An important article

Since I have been in Azerbaijan, I have learned to appreciate the many freedoms and rights given to citizens of the U.S. One particular freedom that I have come to appreciate more is that of religious freedom. I am blessed to be able to attend Church meetings each Sunday, although there is not an actual chapel. Most churches and even some mosques in Azerbaijan have been destroyed in the past and I understand that this still happens on occasion as there is fear of radicalism. A different type of radicalism could take place in the U.S. if people are convinced that personal rights means something different than was outlined in the Constitution. I read this text from an address given to students at BYU-Idaho by Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle of the Lord, on lds.org, which helped me appreciate what could be fleeting even in the U.S. if the adversary succeeds in convincing people of his own definition of the freedom to practice religion.
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/religious-freedom

More to come soon about my life and the culture here in Baku. I have books in my head that need to be typed.

The Princess' Palace

The bedroom

The bathroom

The living room and balcony

The kitchen and dining room.
Yes, that is a washer under the stove-top in place of an oven. I like having the washer, but sad I don't have an oven.

I talked with several before I left Monterey about the possibility of having a "palace" for an apartment. This palace idea stemmed from Nicole who was here for a few months before I took her place. She has said that her apartment was like a palace. I didn't get the same apartment that she did, but I am happy in my own little palace. I love my apartment! It is nice.

So a funny story about having my own palace is that I have since been likened to the "Princess and the Pea" by my colleague who is over the International students and expats at the school. I have this strange issue with beds and my back. I honestly have the pickiest back and can't really sleep well in any bed in the world except my own (which is why I have a hard time getting rid of it even when I move out of the U.S.). To explain: Basically, I will wake up in the middle of the night with my entire back in so much pain that I can't move, turn over, nor sleep anymore. Taiwan was the worst, because I might as well have been sleeping on cement on the beds they have there. Anyway, I slept ok for about a week here, and then it started. So, I tried to make my bed in different ways with the multiple "comforters" or whatever they are here which seemed more like thick, heavy rugs covered in a sheet. Anyway, I kept discovering I had more and more in the apartment, so I kept adding them and sleeping on them instead of putting them on me. The result is basically the princess and the pea. There is the regular mattress, which is sort-of like a box spring ... well, not really ... I could feel every spring on that one. Then, there is a much thicker mattress (?) or cover (?), I don't know. Then there are 3 more comforter/mattresses. So I'm half-way there, as I believe the Princess had ten mattresses and could still feel the pea. I still feel the pe-ain myself, but it has improved.

The Princess and the Pea mattresses

One of the greatest features of my apartment is the unique set of light fixtures. Each room has its own style of light, but my favorite is the "Speck" lamp that reminds me of "Horton Hears a Who." It would probably remind others of fuzzy oranges, because that is basically what they are. Either way, I love it! I'm sure there thousands of tiny communities like "Who-ville" on those fuzzy balls full of dusty specks! I promise that they are dusty too, because there is constant construction all around me as maybe only half of the apartments are finished in this building and the one right next to me is completely a dust den of nothing but dirt, and cement dirt, so there is tons of dust that I try to keep up with! I'm sure I'm killing thousands of little whos all the time. :( It's better for me, though, I'm allergic to the little guys.

Horton Hears a Who Bedroom Light

I'm sure you can find some whos if you look really closely!

The Multi-mood spider light, with the blue light around the interior trim.

The kitchen light with another colored light around the trim

The hallway light with the lighted trim

Going Private?

So, I know I just joined the Blog scene again, but I'm thinking of joining the masses and going private. The issue is: limit to 100 people?? That is annoying. OK, so I like to claim I have a lot of friends and family that may want to keep up with my life here in Azerbaijan. If you would like to be one of those, let me know soon.