Escaping the City

How this program worked: Delegates from both Arizona and Washington State become friends for the first week, then are randomly split into two groups. Those groups go off and do the same things but in reverse order, meeting up for one day in the middle then completing everything the other did in the days prior. We had ten days to be in this smaller, more intimate group. Today happened to be that day we split. 

Saying goodbye to the other half was harder than I imagined. It wasn't a permanent goodbye or anything, we would see each other in five days, then four days after that. But there's few things that bond a group of teenagers, and travelling across the world together is one. So after half an hour of waving and hugging and shouting, group A, my group, boarded a bus and began the four hour bus trip to Ganja.

We started in Baku, the capital, and headed to the opposite side of the country, Ganja. 

Looking back and seeing everyone got comfy- you get used to weird positions with this much travel. 

We had to stop for a while. Cattle crossing!

 I had heard that Baku was more of a facade Azerbaijan puts on, a cover-up for the rest of the country. Of course the capital is this modern, elaborate, and towering place- it shows the rest of the world how up-to-date the country is, how they have their own things to brag about. 

Ganja was beautiful too, personally I enjoyed the more country setting over Baku. But there is no arguing the contrast. 

Everything was a bit more run-down, less modern. Older buildings were weather-worn and could often use some touch-ups. Sidewalks were practically nonexistent in some places, what used to be a passageway for pedestrians was now shattered concrete slabs. Even the cars weren't as cared for, they weren't as modern or clean or fixed up. One thing was clear: People here in the country didn't have as great of jobs, and the government didn't feel like giving the country areas as much funding as they did Baku. 

We made it to our destination- the Intelligent Citizen office and were introduced to our host families, whom we'd be with for only two days. 

Me and Theresa, another Arizonian, shared a family with these two lovely siblings, Israil and Jala

Now that we were in the country, more than just scenery changed. Instead of the normal jam-packed schedule, we were actually given this entire day to relax and explore. Theresa and I were taken to our new home for a couple hours before everyone was to meet up for dinner. 

We then had tea. 

SO MANY LOVELY SNACKS IT WAS OVERWHELMING!

First huge surprise: My family understood we'd like a break. See, in Azerbaijan (well, all over the world but it their enthusiasm level was higher than most Americans) most people are super hospitable and interested in their guests, so of course it's natural for them to want to always be around you. Always. My host family in Baku had a slight habit of hovering, which was just different from the American way of being more distant and having plenty of space. But when we were done with the tour of the little home in Ganja, they said "you'll probably want to rest now- we'll wake you up before we go to dinner!"

It was so appreciated. There was also this thing on the bed. I believe it was a mattress cover but it didn't have the fitted-sheet elastic I'm used to. 

Second surprise: They had wifi. My family in the city didn't, although I was in the minority with that one, and so it was kind of nice to be able to see what my family was up to. 

Third surprise: 

So, Turkish toilet. We finally meet. 

I'm actually not going to elaborate on this. You get the point. 

After the most refreshing nap probably in my entire life, Jala knocked on our door and let us know we'd be walking over to the restaurant soon.

I honestly don't remember what I ate but it was good!

Then, lo and behold, we went for another tea break! Because why not! Who doesn't need tea after dinner?

However, this tea break was at a park. A huge one. And I'm pretty sure this park has had to be the inspiration for some love poem. Several love poems. It was too charming. 

A fairy tale cottage, right? This was just the beginning. 

 This wasn't just any old tea park. I mean, maybe it was, but I haven't been to a tea park before so it was pretty cool. It was maybe a mile in diameter.

All around there were little nooks and crannies with ramadas, secret little places with tables and overgrown vines that made it look magical.

A little river ran through it

 There were some really random Disney characters too. I don't really know why. And in the back of the park there was a this mini carnival. It turns out, these are quite common. It's like a playground for teens- it costs money, they can go pretty fast- literally carnival rides. Always there. I thought that was so cool.

After running around like an idiot exclaiming how adorable this location was for quite a while, the rest of the group arrived (we all took separate transportation, we got there first) and we selected our little ramada in which a server magically (it seemed) appeared and took our order. I actually don't recall ordering. But I got ice cream ("dondurma") anyways so that was cool!  

Then it became night. 

My pictures don't give all the credit they should. Or any of it. I could just not post them but... It gives an idea of the orb magic. All over Ganja, mainly, there were these lovely orb lights. And when they lit up... Gorgeous. I wish I could spend every night at this park, sipping tea and eating little cookies. 

The night ended too soon.