Take a look at these photos below. Now I encourage you to get a full hearty laugh because on some real talk-they are probably nail on the head for all volunteers-including me!
I thought I would take a little time to clarify, because thus far in my service it's become severely difficult to explain exactly what I do without submitting to the fact that in layman terms: I'm an English teacher. Now for the record I am here to focus on sustainable community development. Shaping and re-shaping the minds of the young people who will inherit Azerbaijan. It's my duty to merely plant a thought or idea in their head, train them, see if it sticks, and pray that 10 years later-my work was wise and not wisdumb.
Anyhow let's go through the photo one by one:
What I want to do: Sit in a circle to talk about what they think their future will look like, what they want to be when they grow up, and how are they going to get there. What they want to do: Practice saying Hello my name is, I was born on, where are you from and why are you here and leave after 40 minutes to go to their 'real' English lesson.
Correction: I run from the old women yelling " aye qiz", walk very fast through the park to get to my school, shuffle as quickly as I can through the bazaar and lower my head when the postman announces my arrival at the post office.
What I want to do: Smile and wave without that being misunderstood as flirting, shake hands to both the men and the women, respond without frazzling azeri or russian and be on a xanim named basis (i.e. Malaika Xanim= Miss Malaika).
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT THINKS I DO: Is exactly what I'm doing.
Correction: What the government thinks I am doing is exactly what I am doing including saying the disclaimer after all of my opinions and avoiding all discussions about 9/11.
WHAT THE LOCALS THINK I DO: They think I work at the oil company here, probably from Canada or Nigeria. They think I am the English teacher . They think I am my site-mate Carrie (don't ask me why but I can see how they could get us confused-ya know with her being white and auburn and me being brown and auburn). They think I'm rich with my kindle and my ipod. They think I speak Russian.
Correction: I don't work for the oil company and never knew there was one until someone mentioned it. I am NOT an english teacher (i just haven't gotten a grip on what this culture/country wants me to do exactly so I find myself simply teaching english). I taught the kids the word 'jive' because one day it will be necessary to say 'jive'. I'm not Carrie-but she's my idol. Rich is all relative in my opinion. I WILL speak Azerbaijani & Russian but for right now I just shake my head and bang my hand against it to let people know that it's empty.
WHAT I THOUGHT I WOULD DO: Talk about what the future of Azerbaijan will look like and how can I help them get there.
WHAT I REALLY DO: Talk to myself about what the future of Malaika will look like if I keep eating this bread.
The truth of the matter is, the changes are small but lasting. For every action there is a reaction {yes I hate that this one particular man announces me when I arrive at the post office, but I'm guessing it's synonymous to Cheers episodes and that's a good thing.} My language is coming along and I'm getting it on both ends. Although I can't respond much in azeri or russian, I do know when someone is asking me an important question like my name or where I'm from. So I give myself that much credit-the ability to decipher, decode, and half-way understand. Ok so maybe I'm not talking to the kids about what they want to be when they grow up, well not in the way I initially envisioned, but I did make somewhat of an impression.Not only am I the English teacher, but I am also the English teacher that shamelessly runs. And perhaps I'm not sharing enough about American culture as I should be: ya know, cooking tacos, pda, and all that jazz. But I do get to be me: singing to myself, breaking out the 'soldier boy tellem' in a cayxana, and hi five the kids when they master some phrase. But what is really going is: I am averse to change trying to change a culture who is averse to change that is trying to change me. And for the record-that last picture is incorrect. I do not get to take a bath out of a plastic tube. I've upgraded to the stew pot #poshcorps!
by the way: If you don't know what the Soldia boy tellem is please watch it here "everday i'm shufflin" has nothing on this!:
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1 comment:
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much for your blog. I've always been a person who acknowledged the signs that God gives, and you have truly been a blessing. I've had hesitations about the peace corps but within one week I've had so many signs that point me to this direction. I've been reading your blog posts, and you may not see this, but you are taking everything in with so much grace, continue that approach and blessings will fall your way.
-sherese
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