invitation = popularity?

no.....not necessarily.

well, i was invited to be a CED (community economic development advisor) for Azerbaijan. wow.

here is some random azerbaijan info:

language = Azeri (mostly like Turkish)

Azerbaijan, a nation with an ethnic Azeri and Shi‘ite Muslim majority population,^[3][4] is a secular and unitary republic.

NAME: The original etymology of this name is thought to have its roots in the ancient Zoroastrianism, namely, in Avestan Frawardin Yasht ("Hymn to the Guardian Angels"), there is a mentioning of: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide, which literally translates from Old Persian as "we worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata"^[10] . Atropates ruled over the region of present-day Iranian Azerbaijan. The name "Atropates" itself is derived from Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire."[11

....protected by fire?

....or the Fire Land? Land of Fire?

Azerbaijan has long been called "The Land of Fire" due to the phenomena of "burning hillsides" caused by gas seeping through fissures in the earth. A few references have been found in the ancient written documents that are housed in the Institute of Manuscripts in Baku.

who knows.

so that is it for now. just deciding what to do, but it seems i will go. azerbaijan was the last of the nine countries i wanted to go to, but....BUT what can i do? so here i am, prolonging the inevitable. departure date: sept 23, 2008.