I’m leaving Azerbaijan having felt its wind. I’ve felt confusion and discomfort, but so much kindness, warmth, and joy and I know this experience will always be one of my fondest memories.
Wind from the East
„Der Wind wiegt mich“- translates to „the wind is swaying/rocking me“. This is a sentence which until my stay here, I never completely understood. Maybe you’ve heard about the strong wind at the coast of Azerbaijan, but experiencing it is another thing. It can be overwhelming, your hair is flying in every possible way, temporarily blocking your view, the sand hits your body like millions of little needles, and god forbid you decided to wear a skirt. But sometimes, if you stand still and close your eyes, when you let it happen, the wind will rock you. Like a mother rocks their child to sleep, and it feels almost like an attempt at saying sorry for the inconveniences it has caused you.
Big connections
I’ve always planned on staying abroad for some time after school. I liked the idea of living in a completely different place, and when I heard about the concept of the European Solidarity Corps, I was sure I wanted to participate in such a project. What I wasn’t sure about was in which country I would do it. My father was born in Tabriz and has shared our roots with me and my brother in several ways. First, he decided to raise us speaking in Azerbaijani, second, we frequently spent our summers in Iran with our family and finally, he brought us into culturally mixed circles in Berlin, our hometown. Before me, my brother also spent one year in Azerbaijan with the Common Sense youth organisation. I got to visit him in his last weeks and was able to meet and talk to several members of the organisation, giving me a good impression of the work there. When it was then time for me to decide on where I wanted to go, the opportunity was there, and I decided I wanted to deepen my connection to this side of me.
Art workshops
Time flew by as I spent three months living and working in Azerbaijan. My daily routine of going to the office was brightened by my co-workers, with whom I quickly got close. In the office, my main project consisted of organising art workshops with another volunteer. In my part of the workshops, I decided to focus on showing and comparing one German and one Azerbaijani art style. Participants then created their own artwork, which we displayed in a small exhibition. Besides that, I was part of the interview team, where I was able to see how the organisation chooses participants for their projects.
Do you speak Azeri?
Outside of the office, my day consisted of frequent cafe visits around Sumqayit where my Azerbaijani was tested in fast-paced group discussions. In the beginning, I was only listening while asking about specific words now and then, it took time till I was able to participate in one myself, but when I did the first time, when I realised I was part of the conversations, when someone laughed at a joke I made in Azerbaijani- I was filled with joy. Azerbaijani and Turkish are similar but not the same. This is something I really learned to understand through my housemates, three Turkish volunteers, of whom two didn’t know any English.
One of the biggest lessons of my stay: how to become friends even when you come from different cultural backgrounds. As I mentioned, I have had contact with different people, but this experience was different. When living and working together, you see every side of the person you’re with. And when some of your most basic principles differ, challenges will arise. Through my time here, I learned how to deal with these challenges.
„Der Wind wiegte mich“- the wind swayed me…
