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 76 Tuesday

Today is the English Gala. We are not sure what to expect, but there seems to be a lot of hubbub about it. It is divided into two parts, the children and the adults. From 2:30 to 4:00 the children at the Training House are gathered up and the Gala begins. Mrs. P. emcee’s the event. There is the first-ever showing of the Drama Club, they have prepared a rendition of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” in english no less. The performance is nice, the giant is played by the smallest member of the troupe. How fun!

Then there are skits performed by the various classes of the Training House. Indy, one of the teachers, tells me later that her kids put together the concept and the acting-out of the presentation. There were four skits, and Indy’s team won the prize!

The American guests that arrived Sunday morning were also taking part in the Gala, they did a presentation of American Culture and were very well received by all the kids.


At 4:30 the whole thing was produced again, only the skits were performed by older students and most of those in attendance were adults.

Beloved and I skipped out midway through the second gig--we were pretty hungry after having been there most of the day. We walked down to Ala Turka and visited with our friend Farshid the waiter. The food and discussion was good as always, and having our tummies full we walked back to the Training House and out in two more hours on the tile floor. We’re getting close now!

Day 51 Friday

March 4. Today is Beloved's birthday!

We're going to lunch with some friends, on the way across "the walking bridge" when a young man in front of us, I suppose hearing us talk, he says something about "tourist." As we pass him we say hello, and he wants to know what we are doing in Ganja. His english is about as good as our Azeri, but we are able to tell him where I'm working and he asks if we can take a picture with him. So here is one of the photos of "the guy on the bridge."


We finally got to lunch with some friends of ours, Americans, at Ala Turka, the place Farshid is working. He greets us at the door as he usually does and we go upstairs. The food is good and the company too.

After lunch we are off to the Training House, a couple of the instructors there have a gift for her, and we enjoy a little party there. The gift is a very pretty little wind chime.


I want to use this space for a minute to brag on my beautiful wife. We have been married for 23 years now, which means I have been married longer than I have not been married, which I love, because I love my wife. Beloved is an incredible person, she is patient and wise, and tolerant and bold. She is smart and funny very beautiful. I am so happy she is with me!

Happy Birthday Beloved!

Manchester and Beloved

Indy

Day 46 Sunday

Yesterday was a crazy day around the house. It was a very somber day around the city, however, one of the instructors at The Training House had planned a big party with almost twenty Azeri's. Oh, by the way, the party was at my house.


It so happened that last week on Wednesday Manchester stopped in, she is a delightful young woman of British origin. She and the Coffeeman are great friends, and she fills us in that she has had numerous meetings of this Azerbaijani Students Club in the house that we are living in, Coffeeman's house.


So, about 11:30, Manchester arrived and began making preparations for the others to arrive. Shortly thereafter a young Azeri girl shows up, and there are two people now cutting the cakes and making the tea. 


We visited for a few minutes, but soon decided that we might be in the way, so we left for the afternoon. It was a snowy, rainy, drizzly day, but we were together, Beloved and I. We needed to hit the ATM, "Bankomat" as it is known here, and we decided to visit Farshid at Ala Turka for lunch.


I am now accustomed to the locals throwing out a "Hello," every now and then, and occasionally the brave ones will move on to include, "How are you? Where are you from?" and so on. Today was the first time that I have had someone really try to converse with me in Azeri, and not give in to the fact that I don't speak the language. I don't know if this guys' elevator didn't go all the way to the top or what, but he was determined to get us to understand. (We didn't) He followed us. He talked louder. I turned around and tried to tell him that I don't speak the language. This guy was insistant, and it took over two minutes to get him to lay off. He wasn't overly rude or obnoxious,  at one point we did recognize that he was introducing himself and we exchanged names, but in the end we smiled, shrugged our shoulders and walked away. "Goodbye!" He still followed after us for two blocks...

Lunch at Ala Turka was good, Farshid has wanted twice now to serve us "the Turkish Barbecue!" and he says it with such pride, so today we let him serve us. Most westerners would call it kabobs, it was meat on a skewer, and it was very tasty. Served with parsley greens, onions, shredded carrots and a grilled tomato wedge. Farshid always impresses me with his consumate desire to serve. He is always replacing our napkin and very quick to refill the tea or remove an empty plate. He always makes us feel welcome, even though his english is only fair. This is a picture of Farshid, our friend the waiter.

After lunch we slowly wandered back through the markets of the Bazaar, and we found a Bankomat that would dispense funds, so we headed back to the house. The party was over, Manchester and her sidekicks were cleaning up, the house was no worse for the wear.


Beloved cooked some steak that she had purchased on an experiment, and we are still experimenting. The funny thing about beef--perhaps because the cows are so thin here--the highest priced cuts are full of fat, the lean is actually cheaper than the fat. We'll keep trying to figure it out. The potatoes were good! We watched a movie and went to bed early.

Day 28 Wednesday

We walked downtown today, the plan was a quick lunch at Elegance and then over to the department store, "Univermag." However, at the end of walking street there is a blockade. Chairs and benches are all stacked up and the Police are all standing around. We approach and our friend Farshid greets us. "What's going on? Can we get in the restaurant?" "Yes, of course, please come in."


It turns out that the President of Azerbaijan is coming to Ganja today to officially open a park that has been under renovation for several months now, and has essentially closed down the center of the city. No one gets in, even to the point of getting to your house. Not ten minutes later we get a text from a friend--"I cannot get in to my apartment, can I hang out with you?" So we are joined by another young lady there at the restaurant.


Note; what the heck? Can't the police get some official-looking barricades for presidential visits? I am not kidding, I thought there was some kind of riot going on, they stacked up benches. Come on, let's get some orange cones and some yellow tape...


Elegance Restaurant is right on the edge of the blockade, and we can see through the window that there is nothing going on inside the blockade. No traffic, cars or pedestrian, on the streets, it is eerily quiet. However, since the restaurant is quiet too, we get to chat more with Farshid.


From the first time we met Farshid we know that this gentleman know how to take care of his customers, and we truly are his customers. He is telling us about his recent holiday to Dubai, he went to the beach one time for one hour--"the temperature must have been 42," he says. 42C is 108F for all you non-metric readers.


He also asks for our telephone number, and tells us, "This summer we will go up into the mountains and I will prepare kabob for you over the fire."


Univermag is out of the question, so we are done for the day, so we head home and work on our language studies.