swearemony: this just got real

I am writing this post from my bed in my brand-new home in Oğuz, Azerbaijan!

To back-track a little bit, though, I am now an official Peace Corps Volunteer!

 

On the 9^th, AZ8’s had our swear-in ceremony. It was held at a swank concert-type venue and included the head hauncho of the US Embassy (AZ doesn’t actually have a US ambassador at the moment), our PC Country Director, and some high-ups in the Azerbaijani government. Most of our host families came to the ceremony, including my awesome host mom and Sevinc, and many AZ7’s were able to come as well. This was neat, considering we’ve only met a few of the fellow volunteers we’ll be working with for the next year.

 

The event started off with Carrie—a fellow AZ8—singing the Azerbaijani and US national anthems, with my good friend Allison accompanying on piano. Carrie studied opera in college, and the performance was fantastic; I had chill bumps through the whole thing.

After this, the program consisted of an address by our Country Director, the US Embassy Charge d’Affaires, officials from the AZ Ministry of Education and Ministry of Youth, as well as a representative of the Sumgayit executive government. A host family member also gave a really nice address (it was actually Ed and Nancy’s host mom).

 

After we all officially swore in and took the Peace Corps oath, we were called onto the stage and given super-legit PC pins with the US, AZ, and PC flags.

For me, the scariest part of the ceremony wasn’t the fear of tripping as I walked across the stage. Instead, it was when Brad—another AZ8—and I each gave a speech as representatives of the newest group of Azerbaijan volunteers.

 

I was terrified, not because public speaking has ever really been an issue for me, but because my speech was given IN AZERBAIJANI, then an English translation. My hand was shaking so much that if I tried to hold the paper, I couldn’t read it. I had written the speech in English first, then with much help from Qaymar, translated it into Azerbaijani. However terrified I was, I did make it through the speech (in both Azerbaijani and English) and it went well enough, though a few prize words such as qonaqpərvərliyinin (hospitatlity) were a challenge.

 

After one last night out with friends, and a frantic last-minute-packing-filled morning, I was picked up at my house by a private marşrutka. The four AZ8’s going to Oğuz and the two going to nearby Şeki rented the marşrutka to take us (and 6 people’s belongings for two years) to our new homes. Aside from some daring up-hill passing adventures, the pickup and the drive was pretty uneventful—which is always good when travel in Azerbaijan is concerned. After about a 4 hour drive with some gorgeous scenery we entered the foggy mountain town of Oğuz (emphasis on the fog not the mountains, as the day we arrived was too foggy to even see the huge mountains surrounding us).

 

My new host mom (Mətanət muellima) met me at the bus station, and we piled all my belongings into the back of an old soviet car-turned-taxi, which took us to my new home nearby.

 

Info on my new host family, Oğuz, my house, and other exciting topics to follow! (However, knowing my track record, they might not follow for a couple months…)