I Love GEORGIA!

And no, I'm not talking about the one in the American South. That's right, after three months of alternatingly brilliant and frustrating moments, Georgia is firmly in my good graces. Why, you ask? Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado I present...Azerbaijan.

The last three days (and part of two nights, thanks to a healthy 14 hour train ride each way) I have been in Baku, Azerbaijan coaching the New School Falcons' boys and girls soccer teams. We are members of the SRAA (Silk Road Activities Association), which is composed of 6 teams in two different countries (4 in Azerbaijan and 2 in Georgia). Early this year we hosted the SRAA Cross Country Championship in Tbilisi, but for the Soccer and Volleyball tournaments we headed over to Baku.

New School brought their biggest contigent ever to this year's tournament, as 30 kids travelled to compete for 6 different teams. We had two senior (14 and older) boys soccer teams, one junior boys soccer team (10-13), and one senior girls soccer team. We also had one senior boys and one senior girls volleyball team. Soccer is 7 v 7 for this tournament, while volleyball is the traditional 6-a-side. Multiple games were played over the three day tournament, and good fun was had by all. Our senior boys volleyball team finished 3rd, while the senior boys soccer team lost the final on penalty kicks (after finishing group play undefeated - heartbreaking). Our girls soccer and volleyball teams recorded their first ever tournament wins, and our junior boys soccer team tied the eventual champion (the only team in the tournament not to lose to them!). Most importantly, the kids came home with the sportsmanship trophy, voted on by their fellow athletes and coaches. We were very proud of all they accomplished.

While our hosts at TISA (the international school of Azerbaijan - AKA "The BP School") were fantastic in every sense, my experiences getting to and from Azerbaijan were interesting to say the least. The Azeri behavior was especially incongruent with the proclamation made earlier that year by their country's president:

see link here: http://www.today.az/news/society/79485.html

Obviously the message didn't reach the following elements of the Azeri tourism infrastructure...

1. Former USSR Trains - Rustic is a kind word. Ratty beds, faux wood panelling and heaters cranked to the max make this "kupe" rooms quite the experience. Throw in the bathroom that smells like someone urinated in a bucket and threw it everywhere, and you have a certified winner!

2. Border harassment - Talking to previous travellers, this is an Azeri tradition dating back to Soviet times. Bribes are suggested, delays are excessive, and answers are cryptic. Fortunately, our incidents were minimal outside of the guard scolding me for letting my passport corner get knawed off (Thanks to Ellie our boxer!).

3. Service - truly a four-letter word in Azerbaijan. Despite having all documentation in order it took a full hour to purchase our return train tickets to Tbilisi after arriving in Azerbaijan. No, it wasn't a language issue, as I had a Russian-speaker with me (Gia, one of our school guards - the true hero of this trip). No, it wasn't a traffic issue, as there were roughly 10 station agents "helping" four people. We had a few things going against us - #1 No ticket agent wanted the daunting task of putting in 33 passports and hand-printing each ticket. Way too difficult. #2 If they were going to take it on, they wanted some sort of "bonus" (bribe) for doing their job. We were escorted to 8 of the 10 ticket agents at first, who all declined our request. The station manager (who also wanted a "bonus") who was escorting us eventually convinced 6 different agents to do 5-6 tickets each. Did they make sure our group was in the same car? No. Did they spread out the adults? No. Frustrating, but not a big deal in our minds, as we could just switch around the kids once we got on the train (we had done that on the way from Georgia to Azerbaijan). Or, so we thought...

When we arrived to board the train at the Baku train station on Saturday night, we were told by the stewards that everyone would have to sit in the seats we were assigned to. No switching was allowed! These burly old Soviet ladies then proceeded to verbally assault my fellow coach on the train. Her crime? Walking down the aisle in the adjoining car (which has to be walked through to get to the dining car). Despite the numerous attempts to be nice to them, the ladies took a firm stand against customer service. However, just when we thought all karma was against us, in comes the Georgian border police...

When going through the train to do their customary passport check, the Georgin border patrol struck up a conversation with a couple of my senior boys soccer players. The players informed them about the treatment we had suffered at the hands of the Azeri stewards on the train, as well as their unwillingness to help with our seating arrangements. Realizing how ridiculous the situation was, the policmen ripped into the ladies for their treatment of us and threatened to not let them into Georgia if it didn't change. While this was going on, I was outside the train helping one of my students obtain her Georgian visa. When I approached to re-enter the train, the Azeri steward harassed me for leaving the train (despite the fact I did so with permission from the Georgian border guard). When the Georgian guards heard this they screamed at her, shut her up, and dragged her off the train for some much needed attitude adjustment. Needless to say, she didn't say a word to any of us on the last hour of our train ride. Literally one of the best karmatic moments I've seen in awhile and another reason to treasure the Georgian people. They're not perfect, but their timing sure was that day!