Camping- International Delegate Style

We left our brilliant Ganja host families after two short days, and once again filed into the bus we grew so familiar with. This time, our destination was a Ganja Summer Youth Leadership Camp. I was imagining some old cabins, a musky aura, and playing leadership-designed games in the woods.  ... Again, I really should have just given up with setting expectations. I was consistently wrong.

The pathway to the cabins

This camp was something else. We marched our belongings to the cabins, four people per building, and were pleasantly surprised by the temporary homes that awaited us. Beautiful log cabins, two bedrooms, a front entryway with a dresser, a decently sized and clean bathroom, and, my personal favorite, the front porch with the wooden picnic table. Yeah. Camping? More like luxury living. I'd move into that.

This is right next to the cabins. This. A flower meadow. A perfect, stunning, flower meadow.

 Once we were settled, we went to munch on a lunch (this is when I discovered my new life line, tendir, a type of bread I have yet to properly recreate) and begin our leadership training. Which, to my excitement, was taught by some members of the Peace Corps.

I'm actually going to make a separate post about all that was taught during these sessions.

Throughout these trainings we had several tea breaks. In the city they never took as much time for tea, so this contrast of a relaxed, non-urgent, and sweet down-time was much appreciated.

Besides tea, snack time included some funky fruit marshmallows, crackers, wafer cookies, and other assorted sweets.

 We had about four a day. Breakfast and lunch were usually among the same things: bread, jam, fresh honey, watermelon, and some meats. I'll be honest- I ate almost exclusively bread this entire camping experience. I never got enough of it. Dinner, on the other hand, was served in various ramadas throughout the plant-grown camp, usually consisting of dolma, chicken, juice, rice, and variously cooked vegetables. And the salad. More on that to come.

S'mores also happened, an American camping tradition Azerbaijan style. See, there aren't what Americans would consider "normal marshmallows" there, at least at the camp. Or graham crackers. Or even just generic, traditional chocolate. But the adaptations to the basic recipe of s'mores made it more special.

We gathered some square tea time cookies, similar to graham crackers in size, and some of the fruity marshmallows with the odd consistency. To top it all off, we had some interesting hazelnut chocolate, which was rather amazing and probably better alone than in the s'mores. Oh well. The overall concoction, after properly roasted marshmallows were added, was in the least eccentric. I had one and then myself and a couple others inched away to play cards. Eventually the rain poured down, and although there was a slight chill from the pouring rain and mountainous setting, the whole effect was perfectly cozy.

At certain times during the day, we were given free reign of the camp. There was plenty to explore- areas hidden with vines, a little waterfall and walk way with a bridge, playgrounds that were a bit sketchy but that's what added to the charm, and an overall sensation of serenity made for a constant crave for more free time.

An arch made by overgrown plants- I really like how that works out. 

 And although this wasn't the plan, we ended up all going on a hike. First we were following this dirt road, merrily singing along any Disney tunes that came to mind, and suddenly a Peace Corps member led us completely off the trail, into a seemingly random direction of the forest.

We hiked up, and I don't know if this was the original intention, but teamwork was displayed so often here. The slope made for a struggle for some to walk up, and the unpacked foliage made for unexpected avalanches of dead leaves and twigs. When one gained solid ground, turning around and helping those having difficulties became an unspoken expectation. Falling down, laughing, and trekking back up was common.

The flowers were gorgeous. 

... Good morning? The view made me speechless as I sleepily stretched the second morning at the camp. I think the word "camp" doesn't properly capture what this was. Not to mention scattered throughout were the orb lights. No matter what time of day, there was always a charming view.

Things I discovered about culture while at this camp: The buddy system is advised. Especially for girls, travelling in packs is safest. We weren't alone at this camp, and walking around as an individual, foreign teenage [girl] is probably not the best option.

People were interested in us, why we were there. Locals tried out their English on us (sometimes obviously parts from English songs, a lot of times inappropriate. There's no saying they understood what they were saying though, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt), and even if all they knew how to say was "Hi!" they became incredibly excited when we responded. My buddy-system partner during this was my friend Stephen, though, and it was interesting seeing how responses to our presence changed with a boy, and with a girl.

While with Stephen, the local boys talked primarily to him. They glanced at me, but never tried to correspond, they only talked to the boy. This wasn't just a "maybe they didn't like something about you" or "maybe they thought you were weird" thing, it was consistent among all the girl/boy American groups. I wonder what the exact reason is.

Also, if you get lost, asking for help may be pointless.

Two days at this camp wasn't enough. This was the perfect vacation time, and we had to leave too soon.

~Days 1 and 2 without shower access~

Escaping the City

How this program worked: Delegates from both Arizona and Washington State become friends for the first week, then are randomly split into two groups. Those groups go off and do the same things but in reverse order, meeting up for one day in the middle then completing everything the other did in the days prior. We had ten days to be in this smaller, more intimate group. Today happened to be that day we split. 

Saying goodbye to the other half was harder than I imagined. It wasn't a permanent goodbye or anything, we would see each other in five days, then four days after that. But there's few things that bond a group of teenagers, and travelling across the world together is one. So after half an hour of waving and hugging and shouting, group A, my group, boarded a bus and began the four hour bus trip to Ganja.

We started in Baku, the capital, and headed to the opposite side of the country, Ganja. 

Looking back and seeing everyone got comfy- you get used to weird positions with this much travel. 

We had to stop for a while. Cattle crossing!

 I had heard that Baku was more of a facade Azerbaijan puts on, a cover-up for the rest of the country. Of course the capital is this modern, elaborate, and towering place- it shows the rest of the world how up-to-date the country is, how they have their own things to brag about. 

Ganja was beautiful too, personally I enjoyed the more country setting over Baku. But there is no arguing the contrast. 

Everything was a bit more run-down, less modern. Older buildings were weather-worn and could often use some touch-ups. Sidewalks were practically nonexistent in some places, what used to be a passageway for pedestrians was now shattered concrete slabs. Even the cars weren't as cared for, they weren't as modern or clean or fixed up. One thing was clear: People here in the country didn't have as great of jobs, and the government didn't feel like giving the country areas as much funding as they did Baku. 

We made it to our destination- the Intelligent Citizen office and were introduced to our host families, whom we'd be with for only two days. 

Me and Theresa, another Arizonian, shared a family with these two lovely siblings, Israil and Jala

Now that we were in the country, more than just scenery changed. Instead of the normal jam-packed schedule, we were actually given this entire day to relax and explore. Theresa and I were taken to our new home for a couple hours before everyone was to meet up for dinner. 

We then had tea. 

SO MANY LOVELY SNACKS IT WAS OVERWHELMING!

First huge surprise: My family understood we'd like a break. See, in Azerbaijan (well, all over the world but it their enthusiasm level was higher than most Americans) most people are super hospitable and interested in their guests, so of course it's natural for them to want to always be around you. Always. My host family in Baku had a slight habit of hovering, which was just different from the American way of being more distant and having plenty of space. But when we were done with the tour of the little home in Ganja, they said "you'll probably want to rest now- we'll wake you up before we go to dinner!"

It was so appreciated. There was also this thing on the bed. I believe it was a mattress cover but it didn't have the fitted-sheet elastic I'm used to. 

Second surprise: They had wifi. My family in the city didn't, although I was in the minority with that one, and so it was kind of nice to be able to see what my family was up to. 

Third surprise: 

So, Turkish toilet. We finally meet. 

I'm actually not going to elaborate on this. You get the point. 

After the most refreshing nap probably in my entire life, Jala knocked on our door and let us know we'd be walking over to the restaurant soon.

I honestly don't remember what I ate but it was good!

Then, lo and behold, we went for another tea break! Because why not! Who doesn't need tea after dinner?

However, this tea break was at a park. A huge one. And I'm pretty sure this park has had to be the inspiration for some love poem. Several love poems. It was too charming. 

A fairy tale cottage, right? This was just the beginning. 

 This wasn't just any old tea park. I mean, maybe it was, but I haven't been to a tea park before so it was pretty cool. It was maybe a mile in diameter.

All around there were little nooks and crannies with ramadas, secret little places with tables and overgrown vines that made it look magical.

A little river ran through it

 There were some really random Disney characters too. I don't really know why. And in the back of the park there was a this mini carnival. It turns out, these are quite common. It's like a playground for teens- it costs money, they can go pretty fast- literally carnival rides. Always there. I thought that was so cool.

After running around like an idiot exclaiming how adorable this location was for quite a while, the rest of the group arrived (we all took separate transportation, we got there first) and we selected our little ramada in which a server magically (it seemed) appeared and took our order. I actually don't recall ordering. But I got ice cream ("dondurma") anyways so that was cool!  

Then it became night. 

My pictures don't give all the credit they should. Or any of it. I could just not post them but... It gives an idea of the orb magic. All over Ganja, mainly, there were these lovely orb lights. And when they lit up... Gorgeous. I wish I could spend every night at this park, sipping tea and eating little cookies. 

The night ended too soon. 

Gala Kend and Family

Another day of Social Entrepreneurship training- and I have a comment on why I haven't said much about it. You see, this training was incredible. Not only was our speaker, Mr. Togrul Alakbar, captivating and intuitive, but everything he spoke about was so inspiring and his presentations alone are the main reason to why I've decided to go down the track of social work. And as much as I would love to pass along all the insight he gave our little group, I would never be able to accurately capture all that he taught, and he deserves more credit than I can give. 

I woke up super early this morning to get to said training- although we still arrived late- after this lovely breakfast my host mother made for me. 

Jam, always jam. 

An omelette with "greens"- more on this later.

*Side note- In Azerbaijan, it's super rare to have pets, especially in the city. There just isn't enough room. But I saw so many stray animals, some in good condition and others not so much. Kittens were more taken care of, but dogs suffered more. While no locals seemed to even notice the stray animals due to it being a normality, my heart was in pain every time I saw one. However, my family did have a dog. He lived outside, which he had plenty of room to run around it, but wasn't incredibly groomed. I felt kind of bad for the guy, but he was sweet.

Georgie

After a lunch at the nearby cafe, we headed to the Gala Kend Preserve for a three-hour tour. First was the section made to look like an old-fashioned village, with peaks to how life was like in Azerbaijan before modern-day technologies.

First, there were maybe two rooms in a house, so the family slept together in a room such as the one below. Notice the rugs- they've been tradition for a long time.

An entryway. I can't tell you why it was like this, for what, or when, but I still think it's cool. 

 The tree below was a wishing tree. The guide had us all grab hands around this tree, close our eyes, and make a wish. It was a rather spiritual experience, and hey, why not take an opportunity to make a wish?

Those wood tables are for bread making.

We were taught quite a bit about the everyday home life back in the day. It wasn't much different from any other old-fashioned society, other than the Azerbaijanis had gorgeous, hand-woven rugs to spruce up the house. 

The main part of the museum

This statue was outside of this walled-off tower. We never learned if he had a certain historical influence, but we did have fun posing with him.

Camels- why not? These guys were friendly. 

 To the right here is what the magi lived in. It was an extremely modest hut, with practically no processions. We weren't let it, but it looked cool in there!

After the inside portion of the museum (pottery and tea kettles), we went to the third section, this tower. We were old this was a strategic battle tower, residents could see their incomers from miles around. 

There was a gorgeous view. 

This was under the tower- it was used as a passage way for soldiers, and had secret tunnels all around. Photo credit in this to Natasha Palmer. 

The view looking up.

 After exploring the tower, we were led to the final section of the tour- tea time!! But for this tea time, we had to work. We split into groups- one group went to make friendship bracelets and learn how to weave a rug (give those who can actually accomplish this credit. They deserve so much.)- which none of us came close to succeeding at.

Then then groups switched and the next task was to make lavash- basically, a tortilla. Except we were able to do it in the traditional way. We entered this long room and each knelt down to a circular board and kneaded a dough made of simply flour, water, and a little salt. Then we stretched the dough so it was as thin and circular (*snorts*) as we could manage, then we took our turns at this... floor pan? It was about two feet in diameter, completely flat and was heated from coals in the ground. Floor pan is the only way I can describe it.

The floor pan cooked this tortilla in about ten seconds flat. Impressive. We were told that when these are traditionally made, the hot lavash is put on top of this hat (called a taqiyah, it's a traditional Muslim cap) and let it cool. So whether that was true or not (as far as I know, we were never told anything incorrect. Thanks for not taking advantage of our ignorance, guys! I hope no one in America did that when you came!), we walked around with homemade bread on top of our hats for a while.

We had tea, of course, with our lavash. And the customary tea-time snacks. Yay. 

All of us in our taqiyahs, full from tea and tired from the day.

Ramadan Kareem!

Beginning June 18th, and ending July 17th, we have entered the Holy Month of Ramadan. Not familiar with this particular holiday? Well you're in the right place!

Photo credit to Google Images.

WHEN- Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, which actually has 355 days with its twelve lunar months (so each year starts with the new moon). That being the case, Ramadan starts about 10 days earlier every year (in 2013 it began on July 8th), if you're keeping track with the Gregorian calendar.

HISTORY- According to tradition, it was during Ramadan that the Archangel Gabriel selected Muhammad to receive and speak the words of Allah which are preserved to this day as the holy Quran. Unlike the Christian bible which is nearly always read in translation, the Quran is normally read in its original Arabic language. Thus, in Islam, the Quran is especially sacred as the direct word of God. (The classical Arabic of the Quran is of a higher, more complex, form than the Arabic of modern books and newspapers.)

WHAT HAPPENS- Muslims mark Ramadan by fasting each day form sunrise to sunset. This is a strict fast - no food and no drink of an sort, not even water. Smoking and sexual activity is not allowed for those who are fasting. The faithful rise early in the morning and take a meal, Suhoor, before dawn and first prayers. Their next meal is called Iftar and is taken after the sunset prayer. Within the faith, exceptions are made for the old and infirm, young children, and pregnant/nursing mothers. 

Zakāt, or "poor rate," is also mandatory during Ramadan, and is a fixed percentage of an individual's savings that is then donated to charity. Sadaqah is basically service and charity given during this time. Both of these are often met and exceeded, with much enthusiasm, in practicing families. In addition to the charity and fasting, people are encouraged to perform nightly prayers and read the Quran.  

Throughout Ramadan, families get together to share food and company in the evenings and night-time, and the emphasis is always on reflection, prayer, and charity. Ramadan is not commercialized.

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My friends who observe Ramadan hardly, if ever, mention it, which is a huge contrast from those who celebrate Christmas these days. Although it may have spread from solely a religious practice with the health and cultural benefits, it's extremely sacred and spiritual from those who practice it, and very important. If you know anyone observing Ramadan, make sure to respect the fact they are fasting (like, don't invite them over for brunch. Come on.) and give them a "Ramadan Kareem!"

Also, if you're in a country that is widely Muslim, be careful of the roads around sunset. Who wouldn't be in a rush to get to their homes and dinner?

Credit of information from American Councils for International Education and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan#Charity

Gobustan, Mud Volcanoes, and Clubbing

Gobustan. Basically history in it's most preserved form. This wasn't just Azerbaijan history anymore, this trip was all about the origins of humankind. Driving out to this barren, desert wasteland, us Arizonians were feeling quite at home. Then the van tilted up, and those of us formerly playing card games and singing in the back became focused on the views that were flying by at 50 miles per hour. 

It was like taking a trip back in time. Besides the building at the top that served as the little museum for this nationally reserved park, no buildings. No signs of life. 

We got out, ruining the eerie silence with our noisy rambling, and trotted towards this museum that gave us a small tour that was probably super informative and interesting. I wasn't really into the whole "walk along and earnestly pay attention and memorize every detail" mood so... I honestly can't tell you a thing I learned in that museum. I do remember it was pretty interactive and had some cool computers that were supposedly intended to virtually color pictures of cavemen, but ain't nobody got time for that. 

There was this cool fish though. 

There was this room with the hieroglyphics deciphered in possible ways 

When I say Gobustan was history, I mean that for miles and miles there are well-preserved mountainous cave drawings. Carvings, scratches, imprints, fossils- this is the place to go if you want ancient history. And although I've never really cared for that ancient of history, this was fascinating seeing in person. With the quiet, the view of the Caspian Sea in the background, and the breeze that made the sun quite tolerable, who wouldn't enjoy this outing? 

After a break to check out the view, take pictures of nearby carvings, and pose off the ledge of this cliff dramatically, we boarded the bus and headed a couple miles to the mud volcanoes. This is what we really wanted to see.

We didn't know what to expect. But then we climbed up this strenuous hill and saw what they meant by "mud volcanoes." You see, these were active.

So, these mini volcanoes were bubbling along with this gray, smooth, and so tempting to touch mud. The strangest part was that when you expected it to be hot, it was quite cool. Apparently, there are spas around Azerbaijan that take this kind of mixture and put it on your skin. When we heard that, we were all over it.

Well... TInley fell in. While trying to clean herself. Half a leg, covered in wet mud. Funny!

Free spa? All over it! Or... its all over me... 

It was leadership training in itself helping one another go up and down these rocky and incredibly unstable hills. We all got super dirty. But it was fun playing with the dried mud chips and splashing with weird textured mud.

Mud covered, tired, and laughing, we had to go back eventually. Except it kind of slipped our minds that we were going to a party tonight. Like, right then. Oops. Worth it!

We made it back to the Caspian Business Center and immediately walked over to this party a couple blocks down the road. We knew there was quite a few other kids from some other program, and they were all waiting for us to arrive. What we didn't know that this was basically a club but without alcohol.

We walked in, cheers erupted, and the well-lit room turned into the classic night-club scene. Neon swirls dancing across our faces, heavy beats of the bass drum vibrating our bones, bodies everywhere- dancing, laughing, singing. Sweating, throbbing, disorientation, this sick feeling creeping up, the Americans slowly dropping out and the Azerbaijanis jamming on.

I had a blast, honestly. But I seemed to be one of the few. Many people were found outside, trying to get fresh air after only half an hour. I really just wanted to continue dancing.

Unfortunately, I had to leave soon. That was a funny story in itself. My family attempted to call me several times, but I could never really hear them no matter where I went, and understanding was a whole different story.

Thank my lucky stars my friend Kamran was willing to take the time to talk to my host sister to give directions to where I was, stayed outside with me until my dad got there, and went to talk to my dad and translated to me that he said "We miss her at home, we love having her."

As the lit-up Baku sped by the quiet car containing myself and my host dad, I really just wanted to keep dancing.