Friday update

It is Friday night, we are sitting in the front room at the cabin, beloved on her laptop, I on mine. We have been back in the USA for one week now, so I will give a little update.


We stayed four nights with A, which was nice, but it is easy to tell that she has become accustomed to living by herself and that we were in her space. She was a gracious host, and we had a lot of fun talking and laughing and eating together. We love her and it is nice to be close to her again. Even had dinner with her boyfriend one night. He is a fine cook and a fine young man all-around. (Don’t know yet if he’ll ever be part of the family but if it happened it would be fine by me.)

B

Also got to spend some nice time with our son B. He moved to another abode this week, from a smallish apartment to a house. Helped move a bed and a couch and got to spend some time with he and his girlfriend and her son. They are all really neat together. (Don’t know yet if she’ll ever be part of the family but if it happened it would be fine by me.)


Of course my mom is happy that we are close in proximity again, have gotten to spend some nice time with her this week. And all sorts of friends have invited us out or to dinner or coffee just to visit. Also visited Vickie in the hospital--she is beginning the process of dialysis, not a pleasant experience. However, she is putting the best face on it and moving forward in the face of difficult prospects. I love her! Please pray for her strength and rapid recovery in this interesting time of transition, thanks!


Monday Beloved spent almost the entire day researching mobile phone programs and prices to find us just the right deal. Satisfied that we got a good deal we went about getting my iphone unlocked. That was not an easy process. We had it to two different places for a total of seven hours to get the job done.


I spent Monday talking to old contacts and seeing what is available for work and looking for some sort of transportation. I have set my sights on a Jeep Cherokee, and in the price range that I need there are not a lot of options. Several that are in decent shape but have 250-plus thousand miles, several that have 130-150,000 miles but need work--brakes or no air conditioning or need front-end work, and a couple that have 100-130,000 miles that need major work--an engine or transmission. One had a good engine and transmission but had been rolled over. Probably not a good option. Finally found one Tuesday night and made a quick call on it. Ended up getting it, finalized the deal on our way out of town Thursday morning. (More on that in a minute) So now we have a car of our own. Again.


Tuesday morning I went back to work as a contractor at Spirit AeroSystems. I suppose if I have to be here in the Hometown instead of Azerbaijan I would not rather work anywhere else. I love the company, the job, and the fine people that I get to work with there. It is a great environment and good money, so I will be at Spirit several days a week until we figure out what the next step is. (More on that in a minute, too) It is fairly easy to settle back into the group and the work, my manager Tony is as easy a person to work for as I have ever had--he makes me feel welcome and at ease and is encouraging me in the midst of an occasionally-overwhelming change of career.


Tuesday night we are staying at the home of a dear friend we have known for five years now, even as I write this it is hard to believe we have only known her for five years, she is such a kind and good friend. She opened her home to us just before we left back in December, and has done the same again, so we will be spending the next couple weeks at her house.


Wednesday I was at Spirit again, and went to look at the Jeep in the evening. Also went to meet a friend, a pro baseball player that is going on a summer-league tour with his wife, they are looking for someone to stay in their apartment while they are away so they don’t lose the apartment. It is an interesting deal, but a good deal for all of us, since we don’t have anything in Wichita we will get to move into a furnished apartment for four months. Also went to look at the Jeep and drive it, and spent some time with B--Portal2 came out Tuesday and he wanted to play it. His computer won’t handle it right now so we played on my laptop. Good times!


Thursday we got up early, we are going to Oklahoma today. We are meeting the guy with the Jeep at 7:30, pay the money and do the title. We are on the road at 8:30, we have a lunch appointment in Tulsa. More friends to see and tell all the story. The drive is nice, it is a pleasant contrast to the terrible roads and, umm, interesting drivers of Azerbaijan.


Friday we spent most of the day resting and working in the yard. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll get some photos. 

We still think about Azerbaijan all the time. Our hearts are still there, we remember all the people that we got to know and can’t wait to get back there.  Even right now I look across the room--Beloved was given an desk-top-sized Azerbaijan flag on a stand for her birthday--it is right there in the bookshelf. It is our desire to keep our relationships up over there, to help whatever way we can over there, and to help people here get an idea of what life is like over there. The time we spent in Ganja made us realize that there are a number of good organizations working in Ganja, primarily The Training House, that we can help by raising awareness and funds for their programs. Still trying to figure out exactly what that looks like, but if you would like to have a part in making a real difference in the lives of children in Azerbaijan let me know--I can help you get some funds to some people that will do some real good with it.


Thanks for reading, I will continue to post as regular as I can. Hello to my dear friends in Azerbaijan, Yaver and Amalya, Turab and Namiq and Gunlar, Gulbaniz and Gulmira, all the rest of the staff at the Training House, England and Mrs. P., Indy, Manchester, Berry and her family, Farshid, (somebody tell him hello for me!) all the group at the Bank, N&L who will be returning to London this summer--Godspeed, and all the rest. We love you and miss you.

Day 89 Monday

Well, the day has finally arrived, and we are up early again. Beloved and I spent most of Sunday afternoon packing--right up until we were invaded by Indy, Berry and Berry’s two brothers. Then Manchester dropped by, and later that evening two others stopped by to wish us well and send us off. We love you all and you will forever be in our hearts.


Finish packing and Yaver arrives about 8:45. I leave the house at 8:50 to walk down to the bank, arrangements have been made for one of the bank employees to drive us to the border, then we will walk through the station and get a taxi  the rest of the way to Tbilisi.

The ride out was uneventful enough, and about two and half hours later we were pulling up to the border control. We had not been stopped twenty seconds when four or five guys approached the truck--”Are you going to Tbilisi?” All speaking in Azeri, all wanting to take us in their taxi. I upset Beloved a little bit by making an agreement on this side of the border even though our friend had told us to acquire the taxi on the Georgian side. Nevertheless, after some bargaining, we agreed on a price and set off for the passport control. They x-ray’d our luggage and stamped the passport and that was it. exit on the other side and our taxi driver was waiting on us.


We drive about a hundred yards and stop to show our passports again, we get a Republic of Georgia stamp. That’s new!


The taxi driver knows where Tbilisi is and makes good time, however, has no clue where the hotel is and is very grumpy. I showed him the address when we were negotiating the cost, and of course his answer was “yes yes, no problem,” but we stop three times to ask directions and he paid another taxi driver to lead him. He stopped to ask for directions too. I have nothing to do but be patient and check out this ancient city. 

Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia, 1.48 million inhabitants. We are in the older section of town and there is still evidence of a 6.5 magnitude earthquake in 2002 that was centered right below us. There are shattered houses and apartments all around, with people still living in some portions. There is a lot of new construction too, and our small hotel is one of them.


Only 11 rooms it has four floors. It is a little over-priced for what we are getting, $65.00 per night, but the staff is friendly and it has a little bit of a view.

We go for a walk in the afternoon and find a place to eat. We have been recommended some of the local cuisine, so we let our waitress read what our hotel receptionist has written down for us. The waitress asks, “How many?” Beloved and I exchange looks, shrug our shoulders and reply, “Bring whatever is normal.” Shortly the first part arrives, meat and mushrooms wrapped in a small dumpling-type package. It is okay, not what I would eat on a regular basis, but filling. About the time we are finishing up with these the second part arrives, it is like pizza, but the dough is sweet and there is no sauce. The cheese is thick and hot, and it is pretty good but also pretty rich. We don’t finish this nor do we decide to bring it along, so we pay the bill and depart.

It is a beautiful day, sunny and warm, and we walk very leisurely back to the hotel. We are tourists today, and we stop to buy a carmel latte that is pretty good--our first non-instant coffee in over three months! We walk through the old city and take photos. One building stands out in particular, an old church that split down the middle by an earthquake. Here is a great photographic metaphor of a church split--HA!

Other things catch our eye and our camera, castles and statues and modern architecture all mixed together.


We get back to the hotel and call it a night after a long day.

One more thing about our departure from Azerbaijan. Georgia is a Christian nation--Azerbaijan is Islamic/Atheist. Many people talk about the “feeling” of a place and I usually try to down-play it as much as possible. However, not even ten miles from the border it was abundantly obvious that this was a different place. There are trees all over. The air is cleaner and I’ve only seen two Ladas--a sign of prosperity. There can be no denying that a nation that recognizes God and His provision enjoys a level of blessing that other areas do not. It is not just the American sentimentality of seeing a church on every other corner that makes us feel safe and blessed, in this case it seems to be the truth.

Day 77 Wednesday

We had been asked by Berry’s dad (I really must think of a good handle for him someday soon)if we would like to participate as a host home for a progressive dinner for the ten visiting Americans and several Azerbaijani students that would tag along. “Sure we would!” and we did.  However, as beloved is putting together a tex-mex fajita dinner for 20 people, the electricity went out about 2:00 in the afternoon. Not like this is a huge deal, it does that from time-to-time. You get used to it. It usually comes back on in a couple hours and life goes on. Today, it didn’t come back on. Thank goodness the stove is a gas range! 5:00 came, and then 6:30 and our guests arrived. Fortunately the time change has provided us with more sunlight in the evening hours and the dinner goes off as planned.


One of the locals even offers to look at the electric situation--it is decided that we are the only house on the block with no lights! He is not an electrician, just a guy that has some skill, but he cannot find the reason we are without power. He calls a friend and the electrician will be here at 9:00 tomorrow morning. Well that’s good news...

Azerbaijani’s love to take photos of special occasions and tonight is no different. So I also get to take a few for posterity. Here are a few, including a rare stage-diving incident right here in Ganja!

We decide to forgo the clean up since it’s getting dark--and there is no electricity in the house--and walk with the group to the last house on the Progressive Dinner stop for dessert. It is a very nice time, and on the walk home Beloved and I grab a couple night time shots of the city. Enjoy Ganja at night!

Day 74 Sunday

The Daylight Savings Time change happened last night, we are finally back to just ten hours ahead of the Midwest instead of eleven hours, which we have been for the last three weeks. This is an important point because we are expecting the arrival of several guests from the USA arriving this morning. A group of ten, friends of Berry’s family (and Indy too, actually) flew into Baku arriving just after midnight then traveling by bus directly here. Berry’s dad had told us that he would call ten minutes or so before knocking at the gate, but he wasn’t sure exactly what time that might be. “Expect somewhere between 5 and 6AM.” So, at 5:30AM--with the time change it felt like 4:30AM, you know the drill--the phone rings. We’re here! So much for the ten-minute warning. No problem, we greet them and show them where they are to bunk and then get back to bed. Beloved did not sleep very well prior to that, she was fidgety, not wanting to miss the phone call.


Beloved and I got up and around about 8:30 and met with some friends for breakfast. It was progressing to be a normal day, so in the early afternoon we left the house to go to the Training House to continue with the tile work.


On our way we are passing by the Stadium that we occasionally run at. On the field are about a dozen or so people with, what’s that? American-style softball gear. I had to take a closer look at that, so as I am walking up to the entrance, a police car stops at the curb and motions us over. “Can we see your documents?” “Ummm, we left them at the house...” We stood there on the curb for about three minutes when one of the young Azerbaijani guys from the field walked down and asked if he could help us. He was very kind and it is a very generous thing that he is doing, but it is to no avail. The young man says, “you must go with them so they can prove that they are doing something. Please do not hold it against Ganja, we are really nice people.”


I though that was particularly kind of him to do.


We did go with the police. They had asked our address, which we were able to pick up, and we were able to tell them our address. Okay, so they will drive us back to our house, we will get the passports and the visa and all will be well. They drive about 80 percent of the way to our house, then go in a different direction. Beloved and I look at each other--they are taking us to the police station.


We quickly and wisely decide to phone for some help. “England, we have been picked up and taken to the police station.” That’s a first.


I thought about snapping some photos but then decided against it. In hindsight it probably would have been okay but I didn’t want to inflame an awkward situation. The station itself was small and dumpy--the same odd angles in the construction, the same power-struggle-style of leadership. The officer that brought us in started writing, a report I would imagine, but not a form--just a white sheet of paper. The senior man, judging by the gold flourishes on his jacket was busily playing Suduku. Don’t want to interrupt him. There was a soccer game on the television in the corner. There were about five guys at this post, all of them filing through as if to look at the latest catch. I guess we were somewhat of an oddity.


Nobody at the police station speaks english beyond, “hello, what’s your name? How are you?” After some fumbling around England walks in. There is some discussion between he and the senior man at the desk, then England says, “We must go and get your documents but one of you must stay here.” Great.


I stay and Beloved goes with England back to the house for the papers. All others leave too, I guess the show is all but over. In a very halting dialog I find out that this man, the senor man, is England’s neighbor. He goes back to his Suduku and I wait quietly for England and Beloved to return.


Shortly enough they do, and after some inspection of the documents all is pronounced in-order. Great! Can we go now? No. We must wait for a district man to come by and inspect the documents, then take them and get them photocopied.


England wishes us well and bids us good-bye, and soon enough the district man arrives. He looks over the passports and the visas and the receipts and the stamps, then all three of us depart the station. In a friendly gesture I ask his name as we drive to the photo-copy house. We understand very little of each other’s language, but in the small spaces that our proficiency overlap we are able to speak and laugh a little bit. His name is Jehann or something like that, so we laugh that we have similar names.


In the end, we spent two-and-a-half hours with this transaction, but it was not a horrible experience. The lawmen were courteous, there was no brutality or perceived request for a bribe. It is not something that I would like to do again but all-in-all not the worst thing I’ve ever been through.


We finally did make it to the Training House and worked for about two hours.


That was a full Sunday.

Day 67 Sunday

Sunday morning we are invited to breakfast with Berry’s family, so we postpone our work on the tile--we can get to it after lunch.  Lots of pictures here today, click on the image to see a larger view!

After breakfast we walk to the city square to see the Novruz celebration. It is full of people celebrating and eating and showing goods and dancing and riding rides--there are even a couple camels. 

Lots and lots of police there too, it has been speculated that they are not wanting any type of outbreak of protest.

We are leaving now, and we pass an ATM, or a bankomat as they are know here. I had to snap a photo--most people would not believe it otherwise. A dozen people all crammed in on each other. Hey--do you want some help? What's your PIN?

On the walk back the Berry’s house Berry’s dad informs us that they are going up to the mountains today and we would be welcome to join them. So, we postpone the tile work some more and take a trek up to the mountains. It is only about a thirty minute drive, then about a 15 minute walk up to a very pretty meadow. We toss the football and the frisbees and relax.

All in all a very nice day.

Day 65 Friday

A quick post about an actual interaction between Berry, a teen-aged American student here and here native Azerbaijani sporting coach.

Coach= Berry, come here.
Me=ok
Coach= Are you going to grow taller?
Me=Well I am young i think i will grow more.
Coach= Have you been trying?
Me=...
Coach= you need to hold on to a pull up bar and hang for at least 1o minutes a day if you want to get taller.
Me= Do you really think it will help?
Coach= OF COURSE!

Who would think anything else?

Day 53 Sunday

When you don't speak the language, and you don't get a bill in the mail, how do you know when your telephone bill is overdue? When the phone and internet quit working--this would be an indication thereof.


Soooo, I spent a good chunk of the day at a friends house on their network doing email and other various on-line tasks. I also played a very loosely-interpreted game of volleyball with Indy, Berry and her brother. The stairwell pit is definitely OUT!

Day 52 Saturday

Today is Saturday, and it's a full one!

9:30 Off to the Training House, the sun is out again and we are working in the yard again. Another tree to take out and begin to start making some ideas about the grade. We spend almost three hours working the dirt.


12:30 Back to the house, clean up and get ready to go to Yaver's house, her daughter's birthday was the 3rd.

N and Beloved looking at fruit

1:30 Meet N & L at the intersection and walk down to Yaver's. Unfortunately my camera battery died just as we were rounding the corner. Maybe I shouldn't have taken so many photos along the way...


We have a lovely time at the party, much food and laughter. There is also a piano there, so Beloved is able to stretch her fingers for the first time in a couple months, she is grateful to be able to play even a little, and everyone in the room is grateful to hear her play.


3:45 comes around and we must get back to the house, we have guests arriving at 5:00 for Beloved's birthday party.

 Berry and Beloved

5:00 Our new friends start arriving, it is a pot-luck dinner, Americans, Canadians, Brits, a German, and a couple of Azerbaijani's too! Yaver and Naza and England and Mrs. P, N & L,  Indy and Manchester and Berry.  All told there are about 20 of us. There is good food and cake and a paper crown that everybody signed for "the Birthday Queen." One of the gifts is grass, signifying the new year. It was a lot of fun and a real special time for Beloved. Here are some photos!!

Berry, Beloved and Manchester

Naza, Yaver and Beloved

Manchester, Indy and Berry