At Halima's School

The children at Halima's school were absolutely delightful! They were friendly and curious. I told them about my school and about myself and then we did the interviewing lesson. In these photos you see me teaching, then a view from the lobby out to the schoolyard, a hallway of classrooms, me sharing the Silly Bandz I brought as gifts, and then children in the schoolyard drawing with sidewalk chalk. Halima said this is the first time she's seen them play with chalk, but I felt a strong connection to it since at Cypress Bay there are always different chalk drawings in our courtyard. To me, it was such a simple toy making a strong tieback to home. And what are they drawing here? Mickey Mouse, of course!

An Afternoon Out and About

Here are a few of my favorite images from our outing after my session with the college students. The food in the first photo is perojki, which is fried dough with potato inside. We bought some at this walk-up window. We also visited a farmers' market and a shopping area that reminded me a little bit of Chinatown in New York. I've included this photo of an apartment building because it shows how satellite dishes are everywhere. And, we also walked through a small amusement park complete with rides, popcorn (popkorn) machines and bumper cars.

Presentation with the College Students

Today I used my Powerpoint presentation on "Tips for Student Journalists" for a session with the college students at the Intelligent Citizen center. We talked about brainstorming story ideas and how to choose stories that will interest their audience. One of the trends they brought up was gender issues. Although there are certain restaurants and other places women don't go, the students said it is not because it is forbidden. It is more of a cultural discomfort, the feeling of how others view the women when they go to such places. The young men, the college students, think that the women can and should go to these places, but it can be difficult. There are women who need to be the first ones to go and break this negative view. We discussed how this can be an excellent topic for an opinion piece or feature story. The students had wonderful ideas and I enjoyed this session very much.

City Life, Country Life

Halima and I walked through a commercial area of Ganja to take a van like the one marked with the number 2 to visit her friend Leyla who lives in a more rural area. These vans are a form of mass transit. (The one pictured here is behind a sign for Lotto.) The first three pictures are from Ganja, and then the other two are at Leyla's. The pet dog does not come inside the house, and neither do the shoes. When we enter homes here, we put on slippers or just wear socks. We enjoyed tea outside while Leyla's mother prepared dinner inside the house. While the roads and sidewalks in the more visible parts of Ganja have been paved and renovated, most side streets are bumpy with potholes. Some of the roads we took to Leyla's house were not paved. As Halima and I took the van back to Ganja, it was raining, so the ride was bumpy and splashy. Both in the city and in the countryside, one can see chickens. Outside the city there are other farm animals walking around on the side of the roads: cows, donkeys, horses, sheep. I have seen shepherds at work with their flocks. There is a mixture of old and new, city and country. As we sat having tea at Leyla's, she brought out her laptop so I could show them a video of Cypress Bay!

Schoolday Schedules and Responsibilities

Halima and I discussed the way the Azerbaijani students' day works in comparison to ours in the U.S. The students stay in the same classroom all day, while the teachers rotate. Even so, the teachers have one set of students who are considered "their" students. In my mind, it is like having a homeroom. The teacher is only responsible for dealing with the concerns regarding her homeroom students. If there is an academic or behavior issue that a student has with another teacher, that teacher will tell the homeroom teacher who will deal with it. That also means that if I were to have a problem with a student who is not in my homeroom, I would not be the one to have a conference with the parents, the homeroom teacher would.

Of these two differences, I like the U.S. way better for one, and the Azerbaijani better way for one. I like that our teachers stay in one classroom while the students rotate. But I like their idea of having one manageable quantity of students for which each teacher is responsible in a more detailed, personal way. Halima said the homeroom teacher is like the mother of her set of students.

Videos from Flower Day

I had trouble getting these videos to post the other day, but they seem to have worked now. The people waving hello are the students who went with us to Goygol. I wanted you to be able to hear the music in order to get a better feel of the atmosphere. The video below is one of the performances that were going on at the event. This was just like in the U.S. when we have proud parents watching our adorable children perform. :)