An Introduction

Baku, Azerbaijan. I had never really heard of the place until my aunt and uncle moved here. They have now been here for almost two years....even still, I didn't quite know what to expect once I got here. Here is a rundown of what I can tell about the city (not necessarily the whole country) so far.

Most of the people here have light skin and dark hair. Everyone speaks Azeri and Russian, and some speak English. It is a mostly Muslim country, though I feel they aren't too devout (at least in Baku). Girls can wear pretty much whatever they want to wear. And they do. We've noticed that the latest trend must be to wear yellow. Not a pastel or mustard color....but almost a highlighter, Big Bird yellow that hurts your eyes if you look at it too long. It's quite a sight. Shorts, for guys or girls, in pretty much a no.

The traffic is somewhat like chaos. However, it is not nearly as bad as it is in India. A few more cars honking and some rickshaws to fill up the small gaps between the cars and I might be confused which country I was in. My aunt and uncle live not too far from downtown, so we just catch taxis from the house to a central spot downtown. Once we are there, we can pretty much walk wherever we need to. The "sidewalks" are pretty rough to walk on. I feel like I've missed looking at what is around me, because I've been too busy trying to make sure my feet get firm steps.

The country is bordered by the Caspian Sea. You can see it in the distance from my aunt and uncle's bedroom window. There are some great views of the city and and the sea all over town. However, from a distance is the best way to view the Caspian. Up close it is really, really dirty. We saw some guys fishing off a pier the other day....not sure that I would eat anything that came from those waters.
It feels like you are at the beach too. It can be pretty warm here (just getting warm, i hear. they have really cold, snowy winters), but not quite as warm as it would be if the wind was not constantly blowing. I always fix my hair when we go out, but only in vain for it always ends up in a pony tail before we get back home. The nights are a lot cooler and a lot of times you can hear the wind howling against the windows.

As for how I am spending my days so far....pretty lazily. I slept til noon several days last week (thanks to jet lag)....something I haven't done in a few years. I'm trying to get up earlier now. Every day is a little different.....sleep, take my time getting dressed, get on the computer for a while, clean up, read, maybe go with my aunt to meet her friends for lunch, etc. I'm really enjoying it though. This past year of teaching was hard, so I've had many to tell me not to feel bad to take it easy this summer. So I don't.

As for Todd, he leaves at 8:45 every morning and doesn't get home until about 5:15. He'll have to tell you how he's spending his days. I just know he reads a lot. :)

There is so much more to say...but I don't want you to get tired of reading in just this one sitting. So I'll save the rest for later.