I want Zeitgeist

It's 8:39 a.m. but I'm still on Osaka time, so really it's 12:39 a.m., tomorrow. By the time my internal clock sets back to Pacific Coast time I will be in Azerbaijan and have to start all over. In addition to the time zone difference, these are the phrases which result in watching programs about poisonous yet medicinal insects at 3:30 in the morning: Post photos of Japan trip. Practice Azeri for at least an hour a day. Get deposit back from Jana. Remember to post blurb about this not being a Peace Corps or governmental site. Go to Target early 'cause it's gonna be 101 degrees today. Call Aunt Lisa and Heather. Ask Grandpa about Power of Attorney. Remind friends to bring blue fabric to party for quilt. Pack boxes to have books shipped to Azerbaijan. Find out where friends send packages with items that remind me of home. Fill out Emergency Waiver, and write my will. COPY all papers. Hope Peace Corps officials are not too academic. Pack all this shit in to my Jansport bag and don't let the weight add to the aches. This experience is like roaming the shopping district Tokyo only to come back to a studio apartment with five bunks and three girls getting ready for bed all at once.
I am reading other Peace Corps, Azerbaijan blogs and what I am finding astounds me. These people have their bags packed and their English-Azeri phrasebook in hand. Their flight to orientation in Pennsylania was made weeks ago. I arranged mine yesterday. I have a heap and half of laundry which I fold and refold and sort and watch scatter again. I do not want to occupy my brain with thoughts of paperwork and no sleep. I want Zeitgeist, pukey nights and more coastal hiking trips with Roseann. But I have a week and half. There is no time for such antics.

Departing my SF post

Novels, biographies, text books, all upside-down and sideways. In shelves and on the floor, I'm packing them to sell, donate and keep for my own library. It's hard, though. As it will be difficult to sell and donate clothes, furniture, knick-knacks--what the hell do I do with the Hawaiian barrel penis man and his standing partner, the carved two-inch boot? Both were given to me by good friends, and on their merit I'd like to keep them. But most everything in this room has got to go.
On June 24, 2007 I depart for Republic of Azerbaijan. There I will spend two years teaching English to 9 to 16 year-olds. It is the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program with which Peace Corps supplies countries, to help in the way of development for business and education. My program will be in a village, most likely, and will include at least a couple other PC members, I hope.
What I know about Azerbaijan so far is as much as the guidebook (one of two on this country) and my PC packet has told me. It is cold. The electricity is sporatic. Women get harassed--constantly. I have to wear a skirt below the knees on the job, and most likely at home too. The wind goes at it Chicago-style. Mutton, the flesh of full grown sheep, is a staple food.
But see, the people, I am told, are deeply, deeply kind and hospitable. And I hear that there is a tropical region bordering Iran, where fruits and nuts are bought and sold and sent all around the country. And hell, the wind makes wearing skirts slightly more eventful. Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Amber, Max, Shannon, Lisa and John, Carly and fam, Roseann, Crystal and the team, cousins and good friends, perhaps strangely, but more truly, I am looking forward to it.

Keep watching this blog. I'll update it, as I pack, then as I depart, and as often as I can in the AZ.