Ganja Part II
In reflecting upon my first entry about Ganja I realized that I had painted a very inaccurate picture of the town I live in. While I described many of the beautiful sites and monuments that Ganja has, I neglected to add the things that Ganja does NOT have which is actually more telling of the city's character.
In this city of over 300,000 there is not one McDonalds. This is the first time in my life that I have not lived within 10 miles of the Golden Arches. When I first realized this a few months ago I was overjoyed. I had finally escaped the clutches of Ronald and his gang of hamburglers. But after experiencing public restrooms in Azerbaijan and more importantly lack of public restrooms I realized the advantages to having a McDonalds in every town with a population greater than 5,000. It is the one place in this country that has clean, western toilets, with toilet paper and soap to wash your hands. I'm almost ashamed to admit it but whenever I go to Baku on the bus the first thing I do when I arrive is go to McDonalds to use the bathroom.
There are also no other chain restaurants- no Applebee’s, Pizza Hut etc. In fact for a town this size there are very few restaurants at all, which is of course indicative of the culture. People do not eat out because its expensive and can’t afford to. What is interesting is that almost all of the restaurants are Turkish. There are some that offer traditional Azeri cuisine but there are no food choices outside of these two realms. I think this is directly related to the fact that there is very little cultural/ethnic diversity here. Not a lot of foreign faces walking around. I think they can be counted without taking my shoes off. So this is a factor in the limited variety of eateries. I would LOVE a vegetable fajita and a strawberry margarita right about now!
Along the same lines Ganja has no WalMart or Home Depot or Kohls or Target or Best Buy etc. There are no chain stores anywhere!!! The only ‘chains’ I have seen thus far are the Azercell cell phone stores and the Azpetrol gas stations. All products are sold from private vendors. However- like a chain there is very limited selection and variety at the individual shops. At the Bazaar, where I do my clothes shopping there are many small booths/shops/vendors but they all have about the same thing. Its very hard to find unique clothes here as usually at least 10 other people have the same outfit but nobody cares which is nice. Although there is a lot of emphasis placed on outward appearances, even more so than in Germany, clothing fashion is not a great concern. But again fashion is relative and depends on your perspective. What is fashionable to one person is not to the other and I have to admit that I fall under the NOT category. I’ve had my mother ship over all my winter clothes so that I don’t have to buy new clothes that I won’t like at the Bazaar. I feel like a snob, and I should embrace the culture more but I have my limits. My tastes are just a bit simpler than most here.
There are also no operational movie theatres. During the soviet era there were quite a few cinemas but they have since been abandoned or turned into shooting ranges. When I ask why, most people have told me that it is because men and women should not be alone together in the dark. Well, duh, that’s what movie theatres are for, isn’t it? No, just kidding. The policing of people’s personalize lives is really overbearing at times. However there are many places where one can rent and buy movies, so you can watch all you want just not in public.
You might also assume that if there are no movie theatres than there must be any dance clubs or bars. However there are actually a few such social gathering places but only for men. Women do frequent these places but its to earn their living because either their husbands have died or left them and they have no education or any other means of supporting themselves and any children they may have.
So there is quite a limit on the available social activities for me here so I work a lot, but that is rewarding, too.
In this city of over 300,000 there is not one McDonalds. This is the first time in my life that I have not lived within 10 miles of the Golden Arches. When I first realized this a few months ago I was overjoyed. I had finally escaped the clutches of Ronald and his gang of hamburglers. But after experiencing public restrooms in Azerbaijan and more importantly lack of public restrooms I realized the advantages to having a McDonalds in every town with a population greater than 5,000. It is the one place in this country that has clean, western toilets, with toilet paper and soap to wash your hands. I'm almost ashamed to admit it but whenever I go to Baku on the bus the first thing I do when I arrive is go to McDonalds to use the bathroom.
There are also no other chain restaurants- no Applebee’s, Pizza Hut etc. In fact for a town this size there are very few restaurants at all, which is of course indicative of the culture. People do not eat out because its expensive and can’t afford to. What is interesting is that almost all of the restaurants are Turkish. There are some that offer traditional Azeri cuisine but there are no food choices outside of these two realms. I think this is directly related to the fact that there is very little cultural/ethnic diversity here. Not a lot of foreign faces walking around. I think they can be counted without taking my shoes off. So this is a factor in the limited variety of eateries. I would LOVE a vegetable fajita and a strawberry margarita right about now!
Along the same lines Ganja has no WalMart or Home Depot or Kohls or Target or Best Buy etc. There are no chain stores anywhere!!! The only ‘chains’ I have seen thus far are the Azercell cell phone stores and the Azpetrol gas stations. All products are sold from private vendors. However- like a chain there is very limited selection and variety at the individual shops. At the Bazaar, where I do my clothes shopping there are many small booths/shops/vendors but they all have about the same thing. Its very hard to find unique clothes here as usually at least 10 other people have the same outfit but nobody cares which is nice. Although there is a lot of emphasis placed on outward appearances, even more so than in Germany, clothing fashion is not a great concern. But again fashion is relative and depends on your perspective. What is fashionable to one person is not to the other and I have to admit that I fall under the NOT category. I’ve had my mother ship over all my winter clothes so that I don’t have to buy new clothes that I won’t like at the Bazaar. I feel like a snob, and I should embrace the culture more but I have my limits. My tastes are just a bit simpler than most here.
There are also no operational movie theatres. During the soviet era there were quite a few cinemas but they have since been abandoned or turned into shooting ranges. When I ask why, most people have told me that it is because men and women should not be alone together in the dark. Well, duh, that’s what movie theatres are for, isn’t it? No, just kidding. The policing of people’s personalize lives is really overbearing at times. However there are many places where one can rent and buy movies, so you can watch all you want just not in public.
You might also assume that if there are no movie theatres than there must be any dance clubs or bars. However there are actually a few such social gathering places but only for men. Women do frequent these places but its to earn their living because either their husbands have died or left them and they have no education or any other means of supporting themselves and any children they may have.
So there is quite a limit on the available social activities for me here so I work a lot, but that is rewarding, too.
posted by Kateabroad @ 10:09 AM
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