parents

so in my last blog I had mentioned the mother of a PCV I'd recently met and how cool of a lady she is. A few months back I met another cool set of parents, on their SECOND trip to Azerbaijan to visit their PCV son, Tom Kniola. I was in Baku for a committee meeting so we (my roomie for the night, Bev aka one of my favorite ladies in AZ) decided to join the Kniola party for some drinks. I spent a good chunk of the evening discussing the merits of America and what it means to be an American with Bev and Father Kniola - which was really good fun & conversation. I hope to catch up with the Kniolas again someday if I ever find myself in the Chicago area.

With my recently purchased plane ticket for my vacation to America - I have a rather long layover in Cincinnati, Ohio which incidentally, isn't too far away from Oxford, Ohio aka where my sitemate is from. Mom & Dad Karrow, from what I gather seem like the type of parents who would drive up to the airport and take out to dinner a friend who is a big part of their son's life half a world away. I'm really excited to meet them in August. Dinner has already been decided to be partaken at Montgomery Inn, which is a pretty awesome BBQ place it sounds. I love ribs.

I called my dad on Father's Day for well wishings. he called me the next day (Sunday night still in Seattle) and oddly enough, he was the one asking me the questions I would want a parent to be asking me about my life out here. Mom was being the usual mom, asking me about my weight and reminding me I'm almost 30 now (when does 25 mean almost 30? jeeeeeez!) so I gotta start putting things like havign a family in motion before I get too old. I guess she's used to me handling my business so well that she just assumes I'm happy all the time (which I'm not - happiness cycles for PCVs on a rather regular basis). parents are strange and weird - but maybe it's because I see myself becoming a parent myself 7-10 years from now (but not any sooner, because commitment scares me. I remember the prospect of a 27 month commitment scared the bejesus out of me at the beginning of service. 12 down, 15 more to go)

Yesterday was some marathon guesting back at site with very atypical Azeri parents. It offered me a lot of hope for a new generation of independent, sassy, motivated Azerbaijani women who, with the support of their parents, will lead their country into a new global age. Women who know their worth and their rights, and won't be afraid to assert it or accept anything that makes them feel disempowered.