Learning Azeri From Spiderman?!

Hanging out in Baku, I stumbled upon this with the help of Kim's roommate. So, AZ7s,  enjoy your first glimpse of the strangeness that is Azerbaijan and learn some Azeri while being entertained (while you still have fast enough internet to take pleasure in random videos)! Nush!

A Major Necessity.

Peace Corps has opened me up to a lot of new things and experiences.  I have new dependencies and addictions and have gotten rid of old ones.  One of my newer needs is TV on DVD.  I watch more TV here than I ever did in America and have caught up on a lot of pop culture that fell by the wayside when I was home.  Now, I know I'm now missing new shows and all that jazz, but I doubt it will be as important to me when I get back.  It makes sense to me... watching a lot of TV as when it's really cold, going outside isn't preferable, and neither is it when it's super hot.  

I don't really discriminate what I watch here and my standards now are quite low, so I've seen a lot of shows that really aren't that great, but I have watched a couple that I believe are pretty incredible.

The Wire

I don't know why I ever thought this show wouldn't interest me - it has murder, corruption, and some good looking men, everything a good show should have.  It started out slow and I wasn't sure if I was really into it, but it developed quickly and the next thing I knew, I was hooked.  I now firmly hold the belief that this has been the best show I've watched in this country... perhaps ever.  It's gritty, hard-hitting, enticing, and completely addicting.  If you haven't watched it, you should.  It really hits its stride in the 3rd and 4th seasons.

The West Wing

I remember watching this on and off in the background with my dad, but I didn't understand the complexity of this show until watching it here.  Now that it's been able to get the focus from me that it deserves, I've come to thoroughly enjoy this show.  Maybe it's the combination of entertainment and reminders of DC visits and America, but this really is a fast talking and captivating show with humor, drama, and American idealism.

Mad Men

It surprises a few people that I like this show as much as I do, but I truly find this show fascinating as a time piece and a drama.  It's entertaining while also giving me a glimpse on what was a reality for some of my close friends back in the day.  Don't get me wrong, there are parts of the reality that I don't like and makes me feel uncomfortable, but that's kind of the beauty of it.  The advertising environment is compelling and the characters intricate.  I think that the acting is fantastic, for the most part, and that, if for not anything else, watching the change that occurs during this time period is enough to keep one interested.  This is one show I wish I were able to watch every week back home.  

I could go on and share all the other shows I've watched, but I kind of fear that you all would think the list absurd in the amount, so I won't.  I will, though, tell you that I have watched the entire The X-Files series as well as Grey's Anatomy.  I've rewatched all the TV I brought here with me and have probably done so multiple times.  I'm sure that within the next 16 months, I'll watch a lot more and find new favorites, but, for now, these are my tops.

Who knew I'd be going half a world away to watch so much TV?  

Hub Nights and Sarah's Survey.

Wednesday nights have been my favorite night of the week since I moved to Mingechevir.  Every Wednesday night, me and my other sitemates get together for dinner.  We rotate houses and responsibilities every week and meet up for a delicious meal, venting sessions, and, sometimes, games!

I've been fortunate enough to have enough sitemates to sustain this type of thing and, also, to have sitemates that are all very good cooks!  It's interesting to see what each house cooks every week as it's typically a reflection of who's house we're at.  I know for yummy and healthy food, there's Alexis'. For rich, layered and aesthetically pleasing? Andrea.  There's always ornate and time consuming wonder dishes at Nate and Mariko's.  Laura's is good for dishes that collaborates everyone's tastes.  At Cindy's, we were always able to rely on delicious dinners that comprised of comfort foods and, sometimes, homemade cinnamon rolls.  I don't count Bev, really, in this rotation as I usually cook there as well as here, but(!) Bev has always provided an open house, kitchen, and mind for any idea that I had for her nights, which I'm grateful for (especially during host family living time).

Hub nights have continued to be a consistent time where I get to spend quality time with my sitemates and enjoy all of their company.  Since Cindy's been gone, it's changed a bit, but I know in the next coming months, it's going to change drastically more.  Soon it'll be down to AZ6s, but, then again, eventually we'll have our new AZ7s to, inshallah, spend this time with.

And, now, for a stellar friend of mine:

This is my really great, fellow 3eb loving, coffee needing, super smart, and totally amazing friend, Sarah.  I met her in a COM class at UNCW that she didn't even need!  Luckily for me, though, she took that unneeded class and we became friends for the duration of our college careers.  We took this picture after a long drive on a school night at the end of a 3eb concert in Richmond; it was awesome.  Hopefully, one day, we'll be incredible professors at the same campus so that we can have coffee dates in or around the library where we can chat about our days, students, publications, and life.  We'll remember the days of Wilmington with joy and spend nights drinking wine and being academics.  But, until then, she's busy being a student and future TA who has a really cute blog.  In said blog, she had a survey and tacked me onto it.  Since I like her a lot and think that it's too adorable she does this, I'm partaking and being a pal.

Here’s how it works: USE ONLY ONE WORD!

1. Where is your cell phone? bed

2. Your hair? mess

3. Your mother? Sunny

4. Your father? reminder

5. Your favorite food? Asian

6. Your dream last night? ill-advised

7. Your favorite drink? coffee

8. Your dream/goal? contentment

9. What room are you in? mine

10. Your hobby? unsure

11. Your fear? failure

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy

13. Where were you last night? home-ish

14. Something that you aren’t? religious

15. Muffins? okay.

16. Wish list item? vacation

17. Where did you grow up? rural

18. Last thing you did? read

19. What are you wearing? PJs

20. Your TV? none

21. Your pets? needy

22. Friends? fabulous

23. Your life? fleeting

24. Your mood? impatient

25. Missing someone? always

26. Vehicle? nonexistent

27. Something you’re not wearing? necklace

28. Your favorite store? Target

29. Your favorite color? royalty

30. When was the last time you laughed? Apples

31. Last time you cried? movie

32. Your best friend? far

33. One place that I go to over and over? beach

34. One person who emails me regularly? Ellen

35. Favorite place to eat? kitchen

My Favorite Game Show

What is Jeopardy!?

Yes, I'm a nerd.  I grew up with Jeopardy! being a constant in my life.  Every night at 7, we would tune in to ABC and settle in for a half hour.  It was a time where I realized that trivial facts actually did matter... it also served as a competitive section of the day between family members.  I've always tried to remember arbitrary little facts because you never know what category will pop up on the show.

Since being here, I realize that I miss Jeopardy! a lot more than I thought I would.  It was a quaint 30 minutes a day where my dad, brother, and I sat around and attempted to beat all the real contestants.  

I recently discovered this website that stores all the questions to every game.  Granted, it's not the same as actually seeing Alex Trebek and spending time with my family, but, for now, it'll work. 

When I go back, perhaps I'll be able to continue being decent competition with all that "Jeopardy! trivia" I'm learning through past games.

Paddle Boating on the Kur.

Mingechevir's a pretty sweet site, in my opinion.  This idea was further reinforced by a site celebration we had for Nate and Mariko's anniversary where we paddle boated up and down the Kur Cay!  

Ming Bling: 6; The Declaration Boat. 

                        

The happy couple + Ming PCV 

backbones (Lale and Gulshan).

What a splendid way to spend a Saturday afternoon.