The fire in November

Some of you may have heard this story at the time, but it is another one of those I need to add. One Friday morning in November I woke up at about 2:30 in the morning if I remember right. I don't know why I woke up, but a minute or two later, there was pounding accompanied by yelling at the apartment next door. I had no idea what they were saying and it didn't alarm me really because I often hear people talking loudly or other things in the echoey hallway outside my apartment at late hours of the night. It probably would have been a good thing to know what they were saying as I found out the next day the likely purpose behind the yelling. I lay awake for a couple of hours for some reason, yet oblivious to anything other than the annoyance of being awake in the middle of the night. I eventually went back to sleep, but the next morning when I went into the bathroom, I realized the power was out. Then, I soon found that I didn't have water either. I wondered why the water would be out when the electricity was out, so I deliberated on what to do. I was to meet with one group of my students that morning to go on a field trip out to an oil refinery. I had about assumed that it would be a showerless day, but I didn't really know who I should call to see if it was just my apartment or the building or what. I looked out of my windows to surrounding buildings and they all seemed to have lights on. However, when I received a call from my colleague who lives in another of the three apartment buildings in the complex, I knew it wasn't just me. It was more than just having the power and water out. She told me that there was a fire in the main controls in the basement of the third apartment building. She had woken up at the same time for some reason and soon after she started to hear people running around outside. Her apartment is on the side where she could see the fire when she looked out the window. She said the flames were reflecting off of and reaching toward my building. She tried to call me, but she had the wrong phone number for me. She tried to think of how she would be able to find me because she didn't know what floor I was on and was thinking about who she could call that would have my phone number if she thought she would need to get me out. Well, she watched the whole thing from her apartment on the ninth floor and then watched them eventually get the fire under control. In the meantime, the electricity was knocked out for all three apartment buildings and the Academy, which is attached to her apartment building. The electricity has to run in order for the water to be piped up through our buildings apparently, unless buildings have water tanks on the top, which we don't. Oh and in case you didn't notice, there are obviously not items such as fire alarms; thus, the fire alarm(ers) who knocked on the apartment next to mine. I realized that morning that "fire" would be a good word to know in Azerbaijani and Russian, because apparently no one else other than my colleague would have knocked on my door? I don't know.

So, my colleague and I went on the field trip and all other staff who weren't involved stayed around and ate a cake that was for the canceled graduation of another set of my students; then, they went home as the network was down and they couldn't even access the school's network through the Internet at home. While my neighbor colleague and I were on the field trip, the Academy arranged for a hotel for us for the weekend, because it was said that it would be three days before they got everything back up. So I asked a family from church to take my food from the fridge and freezer and then I was taken to the hotel. While at the hotel at around 8 pm, I received a call from someone from work, who said they actually had it back on and asked if we wanted to go back home. We decided to stay the night because it was already paid for, but we returned home the next morning. Yet another experience to make life exciting here.

Reflecting on this now seems like the wrong timing with the Haiti earthquake; I guess I remembered it because of that. It makes me very grateful for everything that I have. This week, almost every time I have taken a drink of water or brush my teeth with the water I buy and try to keep in good supply, I've thought of how blessed I am to have this water. Yesterday, one friend told me this story:

My 4 year old just told me that people are dieing in Haiti cuz they don't have water. She asked "can't we take them some?" I told her no they live too far away, but we could send some $$. Not convinced she said "well who makes the water? Do you have their phone number?" I love the way her mind works.

I am truly blessed in so many ways!

One blessing from this past week: I have survived the first of the insane intensive program I'm teaching in along with the other programs: total = 27 hours of teaching a week, let alone preparation. Which reminds me, I need to go to bed so I can be ready for another one!

"Doctors" and Hospitals in Azerbaijan

I have to tell my stories about going to doctors in Az:
When I arrived in Baku, I had to do a health check-up to make sure I didn't bring any diseases with me and that I was healthy enough to work here. This initial doctors visit was a bit of a wake-up call to let me know that I would want to avoid going to any sort-of medical facility if I could. It was a pretty scary place and I am pretty sure that the needle they used to draw blood ... yeah, pretty sure it wasn't a brand new needle, but they stuck it in me when they had me distracted with a side conversation and my head was turned. Also, the doctors were all quite interesting. The female doctors wore formals and high heels and a lot of make-up all with their lab coats. The facilities and the doctors sort-of reminded me of some old scary movie where they take people in and sedate them to do whatever they will with them. It was an eery place. I had to see several doctors for all the tests they did. The doctors asked me (mostly through an interpreter colleague) about any health problems I had, so I told them about my migraines and whatever else. The doctors all laughed at me, because I guess it was weird for me to actually tell them what was wrong with me since this was for a job. Apparently, most people don't actually say when they have health issues, no matter what, so that they can keep their jobs. Then, it was great that the one doctor who spoke a little English told me several interesting things like that I'm a very nervous person, which he could tell the moment I walked in, so my arrythmia is caused by me being a nervous, stressed out person. Then he said that the reason I have health problems is because I'm not married. That was my favorite. I asked him if I heard him right and asked my interpreter to ask him if that is what he meant. He did. Altogether, it was a very interesting experience.
Then, I don't know what possessed me, ... well I was convinced to go to another doctor in November by a couple of colleagues. They somehow got out of me that I was going to go to a cardiologist when I got to the U.S. for a couple of reasons. So they convinced me that I would save a lot of money and that the doctors in Azerbaijan are "very good" and "very qualified" and that the brother-in-law of the one colleague could recommend a very good cardiologist. I basically went mostly to humor them, but I was the one who was humored, or you might use another word, in the end. I knew I would probably end up still going while I was in the U.S. So, the one colleague went with me to interpret. Our driver eventually found this compound, that seemed like a military facility, or well, a result of the Soviet regime. The location and the set of buildings from the outside were pretty frightening. Then, when I entered, I thought I had walked into some old Soviet horror movie again. I can only describe the hallways lined with people all wearing black coats, standing and filling the entire hallways on each of the floors all along the very long corridors. It felt like there were hundreds of people standing and waiting. They all looked so depressed and I wondered how long they would have to stand there and wait. I could barely move through the halls, and as you can imagine, I was quite the site apparently. Everyone stared at me wherever I went (which I'm used to, but this was a different type of stare). To make it even better, at least half of the people were smoking and once we found that we'd have to be waiting (when my colleague called the doctor on her cell to find out if he was there, which he wasn't for another hour), I asked her if we could at least try to find a window where we could stand and try to breathe in air from outside. So we found a window to stand next to where we were still surrounded by smokers and I went and stuck my head out the window. When I looked below, there was an entire awning completely covered with cigarette butts and packs and I quickly recalled where I was, a heart hospital!!! It all gets better. So when the doctor finally came, we were lucky to somehow be able to go in front of all of these people who were waiting immediately outside his office. However, all the nurses and people who had been waiting in his office stayed there! So this office was probably no bigger than 10 x 10 ft and there were two desks that completely filled the room by themselves. Yet, there was the doctor, three nurses, and about eight patients, my colleague and I. It became even better when he decided to examine me in front of everyone there ... no privacy whatsoever, wow! And of course not one person took their eyes off me the entire time. Then, whenever he asked questions, my colleague would explain whatever and then he would laugh and so would everyone else in the room. They all think I'm crazy! I guess I am crazy for letting them convince me to go! So he just kept telling me all of these things that really didn't make any sense from what I was asking my colleague to tell him. And then he ordered an ultrasound, so we went to another floor and I had an ultrasound. This doctor also found many occasions to laugh at me. Then! Yes, he said it too! "You have health problems because you are not married!" I laughed out loud in his face and shook my head and told him how ridiculous their conclusions are. So he proceeded to tell me all of the reasons he is a very qualified doctor and I couldn't help but laugh back at him. Then, we went back up to the other doctor who looked at my ultrasound and an EKG I had from the original health check-up and he decided to write me a prescription for my "neurosis" and something to make me "calm", because I'm obviously a very nervous person. I thought, okay here comes the sedation part that I imagined in these old psycho movies ... I think the movie I'm thinking of is called something "Green" and has to do with some green stuff but I won't go into any other details because it was the dumbest old horror movie.
Anyway, these experiences had to be shared. And for those wondering, yes I went to a real doctor in the U.S. and everything is fine and they didn't say anything about my marital status. Sorry now pictures of the compound for two reasons: This was prior to my camera purchase and it is illegal to take pictures of many unspecified buildings in Azerbaijan, for which I could be arrested. I may never have any pictures of buildings to share. In fact, I'm basically afraid to accidentally take pictures as there is no real list of what you can and can't take pictures of. Sorry! It is not as exciting without pictures!

Thanks to family and friends!

The month of November was completely full of interesting experiences and then there were those that I promised to recount from before that. Well, then I left Azerbaijan for more than a month at the end of November to go to Tbilisi, Georgia for a week with my Masters students on a sort-of field trip, then to Istanbul for a couple of days on my own, before spending most of the month of December floating around the U.S. to see most of my family in D.C., Monterey, and Nevada and many friends in Monterey. I returned to Baku to work on the 30th of December just to find that the Rector had given everyone the day off to make the long weekend with New Years and another Muslim holiday even longer. I'm glad I came back, though, because I did need to work that day to prepare to teach on the 5th, which was the first day after the holiday.

I have to say to family and friends who I talked to over the break and heard my giant list of complaints and reasons for not wanting to return after a number of issues that went down a little before and more right after I left for my break in teaching: I survived the first week!! Honestly, there is only one reason I survived this first week and that is the Lord. After much prayer, fasting, a blessing, and others' prayers (thank you!!!), I know that it was only through Him that I was strengthened to handle what I had to face upon my return. I'll save the complaints for those that I didn't see or who didn't hear about them, but I'll say that it wasn't pretty and it was enough for me to consider ending my contract early and not to return. However, the Lord had something else in mind for me and I returned; thus, he helped me work out many of the issues that I needed to and to rebuild the friendships and trust that I had built among faculty and staff and students. I have not seen the end of the difficulties and challenges, but I know that I'll continue to be strengthened and guided as to how to deal with them and to come out well in the end. Thank you again to all who have been praying for me!!

One of those reasons that I know I'm here is the same as I've mentioned in the past: missionary work. I continue to have opportunities to talk about my beliefs and even Christianity in general in spite of the laws against proselyting and other barriers. Everyone knows that I'm "Mormon" and Christian and they feel that they can ask me about anything and also tell everyone else that they introduce me to that I'm a religious Christian person. It will even be announced in a game we are playing with the new students tomorrow to get to know their teachers, because the English director decided to add one thing about me: "She's a very religious person." I'm glad I am seen that way and that people ask. One of my students from Mexico in the Masters program has been coming to church since my last Sunday here in November. I spent a bit of time with him today after church answering a lot of his questions and telling him about many of our beliefs. He asked me about baptism and then whether he could be a missionary like I was in Brazil. Unfortunately for the latter, he would be too old to go as a single male, so he'll have to wait until he can go with his wife. However, for the former ... oh there could be another trip to Georgia some weekend or something ... whatever we need to do. Moscow is too complicated with Visas, even if the area authorities are there.

Anyway, I had to tell this story also to let you all know I'm where I'm supposed to be at this moment. I don't know that I'll be here for another 8 months to fulfill the contract, but right now I'm here where the Lord wants me. I'll face the challenges I have to face with His help and then go when I'm supposed to.