakers has compromised my ability to actually converse. Two and a half weeks in an immersion environment in Morocco really elevated my skill level and confidence, so I can say for a fact that practicing with me will help.

The problem was that there I stood, a recent graduate armed with a BA in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and a lot of good will, in front of a group of people who are not only my seniors but far more educated and experienced in teaching. It was pretty nerve-wracking. As I stood there in front of them, introducing myself, it hit me that my audience was a group of adults who probably find it odd that pipsqueak like me is teaching them.

Getting through that hour was one of the more challenging experiences of my life. I had to keep reminding myself that I’m psyching myself out and everyone in the room is eager to practice with me and improve their English; that’s what they invited me here for, that’s my raison d’être.

The lesson did not end up going quite as I had thought it would. The activity I had planned was not quite right for the group, and the conversation went in a different direction from what I designed. We started out with introduction, talking about ourselves and out hometowns like I had hoped, but then someone brought up the fact that they were traveling home today for a funeral. That brought up a lot of questions from them about grief and funerary processions in the United States, so I found myself talking a lot more than I had wanted to (I aspire to have the students doing 85% of the talking).

Another thing that I found irksome was the use of cellphones during the lesson. I heard this would be a problem here before I came and when I spoke to one of my local friends she confirmed that students typically answer calls and texts in the middle of class. Though I knew in the back of my mind that this was coming, I found it extremely annoying and disrespectful. I tried my best not to take it personally, and I suppose I am not so much offended as I feel it is disruptive and am concerned about the effects phone usage will have on the flow of conversation in the future. The expectations for student behavior in the classroom are certainly a major obstacle to teaching in a foreign culture. It is something I will have to try and live with, because there would be no institutional support for reform on this issue.

Still, I would call it a success. Everyone spoke at least for a few minutes, and the vocabulary used was very extensive. In talking about hometown, they brought up climate, traditions, cuisine, and other topics. And there was cultural exchange, which is one of my top two goals for these lessons. I learned about Azeri grief culture and their, in turn, learned about our practices in the US (at least according to me).

I still have a lot to work on as a teacher.

There is a lot of work ahead of me. The main thing I need to get better at is sticking to my lesson plan and activities and not letting my students, whatever their age and rank, stray to different topics. I also need to become more assertive and goad the shyer students to talk more, while not letting the more confident ones take over the conversation. Maintaining the use of English throughout the hour is also going to be a great trial.

But I feel myself equipped for the challenge, for as I face it I will hold on to something my university’s president, Fred Lawrence, said at the PBK reception; I don’t recall his exact words, but the message was that we matriculated from an elite university with great distinction and we should recall that fact and draw strength from it as we face the next challenges life brings. Indeed, my education and god will are all I need to succeed in this experience and become a better person for it.

Love and Marriage

One thing that has really stood out to me here in Azerbaijan so far is how hospitable people are, especially towards foreigners. The most clear example of that is the fact that I have been here for all of 2 weeks and already have been invited to two wedding parties. That only goes to show how much the locals want to make me feel included and share their culture with me. It’s an absolutely beautiful thing, and I can only hope that I will be able to pay that kindness forward some day, when I play host to foreigners in the US.

Thanks to the kindness of my hosts, I have had the pleasure of participating in a wedding celebration here, in Baku.

A little bit about how marriage works in Azerbaijan: the couple registers officially with the government and sometime a religious institution (if they feel inclined to do so). After that, perhaps on another day, there is a party to celebrate the new marriage. Sometimes there are even two parties! For example, if the bride is from a distant region there would be a party for her with the groom’s family lightly represented in her region, and then another one with the groom’s family and few members of the bride’s.

It is customary here for the parents to pay for the wedding, and usually the groom’s family bears the brunt of the costs. Furthermore, the parents are the ones to plan the wedding. I found that interesting in comparison with the US, where the couple typically organizes the event and customizes it to fit their preferences.

Weddings in Azerbaijan also include performances. The one I attended had a one-man lights show, belly dancers, and their traditional national dance.

Food is also a central element of Azerbaijani wedding parties. Guests are seated at tables with abundant plates of various delicacies. Salads, meat, chicken, caviar, fruits, and nuts as well as an assortment of juices, vodka, and wine are found on the table, just for the first course! After that plov, which is a rice-based dish traditional of the region, is served. Following the plov, the bride and groom cut the cake, and ice cream and cake are served to the guests.

The dancing was also great fun. People I had only just met and could barely speak to, since I unfortunately do not know Azeri, invited me to dance to the decidedly Middle Eastern tunes, which I love. I have seen similar dancing at the Moroccan wedding parties of my family, and it is quite different from the way people dance in the US.

Overall, attending the wedding of my colleague’s son was an incredible experience that gave me a window into Azerbaijan’s culture. Having experienced this important aspect of the local culture, my appetite for further learning has been whetted.

How ASEU Made World Peace

Here in Baku, I am teaching English at Azerbaijan State Economic University. The university is situated right in the heart of Baku, close to the center of the city as well as the old city (icheri-sheher). The location is very convenient for me, as I live a short walk away. It seems to be a very good university, offering a wide-ranging curriculum- they even offer Arabic, which I hope to take advantage of myself.

Thus far, my main desk has been at the office of international relations. The team there is really young, which is nice because I have people around my age to talk to. It also speaks volumes about university policy- there’s a desire to bring in young people and incorporate them and their view points into the work process. ASEU’s innovative and practical approach can also be seen in how they administer exams, which I am a fan of. Recognizing that cheating and nepotism have historically been a problem in higher education in the country, they have started with computer based testing. Students feed their answers in and receive an objective grade based on their performance; it’s either you get it right, or you don’t.

Going back to the office of IR, I would like to share with you all something funny that I noticed about their diplomatic efforts. Here, it appears, enemies are friends; rivals are brother. It’s a topsy turvy world here, at ASEU. On the bookcases around the office are flags from around the world. The following arrangement caught my eye:

 

Israel and Iran- friends again