Baku in Pictures

It's been one thing after another lately, so I have not had time to post (obviously), but I wanted to share these before I head out the door:

Leave the gun; take the microphone.

 One of the two fanciest elevator panels I've seen here.  Note the brand, which (for Brits, at least) makes this:

Schindler's Lift

#HaHa #LetTheGroaningCommence

The only kind of tacos worth buying really.

Golly gee, Julie sure does look familiar...

formerly known as the Dervish Mausoleum

Best enjoyed by substituting the "-" with a "wait for it."

Providing prams, pushchairs, and pregnancy advice since 1961: Old City Club Pub Bar.

*Apologies for the poor picture quality; most were taken on my mobile.

Eurovision! (Azerbaijani National Competition)

As you may -or, if you're American, may not- be aware, Azerbaijan won the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, which entitled it to host the 2012 competition.

Here are some pictures from the national competition to represent Azerbaijan in the international contest:

Cultural Day: Cooking Qutab and Düşbərə

During Pre-Service Training in October 2011, our Language and Cultural Facilitator ("LCF") combined language and cultural education by teaching us how to make qutab (a flatbread that can be filled with meat or vegetables) and düşbərə (a dumpling soup).  And by "taught" I mean that she made everything herself and barely let us help because: (a) we would have done it wrong; and (b) we would still be waiting to eat.

Qutab can often be bought fresh from street stands.  In Baku, they go for about 30 qəpik each (which is just under 40 cents), but I have to get three to six of them to make a meal of it.

Actually, I exaggerated slightly before: The reason there are no pictures of making the dumplings is because I was helping with that part (at about half the speed of our LCF, of course).

Düşbərə dumplings are quite small (about an inch or less in diameter) and served in a light, water-based broth with a vinegar and garlic sauce, which I've heard can either be poured into the broth or kept in a small dish on the side to be added to taste.

Interestingly, the traditional Azerbaijani cooking I've seen rarely uses garlic and vinegar, even less.  Meanwhile, this bears some strong similarities to the way Chinese dumplings are eaten. Garlic? Check. Vinegar? Check. This differences are that Chinese dumplings are generally larger, and you also add soy sauce. If anyone knows whether this influence traveled from East Asia to Central Asia along the Silk Road, I'd be interested to hear about it.

Cultural Day: Gobustan & Mud Volcanoes

During Pre-Service Training last October, one of our cultural field-trips was to Gobustan National Park (Qobustan Milli Parkı) and a group of nearby mud volcanoes (palçıg vulkanı).  As the one of the last pictures attests, it was incredibly muddy.

I went back in April, and it was substantially drier, though no less entertaining.  With better footing, I was able to submerge my hand in a mud volcano with minimal risk of falling in, and it might have been a placebo effect, but I swear that the skin on that hand felt smoother after.

Next time, mud mask.

Pictures of Baku

I took almost all of these pictures during Eurovision because it drew a lot less attention with all the other tourists around.

For example, it's normally not permitted ("olmaz") to take pictures of government buildings, but during Eurovision, there were so many foreigners here taking pictures that it wasn't really enforced.   At first, I excitedly snapped away, expecting a minor rush from breaking this taboo, but then I realized that most of the government buildings weren't very interesting-looking in the first place.

Organizational Capacity Building, or: "What would you say, you 'do' here?"

Before I left America, it was a challenge to describe what I would be doing for two years in Azerbaijan as a Community Economic Development Advisor Volunteer because the work varies from site to site, from organization to organization.  Even now, after approximately eight months in-country, it remains a challenge because of the diversity of assignments and organizations with which I partner, but here is one example:

Better Know a Holiday: 28 May

Parade in front of the Elmler Akademiyası Metro Station

If you read about Azerbaijan enough, you'll probably come across the fact that, on May 28, 1918, it became the first successfully established secular Islamic democratic republic in the world (following the short-lived Transcaucasia Democratic Federative Republic consisting of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia).  You may also hear that during this time (1919) Azerbaijan became the first Islamic nation to grant voting rights to women, predating national women's suffrage in the U.S. by about one year.  Obviously, the birth of the republic was not celebrated during Soviet times, but it was revived as a national holiday upon independence in 1991.

Not to diminish these historical achievements, but what is often left unmentioned in the same breath uttering this bit of trivium is that this republic lasted only about two years, from 28 May 1918 (collapse of the Russian empire) to 1920 (Bolshevik / Soviet / communist conquest) and that no one involved in the practical operation of the country today actually remembers how a fully-functional democratic republic works.  

In the spirit of short-lived things in history involving the 28th of May:

• 1503 - Margaret Tudor wed James IV of Scotland and the Treaty of Everlasting Peace between England and Scotland was signed.  The peace lasted 10 years.
• 1533 - Marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was declared valid by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The marriage lasted 3 years.
• 1588 - The Spanish Armada set sail for the English Channel from Lisbon.  Less than three months later, it was defeated by the English at the decisive battle of Gravelines.
• 1940 - The 18-day Battle of Belgium ended with Belgium's surrender to Germany.