50 Days in Azerbaijan So far.

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So I guess its been about 50 days since I have set foot in Azerbaijan, and this means its time for another blog update. The last month or so has been pretty damn crazy. A massive list of random things have occurred and also I learnt a hell of a lot more about surviving in Azerbaijan.



Guess we can start with what happened around the 20^th of last month. So I managed to get my self food poisoning, which was honestly the closest I have come to wanting to die on the spot. Thanks to the dam Turkish restaurant nearby I ended up spending 2 days alternating between lying in bed trying not to die and throwing up. Not a fun experience but at least Im a LOT more careful about what I eat now days. I tend to stick to the 5 or so restaurants or cafeteria that I know near my work and home that are def safe to eat and wont kill me. I also got introduced to this 24 hour restaurant 2 mins from my place that has full pretty amazing tasting meals for less than 10 nzd. The only thing about them is a very long service time and the food DEFINITELY not tasting anything like what the name is. Eg. A chicken Burrito is called a Chicken Britto and taste more like chicken in sour cream and veges (not wrapped up) rather than anything resembling something Mexican. Still tastes pretty good. I also have this ritual now where I stop by McDonalds on my way to work and pick up some food as it’s the only time where its not hyper crowded. Even then, yesterday, I nearly lost my temper at these stupid bitches pushing ahead of me even though I was standing right there. Still did the usual Kiwi thing of smile and brush it off.



So just after my last blog update, 2 of my flat mates, (Tatiana and Vit) went of to International Congress in Russia. This meant I had to fend a lot more for my self for approx. 10 days, where I learnt how to make my way around the city, exchange money, argue with shopkeepers, and find new friends. Thanks to Wieteke I was able to meet some new people and attend a few foreigner meetings and get to know a much larger crowd. Most of this 10 days is pretty uneventful. I chilled around and didn’t really venture out except for one small adventure on Sat nite. I heard there was a Czech owned Rock Bar near by, so me being me, google mapped it and went exploring for it. After about 30 mins of searching for it, I found some other bar called Amneisa which had replaced it and def WAS NOT a rock bar. After a bit more research it turns out the bar I was looking for had been closed 2 years ago. Thank you google map……………………. Still I managed to make it to a place my self and find my way back.



Ok so once these 10 days were up, things got a LOT MORE FUN!!!. We had two other interns (Angie and Ana Marie) from Moldova who were already in the country come stay with us for a few days after their internship in the regions had finished and they were seriously amazing!!!. On Sat nite, we decided to have a few drinks and I finally was able to have a proper NZ style drink up / party with them. They are both amazing and fun people. Tatiana, Angie, Vit and I, had a few drinks and went to a bar to dance for a bit and relax then we came back and had a few more drinks with Angie and Ana Marie. Guess Moldova might be my next destination since I really did have an awesome time with them.



Also I finally met Lavinia (MCVPComms + LCD) last term, who is doing a massive PR event here for a Dubai based company. Probably one of the smartest and easiest to get alone with people I know. Had dinner and a good convo with her and might be doing rock climbing with her and basketball with her b.f in the future, so the chances of me turning into a fat blob are thankfully reduced.



Hmm so with work. Work has been the same old kind of. Still the usual 3 hours of actual work with the rest spent chilling and just trolling the interwebs. However, I got left alone for approx. a week and all hell broke lose. I had to deal with the local students. In the nicest way possible, some of these kids are actually retarded. Without mummy and daddy to hold their hand, the would not be able to tie their own shoelaces. Not sure if it was a good week or a boring week cause I spent a solid portion of it talking to and solving their issues. Found out something interesting about Azeri Culture. Apparently most of the students here are not expected to work till after they are married. So even during university and highschool, their parents pay for everything. Lucky yes, but also makes them dam spoilt.



Ok one funny story. I got offered a bribe by one of the parents. He slides across 200 manat (400 nz) and is like can u process my sons application faster. I stare at him blankly and say no it dosent work that way so he adds in another 100 Manat and asks me if I can ask the embassy to process his sons visa faster. Im like WTF I DON’T WORK WITH THE EMBASSY. Ahhh fun times. If only I didn’t have kiwi morals.



Hmm another not so fun story and probably the closest I have gotten to losing my temper here. I had to top up my phone so I went to the top up place and I ask the guy if I can have a 5 manat top up. He looks at me and says no not for u. Im like ok??? As I watch him look at this workmate and smirk. So I stand there and ask seriously dude top up card. He again blankly says the same thing and repeats a larger smirk with his workmate. Ended up with me telling him to go fuck himself and walked out and went to the mobile store I normally go to on my way home. The one before was just closer to work.



Ok so funny story at the mobile store I normally go to. The guy asks where I am from so I say NZ. Hes like ohhhh NZ you like to (makes smoking weed motion). Im like uhhhh yeah people in nz do. Hes like ohh yes yes, you want to buy and pulls out a 50 bag right there. Hes asking me 10 manat yes (20 nz). Now im standing there going WTF in the middle of the store, this guy is trying to sell me some green. Manage to convince him I really was not interested and that all I wanted was a top up card and directions on how to top up. Still makes for a funny story.





The Flat. So I started really losing my temper, namely to do with different standards of cleaning I guess. For me if its tidy its clean but its different for others. Probably the only time I have really lost my temper here was because of this. For those of you that know me, I tend to be a person that lives in my room so yeah I have been adopted a more stay in my room style approach so I don’t have to worry about the other rooms so much. However I still end up washing dishes most of the time but that’s a task I don’t mind since I enjoy cooking and I have discovered I CANT cook when there are that many dishes in the sink. (very different to the old MC flat huh).



Sadly the Landlord at this flat has found tenants that are willing to pay a LOT more than us for the apartment so we get kicked out in 10 days. This means fun flat hunting times and hopefully finding a nice flat where I get my own nice small room. I need something cosy. Looking at the internet listings its about 150 – 200 per month for us to get a decent place. However Tatiana mentioned the internet only has expensive listings so we will probably find somewhere cheaper.

Hmm so what else. Ahhh So I had the joys of Chairing a conference here in Azerbaijan. There were approx. 30 members total attending it. It was in the costal holiday region called Nabran at this resort. Its like 2 km from the Russian Border It’s a pretty decent venue, quite large and spacious and actually pretty ideal for a conference. Id say it’s a few notches above the campsites we normally have but still some things weren’t as good about the venue. One thing that was amazing was the food. Think freshly killed chicken that’s cooked traditional style and freshly fire oven baked bread. Also the Venue was pretty much just ours so we could be fairly loud and there was a market (dairy) onsite so I could get my chocolate fix when I needed it. I think I scared Tatiana a little by showing her how much I eat at conferences. (seems to be a thing with me when Im Faci’ing, that I NEED to eat lots).

Also I had a random phobia that I was going to get mauled by a bear. When we first arrived at night time, thing pitch blackness, same abandoned buildings and not a clue where I was going. It felt like a scene from some horror movie like Chernobyl Diaries where I was going to get killed. I was sure it was either going to be a bear or some Russian zombie. If you ever want to be terrified of the sound a dog or a goat makes, try walking alone at this venue at night time before the delegates have arrived. I swear I nearly had multiple heart attacks.



So Overall It was pretty mixed. The conference definitely was a success and met its goal of motivating members. In terms of the cultural differences compared to NZ, Its HUGE. Couple of main things. Firstly is the behaviour of LCPs and EBs. Normally in NZ these guys are the role models, they behave really well in sessions, contribute and quieten down when the faci is speaking and ensure that newbies are quiet and behaved when they need to be and speak up when they need to. Here it’s the opposite with the EB’s and LCP’s leading the charge on disrupting sessions. Also in terms of party culture, its very very very tame. The word Alcohol is almost forbidden and same with swearing, any sexual jokes or roll calls or calling delegates out for doing something stupid. In other words, the complete opposite to conferences in NZ where we tend to have the whole work really hard during the day for sessions and party and drink hard at night and make lots of stupid sexual jokes during sessions and disrupting a session is a sure way to get an egglie.



However that being said, the conference was still pretty awesome, and the members here are actually pretty knowledgeable and really really eager to see AIESEC AZ grow and there are some members who are pushing for AIESEC AZ to move towards a more international standard. We had quite a few good chats over some hidden away drinks during the conference at night times.



Another thing that I think is holding back the AIESEC here is the, that’s the way its always been mindset and the, that might upset some members mindset. I understand that, but in order to not get left behind by the rest of the network, this country needs to take the chances and just do things that might not be the norm here or to push for things that might upset some members but at least place them firmly back into how AIESEC operates across the network. Just my opinion though.



It was a great chance to reconnect with AIESEC again after my MC term and sort of start remembering why I enjoyed being a member of AIESEC and that the horror of my MC term shouldn’t put me off it. Also was a great chance to make some new friends and meet some pretty awesome people and actually connect with people the way only AIESECers can. Oh one thing I HAVE TO ADD before I forget. I swear this OC team is the single most AMAZING and BEST and ORGANISED and ONTO IT team I have EVER had to work with. These guys had EVERYTHING ready plus 20 x more. If we could steal them for one conference in NZ, logistics would never ever be a problem again. Oh and every member who attending now knows the NZ version of Ninja Slap (apparently the IC version is different).



Ah so the whole possible war thing with Armenia. I wont get into the political side of things because quite simply. I don’t understand a large number of things and its just safer this way. Thought when I first saw it, I was a little freaked out. Cant say im all that keen to be shot at. Unless I get a gun to shoot back. In which case I’m ALL IN!!! But yeah according to my boss and a few other people I spoke to, this is a common sabre rattling thing that happens and it really isn’t any cause to worry. Neither side has the military capacity to actually fight any prolonged war with each other. Ahh and another thing don’t ever mention the word Armenian to any Azeri. They actually have a rabid hatred of them. I mean to the point where its like Woah!!!. Once again I don’t understand the situation very well so I will not make any opinions or judgement calls on this.

Hmm so back to reality now. I’m still waiting for a confirm from my boss on whether im going on an all expenses paid trip to Germany next month or not. He still isn’t sure if I can represent CELT as I’m not a qualified Agent but he is trying to find out. But yes since conference, I have been living in this zone of work, home, hangout, sleep, work without a rest day in between, so I will be slowly killing my self until Sunday where I can finally sleep in all day and do nothing. I have been living off about 2 litres of coke and chocolate to keep me awake.



Hmm so in terms of missing home. I still really do miss my friends and family. Particuality friends as I spoke to a few on facebook recently and its really triggered the urge to go back and hang out with them. But yes I think I am adjusting better here. I have made some new friends and found people I can chill with so I don’t get too lonely.

I am still getting used to some elements of the culture here. Eg, Girls don’t normally hang out with guys past like 5 pm, which for nz is like WTF. Also things like, you wont offend someone if you say no to them and that its common for people to reschedule last min etc. Im trying to be open minded and accepting things as they are. Sometimes ill push back slightly and see if I can inject a bit of westernised nz culture back but most of the time I just roll with the flow. So far I am happy here but I am starting to see how much of a struggle 1 whole year here is going to be. I guess I just need to hold out and enjoy while I am here till I can go to a place which is a little more party and fun as opposed to stuffy and strict. Somewhere like Ukraine or Moldova or Romania or Czech. Its not the country but rather the lack of openness I guess. Coming from NZ im used to just being able to go out a lot and hang with people without worrying, while here things like if a girl is seen drinking or coming home late its really bad for them, or if a guy drinks more than once a month, he is considered bad.

I am thinking about going to Georgia in the next few months. My dutch flat make Wieteke has just come back from there today so I will ask her more about it. Could be fun as Vit also really wants to go and we both would probably tear through the nightlife there :D.

Oh right Katrina. Almost forgot about her. Well shes bigger now. And about 20 x more irritating. Shes still cute but so so so god dam annoying when shes attacking you every 10 mins. Shes taken to sleeping in my bed so I get a nice wake up every 5 am where she bites my face…… For those of you that know me. Im a really light sleeper. Any movement in my room and I wake up. Now combine that with a hyperactive cat……………. She somehow managed to get down from a 5^th story Balcony and run around the street till Tatiana and Vit found her. So yes this cat is actually crazy. Fun but really really crazy.



Hmmm so I don’t have too much more to stay. Im really happy I met some amazing people, especially someone in particular and this has meant I have been able to adjust a lot better to how things work here. The last few weeks have been more of an eye opener and Im really glad I had the privilege of chairing a conference here and connecting with the AIESEC here. I think I can last a year here, just need to adjust more to the quieter side of things.



I know im still being lazy and not putting up pictures but yer. I still look about the same so Im sure you can just picture that. If someone takes a photo of my next ill get them to upload it with some famous Baku landmark photoshopped behind me.



Well till next time.



Nix

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