Adventures in Getting to School

What happens when a city loses electricity at rush hour?  Utter pandemonium, that's what.

It all started when Rachael woke Colleen and I up before our alarms to tell us that the power was out and it might take longer to get ready.  We managed somehow, though it was pitch black in most parts of the apartment.  We assumed that the problem was just in our building.  As we approached the metro station I recall noticing that there were a lot of people standing around, but it didn't fully pierce my consciousness until we started down the steps and a friendly stranger told us that the trains weren't running.  Then I looked up and realized that the sidewalk and half of the street were swarming with people.  Did I mention that it was rush hour?  The entire city had to get to work or school, and the buses were now the only way to get there.  Anytime one turned the corner, there was practically a stampede to get there first, even before it pulled up to the bus stop.  People were hanging out so that the doors couldn't close, and somehow even more managed to squeeze on. 

Colleen and I made it onto the second bus that we attempted, but only barely.  I was standing on the bottom step of the doorway, though fully inside (I'm not brave/stupid enough to do the whole hanging-out-of-the-door thing) while Colleen tried, unsuccessfully, to push farther in and give me some more room.  The bus started down the street with the doors still open, but after about a block the driver decided to close them.  That is the point at which I realized that my foot was perfectly positioned between the door and the bottom step.  Fortunately, some things are universal, because all language ability left me for the moment, even English.  But my "Ow... ow... OWW!!!!" got the message across and someone called up to the driver to open the doors!  After some rearranging, we managed to get me in enough to close the door and continued on our merry way.  And somehow 6 more people squeezed in after me over the next two bus stops!

Watching out the window as we drove along, I couldn't help being reminded of an apocalyptic movie.  All the stoplights were out, so we had some unusual traffic patterns going- though it's worth noting that ever since we got here we've found the lanes to be more of a suggestion than anything else.  Our bus spent a good portion of the time on the wrong side of the double lines, and I definitely saw a car making a U-turn in the middle of three lanes going the opposite direction.  Though to be fair, traffic was at a standstill so that it wasn't dangerous as much as just funny looking.  And every time we passed a metro station, there was the same sea of people, overflowing the sidewalk to cover half the street.  Add to this the occasional stampede towards the buses and you start to get the whole end-of-the-world vibe. 

We were almost 30 minutes late to school, but we were still there before half of the teachers and most of the students, so it wasn't a big deal.  Later that night we found out that it wasn't just the city that lost electricity- the entire country of Azerbaijan had a power outage!  Somehow that just makes the story so much better.  :)

In closing, I'll leave you with a question we pondered many a time over the years in Kazakhstan: How many people can you fit onto a bus that's already bursting at the seams?  Based on my experience today, I'd say at least 20.

I Wear Slippers to Work

(and other strange and wonderful things about my job)

Yep.  That's right.  The school where Colleen and I teach is kindergarten only, and since the kids spend a fair amount of time on the floor, street shoes aren't permitted above the 1st floor.  So I get to slip out of my shoes every morning and into a pair of comfy slippers.  If you're going to be standing all day, that's the way to do it!

We've pretty much agreed that we LOVE the place we work!  All of the women we work with are just wonderful.  Except for our teaching assistants (the girls who showed us around the city in my last entry) and the school's English teacher, they all only speak Azeri.  But that hasn't seemed to matter at all!  Somehow we've managed to communicate, and we pretty much adore all of them.  We've already been to one teacher's home and been invited to two more! 

The last work day before school started, we were up in our classrooms when the vice-principal came in and invited us downstairs to make apple pies!  Apparently they do this on a semi-regular basis, on days when there aren't any students.  So all the teachers (maybe 15 of us) stopped what we were doing and made our way down to the cafeteria.  Our table was at work cutting up walnuts, another table worked on peeling and grating the apples, and a third group made the dough.  Then we all sat around making little 'apple pies'- actually more like apple turnovers.  Then, as quickly as we began, we finished and went back to work.  The lunch ladies baked them and we ate them over tea that afternoon.  Such a random but wonderful tradition. :)

Colleen with B- a super sweet teaching assistant at our school

Aren't they beautiful?

Though school started this past week, we don't have enough students for our English-only kindergarten yet.  So we've spent the past two weeks decorating our rooms, 'shopping' for supplies in the storage closet, and getting to know our teaching assistants.  You have to love a job that involves art projects, sorting legos, afternoon snacks, and introducing our new friends to "The Princess Bride"!  Oh, and LOTS of tea.  

Some of our homemade decor

My clothesline to teach the kids clothing (I'm in the process of making labels)

P, Colleen, me, and T in the coats we wear when teaching

Hopefully we'll have some students by the beginning of next week, but for now we're just enjoying the time to relax, prepare, and get to know our school and colleagues.  Once we have students, that will be a whole new set of experiences to blog about!  Stay tuned. :)

PS.  I've updated the "Pictures" and "Requests" pages (the tabs are at the top) if you'd like to check them out.

Hello, Baku!



Due to a slight miscommunication with the school, our first day in Baku was mostly spent waiting around our hotel, with a small excursion around dinner time to change money and go to a local market for some food.  On Friday, though, we got to see our school (or at least Rachel's school- Colleen and I will aparently be at a different one) and meet some lovely Azeri teachers who will be our 'assistants'. 

 

They took us on a tour of the school and all the different classrooms as well as the cafeteria where we will probably end up eating lunch most days.  As an unexpected part of the tour we were able to see some traditional Turkish dances!  School doesn't officially open for another week, but there was a group of 6-7th grade girls practicing for a dance competition in Turkey, and they performed two pieces for us.  It was beautiful and different from anything I'd seen before.  In one dance, each girl had two wooden spoons in each hand which she clapped together in rhythm as part of the dance. 

 

After seeing the school (and stopping for tea twice) our new friends took us downtown to see the bay and a little of the city.  I have only one word for you.  WOW.  It is gorgeous.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures that really do it justice, but I'll work on that.  We just couldn't get over it.  I lost count of how many times one or more of us would randomly exclaim over the absolute beauty of our surroundings!

At first we walked in the park along the bay.  There are a number of benches, restaurants, and even a small amusement park along the way, not to mention wonderful views of the city.  I hope that I will be able to make regular trips down there, just to sit on a bench with a book or journal and soak up the atmosphere!  There was a pier where you can usually catch a boat trip around the bay, but today we just walked out on it.  Here's a picture of us with part of the bay/city behind us.  If you look behind my head a little to the left, you can see the Flame Towers, one of the pictures I posted in my last entry.

T, Rachael, Colleen, me, and P

After the park, the girls took us to the old city, just across the street.  The old city wall is still intact- and looks like a castle while we're on the subject- and stepping inside is like stepping into another world.  We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of Arabian Nights, complete with a vendor selling carpets that are older than our entire country.  Times 4.  And then we turn a corner and see the super contemporary Flame Towers (again) rising up behind the old architecture.  On only one day's acquaintance, I can tell you that this is my impression of Baku:


 

(Though the buildings in the foreground aren't the best examples of what the old city looked like- these seem to be the newer of the old buildings)

 

After exploring the old city we stopped for tea again.  They definitely love their tea, possibly even more than our Russian friends did!  We were actually offered tea several more times than we ended up taking it.  Then the girls bought us dinner before heading back to our hotel.  All in all, it was a wonderful day.  I'm looking forward to settling in here, getting to know the city, and getting to know our new friends better.  Baku has made a wonderful first impression.