AZ9 Sighting; New Country Director Sighting

At this point, I’m a little less invested in anticipating the arrival of a new group of PCVs to Azerbaijan.  Last year was slightly more exciting for me, since the AZ8 group would be a new set of folks I’d be spending a year with in this country.  AZ9s, not so much.  I’d be surprised if I meet any of them, since I’ll likely be gone before they finish training.

Yet, it’s still exciting to think about a new crop of folks immersing themselves in the layers of Azerbaijan that make this experience an experience.  So, with that, here’s the first blog I’ve come across of a soon-to-be AZ9 PCV.  It looks like Fiona, set to teach English here, is interested in blogging, so you’ll have another American voice transmitting experiences in Azerbaijan out to the world.  I’m sure there’s a Facebook group already for our pending arrivals, but this is the first blog I’ve come across.

In other first-sightings news, I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Macie, our new Country Director, and her husband.  She was led into the Peace Corps office in Baku yesterday, just as I was heading upstairs.  I think as she arrived, there were a few moments where people noticed her there and then took a few seconds to realize that yes, in fact, this is the new boss.  I couldn’t imagine, though, having to arrive in a whirlwind of activity, as she also met the US Ambassador last night at the annual Independence Day party at the US Embassy.  I’m sure her first few days here have been fairly busy.