after frisbee, a few weeks ago, the Baku Evil Eyes gathered at Jess and Liam's place for pancakes, laughs, jabs at the losing team of the day, enlightening childhood stories, and good company. the chef's special (pancakes) definitely ranked right up there-- well that is if there is a pancake rating scale. the pancakes were complimented with a great fruit salad, potatoes, an egg dish, and drinks (juice of course). it was super!! just what we all needed after a morning of frisbee.
i left the pancake bash a bit early so that i could go home, shower and leave again. Emily and i went to one of our student's dance recitals. she did a great job-- and had about 12 different outfits! i have never been to a recital quite like this one-- and after 3 hours we decided that waiting for the balloons to drop from the ceiling wasn't a good idea. truly, watching the kids dance was great-- but the singing was something i was not expecting. i experienced a glimpse of what Paula, Simon, and Randy go through for the first rounds of American Idol.... not very entertaining and somewhat painful.
later in the week, a few of us gathered for some great Morroccon food! i was in charge of getting the dates, dried apricots, BIG olives, and cashews. i thought my list of ingredients would be easy-- because i pass the "nut guy" everyday on my way home from work. so, Emily and i start our venture home and one of our parents insists that she give us a ride--because the road is too busy for us to walk on. i told her (with the help of her daughter-- the translator) that i needed to stop at the little market to get a few things, which wasn't a problem. i thought that we would just get dropped off at the market-- but she was determined to make sure that we made it home safely. we went to the nut man (who wasn't the TRUE nut man) and told him what we needed (or rather our little translator told him)-- 200 grams of this, 1 kilogram of this and that.... when we asked how much he looked at Emily and i and said 40 manat-- highway robbery!! why not? we don't speak the language and are obviously foreigners.... ridiculous! some of the precious ingredients were left behind (as a matter of principal-- or something like that). when we returned to the car the whole situation was relayed to our "protector". she was great-- pulled right up to the sidewalk next to the nutty man (his new name), rolled down the window, and yelled at the guy. he came up to the window to defend himself and try to explain that he was just going by what was written down on the paper-- but his explanation didn't sit well with this parent. she made sure that he knew she was angry with him. it was quite an encounter.
i made it to dinner with most of the ingredients after having to call Hayyam to help me explain to the taxi driver where i wanted to go. the whole language thing was a difficult thing for me that day. i tried to pay attention to how the meal was all put together-- but didn't really get it all. i am definitely a hands on learner-- make me do it and i will remember. it tasted fabulous though-- and we had home brewed mint tea with dessert. chef Kent outdid himself!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
the run and getting pishik
so much has happened in the past few weeks.. and i have been slacking on my blog duties...
a few weeks ago. Hayyam and i went for a "short" run on the boulevard... oh wait, no that is what we were supposed to do! i met Hayyam downtown in the morning -- prepared to run and without my camera (i was kicking myself for leaving it behind because this would have been something you all would have loved to have seen). Hayyam cheerfully greeted me and asked if i was ready-- what kind of question is that? of course I was-- but was he? the only part of his attire that could have been seen as running attire, would have been his sneakers. this is typical though-- being presentable in public is very important here.
so we start walking toward the boulevard and Hayyam decides that it would be better if we take a bus and then run back. no problem, except the boulevard doesn't stretch 12 kilometers outside of the the city-- or at least not yet. needless to say, the ride was entertaining as usual-- Hayyam is convinced that i need to marry someone and has taken it upon himself to "help" find me a husband. it doesn't matter how much i argue with him on this matter-- he is persistent. i was distracted with the banter that we were involved in, which is why i didn't notice that the boulevard stopped and that we were on roads that weren't the safest for runners. we got off the bus at some point after what is known to us as Crescent Beach... and this is where the real journey began.
running on pipes is not my idea of a good time, but Hayyam, of course, made it interesting and competitive. the roads are barely capable of fitting the cars coming from either direction, let alone two "not so smart" runners. i did see some new sights though-- we stopped at a beach resort (but didn't stay long-- the security guard wasn't keen on us hanging around), went into a Mosque, meandered through a cemetery, made our way through crowds at a few bus stops, and ran on and jumped over many pipes. it was quite the adventure-- and i was exhausted after about 6 kilometers, but we had a long way to go!
at the end of about 10 kilometers we were close to the house Hayyam's brother and his wife live in, so he called them up and asked if we could drop by. being the great tour guide that he is-- Hayyam decided to take me the "short" way (i should have known not to trust him when he said the word "short" again). this shortcut happened to be through marshy, trashy ditches and climbing up banks that were actually where people dump their garbage. i was ready to strangle Hayyam-- but he insisted that this was the best way-- even after some woman came out of her house and scolded us for climbing up her trash pile to reach a wall that we had to scale! it was insane-- but i have to admit, interesting none the less.
we bought fresh chorek (bread) for his family and made our way up a few more trash heaps (yes.. carrying fresh bread). i am sure that i made a great first impression on his sister-in-law. now that i think of it-- that is probably why his niece was refusing to approach either of us! we had a good visit though-- i am glad that we stopped in.
after leaving, we decided to walk back to the downtown area. it took about 45 minutes-- through a dog park and some other fields or whatever you want to call them. we ended up visiting another park -- and Hayyam translated signs for me-- i am finally able to sound out the words, now i just have to learn their meanings. our excursion didn't end at the park though... i had to pick up my new roommate-- the pishik (cat in Azeri).
Hayyam joined me because he wanted to speak Azeri with an American. Caitlin really learned a lot while studying here-- i was very impressed and jealous-- i want to be able to speak Azeri!! :) Pishik said her goodbyes to Caitlin and then we were off. Hayyam decided that i needed to take a bus first-- with the cat by the way--- so that i could get a taxi that was cheaper. poor Pishik did not like the crate-- and i thought that i was stared at before-- adding a meowing cat to the equation just invited more stares. it was all good though, we made it to a taxi without trouble and Pishik and i headed home. (i needed a shower and a nap!)
the story behind Pishik is.... i thought she was adorable.... Caitlin had saved her from the streets and really wanted to take her back to the states with her, but couldn't... so Caitlin and Josie relinquished ownership to me. i now have a cute, crazy, half-blind, pishik (cat). she has adjusted well-- and keeps me company. she is also a great alarm clock-- i just wish she would wait until 7 to wake me up!
a few weeks ago. Hayyam and i went for a "short" run on the boulevard... oh wait, no that is what we were supposed to do! i met Hayyam downtown in the morning -- prepared to run and without my camera (i was kicking myself for leaving it behind because this would have been something you all would have loved to have seen). Hayyam cheerfully greeted me and asked if i was ready-- what kind of question is that? of course I was-- but was he? the only part of his attire that could have been seen as running attire, would have been his sneakers. this is typical though-- being presentable in public is very important here.
so we start walking toward the boulevard and Hayyam decides that it would be better if we take a bus and then run back. no problem, except the boulevard doesn't stretch 12 kilometers outside of the the city-- or at least not yet. needless to say, the ride was entertaining as usual-- Hayyam is convinced that i need to marry someone and has taken it upon himself to "help" find me a husband. it doesn't matter how much i argue with him on this matter-- he is persistent. i was distracted with the banter that we were involved in, which is why i didn't notice that the boulevard stopped and that we were on roads that weren't the safest for runners. we got off the bus at some point after what is known to us as Crescent Beach... and this is where the real journey began.
running on pipes is not my idea of a good time, but Hayyam, of course, made it interesting and competitive. the roads are barely capable of fitting the cars coming from either direction, let alone two "not so smart" runners. i did see some new sights though-- we stopped at a beach resort (but didn't stay long-- the security guard wasn't keen on us hanging around), went into a Mosque, meandered through a cemetery, made our way through crowds at a few bus stops, and ran on and jumped over many pipes. it was quite the adventure-- and i was exhausted after about 6 kilometers, but we had a long way to go!
at the end of about 10 kilometers we were close to the house Hayyam's brother and his wife live in, so he called them up and asked if we could drop by. being the great tour guide that he is-- Hayyam decided to take me the "short" way (i should have known not to trust him when he said the word "short" again). this shortcut happened to be through marshy, trashy ditches and climbing up banks that were actually where people dump their garbage. i was ready to strangle Hayyam-- but he insisted that this was the best way-- even after some woman came out of her house and scolded us for climbing up her trash pile to reach a wall that we had to scale! it was insane-- but i have to admit, interesting none the less.
we bought fresh chorek (bread) for his family and made our way up a few more trash heaps (yes.. carrying fresh bread). i am sure that i made a great first impression on his sister-in-law. now that i think of it-- that is probably why his niece was refusing to approach either of us! we had a good visit though-- i am glad that we stopped in.
after leaving, we decided to walk back to the downtown area. it took about 45 minutes-- through a dog park and some other fields or whatever you want to call them. we ended up visiting another park -- and Hayyam translated signs for me-- i am finally able to sound out the words, now i just have to learn their meanings. our excursion didn't end at the park though... i had to pick up my new roommate-- the pishik (cat in Azeri).
Hayyam joined me because he wanted to speak Azeri with an American. Caitlin really learned a lot while studying here-- i was very impressed and jealous-- i want to be able to speak Azeri!! :) Pishik said her goodbyes to Caitlin and then we were off. Hayyam decided that i needed to take a bus first-- with the cat by the way--- so that i could get a taxi that was cheaper. poor Pishik did not like the crate-- and i thought that i was stared at before-- adding a meowing cat to the equation just invited more stares. it was all good though, we made it to a taxi without trouble and Pishik and i headed home. (i needed a shower and a nap!)
the story behind Pishik is.... i thought she was adorable.... Caitlin had saved her from the streets and really wanted to take her back to the states with her, but couldn't... so Caitlin and Josie relinquished ownership to me. i now have a cute, crazy, half-blind, pishik (cat). she has adjusted well-- and keeps me company. she is also a great alarm clock-- i just wish she would wait until 7 to wake me up!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Reader's Theater...
The "little ones", as I call my youngest class of Intensive English students, have been reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff in class. They created the bulletin board (or scenery), the characters, and the bridge-- then they practiced the story using their creations. Of course, we are still working on the story and trying to perfect our reader's theater performance-- but here is a sneak peak....
The kids are the biggest critics... they can't wait to do it again! So darn cute.
The kids are the biggest critics... they can't wait to do it again! So darn cute.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
laughing at work...
no matter how stressed i get or how much work needs to be done-- we find a way to laugh at work. it is so refreshing, and a lot of times much needed.
today, in one of my classes, we were at our "discussion" group-- the kids get discussion cards as a way to practice their verbs, and asking and answering questions. the verb is at the top and some examples of how to use the word are given. there's also a list of questions that they can ask the group or answer themselves. the discussion was on the word protect. the question presented was "how does a skunk protect itself?" of course, my students do a lot of dramatic acting during these times because they can't find the right English words to express what they have to say. so you need to imagine 7 ten to twelve year old students sitting on the floor in a circle of some sort. they are all trying hard to focus on the discussion leader because they want to understand the question that is being posed (they love to answer the questions-- candidly too).
so, the question is asked and not 1, but 4 students lean over their knees, stay in that position, and chuckle a little bit. however, not a sound was uttered from any of them-- it was another student who cheerily announces "it goes PUFF" and she joins the group in showing where the "puff" sound comes from. i couldn't help it. i just burst out laughing. it was so cute and innocent. then, as i am trying to compose myself-- they all start arguing about the right word to use for how a skunk protects itself. the discussion got quite animated and giggles were bubbling up everywhere-- i had tears in my eyes. it was a great way to end the day.
side-note: it doesn't help that in this class we have been studying onomatopoeia (words that represent sounds). so you can imagine the things they were saying and i was hearing.
i am so thankful to be able to work with these kids-- yes, there are days where they drive me insane and test every ounce of patience that i have-- but it never fails, one or all of them make me smile each and everyday.
skunk "spray"
today, in one of my classes, we were at our "discussion" group-- the kids get discussion cards as a way to practice their verbs, and asking and answering questions. the verb is at the top and some examples of how to use the word are given. there's also a list of questions that they can ask the group or answer themselves. the discussion was on the word protect. the question presented was "how does a skunk protect itself?" of course, my students do a lot of dramatic acting during these times because they can't find the right English words to express what they have to say. so you need to imagine 7 ten to twelve year old students sitting on the floor in a circle of some sort. they are all trying hard to focus on the discussion leader because they want to understand the question that is being posed (they love to answer the questions-- candidly too).
so, the question is asked and not 1, but 4 students lean over their knees, stay in that position, and chuckle a little bit. however, not a sound was uttered from any of them-- it was another student who cheerily announces "it goes PUFF" and she joins the group in showing where the "puff" sound comes from. i couldn't help it. i just burst out laughing. it was so cute and innocent. then, as i am trying to compose myself-- they all start arguing about the right word to use for how a skunk protects itself. the discussion got quite animated and giggles were bubbling up everywhere-- i had tears in my eyes. it was a great way to end the day.
side-note: it doesn't help that in this class we have been studying onomatopoeia (words that represent sounds). so you can imagine the things they were saying and i was hearing.
i am so thankful to be able to work with these kids-- yes, there are days where they drive me insane and test every ounce of patience that i have-- but it never fails, one or all of them make me smile each and everyday.
skunk "spray"
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