Novrus in Mingachevir

I know this post is a bit late in coming. Sorry. Work and lack of internet have kept me from being as diligent with my blog as I would like. Now that I finally have a phone line in my apartment it is much easier to keep up.

After returning from my all-too brief visit to the U.S. Azerbaijan was in the middle of its Novrus celebration, which lasts for most of the month of March. As everything in the country was shut down for the week I headed to Mingechavir to spend the holiday with Mike. Because of Peace Corps regulations he cannot leave his town without a work-related reason and permission from his program administrator. But enough about Peace Corps travel policies and on to Novrus!
This is an ancient New Years celebration, dating back before Islam came to the region. The holiday starts on March 20th but every Tuesday prior is also a holiday celebrating the four elements- earth, water, air and fire. The final Tuesday is the main holiday and the streets are filled with bonfires. What few trees there are left in the country are hacked at for fuel for the clebration- anything else that will burn- regardless of its toxicity is also added to the flames- note tires being added to the pile!!!
On the final Tuesday there was a large festival in the city center. Each school had a Novrus display, there were tightrope walkers, sportsmen and young children in traditional dress dancing around to folk music. There were also several speaches by the local government and some pop singers also came into town to perform. Also note large billboard of dead former president Heydar Aliyev. As I've said before he is the most influencial dead guy I have ever known. In the evening Mike and I gathered outside with the neigbors to stand around and admire the bonfire-ignoring the poisonous rubber smoke from the burning tires. It was - as they say in Azeri- chox gesheng. (Very beautiful) Once the flames had stopped lapping the tree tops, the children and some of the adults took turns jumping across it. The idea behind it is when you jump over the flames you shout out your troubles of the past year and are thus symbolically leaving these burdens behind you and starting a -fresh. Children also leave their caps in front of doors and knock on them with the anticipation that they will receive some kind of sweets. There is also a play that is reenacted every year- where an old bald man- symbolizing winter searches the town for the most beautiful young girl to marry- she is, of course, the symbol of spring. There are also traditional rice dishes which are eaten for Novrus and guests bring plates of sweets to friends and neighbors.

At our block party once the fire went down and the children had stopped jumping over the flames and lighting fireworks under my feet, we headed into the community outbuilding for a small dance party. The apartment dwellers had chipped in for a musician and for several hours we skipped about to traditional music. We got to meet many of Mike's young neighbors who were very curious about these strange Americans. Probably the funniest thing was when two different women on two separate occaisions asked me if Mike was my son. Anyway. Because the nature of our relationship is pretty close to incomprehensible to Azeris outside of Baku we just tell people that we are married. As I have said before-there are no male-female relationships unless a wedding is being planned.
This Novrus was special in that the president decreed that the holiday last for an entire week- so the following Monday was also a day-off. The week was a good way to get readjusted to being back in Azerbaijan.

Car door bridges and Caucasian Sheep Dogs!

During a week of unusually warm weather. Mike, Carol and I decided to meander along the Ganja river- which sadly is these days, severly lacking in water but not garbage in its bed. Here are some interesting shots that Mike took on the way. We passed some really interesting and innovative construction. I love the way people make bridges and fences/gates around here. It is kind of artistic. We walked towards the mountains past a tree nursery sponspored by ADRA- which is an NGO run by the 7th day adventists. We walked through unploughed fields and grazing sheep and goats, careful not to disturb the enourmous Caucasion sheep dogs!! We had hopes of climbing up a small but steep mound to capture the views of the surrounding country side but it was getting late. At one point we stopped for a break and watched several old men dig out rocks from the riverbed. We were slightly confused as to what these guys were doing and then we heard the rumbling and grumbling of a big engined vehicle and what should appear but a giant dump
truck driving straight up the river bed. Then the guys began heaving the large rocks into the back of the truck. Dont really know what they were for! On our way back we thought we'd try a different route that took us past some farms. As we approached the house we heard some dogs barking but thought little of it. Suddenly two immense sheep dogs (they are the size of St. Bernards but NOT as cute!!!) were charging at us with teeth barred. Carol screamed at us to throw rocks as she booked it across a small stream dividing the property. She had already narrowly escaped three dog attacks during her stay in Azerbaijan. I picked up two baseball sized ones but couldn't bring myself to chuck them at the dogs. I looked back and saw that Mike had lost his footing and the dogs were still advancing. I threw the rock- it went wide- (there is a reason i played first base- the position with the least amount of throwing necessary!) Mike somehow made it up and we lept across the stream just as the dogs reached us. Hearts pounding we kept running to distance us as much as possible from the dogs. We looked back and they hadn't crossed the stream but we didn't want to take any chances. We then decided to take the safer route home- the one we had come.

Apartment Life in Ganja

It became clear to me that having a boyfriend and living with an Azeri host family were not going to mix very much longer. So once I returned from Georgia I began hunting for an apartment. I have never really done this in the United States so I was quite concerned about the difficulties of the task. Its not that there are not a myriad of apartments available, its working the system so as not to get over-charged for being a foreigner and finding a bearable Landlord/lady that is not over intrusive and accepting of a woman living alone. It is VERY unusual for anyone in this very family oriented socitey to live by themselves and its even more rare for a woman. Those who do are usually prostitutes. So it was going to be a challenging task to find a landlord/lady that would accept me and a place that I would find livable. A student of mine volunteered to help me out and he set out going to some real estate agents around the city. We worked out a story that I was his distant cousin from America doing research in Ganja about my annecesteral roots. The idea was that if I was connected with a family here in Azerbaijan than I was probably not a prostitute and that they wouldn't charge me as much as if I were here on my own. My friend would go to different realitors around town and ask if they had any thing to the specifications I had given him. If there was a place that fit my description he would call me up and we would meet at the realitors with the landlord/lady and go look at the apartment. I learned quickly that the number of times the landlord/lady said how beautiful the place was, was inversely related to its acutally beauty and suitablity. I also learned quickly to pick out the problem landladies. Many of the apartments that they want to rent have been in the family for a while and only because someone has moved out for a while are the letting it. And it has happened on more than one occaision that family members have moved back and then moved in with the American tennant. This is perfectly normal here. As well as your landlord coming every few weeks to 'check on the place.' I definitley wanted as little intrusion and interaction with my landlord as possible but it was going to be a difficult task. I also ran into problems with guests. On more than one occaision some people flat out said that I could have no male guests. As the value of the apartment is determined by who has lived there. If people think that a prostitute has lived there then the apartment is harder to rent out again. The other difficulty was the outrageous decor and less then adequate bathroom/toilet facilities. Finally by chance I found a really cute place. The Landlord had just moved back from Russia, bought this place and renovated it to be rented. The fact that the guy had been in Russia as a good sign because he was more open to the idea of a 'western' woman living alone and having guests but not the paying kind! He also had no deep personal ties to the place so he wasn't going to be popping in to make sure I kept the place clean. And the best part is that it was newly redecorated so it all smelled new and fresh and clean and there was a flush toilet! ( I had been living for 7 months with a bucket flush and no toilet paper) So here are a few pictures of my place. I also have a 'great' view of a park across the street. Everyday there are kids playing soccer or guys doing some sort of 'sports' activity. Its usually walking around the track- not too fast because you might get sweaty and then get a cold and die, or they do pull-ups on the pull-up bar. I also go running with a friend in the mornings. People are not too adverse to it- I've even seen a woman walk around the track every morning. The guys only get irked when I pass them.
I aquired my apartment without furniture so then I spent a week or so trying to drum up some inexpensive home furnishings. It wasn't too hard but transporting them there made me nervous!!!!



The task that occupies most of my time here is laundry. I do not have a washing machine and my clothes get incredibly dirty. I live in the dust capital of the world- I'm not sure if thats an accurate fact but it is very, very, very dusty here. So I've devised a stomping system of washing,which kills two birds with one stone. washing my clothes and venting my frustrations constructively.
I really like my apartment it comes with its own alarm system. Not only people live in my city dwelling but there are also numerous chickens and roosters who live in a pen by the entry way. Although I live on the third floor the rooster's joyful crow wakes me up right at first light everyday. Sheep are also a common sight in my neighborhood. I looked out my window the other day to see a big heard comming down the road. The sheep in Azerbaijan are unique in that they have this flab of fat on their butts before their tails. so I call them the fatty-assed sheep. These particulary sheep seemed pretty healthy as they sported the largest fatty-asses I had ever seen here. NOTE- I live in a city of over 250,000 inhabitants!!!! Needless to say life is never boring. It just takes a little patience and creativity when you don't have the luxuries of the US. The best thing though is just having my freedom! I really liked my host family but I can now cook my own meals and keep my own schedule without feeling guilty and obligated to anyone else. I know it isn't really acculturating but I think I would go crazy if I didn't have my own little haven.