"World's Oldest Woman" Lives In Azerbaijan

The world’s oldest woman, a 127-year-old living in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, attributes her longevity to a clean and pure environment and the warmth of her family life, Azerbaijani news agency APA has reported.

Bayaz Xalilova has five children, 28 grandchildren and 47 great-grandchildren. Her oldest child is 80, and the youngest is 60. Xalilova has always lived in her native Gadabay District, nearly 400 km west of the capital Baku.

"In my region, the air and water are like cures for illnesses. Had I lived in Baku, or other cities, I would not have not lasted so long," she said in an interview with the agency. Xalilova is also happy with Azerbaijan’s current government. "We had a very difficult life in Soviet times. Today’s government is nice. It cares about the people," she said.

Editor’s Note: Source: Azerbaijani news agency APA, Baku, in Azeri 1201 gmt 26 Sep 07
Reposted from: http://www.eurasianet.org/posts/092707.shtml

I'm FINALLY "Home"

This is the view from my new bedroom window! I'm all moved in and thought you might like to see where I'm staying. I am officially a Peace Corps volunteer now, as I swore in on Thursday last week. I moved to my permanent site on Friday and have been settling in for the last week. Everything is going well here. I like my site, site mates, co-workers and my host organization and family. Everyone here is so nice!! There is plenty for me to see and do here since I’m in a bigger site than most volunteers. So I have been keeping myself busy meeting new people and exploring town. I also now play softball with my site mates since the volunteers here have inter-city tournaments. (I know, me playing sports… scary huh?)
I received mail yesterday for the first time in my new site so I know that the address works properly. It took just under two weeks for me to get mail, as the post office here is an international one. So don’t worry about me getting the letters anymore, I will hopefully be able to send out a few more now that I have a post office that is used to international mailing.
Things are going well at work; I’ve just started so I’m still doing a lot of the initial observations and learning how things here work. I’m fortunate enough to have several co-workers who speak English along with a director that also speaks English.

OK, so since I've now received a billion and one messages asking for items I would like sent I will include a "wants" list since I don't really NEED anything at all. I love letters most of all, so if you want to write me, I think postage is only 90 cents or something like that...

"Wants" (please don't spend a fortune sending me these things, none of them are necessary and I can live perfectly content without all of them, but none the less these are wants... stuff I miss from America or would use here)

-Instant oatmeal (I like plain, peaches & cream, and strawberries & cream, but will eat any flavor) or other dry non-perishable foods (nuts, noodles, instant rice, etc)
-Crystal light packets (the little single serve to go drink mix you add to water or anything like it, generic is fine! I only drink water here)
-Hand sanitizer (if you send please seal in zip lock, as they explode sometimes during flight-- no public bathrooms have soap)
-Books, games, dvd (burned copies don't get stolen in customs), anything entertaining
-Clothes (I'm no longer a 2XL, I'm now just an XL as I've lost 8 kilos since I got here (about 17 lbs) so any T-shirts with American writing or pictures on them (people love that stuff)
-Pocket tissues, toilet paper, or anything of the sort since we have to buy our own, and it makes great packing paper (will roll it up myself so no worries)
-Any instant mixes that you add to water/milk etc (ranch, gravy, Campbell’s soup in a pouch, stroganoff mix, etc)
-White board markers
-Clothes pins (just one or two in a box is fine, as I wash what I wear every day to keep things from piling up)

But most of all, letters are great. I miss you all, I'm doing fine. Work is going all right, and the new site is much cooler in temp than Sumqayit was. I will do my best to keep you all updated as much as possible. I now have 119 pics up on my myspace account for those of you on myspace you are welcome to check them out.

Peace Corps Volunteer To Be!

This week was challenging and bitter sweet. I finally said goodbye to the kids from my english conversation club as we held our finally meeting. (That's them above, posted with their consent and knowledge). We had a tough week with policy and language tests, packing, and preparing to move to our final sites. It's sad knowing I will leave behind all the friends I've already made as I head out to my new town... I will fortunately still have site mates, but sadly one less than what was anticipated. One of my friends chose to go home due to personal reasons this week, and I miss her very much. (I wish you the best of luck wherever life takes you hun!!) I swear in on Wednesday, and will spend the last part of the week traveling to my permanent site.

I have posted my new address on the side of the page, so if you would like to send me letters I would be greatful to have them! I will do my best to keep you all updated as soon as I find a reliable internet cafe at my site. I miss you all, and I'm doing great. Please continue to pray for my safety and success in my site! So the journey begins...

"And now Harry let us persue that flighty temptress, adventure!"