Cold and snow comes early to Masalli

I didn't really expect to see snow on the trees and grass this morning but Masalli got a taste of Winter weather overnight. It doesn't quite look like MN out my window: those are pomegranate trees plus I have daffy ducks on an icy pond that's getting bigger by the day. Now I understand why people usually occupy just the upper level of a 2-story house. People told me houses here are constructed like this due to flooding and it makes sense when I realize the ground today is saturated. (They may also have kept livestock on the lower level, so they haven't given up that idea.)

I checked the Masalli weather on a website and the temperature was near zero Celsius. Unfortunately, I had to bundle up yesterday and walk to get the gas "balloon" filled or I wouldn't be able to cook. I put on long johns, leggings, jeans, 3 pairs of socks, a turtleneck, 2 knit sweaters, plus a scarf, wool hat, gloves and windbreaker with hood and my rubber boots. The guy filling my gas tank still recognized me as an American!

This was the temperature in my kitchen this morning. I turned on the water heater for over an hour and got the water hot enough to wash my hair. I also hung my clothes near the electric space heater in the kitchen so they are warm when I put them on. I cooked hot oatmeal and had a cup of hot coffee. Then I usually say a prayer that the electricity stays on. I also have special prayers I say for special people when the imam sings from the mosque five times a day.

Around 11AM today my landlady came with her son and the workmen to install gas lines to the house! Finally! They hooked up a 3-burner gas cooktop in my kitchen (I won't need the gas balloon), but they need to come back next week with an inspector to put in a stove that will heat my bedroom. I'd rather that they put that in first, but I'll take this work today as progress - knowing that it's really not Winter yet!

Everything Takes Longer!

I used to think I was pretty efficient - checking off a list of things I would do in a single day. But life here moves at a different pace and sometimes I'm satisfied just to get through the day and feel somewhat prepared for the next.
What takes longer is usually household chores. Remember: not only am I teaching in a foreign culture, but I've set up housekeeping in a completely different way than what I'm used to in the US. I live independently in a rented house, but it is located away from a main road so I walk a lot.

The lack of household conveniences means I also spend more time on routine things. For example, there is only cold water from the spigot, so I need to boil and filter water for drinking. I also heat some water for washing dishes - and that's usually 3 times a day.

There is a large electric hot water tank in the shower room, so I turn that on about once a week to take a bucket bath. It takes about 45 minutes to reach an acceptable warm+ temperature. That's when I also try to wash some clothes because there's more warm water. Laundry also means washing clothes by hand. I've developed a sequence of steps that includes soaking, rinsing and wringing out by hand, then rinsing and wringing again. I hang some clothes in the shower room, and others are hung outside on the clothes line. The word chore precisely describes washing clothes by hand.

For preparing food, I have a propane tank for cooking plus a small one-temperature oven. That gas burner gets a workout as I use it to heat water in a tea kettle, saute onions/tomatoes/peppers in a skillet, then simmer soup in a saucepan. It is a juggling act to cook a meal, boil water for drinking and heat water for washing dishes on a single gas burner.

Most time consuming is walking. No jumping into my car for a quick trip for groceries or go to work. Instead I walk to small neighborhood shops for eggs, milk, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, etc., walk to the nearby trash pit to throw away garbage, and walk to and from school each day. While each trip may take only 10 - 20 minutes, there are multiple trips each day.

For larger purchases, about once a week I walk to the nearby road and wait 5 - 20 minutes for a marsrutka to come along and take me to the old bazar. That's where I can buy frozen chicken, rice, and a greater variety of fruits and vegetables. And no convenience foods unless you count Kellogg's Special K or Nestle's Fitness cereals. Everything I cook is from scratch, so that means planning ahead to soak beans overnight and allowing several hours to cook them.

Besides basic homemaking, I take time each day to review upcoming lessons and think about ways to teach English using minimal if any materials. So when I feel like I haven't made much progress I realize  I spend a lot of time - just like most Azeri women do - just maintaining.