A! ZER! BAI! JAN!

Sometimes I can’t believe how fast time passes here…I haven’t updated since October 1?! And how is it already October 16?! Whoa. Anyway, the past 16 days have been incredibly eventful, and we’re in a whole different place then we were on October 1…

If you're only interested in some crazy pics, skip to the bottom for pictures of an escaped money on top of Ch-rch, a cow head, some beautiful children, and an absolutely insane soccer game. If you'd like to read about life in general, well then, read on.

SO…

VISAS: 11 days ago, on October 5, my team submitted all of our documents to Immigration. Processing will take about a month, and HOPEFULLY we will pick up 12-month visas, residency cards, and work permits. There’s a pretty good chance we’ll be given only a 3-month visa, please pr.y that this will not be the case! I’ll keep you posted on this progress, and in a few weeks we can celebrate his faithfulness in this situation!

LIVING SITUATION: Last time I updated, I reported that I had found us a flat. That flat fell through, but something even better and more fit to our needs became available…HE is looking out for us. Also, we only had to put down two months rent! It’s a great little place with a funny little landlady. She and all her friends and children cannot say our names for anything…instead of “Amanda,” my roommate has become “Armuhnda,” and instead of “Jillann,” I am now known as one of the following: Jiminy, Jamila, Vanilla, Joelann, Juliana, etc. I used to cringe when people called me “Jillian.” About now, I’d welcome a friendly “Jillian.” I'll post pics of my new (and permanent!) abode soon!

As for the events of the last two weeks, I’m posting a few pictures below. Enjoy!

Last Sunday, a mischievous little monkey escaped from the Baku Zoo, and ended up, of all places, on top of Baku International Fellowship! This crazy little creature evaded capture for hours, all the while taunting the men trying to catch him!

Here he is on the roof:

And on the terrace:

Every morning, when I walk to work, I walk past a freshly-slaughtered cow. The parts to be sold are hung in the butcher shop, and the other parts...well, they hang out along the path to the metro. Cow head and cow feet. Hungry, anyone?

This advertisement hangs in the metro station...doesn't this computer, fully equipped with Windows 95, make cumputer shopping look appealing?

This precious little gypsy boy was playing his recorder for money near my school. I couldn't hardly stand the cuteness (or the socks).

This is the outside of my flat. I used to wonder how the street was always SO wet in the morning, since it doesn't often rain... Well, I think it may be from all this soaking wet laundry!

And, the Azerbaijan v. Turkey Futbol Match! Serioulsy, this was an awesome experience. I was the only woman for as far as both Geoff or I could see, and it was CRAZY. Azerbaijan is terrible at soccer, or so we were told. But, they totally dominated Turkey! We won, 1-0. Also, "Azerbaijan" makes for a great chanting name!

"A-ZER-BAI-JAN! A-ZER-BAI-JAN! A-ZER-BAI-JAN! A-ZER-BAI-JAN!"

Seriously, can you see another woman?

GOALLLLLLL!

Central Asia's version of stadium snacks...instead of hotdogs and cotton candy, we eat fried bread stuffed with meat and cabbage and little black seeds. All snacks are BYO.

The field:

The POLIS (things got a little rowdy.):

So stinkin precious:

Cheering for AZ!

The entire field was surrounded by an unmovable wall of army guys. One time, one of the army guys got nailed with the ball and didn't even flinch. Their presence upped the tension quite a bit!:

Once I have more reliable internet, I'll be able to post things as they happen instead of in one long post that covers two weeks! Geoff and I just got back from exploring the 13th century palace in Baku's Old City, so hopefully I'll be able to get some of those pictures up soon!

(also, if you're still reading, props. this was a LONG post.)