Life with Andrea

A few more interesting things happened in Azerbaijan before I left.

First, I finally got to see inside the main part of a mosque.  I did not GO in, because that's verboten, but I stood outside, and took a picture of the inside of the dome.  All the insides are beautiful - I wish I could go in one and spend time there.  Even Marc couldn't take a picture when he was inside, though.  Still, I have this picture.


And, as I was walking around at night, I took a few pictures of things. Everything is lit up in Baku.  Fountains, streets, even the outsides of buildings.

 Anne said that, while you may own the INSIDE of your building, the outsides all belong to the President.  And if he says it's time for a light show, it's time for a light show.  The lights go on at night, and they get turned off about midnight.  So, in their area, there are street chandeliers, and exterior lights, the clock tower lights.  This picture is right outside Anne and Marc's apartment.


You can read by the lights of the city.  I guess that's what it means to live in an oil rich state - the president can burn electricity and not care.

And the last exciting thing I did was go to the modern art museum.  I"m not a big fan of modern art, but some of it was very interesting.  I even have a favorite Azeri artist now!  Mikail Abdurakminov.  And, there were some funny pictures, (the watermelon lady) and some great sculptures (the not really a fish).  I have more on facebook than here.

On the last day, I decided I would read some of the comments other people had made about Azerbaijan, because Anne told me there's an online ex-pat community, and I thought I'd check it out.  It does not seem that people who live there are as kind to the country as they might be.  People complain about how expensive it it - one post said, if you want to have even a passable apartment, it will set you back 1500 euros a month.  His version of "passable" was the apartment Anne and Marc had - in the "Times Square" area.  They've got marble floors, or parquet wood.  They've got air conditioning.  They have electricity and wi-fi and all the things you'd expect in the states.  This is NOT a first world country - and yet their apartment is so posh it has everything.  And the posting person was complaining that it would cost such a lot of money.  Well, it should!  It's an elegant place and an elegant apartment.

Another complaint was about the stores.  I meant to take a picture of the food store, and I just didn't.  The ex-pat referred to them as "convenience stores".  Well, the stores are markets.  They seem to have EVERYTHING.  It's all jammed into a tiny space.  The shelves go up to the ceiling, and you don't have lots of choices, but if you want it, it's there.  They only have one kind of coffee, but they have 30 kinds of tea.  They have fresh vegetables every day.  The have a real butcher counter - where the butcher cuts it up and serves you directly.  And the meat is fresh.  I found batteries and dish soap and crackers and candy and dairy stuff and meat and rice and noodles and everything one would expect in an American store - it was all stuffed in there.  Not as much choice, but all the things.  And constant service.  Everyone happy to help you.

Anyway, this is the end of Baku for me.  I had a wonderful visit.  I think it would be a great place to live - if only I could learn the language and find a job there!