From the Land of Fire: Still Adjusting...

A little bit about me...

Hi my name is Raechelle, and I lived in the secular Muslim country of Azerbaijan as a Youth Development Volunteer for the Peace Corps for three years and three months. I am now the Administrator of the official Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Friends of Azerbaijan group. As such, I am working to promote Peace Corps third goal of helping promote a better understanding of Azerbaijani people to Americans.

I created this blog as a way for future Peace Corps Volunteers, my friends and family, and Americans in general to understand what life as a Peace Corps Volunteer is like. As part of the pilot program for Youth Development in Azerbaijan, my work in Azerbaijan was diverse to say the least. I took on a role as youth educator, mentor and promoter. I helped with academic advising, established informal youth service clubs, encouraged youth to be proactive in their communities, promoted volunteer-ism and making a positive contribution to their communities.

I served as an extended volunteer, meaning that I served a third year instead of the traditional two year and three month service. During that time, I got married to my community counterpart and embraced many parts of the Azerbaijani culture. It is my hope to provide you a sense of understanding of life as a Peace Corps volunteer, life in Azerbaijan, and a bit about Azerbaijani culture through my experiences. Please feel free to comment or email me if you have any questions or suggestions for topics you'd like to hear more about.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Still Adjusting...

For the few of you who still follow my blog, you'll be happy to know that Farid and I are finally moving out of my parents house! We were approved yesterday for an apartment, and will be moving out around July 7th or 8th. The current tenant moves out July 1st, and then of course the apartment will need to be cleaned... but then it's ours!

We've had a lot of set backs in the last eight months since my service ended. We came home on October 13th, with a nightmare-tale of return (see my posts from October 2010) and ended up spending almost the entire readjustment allowance to get back. Then, the economy was much worse than I had imagined, and I was unable to find a job for more than three months... I ended up taking a part time position instead (which I am still at.) The car we bought at auction blew up, causing us to spend our entire move-out savings on yet another car (three in the time we've been home!) and now, finally, we are able to move out. I will post pictures of course once we get moved.

I'd like to provide a little advice to any current PCVs that may still read this blog. However much time you think you will need for readjustment, finding a job, getting on your feet, or just feeling normal: double it... heck, triple that. I honestly thought that we'd be moved out and back to life as usual by new years. I was wrong. It took an additional six months on top of that for me to begin to feel normal again. And the reverse culture shock never entirely goes away. Last night I went to the Mariners game in Seattle with Farid, and I had a moment of extreme culture shock that I just couldn't describe. Hearing the national anthem live, sitting in the sun trying to catch practice balls, and eating cheese fries and nachos in the ball park... it felt unreal. There are a lot of times where I feel like I'm in a dream, and that I'm going to wake up in my apartment in Yeni Ganja. Readjustment takes time. It's a slow process and I'm finally getting there, one step at a time.