My Future Home...

Ahhhh, lovely Lankaran. Last week I got to go spend a few days in the city that, in a few short weeks, will be my permanent home. It was wonderful!

My trip started with a 5 hour bus ride with the coordinator from my school in Lankaran along the coast of the Caspian Sea. Those of you who know me well won't be surprised to hear that for me, it was basically a 5 hour nap. And that is never a bad thing!

When we arrived, the director of my school met us at the bus stop and took us to lunch. It was a beautiful spot, right near the sea, but in we were surrounded by trees. My coordinator and director pointed out the Iron Trees that are so famous. They are really cool looking. Over lunch, we got to talk a bit. A lot of translation was required, but it was very interesting. I asked a few questions about the school and a lot of questions about the town.

After lunch, they took me home to my host family. I will be living in a fifth floor apartment - I think it must be my due after complaining so much about the stairs to Kara's fourth floor dwelling back in Herndon. I have lovely room - which they decorated to welcome me. Balloons and posters and confetti. My days of the western style toilet are sadly over. Over the new few years, I will come to love the squat toilet, I am sure. At least the combination of a million steps and squat toilet will give me great leg muscles.

My host family is lovely. I will be living with a host mother and 3 sisters. One of my sisters has a little boy - about 10 years old. I am thrilled to be living - basically - with all women. It is a much more comfortable situation. They are all so excited to have me as part of the family. Two of my sisters speak fluent English, one of them has been to the states 4 times. Ahhh. How refreshing to have someone who kind of understands me. She even offered me iced tea - most Azeris think adding ice to tea is close to sacriledge. My host mother and the other sister don't speak English, but they are trying very hard to make me feel comfortable and to learn English and teach me Azeri. My little host nephew knows one or two words in English. All day Friday, he was walking around singing Happy Birthday - mostly because it is one of the few things he knows in English.

My family took me to the Heydar Aliyev Memorial Park Wednesday evening. This is the spot for summer evenings. Familys all come out and walk around and chat and watch people. It is one of the few places women and kids can socialize, so it is very popular. The ladies all get very dressed up - to sit in the darkened park. I felt a bit like I was on show, the new American. I have gotten used to that feeling in the past few months. But it was nice, we had popcorn, strolled around. I watched all of the Azeris as much as they watched me. It's only fair, you know.

I spent Thursday morning walking around town with my host sister. She showed me where to shop, took me to the history museum. What an interesting experience that was. We walked into an old house where all of these artifacts are kept. No problem taking as many pictures as you want. You want to touch the stuff? No worries. I had a definite moment of pause, wondering what my mom and all of the lovely people at PRD would think of me as I stood there, holding a pot dating from 1310, carefully inspecting it and feeling every line and crack.

Thursday evening I got to hang out with my future sitemates. Ashely, Tim, and Tom are all Community Econmic Development volunteers who have been in Lankaran for a year. They invited Joyce and me over for dinner to welcome us to Lankaran - mexican food and margaritas. Heaven! It will be really nice to have a group of other Americans around - especially if they can keep plying me with good food and drinks!

Joyce lives right across the street from me. If I were to shout out my window, she would hear it. That is awesome. I really think it will be crucial for my well being to have American friends nearby.

I got to visit my school on Friday. I met one of the English teachers and she showed me around. They are really excitedto have me. As Peace Corps keeps telling us, they have been waiting for at least a year for a volunteer. Of course they are excited! My school is 3 stories high, with 6 different English classrooms. I cannot wait to meet all of the English teachers and figure out who I will be working with. So far, everyone seems great. The first day of school is September 15. That is going to be an intense experience, I am quite sure.

Friday afternoon, Joyce's host family took us to do a bit of sight seeing. We drove around the city and went to the nearby hot springs. The hot springs are located in a place called Istisu - which translates to hot water. Appropriate. We had tea nearby, surrounded by more Iron Trees. We drove passed one of the famous teas plantations. Joyce and I took pictures like a couple of tourists - forgetting that we will be living there for the next two years. Plenty of time for sight-seeing. But still, there is something about that first moment of discovery.

Saturday morning was time to head back to the training community. A little bittersweet. Nice to be going back to friends I had been missing, but sad to leave a place I like so much. I am so excited about living there for the next 2 years. The town is lovely, the people are great, and I and really looking forward to working and living there. I know thare are going to be times that are really hard and that all I want is to be somewhere else, but that is the way life goes. Right now, I am thrilled at the prospect of my future life. The next two and a half weeks can't go fast enough, I am so eager to be out of training and finally really living my life as a Peace Corps volunteer.