Culture Shock and Thanksgiving

Well this last week was my first ever Thanksgiving without the family. Oddly enough, I had three to celebrate counting our joint thanksgiving in Baku with the embassy.
It was an interesting holiday, as I cooked for all my new friends the first unassisted thanksgiving meal. I ended up preparing the food in the dark for the last 35 min or so when the power went out. We had a lovely dinner by candlelight, and we all sat at the table. No, we didn't say what we were thankful for; as it was pretty obvious we were all just grateful to be able to celebrate at all. I made way too much food, but everyone was glad of it nonetheless.
Our second Thanksgiving dinner was provided for us by a local organization called Ganja Agro-Business Association. They were very kind by making us hot dogs, cold cuts, and turkey done kabab style. It was cute, and very funny. We ate outside in the cold November air, as the business didn't have space for so many people to eat inside. It was kind of them none the less to try to welcome us with some of out own traditions.
I did experience a bit of culture shock this weekend though, and I think it was due to the start of the holiday season and not being around my family. Yesterday, my host father had a client (he is the local veterinarian) with a Doberman puppy. He was asked to dock the ears so that they would point straight up. I thought it might be interesting to see a little of how it was done... however, I hadn't bargained on them doing the surgery without any anesthesia for the dog. I will never forget the sound of that poor dog crying. I wish I were able to speak enough language to ask them why they didn't put the dog to sleep to perform the procedure. The best I could muster was "why puppy isn't sleeping?" to which I was told, "too much sleep is bad." I am now a firm believer in cosmetic procedures for dogs as being cruelty to animals. Part of this gut reaction I'm having comes from the differences in the way animals are viewed here. In America, it is all too common to hear people equating their pets to the status of a child. Here, animals are viewed as food, and more often than not, too dirty to touch or have inside. They just don't think about animals the same way that we do. That is a difference I just have to recognize. I don't have to like it, or accept it, but recognizing the difference is key to understanding the culture.
My second culture shock came last night when I went to a performance of the local orchestra. My younger host sister "Nushu" (Sabina) plays the violin, and her teacher had a performance that she got free tickets to... so I was invited and accepted happily. I was not aware of the cultural differences in audience etiquette here. Everyone was talking during the performance, unwrapping bags of food, and making a lot of noise. I couldn't believe it! This is behavior that in America would get someone kicked out of a performance, and here these people are performing through babies crying, children fighting, elderly women with hacking coughs, women talking on their cell phones, and conversations going on everywhere. I felt so frustrated I just wanted to stand up and say "stop being rude! They are performing and I can't hear!" However, something told me that would quickly earn me the reputation of "crazy foreign girl" and chose to just sit quietly and try to enjoy the last of the performance.
December is almost here, and the weather is really getting cold in Ganja. Yesterday we had our first "scheduled" power and gas outage. We of course were not told ahead of time, but once it happened citywide we found out it would last about 7 hours. Needless to say it was very cold yesterday. Things are going all right, and I still find it hard to believe I've almost been here 6 months. Time seems to go so fast sometimes, and others so very very slow. I hope you all had a great thanksgiving as well, and I will do my best to let you know what is going on come Christmas.

Thanksgiving!

Last night was the celebration with the US Embassy and Peace Corps. It was a good experience seeing everyone for the first time since they moved to their sites. We all had a good time eating traditional foods, and I was finally able to cook some good foods in a really nice kitchen! We stayed the weekend with embassy employees, and used their kitchens to cook for the pot luck style thanksgiving. I brought roasted garlic mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and a cranberry peach dish.

I had a nice time finally getting to sleep in a real bed, with an actual mattress. I was more grateful for the chance to take an actual shower with real water pressure, and hot, truly hot water! I also go to call home for 20 min from an embassy phone (free call!) and talk to mom for a "thanksgiving" call. The only downer to the whole weekend was coming into Baku my bus got a flat tire... which meant I had to wait an additional 3 hours for them to change the tire. But, we made it, and the rest of the weekend was fantastic!

Things have been going good with work, the move, and integrating into my community. This weekend I was also able to find some art supplies for my community art enrichment project, that will hopefully enable me to do some crafts with the students in my club. I will also be starting a book club in December, and am hoping to help advanced level English students work on their English reading comprehension. Lots going on with work, and the season is starting to turn truly cold! Rumor has it that we may get snow in Ganja, so if that happens I will take some good pictures for you all!

Ganja F-Y-I

Ok, so how about a little information about my city? Since lots of you have more than snickered at the name, I figure it's time for a little education about the lovely city of Gence (pronounced Ganja).
Gence is Azerbaijan's second largest city (pop apx 300,000). Located on the Gence river, the city was rebuilt in the 12th century after an earthquake in 1139 destroyed the original town that was founded in the 5th century, east of its current location. In 1918 Gence was the provisional capital of a briefly independent Azerbaijan. The name 'Ganja' is not drug related... it originates in the Ganjak tribe. The city was re-named Elisavetspol from 1804 to 1918, changed back to the name of Gence in 1918 until 1935, when it was renamed Kirovabad. It reverted once more to Gence in 1989.
The road from Baku to Gence is one of the country's most scenic. The area is famous for the Kapaz mountain and the 7 lakes near it, particularly the Goygol - the blue lake. The territory is perfect for swimming, hiking or for a pic-nic. (Unfortunately, if you are a foreigner like myself, Goygol is currently closed to you. However, Xacikend is lovely, and very close by with just as scenic places to pic-nic).
The city was the birthplace of many poets and is considered the country's literary centre. People in Gence are generally well educated. Not surprising considering all four state, and two private higher educational institutions function in the city with 24,000 students enrolled per semester.
With ample streets and avenues and well designed parks, Gence is more aesthetically pleasing than most Azeri towns. The city retains a strong German influence in its architecture.
With a vast main square, the city has its fair share of Soviet architecture, some of it quite good, like the grand city hall with its immense colonnade. Lenin's statue is now gone from the main square, but the city retains a lot from previous times, both in architecture and in character. (Incidentally, the main square now holds a statue of the former Azeri President H. Aliyev).
Although most Christians are now gone (Armenians, Russians and Germans) there are several churches worth a visit: a ruined Armenian church in the south of the town, the Alexander Nevski church (now the puppet theatre!) and a 19th century orthodox church. Another local historical treasure is the bottle house, a two-storey building decorated with about 50,000 glass bottles!
Although it is similar in size to Tacoma, Gence is a relatively quiet city. Unfortunately, with all its modern conveniences, and many wonderful historical sites, the city offers very few places to eat out. There are three larger restaurants in town, where women are welcome to eat and usually the food is quite nice. As for local entertainment, the best that I could recommend is generally when events come to town such as concerts or the circus (currently in town, and very good might I add!)
I hope that this gave you all a little more background on the city I am currently living in!

In order to provide a more historical context, a majority of this information was gathered from the following site:
http://www.travel-images.com/az-ganja.html

Azerbaijan says it foils attack on US Embassy

Reprinted: By Simon Montlake
from the October 31, 2007 edition
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1030/p99s01-duts.html
Christian Science Monitor

Authorities in Azerbaijan say they have detained a group of heavily armed Islamic militants who were allegedly plotting an attack on the US Embassy in Baku, which closed Monday in response to the threat. The State Department in Washington said there was "specific and credible threat information," but gave no further details.
The detained men were described as being Wahhabis – a Sunni Muslim sect that originated in Saudi Arabia – and their ranks included an Army officer who had supplied assault rifles and grenade launchers, Reuters reported Monday. It quoted a spokesman for the National Security Ministry, Arif Babayev.
Babayev said that part of the militant group was detained at the weekend in the village of Mashtagi, near Baku, including the military officer, who had recently gone absent from his post.
"It was established that the group ... had four Kalashnikov rifles, one Kalashnikov grenade launcher, 20 grenades, rounds and other automatic weapon parts," Babayev said.
The British Embassy in Baku also closed Monday over "local security concerns." The Associated Press reported a statement by the National Security Ministry that the arrests had prevented a wider terrorist plot against national and foreign targets.
"That prevented a large-scale, horrifying terror attack that was being prepared by members of this group against several state structures in Baku and embassies and missions of the countries which are members of the international anti-terror coalition," the ministry said, adding that other members of the group were being sought.
Azerbaijan is a largely secular Muslim republic on the western shore of the oil-rich Caspian Sea. British oil giant BP operates two large oil and gas export projects in Azerbaijani waters that supply energy markets in Western Europe, the Financial Times reported Tuesday from Moscow.
Azerbaijan, with its population of 8m, is a predominantly Muslim republic with borders with Iran, Russia and Georgia….
The arrests come at a time when Azerbaijan is enjoying economic growth of more than 30 per cent amid a growing oil surge.
However, poverty remains widespread. Human rights groups say Islamist religious groups are gaining influence, particularly among the poor.
Azerbaijan's relationship with neighboring Iran may have been the focus of a recent visit to Baku by Central Intelligence Agency director Michael Hayden, Eurasianet.org, a specialist website funded by the Open Society Institute, reported earlier this month. General Hayden met Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, on Sept. 28 during what US officials said was a regional tour to discuss security and international terrorism.
Some local analysts believe the US wants to use Azerbaijan as a base for a possible military attack on Iran, according to Euroasianet.org. It also cited Ilgar Mammadov, an independent analyst, as drawing a link between Hayden's visit and the trial of a pro-Iranian militant group.
A preliminary hearing for the government's case against the 15-member group, named after its leader, Said Dadashbeyli, took place at the end of September in Baku, the Turan news agency reported on October 1. Group members are also charged with high treason, illegal arms possession, illegal contact with foreign intelligence services, robbery and other crimes.
The Ministry of National Security alleges that Dadashbeyli, an Azerbaijani citizen, worked with radical Islamic organizations – as yet not publicly named – and Iranian intelligence agents to set up a state with Shar'ia laws. A military group, dubbed the Northern Army of Mehdi, was allegedly formed by several of the defendants, prosecutors allege. Prosecutors also claim that one of the group's members, Jeihun Aliyev, traveled to the Iranian holy city of Qom, where he was offered money by Iranian agents. The money was to be used to mount a propaganda campaign designed to undermine Western and Israeli influence in Azerbaijan.
Earlier this month, Iran hosted a summit for states bordering the Caspian sea, at which leaders from Azerbaijan and four other countries pledged not to allow their territory to be used for attacks against fellow littoral states, Asia Times reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin was among those attending the summit, which played down the issue of disputed national boundaries in the oil-rich inland sea.
Jamestown.org reported last year that Azerbaijan may have been overstating the risk of a possible Al Qaeda attack in Baku as a way of currying favor with the US government. After 2001, Azerbaijani authorities arrested and extradited several foreign militants to Middle East countries. Six Azerbaijani were jailed in 2005 for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks against national and foreign targets on behalf of Al Qaeda. But the government's claims that Baku was a prime target for foreign terrorists should be treated with caution.
Recent trends show that local radical organizations pose more of a danger to Azerbaijan than does al-Qaeda. Yet, the Azerbaijani government is trying to connect the surge of local radicalism with the influence of al-Qaeda. There are several reasons for that. First, the country's regime is trying to show the United States its loyalty concerning the war on terrorism. Thus, the sentencing of al-Qaeda "members" was done in order to demonstrate the activity of Azerbaijan's special services.
Secondly, by exaggerating the danger from al-Qaeda, the Azerbaijani government is trying to portray itself as the one and only pro-democratic force in a region dominated by anti-Western religious extremists. For many years, the current regime in Azerbaijan successfully sold this propaganda, often depicting outbreaks of social unrest as the work of Islamic extremists….
Compared to other Muslim countries such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, al-Qaeda will have a hard time influencing and recruiting local Azerbaijanis for suicide terrorist missions. Furthermore, up to 75-80 percent of the population is Shiite, to which the ideology of al-Qaeda is hostile. Finally, a majority of the mosques, where al-Qaeda usually recruits its followers, are under tight surveillance by the Azerbaijani government.
After gaining independence from Soviet rule in 1991, Azerbaijan fought a war in a disputed breakaway region, the British Broadcasting Corp. reports.
As the Soviet Union collapsed, the predominantly Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh region stated their intention to secede from Azerbaijan. War broke out. Backed by troops and resources from Armenia proper, the Armenians of Karabakh took control of the region and surrounding territory.
In 1994 a ceasefire was signed. About one-seventh of Azerbaijan's territory remains occupied, while 800,000 refugees and internally displaced persons are scattered around the country.