My thoughts so far...

This is our last week of training and I have a big oral language test on Thursday. We get sworn in next Wednesday and I have been asked to give a speech. The audience will have a few high up officials of AZ and the US Ambassador and will be televised all over AZ, so I’m going to do something really stupid I’m sure. Well I really don’t have any good stories or events to report on this week, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts about my training and first 3 months of my 27 month journey:

Azerbaijan is a good country and I really liking it here so far
The living conditions are much better than I expected thankfully
I’m not happy that the PC scheduled us to be here for 3 entire summers of heat misery
Living off of $6 a day for all expenses (rent, food, transportation, etc.) is fantastic
No matter where you are, if you laugh and smile a lot, people tend to think you’re a good person…or in my case an idiot
The language was easy at first and has become increasingly more difficult the more we have learned-but I think being around Americans all the time hurts my learning so…
In my new town I’ll have only 2 people who speak English and a private Azeri tutor
I don’t know English grammar for crap (as evidenced by me typing “for crap”)
The food is really good, but I get meat w/ every meal w/ my current family, which is rare
Fruits and veggies aren’t nearly as bad when you need them to make you full
You can use ½-3/4 an inch of butter to scramble 1 egg
I already miss driving a car and can’t wait to get back to the US roads
No matter where in the world I am, it seems Tom Cruise is still crazy
I’ve taken for granted the ability to sit on an outside porch with queso & a cold beverage
Training has been more laid back than I expected and we’ve been allowed to hang out with each other a ton, which is great because I’ve already made some great friends…
Having said that, we get split up next week & will only see each other 1-2 times a month from now on, so that will suck, but should help out our productivity levels a lot
I haven’t freaked out yet about being here, so that’s good. Can’t wait for that day though!
Americans/I have a sense of humor that doesn’t translate to everyone...
No matter how far away from USA I am, I feel the pain of OU not playing well
How I spend my time with the PC will be based on my decisions, it isn’t very structured
Seeing people litter like crazy even though they know its bad sucks in US and AZ
No matter where I live, people will always ask my why I’m not married yet
I don’t miss TV at all (minus weekend sports)
Air conditioning really was man’s greatest invention, although…
The iPod isn’t far behind...it’s amazing the sanity it gives me when I think I’m going nutz
My over/under on how many books I read while here is set at 95
I’ve really taken to not showering too often during the summer, so this winter should be awesome since people really don’t shower often here in the winter since you don’t sweat
The PC record is 18-19 days of no showers. Tom and I plan to have “’The Great Stink Off” the next winter when living together…it’s going to be epic
People who don’t wear shorts when it is hot outside confuse me greatly on many levels

That’s it for now, have a great week America. Hope you all had a great Labor Day!