An update at last

It has been way too long since I posted last. I actually started to write a post a few weeks ago, just now realizing that I never posted it. My bad. I am alive and well and I will attempt to give an update on my life. In Imishli it is still really not and we still have no gas (since May). I officially put my extension request in to Peace Corps and now I'm just waiting to hear for their decision.

I do have a few funny guesting experiences. A little cultural side note: the majority of Azerbaijani people, especially older people, do not like to sit in direct contact with a fan or air conditioning in the summer. They believe that the cool air will make them sick. That being said, my host grandmother has been coming to our compound daily to hang out in the yard with my host family. My host family went inside to sit in their room with a wall unit and then my host dad had friends come over to drink tea and play backgammon. Therefore my host grandmom came over to my house and asked if she could sit in my house for a while because the men were in the yard (women leave the area/room when men guests come and only serve food and tea for them) and couldn't go in the big house (my host family's house) because the wall unit was on. I said sure. She said 'I'm going to go wash and be right back.' So about 5 minutes later my host grandmom comes to my door naked from the waist up - no shirt, no bra. She then proceeds to sit in my one and only arm chair spread eagle with a skirt and no top until the men left. I had to turn my fan away from her so the air wouldn't hit her. I just sat there thinking - wow and laughing in my head.

Another time I went guesting at an aunt's house of one of my youth. They live in a village of Imishli. That guesting experience was a mere 7 hours, but it wasn't so bad. We went fishing, milked cows (which I have lost my touch), played cards and chess. Ceyhun, my youth, asked me to play chess with him. I told him I learned how to play chess in 1st grade but hadn't played since then. He then proceeded to say ' Oh, so you learned how to play 20 years ago.' My initial reaction was 'No way, I'm not that old' until I realized, yes I am that old and he was completely right. That was a shocker! I guess to all my youth I am old. It made me realize all my friends at site are either 20 plus years older than me or 10 plus years younger than me.

I think thats all I have for now.