It's Always Sunny in Mingechevir (Unless Amy Comes)

As many of you know, I live in Mingechevir, Azerbaijan.  And, as much complaining as I can potentially do (by base fact of being in Azerbaijan), I cannot complain much regarding the city I'm in.  

Last week, we had IST (in-service training) and where 'training' is debatable, it was a good time to see fellow volunteers and all be in one little area for a bit.  So, there half of us were, in Gence, and it turned into something that we all probably expected it to - a venting session.  

Now, how do I put this out there without sounding like Mingechevir residents have that certain air of superiority... we love our city.  Granted, our working situations are on par with other volunteers, but we are all certainly quite happy about where it is we live.  This is not meant to say others aren't happy, but we noticed a difference.

So, during and after IST, I've been thinking about why it is we like Mingechevir so much and thought it would be good to put out into the blog world for my family, friends, and AZ7s (to show that your site directly impacts the type of experience you have).  Before reading the list, please realize all this is in AZ standards!  The awesome bumper cars are awesome, but they also look like death traps (and probably would never be qualified as safe in America).

First of all, we lucked out.  That's all there is to that one.  We got put in a site where 4 sitemates already were.  So, with the incoming 4, that makes 8 people for Mingechevir.  I have 7 great sitemates which, most assuredly, effects my quality of life.  I do not know how we would have survived host family living without our weekly hub nights.  Piggybacking off of luck, we all were able to find apartments for independent living.  It proved to be a difficult task for sitemate Bev when she moved here (6 weeks of searching!), but we were all able to find a place and be moved in within a week of being able.

Secondly, it doesn't always feel like Azerbaijan.  We all know we're in Azerbaijan, but, sometimes, the feel is something different.  We have trash cans throughout the park (and some people use them)! Other volunteers have

 commented on this.

Thirdly, we get visitors and visitors make Azerbaijan feel a little bit smaller when we're all spread out throughout this country.  Agsu Rachel comes a lot and Agdash Brandon can hop a bus and make it a day trip.  It seems like at least every other weekend we have someone here, so that's really nice.  Speaking of visitors, though, it seems clustermate/Guba Amy is the Eeyore of Azerbaijan and makes any sunny day a bit tutqun (gloomy).

Fourthly, our environment.  

We have a cool little area of Azerbaijan here.  No, we don't have those beautiful and soaring mountains, but we do have foothills, a reservoir, a riverwalk (a smidge reminiscent of Wilmington! and has cotton candy), the Kur river (for paddle boats and possibly kayaks), nice parks (with benches), and rides, really random rides.  Lately I've been commenting on how awesome we are because of our bumper cars and swings, and I still think that's totally true.

And, lastly, for the group here, it's a good fit.

 Mingechevir isn't too big, but it isn't too small.  We have a nice bazaar and can get random products we might want.  There's a built in support network since there are quite a few of us.  We have little traditions and enjoy, for the most part, spending time with each other, but we still get plenty of 'me' time.  And, we're all able to find a key Azerbaijani counterpart who's cool to hang out with and is a vital resource for any of our endeavors.

Of course, every site has it's bad parts like the constant harassment, work-related frustrations, the post office, cultural norms and breaking them... but, especially on the blog, I don't like to focus on that and would rather highlight the positive in this random part of the world I had never heard of before.  

Life... it's funny how we get to the places we end up.

(New P.S. I don't know why the font changes.  I tried to fix it, but with no luck).