It's the moment you've all been waiting for, but this was virtually impossible. Instead of favorite moments its simply just favorites. How could I cover it all?! I have thousands of pictures and just as many memories. But here are a few things I really enjoyed while being in Azerbaijan:When two of my best friends, Katie and Erin, came to visit me!

The never ending season of pomegranates or "nar" as I will forever call them!

Pictured here are two favs: Zeynab, her laugh, her amazing family and the special relationship that her and I created and learning Azerbaijani traditions, like the cooking I'm learning here!

My host family during training!

When my mom, dad and brother came to see what Azerbaijan was all about!

The spring holiday of Novruz!

Farm animals just walking around town, which leads into the small town, safe lifestyle!

Zeynab's neighbor's and their daughter who we called Toto!

GLOW!!!!!

Here is another two for one photo: My cousin Christina's visit and the bazaar's of Azerbaijan!

The clotheslines always fluttering between buildings and trees!

Freedom to explore!

My 6th grade (7th grade now) students!

Shefeg and her wonderful family!

I tried to cover everything here but it was impossible, some favorites that aren't pictured were: my sitemates (Marie! Connie!), other Azerbaijan friends that I made (Afgan, Rafig!), Xanim's, Qazax in spring, the ease of walking everywhere, the somewhat shabby but always available transportation system... I have to stop but I hope what you are getting out of this is that I had an amazing time. It's great to be home, but I am so lucky to have had the experiences I did in Azerbaijan.

Thank you for following my blog and taking care of me in all the ways that you did while I was away, it meant the world to me! Now its on to the next steps: waiting to hear if I got in to graduate school and moving to Washington DC in the spring.

So this is the end, last post for me. Sağ Olun Dostlarım!

Mason and I arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia by train this morning.We spent the day relaxing...

Lazily exploring...

And enjoying one last time in the wonderful city of Tbilisi.

We will be doing these same things in a few other cities for the next week and then we will be back in Seattle on the 26th. This blog is just about over, as my Peace Corps service is ending. But I have one more blog post I'll be doing once I get back in the states, my favorite moments, so stay tuned for that! See you soon!

As of yesterday I am officially a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, or RPCV!! Tonight Mason and I are headed out on the train to Georgia to start our Caucasus region adventure, so today is our last day to say goodbye to Azerbaijan.The view of Baku city from Sandra's balcony.

Mason and I in the Peace Corps office's PCV lounge for the last time.

Life in Azerbaijan wasn't always easy, but it taught me that I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to. I feel so lucky to have had so many wonderfully challenging experiences here, some of which I shared on this blog and some only I will really ever know about and understand. The relationships I made with Azeri people will stay with me forever and I thank them for taking me in as their own and teaching me the ways of people here. The thought of returning to America is so exciting and a little scary at the same time, a lot has changed since 2009 ;). I will never be the same person after being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Azerbaijan- but of course I hope all of my changes are for the better! I guess in a little over a week, when I meet my family at the Seattle-Tacoma airport, we will find out. I am definitely ready to start saying hello!

The goodbyes just don't seem to stop. THis time it was my old host family in Jeyranbatan, where I had my training in Oct/Nov 2009.I wish I had lived closer to this family and had seen them more but we always kept in contact. I hope to one day see both of the daughters in America :). Tonight it's working on Peace Corps paperwork and tomorrow it's the doctor, dentist, language test and exit interview! I don't believe that Sept 2009, when I left my family and friends in Seattle, was already 2+ years ago! I'm excited for Mason and I's trip that starts on Thursday. And then after some exploring...America, here we come! But now I just need to figure out home to get all of the gifts I received home ;)

This past week was my last in Qazax. Though it had many stresses like packing up my whole apartment myself and figuring out what to do with all of my stuff, it was an extremely emotional time. I definitely feel ready to come home, but saying goodbye to the people here who have been my life for the past two years was heart-wrenching.Goodbye dinner with Shefeg's family. Her husband stayed home from work just so he could make me kabab.

Party at school with all of my teachers.

The dress that Shefeg had made as my goodbye present. This was a fun experience going to the "derzi" for fittings and all that.

My last club with my 7th graders. We used fabric markers to write all over each others tie-dye shirts.

Saying goodbye to Zeynab and her family was the hardest. I slept at their house every night this past week and they helped me get ready to go, but saying goodbye to her and her daughter last night at the train station hurt a lot. I think what feels different now then when I left everyone at home was that I knew I would be back to see all of my family and friends in 2 years. I do not know for sure if I will ever have the pleasure of seeing any of these people again. All I can say is "inshallah."

Tonight it is off the say goodbye to my host family from training and then its Peace Corps stuff. Busy few weeks but I'm making it work. 2 more weeks and I'll be in America saying hello instead of goodbye... I can't wait!

Yesterday my 7th grade classes that I've been working with for basically the whole time I've been here and I had a Halloween/Goodbye Party.I brought some Halloween crafts and they decorated the room with little notes for me, it was quite sweet. I also got a lot of cute and funny gifts, including a clock with Mecca on it. It made me feel so special. I'm going to miss them so much. We have had so many fun times together; they are all such good and enthusiastic kids. I hope they all grow up to be amazing people. Next it's the party with my teachers and school staff! Things are really wrapping up here... I'll be home this month and I can't believe it!

Thank you Christina Libbing for coming to visit me in Azerbaijan! After realizing that I don't know how to read a calendar and going to the airport a day early... Chrissy arrived safe and sound at 3am :)! But we just had the best time together. We spent our first day with my training host family in Jeyranbatan. Chrissy fell in love with them as much as I did the first time I met them.

This happened to be Mason's birthday, October 25, so my "mom" made a cake for him and we sang.

Next our journey brought us up to Qazax, where I live. It really doesn't rain too often here, but it rained the entire time Chrissy was here haha.

When we went to visit and eat lunch with Zeynab's family my little friend from next door came over. We call her Toto and she is just a doll. We had a wonderful day spending time with Zeynab and family. It was very important to me for Chrissy to meet them all.

Exploring the Qazax bazaar.

The next day Chrissy, Mason and I carved pumpkins with my 7th grade class.

On Monday I will be having a Halloween party with both the 7th grade classes. Chrissy and Mason helped prepare with this jack-o-lantern club.

We then took the night train back into Baku and spent our last day together seeing the city's sights. I'm so thankful that Chrissy made her way to see me!!!! Best trip ever :D

On another note, Mason and I's good friend from Baku Steve past away on Thursday. You may remember his name from blog posts here and there and even his picture from the last post I made. Please keep Sandra in your thoughts. It has been a tough time, a lot of us PCVs have really gotten to know and love Steve and Sandra. Steve, you will be thought of often and very fondly remembered.

I'm down in Lankaran right now for my last trip to the south. There is a good group of us down here and we've had a fairly eventful week. On Thursday we went to a village for one of Mason's good Azeri friends' wedding. (He's the guy sitting in the middle).

Our friends that live in Baku, Steve and Sandra, came down. Sandra had actually been visiting me up in Qazax to get a feel for what it is like to be a Peace Corps teacher in Azerbaijan so we traveled down to Lankaran together.

Then on Friday we went up to Lerik for the day, which is where Mason used to live. We took a beautiful hike through the Taylish Mountains.

We walked through many different terrains: fields full of cows, muddy hills, green forests and along the river where all the plants are turning red for autumn.

It was the perfect way to say good-bye to Lerik.

Next I'll be heading up to Baku to pick up Chrissy from the Airport! I'll keep you posted on that adventure as in unfolds!

If you've been following my blog you know that another PCV, Jess, and I have been trying to get our GLOW campers from this summer together in different regions. This past Sunday Jess and I took the 4 GLOW campers from Qazax and Tovuz to Ganja, one of Azerbaijan's bigger cities that is only 2 hours from my house, to meet up with the GLOW campers from there. This was the second time I had taken Zeynab's daughter to Ganja but the first time for most girls going. It is not a normal thing for young girls to get to take a trip like this just for fun so it was a big adventure for them! We took them out to lunch and spent the rest of the sunny day wandering around. This was the last of the trips Jess and I could do for our GLOW campers and it was a great finale!

If you've seen a map of Azerbaijan you've probably noticed the funny little hook-shaped peninsula near Baku the goes out into the Caspian Sea. Most of that,the Absheron Peninsula, has been well protected and designated as a national park, and let me tell you it was a pleasant surprise to see those natural beaches in Azerbaijan. Our friends who live in Baku, Steve and Sandra, brought Mason and I out there recently and we were all taken by the beauty of the place. Fishing boat tied up just before sunset.

Steve, Sandra and Mason exploring the grassy hills that flowed between the peninsula's two shores.

The peninsula was full of saltwater marshes.

Towards the entrance to the park there was an old watch tower. Mason and Steve climbed up to get a better view of the sunset.

The second week of summer camp this month was a great success! Last week we just played frisbee and kick ball, this week I tried to make up a little bit more of a plan. We did play kick ball and frisbee of course. But we also did an arts and crafts station day, another PCV, Jess, came up for a day to teach some fun dancing to my kids which we then followed up with a dance competition and I did a day of gym games and relay races.

All in all it was fabulous! I had 22 kids coming some of the days! Now I'm in Gusar, another region of Azerbaijan, to do some exploring before everyone in my AZ7 group meets up in Baku for our Close of Service (COS) Conference. Then I'm off to Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and meeting Liz in Turkey! I can't wait!!

Tovuz (sounds like: Toe-vooz) is another region that is about 30 minutes south of Qazax (sounds like: Gaz-akh). The two girls I brought to GLOW camp this year, Salmi (Zeynab's daughter) and Lala, made good friends with the GLOW girls from Tovuz. So another PCV, Jess, who happens to live with one of the Tovuz girls, and I planned a little "party" for our GLOW campers to see each other again! I brought both of my girls down to Jess's village in Tovuz! It is a pretty big deal that these girls' parents let me take them down there. They are both 15 and becoming young women, making the men in their lives even more protective, plus it is not typical for Azeri people to simply make friends in other regions and then go and visit them, especially without an (Azeri) escort. So it says a great deal that Salmi and Lala's parents trusted me and felt that this trip was a good idea. We went down for lunch, took a couple walks and used fabric markers to decorate white bandanas- just a normal day in a young girls life I think. But for these girls it was a first. Next month Jess and her GLOW camper, Nurana, will hopefully be making the trip up to Zeynab's house for the same kind of little party :). Yesterday was fabulous and I feel proud that after being here for 2 years the work I am doing and the person that I am is making some sort of difference that I can actually experience through days like this one.

This week was the first of two "Makeshift Summer Camps" I'm doing this month. My students had such a BLAST in June at summer camp that it made me happy and really want to do more with them this summer. This week was full of art and sports. The first day a meager 4 kids showed up but I told them to call their friends and the rest of the week I had close to 20 everyday! Next week I think I may even have more... which is not easy when you are the only teacher, but I think its awesome how many kids want to come participate. The whole week was a whirlwind of fun and exhaustion, but there was one day in particular that I will remember forever.

On Tuesday I had a group of mainly girls and I took them outside to teach them how to play frisbee. They caught on so fast and just couldn't stop laughing they were having so much fun. Something about the way they were playing took me out of my "teacher shell" I usually wear everywhere I go here and put into "normal, childlike, Jessi shell," something I think they had never fully experienced before. Being loud and silly after the age of 10 (10 is not a real cut off-but you get the idea, once you are not a small child you are a quiet, respectable adult) here is highly frowned upon, much less being loud and silly in public. You can imagine their initial shock at me acting like just another child with them while playing frisbee, but that shocked turned into pure fun. I felt a bond with the kids that were there that day that I haven't felt yet with my students here, and all we were doing was play frisbee. That day goes down in my top 5 favorite times over the past 23 months of living in Azerbaijan so I just wanted to share it.

Sorry there are no pictures! Its really hard to be a photographer when you are the sole teacher :).

Last week was Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Camp 2011! It was a fabulous time, even better then last year! My friend and counterpart Zeynab's daughter went as well as another student of mine from Qazax. Total there were 44 Azeribaijani campers, 10 Azerbaijani trainers and on average about 10 PCV's at camp each day. It was in Gabala again but at a different "resort" with a beautiful lake we could swim in.Can you find me?! ;)

Thanks to Grandma Scott and mom for sending the glow sticks for "Disco GLOW," the gils thought they were SO cool and wore them as jewelry even after the glow went out.

On the talent show night there was a really special moment where the Azerbaijani trainers wanted to sing the Americans a song. It was in Azerbaijani and about friendship, it gets me chocked up now just thinking about it again. They brought out this Azeri flag and a picture they had drawn of an American flag and told us how much it meant to all of them that we came here to help them through a beautiful song. Everyone got up and danced along, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

We made tie-dye and had special markers to write all over them. They girls had a blast with that. This was an awesome spot right out on the lake where we had a bonfire the last night.

GLOW Azerbaijan is a mix of doing fun, creative games, crafts and what not, normal American summer camp fun as well having an empowering theme for two work sessions and a guest speaker each day. This years themes were Leadership, Gender, Career Sacrifices of Women (in Azerbaijan) and Goal Setting. The Azeri trainers were the leaders of these sessions and a special Azeri woman was brought in as a guest speaker each day. This camp is about showing these Azeri girls that there can be more to their life then being a housewife (if they wish to do something different that is). It also just gives them an experience they may never have again-a week away from their family, in a region they may never see again, with girls their own age and the freedom and space to be absolutely themselves in. Most of these girls probably had never left their own town/village before this and unless they go to Baku sometimes (everyone seems to have family there!) they may never again. They will also live with their own family and soon their husbands family in a confined space where there is no room to be independent or individual. I hope that their time at GLOW gave them freedom, at least for a week, and that they will never forget it. I myself feel so lucky that I was able to work so closely with GLOW for the past two years. It was a major part of my Peace Corps Service and it is something I know I will never forget.

Thank you again to you all that donated money this year and/or sent supplies this year and last year. You know who you are (and so do I) and I am so grateful for your help!

Ever since I found out I was coming to this part of the world for the Peace Corps I knew I wanted to buy a carpet.Today I made my dreams come true ;). I bought this beautiful, antique rug, handmade in Qazax (where I have been living and working for the past two years), to take home with me as a very special keepsake.

I wanted to have this up before my Dad woke up but my internet was slow and I had to go to a wedding this evening- so here you are now Daddio... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best man I have ever known! I love you Dad! Have a great day!

(PS Just saw I forgot the "h" in birthday on my sign, I could lie and say I'm spelling it in Azeri but...)

During the summer months in Azerbaijan watermelons are literally falling off of trucks and rolling down the street waiting to be sold. At the cheap price of 15 cents (gapik in Azeri) you can imagine that Peace Corps Volunteers and Azeri families alike live off of this fruit!This is one of many identical stands along the road here in Gazakh selling watermelons. This one happens to be right near my house, I took this photo from my balcony.

I am never without a watermelon in my fridge here this time of year. You would think maybe I would get sick of eating watermelon for breakfast lunch and dinner but its just not the case. In fact I dream of eating it :). As I think Azeri's do too. Saturday when I went over to one of my friends' houses here I saw they had bought 10 watermelons! They just keep them in the yard so there is a constant supply!

So after an award worthy summer camp and a fun relaxing break in Baku and Lankaran with Mason, I took the 11 hour bus ride in 100+ degree weather back to Qazax. The only thing that kept me going through my dehydrated and sweaty mess of a bus ride was the dream of walking in my door, taking a quick rise and jumping into bed for a nap, ahhhh just the thought of it now relaxes me. Unfortunately this wish was just not my destiny. As I walked into my house that afternoon a wave of disgustingly warm air blew through my hair and so after putting my bags down I set out to open some windows. On the way to my bedroom window I opened the shower room door and noticed the soap had been knocked into the sink, but didn't think much of it. So like I was saying, I walked to my bedroom window and yanked in open. To my dismay I had smashed some sort of creator between the top of the window frame and the window when I had shut it leaving for my trip! What was it?? A frog? Wait! Its moving!!!! Those gross little features were mistakable no longer...There is a bat in my house. After taking this picture, with flash, the ugly, scary yet sweet all at the same time, little thing was scared to death and began flying around my bedroom in a panic! So I screamed and ran into the kitchen in a panic. I opened all the other windows and when my heart stopped racing went back to my room to help him find his blind way outside. But alas, Batty was nowhere to be found. I searched high and low, but instead of finding him I found little bits of poop all over my bed and the window sill,

and my soap, which seemed to have been lunch...maybe dinner. Piecing it all together I started realizing that Batty has been living in my house the entire time I was gone! Oh gosh, first a rat lives in my toilet and now this! Batty had to go.

But it wasn't until night fall that I found Batty clinging to the walls of my room, as terrified of me as I inevitably was of him. One homemade contraption after the next I couldn't seem to get him captured much less flung out the window I had ripped the screen out of. So it was time for drastic action-that called for my hat, I didn't want Batty to get stuck in my hair! So there I was, grey shorts, white tank top, green winter cap, sweaty and probably stinking to high heaven as I still hadn't gotten to take that shower, ducking low to the ground as Batty swooped and glided, flying an insane number of circles around my room. The only sound he made were his claws against the cement wall as he considered landing but then changeed his mind. Finally, sometime after midnight and hours since this whole debacle started he landed on the ceiling. Moving at about an inch-a-minute pace I crept up onto a chair with my big jar and slowly place it over him. He didn't even freak out, just sat in there until I brought him to the balcony and set him free into the night.

"Potato in a jacket; Toys in the attic; I rock and I ramble; My brain is scrambled!; Rap like an animal; But I'm a mammal..."

Just enjoying a little down time in Baku after my summer camp. Taking lots of walks and lots of pictures so I thought I would share some. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Happy birthday to the most amazing woman I have ever met!I love you mom!

Our final day of camp was filled with a lot of hilarious relay races and games and a lot of laughter!

I'm wearing my tie-dye shirt from Wednesday's arts and crafts!

No-hands balloon between the knees relay. Each kids goes down and back and then passes the balloon off to the next kid. No one can use their hands at all :).

The MOST hilarious thing all day! The old clothes relay! Using a bunch of PCVs' old clothes left in the PC lounge we gave each of the two teams a pile of old clothes, each kid had to put every piece on, run down and back and then switch it all to the next kid. The laughter from this event drew a lot of attention from others around us. So funny!

The jump rope relay was also too funny. The boys could not for the life of them jump rope correctly and they looked like funny little frogs trying to hope the rope. We were all laughing quite a bit-including the boys don't worry :).

Water balloon toss! Mason and Kanan tied Rufet and Tural for first in this event.

We ended the day by breaking open the pinata's we had been working all week to make. While mason was out doing some other relays I snuck all the candy and prizes inside of the pinatas!

My summer camp was a huge success! It went over fantastically with the students and all of the teachers! Everything I planned to do worked out perfectly! Thank you to all of my PCV (or other American :)) helpers and to all of you back home who sent things over to make this camp possible! I hope you can all see the my students and I really appreciate all the help!!!

I was probably the most nervous about Health Day out of all the projects we've done this week. It's not easy teaching things like health in a different language. But with a lot of help from Zeynab, Mason and Josh today was a HUGE success!Dental Health. Thank you Kaitlin Poppe for all of the great ideas of what to say and how to show it! This went so well! On Monday we put eggs into water, juice, tea and coke representing what these things would do to our teeth. Today we checked out the tea and soda's discoloration and the sugary juice and soda's softening of the eggs. We talk a lot about how to keep our mouths and teeth clean and we ended by all brushing our teeth the right way out side, including Mason and I.

Physical Health. We talked about food, sleep, exercise; things to keep our bodies healthy. We followed this lesson with a game of kickball-getting all the kids exercising and spending time out side.

We ended the day with Mental Health. We focuses on being happy and creative and stretching our minds by reading, writing and playing logic games. We also just talked about laughter and how good it can be. To put this into motion we decorated our pinatas using creativity and hopeful some critical thinking to exercise our minds. But most of all we had a lot of smiles and laughing.

Today started and ended with putting layers of paper-mache on balloons to make pinatas! We will decorate them tomorrow and fill them with candy to brake open on Friday.

Then we moved on to friendship bracelets. A lot of my students already know how to make these as I have taught them how to make these bracelets before in after school clubs.

Tie-dye was my favorite event of the day! Thank you mom for sending me the materials! The kids thought it was the COOLEST thing ever :).

The kids also made pictures frames today. On Friday when the tie-dye shirts are washed and dried and ready to wear we will take a camp picture to glue on to these picture frames!

Mason led a day of theatrical games today at my summer camp. We did lots of things to get the kids role playing and practicing being an actor :). Zeynab even came by to play a few games with Mason, Josh and I!

Day one of my summer camp was a success! Mason and Josh helped out in teaching some of my favorite students how to play baseball!

Stay tuned for pictures everyday this week of how my camp is going :).

Friday June 10th1pm: The Last day of Marie and Teresa's Agstafa summer camp! Things are going great, its hot, sunny and I'm finishing up helping the kids hit the pinata's they spent the week making when I get the call from the Peace Crops housing guy. He has just spent the last couple of hours on the phone with my landlords and it is now offical, 1pm June 10th, I am getting evicted.

3pm: Marie, who has plans to leave on a weekend trip the next day changes her plans to stay and help me. We begin the tedious packing process (why in the world do I have so much stuff-I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer!)

5pm: We start our quest for a new apartment. We make a few calls and are almost immediately out the door to look at our first "new" apartment option.

7pm: Marie and I come back and continue packing. As you can probably tell by my face and the pile of stuff behind me-we are exhausted! And this isn't even all the stuff, we have more packing to do. But by midnight its time for bed.

8:30am:The long, drawn out honk of the trash truck. Marie and I pop out of bed, get dressed without saying anything and starting taking the multiple loads of trash down to the truck-Saturday June 11th has begun.

9:30am: Quest number two begins-it is time to find me a new place to live-I'm almost homeless!

12:30pm: After many frantic Azeri phone calls and waiting around we walk through the door of the most perfect place to live! Sure the walls are falling off and the floor's covered in dirt-this is my new home!

2pm: Marie and are start the cleaning process. We scrubbed this place from top to bottom! I've never met someone who can make a sink shine the way that Marie Novak can!

5pm: My friend Afgan and his brother come with a HUGE truck to take all of my stuff to the new apartment. And when I say stuff-I have my own fridge, oven, bedding (my old apartment didn't come very well furnished for living but thanks to my mom and dad's trip here last year it really became a home with all of this fancy stuff!) Of course while we spent an hour moving everything out of my fifth floor apartment (no elevators here!) it started to rain on the open bed truck holding all of my stuff.

6pm: We drive over to my new building in the rain and unloaded it into the stairwell. With in three minutes every kid who lives in this building was out helping us walk all of my stuff up to the fifth floor apartment here. On our way up every mom was hanging out of her door yelling "Welcome! How are you?!" This place is so much friendlier then my other apartment!

7pm: At last! everything is inside and Marie and I are EXHAUSTED!

We haven't stopped going since getting up for summer camp Friday morning. In these 30 hours we preformed not a move, but a life relocation for me.

I think its safe to say Marie and I can make any quest into a reality!

May 31st was graduation or, "Son Zang," (Last Bell) at my school.My school as I was walking in. The ceremony hadn't started yet so there weren't many people around, this whole yard was packed with people once graduation started.

During graduation the 11th graders (graduating classes) and the 1st graders exchange gifts. Then there is a ceremony of the 11th and 1st graders passing around a key and then parading the Azerbaijani flag around the crowd. This is one of the 11th grade boys holding one of the 1st grade boys after parading the flag.

This is the informatics teacher. Her and I have become friends over the last year and she brought me a bouquet of roses for graduation :). "Son Zang" involves a lot of fake and real flowers, as well as HUGE stuffed animals-these are typical gifts in Azerbaijan (you can see a a lot of flowers and balloons in this picture).

With this "Son Zang" comes a new chapter in my Peace Corps service. I just finished a full year of teaching at my school-a year and a half of teaching total. This summer is packed with summer camps and work of all kinds but it also brings with it the end. If this summer will be anything like the last it will go by in a sweaty flash and soon it will be fall-time to close up shop and say my good-byes here. It's hard to believe September 2009 was so long ago. Many things have changed since then; emotions have come and gone, I have both hated and loved life here. Tuesday was an emotional day for me though-it really seems the beginning of the end has come.

Hey there!

Spring is in full swing here, it is 80 degrees today! My garden is full of sprouting pumpkins and squash and as I sat out there today, enjoying the sun, I realized-my summer camp is only one month away! The last week of June (June 27-July 1) I will be holding a summer camp at my school for all of my students. I've tried to vary the schedule to make it fun for all types of students, but on Thursday, June 30, I am sneaking a health day in there to talk about dental care, nutrition and germs. Now I know this is a little late, as the mail can take about a month, and we'll that's all the time there is before my camp, but if anyone wants to help out 50 Azerbaijani students learn more about dental health I would sincerely appreciate around 50 toothbrushes and 50 of those little travel sized toothpastes. Also, and this has a longer deadline, if anyone (my teachers out there reading!) has any good tips, links, websites, games, word-searches etc. to making teaching dental care, nutrition and germs fun could you let me know, I need all the help I can get! Thank you all for thinking of me! I'll let you know how camp goes :)

Happy 21st Birthday Nick! I miss you and I wish I could be there for my little brother turning 21 but I'm thinking about you! LOVE YOU

I recently took this picture while having tea, or "chay," with Zeynab and the informatics teacher at my school and thought it was kind of cool. We all had a break from classes at the same time so we had a little chay and chat session.Chay is a huge part of life in Azerbaijan. You can not have a conversation, a meal or even a thought without drinking tea. This isn't bad for me, I've always loved tea and find myself drinking it more and more at my own will. Even in the summer, when it is 100 degrees and humid, we all drink tea before we do anything important, its just the Azerbaijani way. Most of the tea they sell here is grown down in the south in Lankaran, near the Iranian border. When driving away from the main town and out into the villages you can see the many fields of tea growing along the side of the road. This is all black tea, which is the tea of choice here, but they do dry many kinds flowers and other plants to make special healing teas for when you have a cold. Azerbaijani's never drink tea by itself. In the mornings loose sugar is poured by the cup full into the breakfast tea. Anytime after breakfast a sugar cube in the mouth is OK, maybe chocolates, or my favorite, home made preserved fruit. The glass in this picture, an "armud stakan" (pear cup), is a very typical, very Azerbaijani cup to drink your tea out of. Tea drinking is an art here and tradition worth noting.

Hanging out at Zeynab's house is a normal, everyday thing for me. She and her family have become my home away from home-my family away from family. Yesterday was a warm, humid, rainy day and was the day that used to be workers day during soviet times (and May day, I brought Zeynab flowers, but didn't ring the bell and run away). And, since so many family members just happened to be at Zeynab's house yesterday, we had a make-shift party outside while they made "lavash" (thin tortilla type bread).

I told this story to my mom last night on the phone and she thought it was incredibly sweet so I want to share it with all of you.

Yesterday was my second gardening club of the season and one of my students brought me a tree start that she had dug up from her own garden to give to me to plant in mine. She brought it over in a bucket dripping with water. We planted it together in one of the newly tilled corners of my garden. It was a very thoughtful gesture of kindness, she is only 10 years old.

After that all of the students and I planted sunflowers along the perimeter of my garden.

Also, side note, if you read my last post, yesterday was April 13th and it snowed here! Zeynab can predict anything!

As Zeynab and I were walking to the home of the boy we tutor today we were talking a lot about gardening. She asked me about my first gardening club yesterday and if I figured out how to use the shovel I had borrowed from here :) and I was getting her advice on when to plant certain things. She told me this story they have about starting to grow your crop in the Spring and I want to share to with you.

There was an old woman. She had many goats. All winter long she feed them grass that she had dried from the Autumn before and they stayed healthy and strong all winter. After March was over and April beginning the old woman poked March and Winter in the eyes and said I have won! All of my flock has survived the winter, I beat you. March and Winter did not like her saying this to them at all so the saved three days of Winter and sent them into April. They killed all of the old woman's flock while she was gloating. These three days are April 13-16 and that is why they say here never to plant your crops before the 16th of April. If you do, winter will come again and freeze everything you plant.

The sun is out but the wind is blowing; today was a little nippy.These are the clothes lines of the families below me. I just loved how they looked in the wind; I have a weird obsession with taking pictures of full clothes lines, including mine. I love that we dry our clothes this way! Although, I'm not going to lie, oh I cannot wait to have a washing machine!!! My poor hands :)

A little later when I looked out the window though, some of this family's clothes had disappeared! They are lucky that tree was there to catch it (although, I'm not sure if they will be able to get at it). If I lost something off my line, especially in wind like today, it would be long gone! There's nothing there to catch it!

Anyway I just liked the first picture and then thought the second one was sort of fun. Just a typical day in the AZB.

Hey there!

Yes, it is that time of year again, time to start thinking about GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camp Azerbaijan.(Memories from GLOW Camp Azerbaijan 2010)

This year I am not asking for materials to be sent, but instead a little bit of money to help the camp go round. It costs more than $15,000 to run a successful week of camp for 50 young girls, 10 Azerbaijani women counterparts and 10 PCVs and we are almost completely funded! We have one grant left that needs a little help being filled by our friends and family. There are two ways you can help, if you are interested, fill this grant:

1) Click this link to donate directly to our Peace Corps Partnership Program grant; or

2) Check out what Sara, a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) from Georgia (the country where I spent Christmas and New Years, not the state. Although, I don't know what state she is from), is doing to help us raise money. She recently sent us this email:

"I'm representing a line for a company called Stella & Dot. I started just a few months ago and decided to go for it because I fell in love with the jewelry last year. I wear it all the time, it's of great quality, and it's fun to share it with other women because they invariably fall in love with it too if they haven't already heard about it. I do in-home trunk shows and also have a website and a fan page on facebook.

"I’m doing a fundraiser and I'd love your support: For the next 10 days, I’m donating 75% of my commissions from online sales to a project that will make it possible for young girls in Azerbaijan to attend Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). Every last cent of the money donated goes straight to the camp (to buy supplies, transportation for the girls, food, etc.).

"Here is how you can support the fundraiser:

1. Go to my e-boutique

2. In the right hand corner of the page, click on “Can’t make it to a trunk show? Find your hostess.”

3. Enter the words “Camp GLOW” and click “continue.”

4. Browse and shop

"Orders arrive in just a couple days and come in gift boxes. By the way, I'd be honored to help you out if you aren't sure what to choose - just email or call. Shipping is discounted at a flat rate of $5.95. Finally, there is a really cute girls line for the very young ladies in your life (daughters, nieces, etc.).

"THANK YOU for supporting this cause - the girls who attend GLOW this summer will thank you too!

"All the best,

Sara"

Thanks everyone for your support of GLOW Camp and for your support of me! I love all the postcards (Linnea!), letters (special shout out to Grandma T), emails, facebook messages, packages (mom! and dad and Nick and grandma :)), the phone calls (Meagan!) and thank the heavens I have this Blackberry now so I can BBM, gchat and just stay in touch! You are all great!

The hike out to the hot springs took about 40 minutes.

We had a big group wondering through the woods making our way there.

The natural hot sulfur water is pumped into these private cabins with pools inside.

The water is constantly moving; it is drained out the side.

After a long, hot soak we all sat in the woods to drink some tea.

February 22nd, the first Novruz Tuesday was "Su Charshanbasi" or Water Tuesday. We painted water scenes with water colors.

March 1st, the second Novruz Tuesday, "Od Charshanbasi" or Fire Tuesday. We decorated candles with magazine clippings.

March 8th, the third Novruz Tuesday, "Yel Charshanbasi" or Wind Tuesday. We made wind chimes from buttons, old keys and key rings and washers and L-brackets I bought in the hardware store.

March 15th, today, the fourth and last Novruz Tuesday, "Torpaq Charshanbasi" or Earth Tuesday. We went outside and took a class picture then collected things from outside, from the earth, to decorate picture frames for the outside picture.

This art project was a lot of fun and made me feel more a part of the Novruz Holiday, but in my own American, Jessi way. Tonight its off to Zeynab's for firing jumping and a huge feast! I'm going to make a carrot salad and a waldorf salad to share with her family, they love seeing what kind of stuff "we" eat. I think they will be surprised how similar it is to salads they make here. It you haven't already, read the comments under my last post, "My Novruz Samani," Meagan wrote and posted a poem I think all should enjoy :). Love you all! Novruz Bayraminiz Mubarek! Happy Novruz Holiday!

For the Novruz Holiday families all over Azerbaijan start growing "samani," or wheat grass, during the first or second Tuesday leading up to the actual holiday on March 21st. This year to be in the true Novruz spirit, and to immerse myself even more, I grew a samani at my house to celebrate the holiday! (With Zeynab's help of course-she put the seeds on the plate, covered them and taught me how to care for them. But since then, March 1st, its been under my watch! :)) This first night I brought it home-Zeynab instructed me to leave it by the "pech," or heater, to put it int he sunlight during the day and to leave the cloth on, watering it through the cloth, until the green sprouts started showing.

I was so excited to see it grow! And it grew SO FAST!

It was getting soooo tall! I bragged to Zeynab, saying my samani was taller then hers, and she told me to stop putting it by the pech! It was getting too tall too fast and would turn yellow before Novruz!

Today-Its not yet the holiday, and I know it will get taller, but it is so beautiful and fresh, I just wanted to show it off! Families here decorate their samani with a red ribbon, a color to celebrate life, but I had to improvise as I only had pink ribbon. Samani is grown for Novruz as a symbol of new and coming life. As everything done from Novruz it is to welcome the coming new year and spring.

In Azerbaijan, along with most other post-soviet countries and places in Asia and Russia, we celebrate International Women's Day. Not something we celebrate in America, although I have heard the President Obama proclaimed March 2011 "Women's History Month" in honor of this year being the 100th anniversary of Women's Day. Once a day to speak out about women's issues and women' rights, it is now, at least in Azerbaijan, whether good or bad simply a day of celebrating women. If I were in America I would take this day to celebrate my mom and grandmothers, as they are strong, independent women who taught me all that I know. But I'm not, I'm in Azerbaijan, so I wanted to take a minute to celebrate a woman here who has changed my life.

This is Zeynab. You've read a lot about her in my blog, if you've visited here you've met her and if you've called me then you've heard me talk about her. Her home is my home away from home, her family has become a safe haven for me and she has become my "Azerbaijani Mom." Zeynab is a mother of two, but lives with and cares for her husband's parents as well. Her husband, unfortunately, is in prison in Russia, so that leaves her to be the main care taker and bread winner in the family. Of course she has her father-in-law around to make decisions for the family, but that doesn't make any less work for Zeynab. Yet with all the work at school and at home that she does, and with the absence of her husband, all things that could get a person down, leaving them exhausted, she has one of the most upbeat, nurturing and adventurous spirit of any women I have meet here. Her heart is so full of hope for herself and her children it brings tears to my eyes. She is a fast learner and seems to surprise me with something she knows, says or understands about the world everyday. This strong, hard-working Azerbaijani woman deserves some praise on Women's Day!

For the Novruz Holiday, one of the biggest holidays in Azerbaijan, people here start celebrateing four Tuesdays before the actual holiday on March 21st. This week was the second of the four Novruz Tuesdays, Fire Tuesday. Last week was water, next week is wind and then earth. On each of these Tuesdays people here build bonfires in their yards, but this weeks was extra special as it was the week of fire. We built a bonfire in Zeynab's yard and then we all jumped over it 3 times, leaving our bad things from last year in the fire and becoming clean for Spring. Zeynab jumping!

Our cleansing fire.

Zeynab's kids and I in front of the fire.

(Don't stop reading, I just posted on Monday too!)

I just added a follow PCV, Aaron's, blog to my "Check These Out" section off to the side and I highly suggest you check it out! My blog has to do with me and what I'm doing here but he focuses on Azerbaijan as a whole and what's going on here, so if you want to stay up-to-date on the country click there now and again!

As for me I'm happy it's Saturday! I added a few more hours of clubs after school and I've been working pretty hard, which feels great but makes me tired! I have a few goals I recently set for things I want to accomplish with my teachers, as most of work so far has been with my students (which is wonderful! But the teachers are part of my job as well.). Unfortunately it is a lot harder to get the teachers to really give a lot of time working after school and on weekends, I mean they are mothers and wives and take care of entire households, so I don't blame them. It just makes realizing my "teacher goals" harder. One of these goals is to get my teachers interested in or at least understanding of AZETA (Azerbaijani English Teacher's Association). I would love to get a branch started up here, but if I at least give them the knowledge of what it is and how it could help them maybe one day they will start it for themselves. Check out the link above to read about what AZETA is. Another of my goals is more feasible, I want to have lesson planned with three teachers by the end of the school year. Teachers never plan for class here, they have no idea how. I think by teaching them how to make a simple lesson plan it will be more obvious to them how to bring in games, worksheets, spelling contests or different materials, basic other forms of teaching besides memorization and recitation. I have tried every month since working here to lesson plan and have yet to write one with a teacher (I make my own and do my own thing in class), but I'm going to make it happen! I've also set the goal of practicing for the GRE (Graduate Record Exam). I want to take the test by July up in Tbilisi. So I need to practice, practice, practice so I can get a good score and get into a good graduate school and have a life plan for after Peace Corps! Yes, I have only 9 months left here so it is time to start thinking about that :).

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I don't have any super exciting pictures to add! But heres a bit of an update. This is a picture of "xengal" (hengal), per request. It is my favorite Azeri food! Unfortunately I can't really eat it anymore because of my lactose intolerance- it is caramelized onions, yogurt with garlic and salt and here with noodles. Azeri women actually make a special noodle called "xengal" but I unfortunately am not equipped to do so :)

This is a recent "Creativity Club," we decorated glass jars with pieces of fabric and magazine clippings. The kids LOVED IT! This boy was making yarn mustaches.

Here's all the kids picking out decor.

Last week I went into Baku for our Mid-Service Conference. We all spent the week doing medical, language tests and meetings about our service and our jobs. I am feeling rejuvenated and ready to start going crazy with the projects now! I just turned in a grant for GLOW and now I'm working on one for a resource center at school. Zeynab and I are also working on getting AZETA (Azerbaijani English Teachers Association) up in our area! Lots to do in just a few months, but I'm super excited! Melissa, I love you and I am so sorry for your loss.

Thanks for the great after school project Bonnie and the Taylor family! Last week for my creativity club only boys showed up, but we had a great time making winter decorations with these foam kits. We had glitter and markers to add our own flare. I got a couple of the decorations as gifts, but told them all to take their art home and give them as gifts to their moms :)