Azerbaijani History and the Ambassador

After the meeting over the Nargorno-Karabakh dispute, we headed over to a near-by cafe where I ordered a rather displeasing fish salad and this decent chicken soup. Some adventures don't work out.

Afterwards, we went to an old mansion that had been donated as a museum, and were able to see first-hand how gorgeous interior design was in old-fashioned Azerbaijani buildings. The museum gave us these bags to put over our shoes in order to not track anything in to the house, so the twenty-odd group of chattering Americans made their way through a guided tour full of historical facts and wonderful architecture decisions.  

They had some random framed things, such as this traditional rug.

I'm obsessed with the chandeliers in this mansion. Such ornate detail was given to everything, especially the ceilings. 

This is traditional Azerbaijani woman's wear. My friends have dresses like these for special occasions, such as the holiday Novruz.

Again, the ceiling. Hours upon hours must have been spent with this detail. It was absolutely stunning. 

One room had a ceiling entirely of fragmented glass like this. The effect was dazzling. 

Next came the party. I don't believe I've thus far mentioned this invitation that everyone on the program received a few days before departure:

The Ambassador of the United 

States of America

Richard L. Morningstar

requests the pleasure of the

company of 

Ms. Marissa Beseda

at a reception

in honor of the Youth

Leadership Program

Participants

on Friday, July 12, 2013

at 6:30 p.m.

We were all excited. An invitation to the Ambassador's residence? Who else can say they've had that opportunity? We had no idea what to expect. I was thinking something along the lines of a formal, business-y dinner and a quiet meeting with the Ambassador. 

I probably should have just given up on my predictions.

First, we arrived at this old, torn, and grubby-looking painted brick wall. Just dropped off in the middle of this more ghetto area, us students having no clue why we were there. Then slowly we were let through this high gate, having our names checked at the entrance. It felt like I was a part of some exclusive party, and my name was "on the list."

If there was ever a real-life application of the saying "don't judge a book by it's cover," this would be it. The old, mangy wall was hiding this ginormous, extravagant mansion that was bright yellow with white columns and stood in the back of a large courtyard, where people were already gathering. 

We put our personal things inside his front closet and headed out to converse with the other internationally involved students. Then some signal I missed brought everyone into the front room where a dinner of assorted finger foods, both American and Azerbaijani, were being feasted upon. 

So far, pretty chill. Nothing incredibly unexpected. Until a little speech by the Ambassador ended with "Azerbaijani's love to dance" and a DJ came out and started blasting popular music. And before I could fully come to terms with what was happening, we were having a dance party in front of the Ambassador of the United States's residence. Not only that, but he was jamming along with us. This 68 year old man dancing to Nikki Minaj and Lady Gaga. 

That's a sight I never expected to see. 

But it was fun. Occasionally the DJ would play a traditional Azerbaijani song and they would teach us Americans how to dance, which we pretty much failed at but laughed while trying. A conga line, partner dancing, everyone singing the chorus to assorted songs, it was movie-like. 

Myself with two amazing sisters in front of the Ambassador's

Unfortunately, it had to come to an end. My name was called by a security guard, and I said goodbye to all of my new and old friends and headed out the huge gates that separated me from the comfort of familiarity into complete confusion. 

My family wasn't there. Just this strange man and a couple random cars. I looked around awkwardly, wondering what I should do. The man inspected me closely then motioned for me to get in his car. He didn't speak much English. I had the faintest idea he could be the driver that I didn't pay attention to when he drove me and my host mom that morning. So, against all common sense, I got it the car. 

Turned out to be my driver. Whew. But I won't lie, I sent my friend Stephen a "if I don't show up tomorrow I've probably been kidnapped by this strange man please let the adults know" text. 

That situation was amusing in hindsight. 

But what isn't amusing is the confusion I had when I got to my house and this unknown woman ushered me in, with no sign of the rest of my family. 

Yeah, they never came back that night. I didn't figure out until the next day who this lady was. Aunt Leyla, this middle-aged, 100% no English spoken or understood woman who didn't look too comfortable with the situation either. 

But I did figure out from the dinner she motioned me to sit down to that she was an excellent cook. The best food I had on this entire trip was made by her hardworking hands. I really wish I knew the names of these dishes, because then I would recreate them everyday until I could get it to be like how she made it. And then open a restaurant and become super successful. Of course I'd credit her through all my success. 

This picture is awful but all I have. It was this brown rice and meat dish, mixed with assorted vegetables and like all Azerbaijani food, super oily. I dream about this. Honestly. There was also this popular cold drink (or soup) called ovdukh that is a liquidy white yogurt mixed with assorted herbs (for a recipe, go here: <http://www.news.az/recipes/24783> ). I did not acquire the taste buds for this. 

Between this entire plate of rice/meat and the dinner at the Ambassador's, I was stuffed. I motioned this to her, and tried to show my thanks and love of her cooking. I hope she got my message. She wouldn't let me help with dishes or anything, so I went into the other room where the gifts I gave to my family were, picked up some postcards of my home town, and took them to her. 

I believe I was able to communicate the meaning behind each photo, either that or she is also a talented actress, and with my attempts to reach out to her she seemed to get a bit more comfortable with me. I wish I knew at that time who she was! She helped me with the shower and lent me a hairdryer when she saw I didn't dry my hair afterwards (that's kind of a big deal in Azerbaijan, going out with your hair wet. Unacceptable.), and I motioned a good night and a thank you. 

I wish she had been able to communicate what my family had in store for me the next day. 

My Azerbaijani Host Family

So, I'm sitting there in the business center, day one in this new country, waiting for my new temporary family to pick me up.

If you haven't experienced being a host student, let me tell you what goes on in our minds: What if they hate me? What if they can't understand anything I'm trying to say? What if they completely neglect my entire existence? What do I talk to them about? What's dinner going to be like? What if I accidentally do something to offend them? What if they are terrible cooks? WHAT IF THEY ONLY HAVE A TURKISH TOILET? 

I heard my name, and the coordinator was standing next to these two ladies, seemingly the same age. Maybe sisters? Somewhere in their twenties? They were smiling, what could go wrong?

... Turns out one of them was my age, Ula. And her mother, standing next to her, I could never actually figure out what her name was. I had no idea what in the world to call her that entire trip. They never really introduced themselves, and if they did my mind was overwhelmed by so many other things I never stored a name in my mind. Soooo, I just avoided any situation I'd have to address her.

My Host sister

One thing about Azerbaijanis: They are way more stylish than anyone I've seen in America. All the time. The other day I went with bare feet and my bathing suit into the gas station, and that would sound so crazy there. No matter where we were going throughout the course of the trip, be it down the road to the little tendir (a special bread) vendor or to drop me off somewhere, there was a long process of make up application and hair styling. But man, did they look awesome. Plus, my host mother and sister were both gorgeous to begin with, so I always felt less impressive next to them, but that was okay. It was like being with models. 

When you first meet these people you've never spoken to who you're going to live with for the next while, amusingly enough no words come to mind. So I just stood there, still trying to figure out if they were sisters, while my host mom kissed me on both cheeks and spewed random exclamations of enthusiasm, which I reciprocated after coming back to the real world. 

We walked down to the car, which my host dad was waiting in, and were on our way. 

Another thing about driving in Azerbaijan: It's common to not use your seat belt. In fact, all the cars I was in had these little seat belt end attachments that plugged into where your seat belt buckle should go, so the sound didn't go off. No seat belts on, just the attachment. I found that amusing. But not when I wanted to be buckled and there was this fancy seat cover in the back, preventing any access to what I have been taught was a lifeline my whole upbringing. 

Well, when in Rome...

Then I got a big surprise. My mom, who took two months of an English class just to be able to talk to me (which still touches me. That was so sweet.) tried to explain where we were going. "Have you heard of the singer Emin?" No. "Would you like to go to a concert?" ... Now? Sure!

So with that, my sister would be accompanying me to my first concert. 

But this was not anything like an American concert. Which is why I didn't see any concern in my tee shirt, jean shorts, and crazy ponytail get up. I mean, I've been to American concerts now and that's completely normal to wear. 

It turns out ball gowns were actually quite acceptable at this here concert. Actually, everyone besides the fan club at the front of this open-air stadium filled with chairs and balloons looked like they belonged on the red carpet. And then there was me. The only white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and so obviously American female there. 

Azerbaijan doesn't have many foreigners visit. As in, by the end of the trip if we ever saw foreigners, we could easily pick them out and got excited over their presence. Also, Azerbaijanis have a habit of staring. Hardcore staring. In pre-orientation, we were warned of this, and to just look away. Their heads will follow you, and they didn't seem to make any effort to hide their staring. It was amusing after I was used to it, but the first night already self-conscious, I wasn't ready to be laughing at that situation. 

But it turned out to be quite a bit of fun. Concerts, at least this one, are more formal there, everyone stayed in their chairs until the end, except for between songs when fans with gifts were allowed onstage with Emin to give him their flowers or whatever, and receive a hug and a smile. It was quite charming, actually. It was more personal and touching than the more closed-off concerts here.  

After the concert, our parents picked us up and we went on a walk around the gorgeous city of Baku. This was my favorite time in the city, just walking around at night, seeing everything lit up. Because, really, everything was lit up. Blues, reds, greens, pinks, oranges, neons- it reminded me of Las Vegas but incredibly more classy. It was magical, and really can't be properly described, as hard as I may try. 

We walked along the bay of the Caspian Sea, the Flame Towers in the background lit up sometimes like flames, and sometimes like the Azerbaijani flag waving majestically to imagined wind. The breeze was blowing off the water, and my family pointed to various things and spoke in broken, but understandable, English (except my dad, who only knew a couple words) what they were, and the history behind everything. 

I noticed that you could ask almost anyone, and they knew the stories behind the city's wonders. The myth behind the Maiden's Tower, the purpose of the Flame Towers, the legend behind the window with the cat statue in Old Baku- everyone knew them. And, these things had stories to begin with. In America, there doesn't seem to be as much appreciation and interest in the little things. I mean, sure, there's always those statues you see around that may have some history, but how much does anyone care? Unless they're major historical figures, chances are few people actually know who that person is, and what they did. Without plaques, the citizens of Baku all seemed to know the stories of even the littlest details of their city. And it showed so much well-deserved pride in their country. 

I learned about my family, as well. My sister was in the equivalent of junior year in America (they only have 11 years of school), and was the translator whenever my parent's decided attempting English is a waste of time for all they wanted to say. She knew she was pretty, and every opportunity presented fixed herself in a reflection. But heck, if I looked like her, I would too. Although there was never anything wrong in her reflection. 

My mother, she tried her best to use English at all times with me. From what I understood, she was pretty high up in her business, which I think was a... Soda company? It may have been a car company. But she got free soda from her work... I don't know, she was in an office building and in meetings all day. She loved taking selfies. Like, loved it. Several times we stopped so she could take selfies with her husband. It was kind of cute, really, their poses. 

My host dad, I loved him so much. He spoke little to no English, but he didn't need to for me to understand him. He mainly stayed to himself, but once he showed me this card trick. Basically, I rearranged cards like he showed me to by demonstration, until there were four piles. My sister translated that the top cards would read my thoughts, and I flipped them over one by one. They were all Jacks. "Boys, boys, boys, boys!" my dad exclaimed, and I burst into laughter. The one word he knew was "boys." They all laughed along with me, and I still look back on this as one of the most bonding moments we had. 

Still walking around the night, sipping on the fresh-squeezed lemon-orange juice my dad bought for me from this orange-shaped juice stand, we headed back to the car around 12 am. Through the empty marble walkways, past the disco clubs pounding with heavy beats, under the dim street lights loyally showing us the way, the beauty of the city never ceases to amaze. 

My Host Parents

But the amazement flickered when the car ride came to be over 30 minutes... 40... 50... Where are we going.... You know I have to come back here by 10 am tomorrow, right? Oh, twisty dirt roads, great. Absence of buildings? I feel safe. Will someone please tell me where we're going? I started to get nervous. 

Their summer house turned out to be over and hour away from the city. The traffic from the morning crossed my mind, but I figured they knew what they signed up for. So, we ate this marvelous late dinner (they don't seem to believe in early bed times. 2/3 A.M? No problem. It was hard to keep up with.) and they showed me my room, which was so roomy and way nicer than I had dreamed of. I just, I really appreciate everything they did for me. I need to get that out there. 

Oh, they don't wear shoes in the house. I was never informed of this. I didn't notice everyone take off their shoes and exchange them for house shoes, they did it so smoothly. So when I walked in, I didn't understand the reaction from my host dad, who jumped and started exclaiming something, and my host mom gently pulled me back into the entry way and handed me some slippers. Oh. 

CULTURE TIME!

Toilet paper. Well, that wasn't a thing everywhere. Including this house. We had been warned about it, but in public places they did have toilet paper, so it didn't seem to be a big deal. I was not prepared for actually having to deal with it. 

Instead, they have this spray-hose next to the toilet. 

I'll leave you to figure the rest out. I never fully did.

*********************************************************************************

They had a shower room. Not just a shower in a bathtub in a separate room, but like, you walked in to this little closet-sized tiled walkway, shut the door, and through another door was the entire shower room, the size of a large walk-in closet. 

It took AGES to figure out how in the world to work it. And how to get it hot. And when it got super hot, how to get it cold. But it was interesting. 

The thing is, my family didn't have any reservations with me being there. I was a bit surprised when my shirtless mother walked into my room to make sure everything went fine with my shower, if I needed anything, goodnight! It definitely made me feel as part of the family, but I don't know if I needed to be that part of the family. Oh well. 

Sometimes in books, the character says "I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow." I never understood this until I got into bed that night. 

Diving In

       Finally. The wait is over. Today is the day I explore Azerbaijan. After months of waiting, weeks of preparation, and hours upon hours of travel, we were going to experience Baku, the capital, first-hand. However, despite our anxious hearts, we couldn't ignore our demanding stomachs. Azerbaijani cuisine was always a curiosity, and slight fear, of mine, and when we gathered in the dining room on the top floor, I wasn't displeased.
       There was bread. Always bread. In Azerbaijan, bread is a staple. As in, it is actually considered disrespectful to not finish the bread on your plate. But if you are unable to (which seemed to happen often. Because the bread was SO GOOD and I always took more than I could consume because I wanted to consume it all), at the end of the meal they take leftover bread, put it in bag and save it or do something or another with it, that being giving it away or putting it outside for the birds. Also, it is common to find bread (or as I later discovered a lot of bread-like foods such as crackers or cakes) in high places such as trees. This is bread that has been dropped. I never asked, but my guess is they leave it for the birds. They don't like wasting bread. More on bread later.
        Meats. Lunch meat, really. Bologna and maybe salami, mostly. Cheeses- to my disappointment the creamy, fancy-looking cheese I got turned out to be goat cheese. I discovered they like strong cheese (not sure what it was called) that tastes similar to an extremely sharp feta- I found it to be very common. I wasn't a fan. I ended up avoiding cheese most of the trip, which isn't like me. Tea cakes, little cookies that weren't very sweet, and tea, of course, was served as well, and the thing I found most unusual was the jam.
        I will mention jam so many times throughout the course of this blog. Be warned. You see, I was weird for putting it on my bread that morning. I mean, they do do that occasionally, but that isn't the popular way to eat jam. On tea cookies, perhaps? Maybe you dip bread in it, like a sauce?
      No, nada, nope. Eat it with a spoon.
     .... Say what? Plain? Just, jam... on a spoon? Nothing else? Weird.
     I know. But believe me, when my inner skeptic had the first taste of this marvelous concoction of this morning's peach jam, I almost died. Okay so that's just a little bit of an overstatement. But really, it was good.
      You're probably like me and can't get over the fact it's okay to eat jam with a spoon. Well, this isn't your average Smucker's jam. This is locally made, fresh, and in-season jam. And oh-so-good with a cup of hot tea.
       As was the common theme throughout the course of this trip, I ate too much. But it was a happy full. After breakfast, we collected our things and marched on down to the front where the bus would be awaiting (I must say, bus drivers are under appreciated), and when our stuff was loaded, as well as the group, we were off.
      In the crazy roads of Azerbaijan. Gulp.

What Seemed to be the Rules of the Road in Azerbaijan (mainly Baku): 

• Drive on your side of the road
• Watch for pedestrians 
• Drive the speed limit
• Keep a safe distance between you and the driver ahead of you
• YOLO

... I honestly never got used to the driving there. Every time I entered an automobile I mentally prayed for it to go well.

Anyways, we made it to the Caspian Business Center, what would become our most consistent home for these next three weeks.

We dragged our bags off the bus, lugged them up the spiral stairs of this professional and clean looking building, and were greeted by the Azerbaijani components of the trip, holding welcome signs, balloons, the bags they were helping us get, and our bodies with all the hugs and smiles and exclamations they showered us with. I couldn't stop grinning, it was so fantastic how welcoming and happy they all were. And loud. Always laughing and making jokes and telling stories. You can't NOT smile when with this group. And let me just say, I had become Facebook friends with a lot of them prior to the trip, and seeing them in person was exhilerating.

One thing about the culture we learned about in our pre-orientation: In Azerbaijan, boys and girls don't have much physical contact. "So girls, don't be surprised if the boys don't hug you or offer any sort of touch outside of a formal handshake, and visa verse." So, that was completely false. Everyone, boys and girls alike, were super touchy, and they didn't seem to care who the opposite gender was.

We were given essentials, some more needed survival tips for being in this country, cell phones, a trip to get money exchanged, and then we excitedly went to lunch in a business-building cafe nearby. The faces on the security guards' faces when twenty-odd American teenagers came chattering into this formal and quiet building was priceless.

Today's lunch was cafeteria style, we got trays, silverware and plates, and handed our plates to different servers as we went through the line, pointing to various dishes we wished to try. So far, communication wasn't too difficult. The teens spoke English, and the adults who didn't hadn't appeared in our lives yet.

This was my lunch. Watermelon was commonly served with feta (something I personally didn't quite fancy.), and the seeds all intact. There is no such thing as "seedless watermelon" in Azerbaijan, but the freshness made up for the little black obstacles. Watermelon is huge there, sweeter than imaginable and so, amazingly juicy. The Azeris laughed when they saw us Americans spitting out all the seeds, there they just eat the seeds too. I guess the story of a watermelon plant growing in your stomach isn't popular in Azerbaijan!Also, it wasn't commonly cold, they didn't refrigerate it, to my knowledge. It was always room temperature, but still amazing. (Vocab word of this paragraph: "Meyva" means "fruit.")

Bread, of course. That was good dipped in the soup I had, which was a rice and spice soup (sorry couldn't resist.) with barley and various greens that came together nicely. Noodles, some potato cakes, and something similar to meatloaf (but better). And the juice. Let me tell you a thing or two about this juice.

 One, it's called "sherbet." And it wasn't what would commonly be imagined as juice. It was more thick, kind of syrupy but in a natural way. They make it, it seemed to be a watermelon base and sometimes they added other fruits to it. Purely fruit, perhaps sugar, and water cooked together to form this homologous, syrupy, and sweet mixture. Amazing and hard to recreate (trust me, I've been desperately trying ever since I returned.). Remember to ask for ice in Europe, it isn't assumed.

After lunch, we were split into four groups, and local Azerbaijanis aided us on this awesome scavenger hunt of the city. We went to this part of the city called "Old Baku" by locals, seperated from the new part with this big wall.

 The wall really did divide two completely different sides of the city. The new side was bustling, busy, full of fashionable city-goers speeding along their way, past the modern stores and high-end restaurants. Old Baku was more calm, very empty (we were often the only ones walking down the stone roads), and quiet. In a peaceful way.

A random view of the buildings. The architecture was charming.

Little rug shops- Azerbaijan is a major exporter of rugs. We were taught how to find out what was really a woven, worth-the-price rug and a cheap knock-off to trick visitors into buying. But the rugs were gorgeous and so soft. 

We came upon this little gazebo while walking through the barren streets and I found it photo worthy. 

These were common- little souvenir stands, almost all having about the same things. Bartering prices was fun but tricky not being able to, you know, speak their language. But surprisingly doable. 

This is a terrible picture of the incredible Maiden's Tower. If you're interested, there is a little story behind it that can be found here: http://www.ibb.gov.tr/sites/ks/en-US/1-Places-To-Go/towers/Pages/maiden-tower.aspx

These highly-decorated sinks were popular. 

Fountains, beautiful fountains everywhere. So much care is given to making the streets look impressive and adorned, and that effort worked out splendidly. 

This was a museum we didn't go in to, however it's unusual shape was eye-catching. Azerbaijan has so many randomly shaped buildings that are so refreshing to one who lives in a town where every single house is stucco, has a tiled roof, and the same eggshell tan color (*cough Mesa cough*).

This was a carpet museum. Appropriate. 

Ah, the famous Flame Towers. More on these later. 

To get to higher grounds for the hunt, we rode in this... trolley-like thing? I have no name for this. This picture gives an idea of the layout: similar to a mini theater, the seats got higher as you went back. All windowed walls, sort of like a ski lift but on the ground going up this incredibly slanted hill. Super fun. 

Under this impressive ramada was what is called "The Eternal Flame." It burns in memory of all the people lost to the war with Armenia, and how their flame will go on forever. The walk to this was a trail lined with graves of some of the soldiers lost, beautifully kept up. I saw a white butterfly floating around the graves and one of the Azerbaijani boys told me that a white butterfly was considered to be a spirit, fluttering around. I thought it was very fitting that this butterfly was there. 

A view of the city from the Eternal Flame. 

Views of the streets of the New Baku. 

Other things that happened on this hunt: We rode the metro, which was an extremely close experience, literally, and when the Azerbaijani boy showing us around, Tima, told us to stay close to him, we didn't waste a second in doing so. We bought a lemon from a vendor, something random on the list but easy enough to find. It turns out lemons were randomly sold on the side. Not even an entire fruit vendor, you could just be walking along the road and this person selling tee shirts would also have a little basket of lemons for sale. Also, having your weight taken was a possibility in various places, such as an underground passage under busy streets. Or in the busy streets. Warning: they will charge you for standing on that balance. 

Our group didn't win the hunt, but it was well worth it. Already we had learned so much about the culture, traditions, and views in this country. Now for the host families. That's another story entirely.