Happy Halloween and stuff!!!

Well, everyone survived “A Very Barani Halloween” in Lankaran. We had about 40 PCVs all make the trek down to lankaran for a party Saturday night. Thanks to all of the parents who sent candy and decorations to make it a little more festive! It was a fun, rainy and tiring weekend of crazy costumes and a little American fun! We had everything from a Transformer to a taco to a beer bottle to the Jolly Green Giant and Snow Pea. We made costumes mandatory to add to the fun. I’ll have a bunch of pictures to post next week. Thankfully Tom’s neighbors were super cool and didn’t give us any problems. One actually brought over a cd of Azeri music for us to play and one wanted to send their 14 year old son over with his keyboard to play for us for a while. We respectfully declined.
In other news my landlords showed up and demanded that I pay them 3 times as much rent as I was paying since they got a new expensive apartment in Baku. Obviously that was going to happen so I had to get yet another house (that’s 3 in 7 months for those of you keeping score at home). This place is a lot more normal, is in the center of town again thankfully and has a huge yard with a ton of fruit trees. Sadly no more washing machine, but hey, I’m in the PC. I never should have had one in the first place.
The weather has turned cool and rainy-true Lankaran fall/winter weather. We don’t really have a distinct fall season here, it kinda just goes from summer to winter.
After my crazy month of America, Baku trainings, friends in town and the party, it is now time to settle down a little bit and get back into PCV/Azeri life. It feels good to slow down again and get re-focused on my life here. I may actually be getting some work soon through my office, so that is potentially exciting. I am going to start my Russian lessons up again, it is dark here by 5:30ish again, so here come the long cold nights of reading in bed, etc. I went to chop wood for my Nene last night and when I came in she was in bed with an IV in her arm and a nurse watching her. From what I could understand it is just a vitamin cocktail of sorts and that she is ok, just needed a little pick me up so to speak. It was fun to chop wood again, although my back is killing me.
I am headed to Barda Saturday to help Ina with an American Day for her school children, so that will be fun. We are all dressing up in Halloween costumes and telling ghost stories!!!
Oh, last thing. There were threats on the American Embassy (supposedly 10 targets in Baku) on Monday. The American and British Embassies as well as PC Office and major foreign oil companies shut down Monday and Tuesday just in case. I guess a soldier stole some grenades, guns and rifles from his base, gave them to some angry people who were planning on using them. You can look up articles on the internet that will explain it better. Everything seems to have been taken care of with no American casualties of any kind, so we are all thankful for that. I never felt scared or concerned, so please don’t be for me-everything is ok. It was definitely a weird feeling, but such I life over here. I’m just it is over.

The pictures are of my new house, the bedroom, living room-2, kitchen, shower, path to my outhouse/my yard, and the best part of all made possible by William Clay Campbell, my garage with hammock!!! The last pictures is of all 33 remaining AZ4s at our mid service training in baku 2 weeks ago. I mean we are idtiots!!!
Have a great week everyone!