Friday, November 7, 2008

Hello MADISON....

I am really glad that we are starting this blog.... I can't wait to share the adventures I am having with you. AND, hopefully you will be able to connect with some of my students at BIS. Miss Foster and I thought that we should begin by giving you some information about the country I am living in-- Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is located on the Caspian Sea, which happens to be the largest LAKE in the world! The countries surrounding Azerbaijan are Georgia, Iran, Armenia, and Russia. There is a great dividing mountain range though... the Caucaus Mountains. I will be traveling into the mountains next week, so hopefully I will be able to share some new sights with you.

Azerbaijan is a former Soviet country. It has only been an independent country since 1991, so it is fairly new and is still trying to build politically and economically. The area and countries surrounding Azerbaijan are filled with a rich and fascinating history, something that ALL Azerbaijani's can tell you about (it is amazing how well they know the history of their country and the countries around them).

Azerbaijan has been in a conflict with Armenia for many, many years-- which causes a bit of animosity toward Armenians and even Russia at times. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been fighting over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. This region is currently being controlled predominately by the Armenians, but over 30,000 people died from 1988-1994, when the cease fire was established. There are still many people that are displaced because of this feud. I will go into more details about this when I post the pictures of our (the BIS students and myself) field trip. Can you infer where we took the students? If you use the clues above, you will be able to find the location of the field trip online.... try it!

I am living in Baku, which is located on the Apsheron Peninsula (I know you know what a peninsula is because I saw the maps you created last year with Mr. Johnson). Baku is a very big city that grows a bit more each day. I think that about 8 million people live in the city-- of course, they don't all live in the lap of luxury. I will have to get into that a bit later in our discussions. Living here has opened my eyes to a lot of things... and I hope to be able to share a lot of my experiences with you.
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What time is it Ms. Clancy??

What is the time difference Miss Foster??

Georgian Cuisine

I was recently in Tbilisi, Georgia for a basketball tournament, and while there we took the students out to a traditional Georgian restaurant. Georgian food is excellent! There are a lot of spiced mixes with vegetables, breads with cheese and beans (Khatchapuri), and specialty sodas. They also specialize in meat dishes, or dishes that have meat in them. Khinkali is a noodle type thing that surrounds a mixture of meats soaked in spices, which simmers and forms its own broth. Farhad, one of the senior players, demonstrates the proper way to eat Khinkali. I wasn't able to master the "proper way", but I did enjoy it!

Hey Madison! Do you remember this??

I am so glad that I saved these... good memories!

Students from BIS (Baku International School)

The students in these photos are from all over the world. I am teaching some American, Polish, Japanese, Romanian, Azeri, Turkish, and Russian students. They are very animated and love the camera--- like most students/teenagers do.