Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
I Love Ladas
Before I came to Azerbaijan, I had heard of the Lada automobile, but thought it was a joke. I knew that it was made in Russia, along with the Volga and thought it was purchased mostly because there were only 2 brands in the USSR and other types of cars were not generally available. I thought it was of poor quality and wouldn't perform well.
This is yet another area in which I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Ladas are everywhere here, along with SUV's, Mercedes, BMW's, Japanese and Korean cars. I have a real respect for them now because I have seen the difficult situations in which they perform well. Ladas are small, economy cars with simple, widely available parts. Many people can fix Ladas themselves without expensive special equipment.
Many of the roads in the country and some even in the city are in bad condition, made of dirt or gravel and are very uneven. Taxis are ubiquitous because many people don't have cars and need to carry heavy loads from the bazaar or other places where public transportation won't work. These cars can go places only an SUV should go and do a great job at it.
It is common in the summer to see Ladas completely full of watermelons, including the front passenger seat, back seat to the ceiling, an open trunk and full roof carrier, proceeding normally down a street.
I did a little reading about them and found they are built tough because they need to survive winters in Siberia and rough terrain everywhere. They are sold on every continent except North America and are even used in Antarctica. Cars with 300,000 miles are not unusual.
I was pretty attached to my Toyota Corolla, but will look around Craigslist when I get back for a Lada!
This is yet another area in which I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Ladas are everywhere here, along with SUV's, Mercedes, BMW's, Japanese and Korean cars. I have a real respect for them now because I have seen the difficult situations in which they perform well. Ladas are small, economy cars with simple, widely available parts. Many people can fix Ladas themselves without expensive special equipment.
Many of the roads in the country and some even in the city are in bad condition, made of dirt or gravel and are very uneven. Taxis are ubiquitous because many people don't have cars and need to carry heavy loads from the bazaar or other places where public transportation won't work. These cars can go places only an SUV should go and do a great job at it.
It is common in the summer to see Ladas completely full of watermelons, including the front passenger seat, back seat to the ceiling, an open trunk and full roof carrier, proceeding normally down a street.
I did a little reading about them and found they are built tough because they need to survive winters in Siberia and rough terrain everywhere. They are sold on every continent except North America and are even used in Antarctica. Cars with 300,000 miles are not unusual.
I was pretty attached to my Toyota Corolla, but will look around Craigslist when I get back for a Lada!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Movies and T-Shirts
One of the ways that walking around a town or city is interesting is because there is apparently no thought given to copyrights or protecting brands. For example, my host sister, a very conservative girl, walks around with a t-shirt that says “Columbia University” with the logo discreetly placed at the bottom of the shirt. In giant letters across the top, it says COCAINE.
I bought my pillow at a shop called Angelina, with a huge picture of Angelina Jolie in the window. A guy who looks exactly like Michael Jordan is on a bank billboard in my town. Last week I saw a green vinyl purse in a store window. It sported a label that said “Jimmy Choo”. There are also shoes that say “Ann Klayn.”
Then there are the mistakes. I have seen a t-shirt with a picture of a football—it said “NBA Basketball”. Volunteers also see a lot of writing on clothes that is misspelled, so our theory is that if the clothing factory makes a spelling mistake, they send the clothes to Azerbaijan.
Peace Corps volunteers swear that there is no way to buy legal DVD’s here. We get American movies before they are out in US. There are disadvantages, however.
The English soundtrack is not removed, just recorded over in Azeri in a louder voice. There are English subtitles available, but the whole movie is one scene, so going back and forth is difficult. There is no bonus material.
I think it would be difficult to solve the movie problem because Hollywood is probably not interested in producing movies for a language spoken by 8 million people, many of whom can speak Russian. It does affect artists in Azerbaijan, however. There is no point in making a CD if it will be copied and sold.
But Azeris probably spend more time watching their own party videos than watching movies. Videographers are ubiquitous at family events—not just weddings, but birthdays, graduation parties, going into-the-army-parties and getting circumcised parties. The latter are unnerving. Boys are circumcised at between 3 and 12 years of age. The videos show the preparation, much of it very entertaining with decorating, the band setting up, then the dancing and eating. But also on the film is the lamb being slaughtered as a gift to the poor and the actual circumcision, which shocked me all the more because I didn’t know they would do it on the video.
When a new party video comes out, copies are distributed to eager attendees and they take it home and play it over for their family and guests. It is a great time to find out who everyone is, what they wore, how they acted and how they danced.
I bought my pillow at a shop called Angelina, with a huge picture of Angelina Jolie in the window. A guy who looks exactly like Michael Jordan is on a bank billboard in my town. Last week I saw a green vinyl purse in a store window. It sported a label that said “Jimmy Choo”. There are also shoes that say “Ann Klayn.”
Then there are the mistakes. I have seen a t-shirt with a picture of a football—it said “NBA Basketball”. Volunteers also see a lot of writing on clothes that is misspelled, so our theory is that if the clothing factory makes a spelling mistake, they send the clothes to Azerbaijan.
Peace Corps volunteers swear that there is no way to buy legal DVD’s here. We get American movies before they are out in US. There are disadvantages, however.
The English soundtrack is not removed, just recorded over in Azeri in a louder voice. There are English subtitles available, but the whole movie is one scene, so going back and forth is difficult. There is no bonus material.
I think it would be difficult to solve the movie problem because Hollywood is probably not interested in producing movies for a language spoken by 8 million people, many of whom can speak Russian. It does affect artists in Azerbaijan, however. There is no point in making a CD if it will be copied and sold.
But Azeris probably spend more time watching their own party videos than watching movies. Videographers are ubiquitous at family events—not just weddings, but birthdays, graduation parties, going into-the-army-parties and getting circumcised parties. The latter are unnerving. Boys are circumcised at between 3 and 12 years of age. The videos show the preparation, much of it very entertaining with decorating, the band setting up, then the dancing and eating. But also on the film is the lamb being slaughtered as a gift to the poor and the actual circumcision, which shocked me all the more because I didn’t know they would do it on the video.
When a new party video comes out, copies are distributed to eager attendees and they take it home and play it over for their family and guests. It is a great time to find out who everyone is, what they wore, how they acted and how they danced.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Traveling
This summer I have traveled to other regions of Azerbaijan and also left the country to go to Tbilisi, Georgia. The travel choices are not big here--Iran is to the south, the Caspian Sea to the east, to the west Armenia (Azerbaijan and Armenia are bitter enemies and it is not possible to travel there). To the north is Georgia and a little piece of Russia.
So 12 Peace Corps volunteers set out for Tbilisi last month. It is about an hour and a half to the border, which is in a barren-looking area. It took us a half hour to go through the Azeri and Georgian guard stations and then about an hour to get to Tbilisi.
Georgia was one of the 15 former Soviet Union countries, like Azerbaijan, but the atmosphere is different.
Some of the first things we saw were a nice cityscape--interesting, European style buildings and a lively street scene with bars, outdoor cafes, street art, fashionably dressed people and dogs with owners (as opposed to homeless dogs). People are out at night, and since the biggest export in Georgia is wine, people were drinking it.
We arranged to meet some young people who had come to our town for an exchange project and got a personal tour of the city of a period of a few days. It was great to take a real vacation. We had a great time visiting old ruins and interesting buildings, climbing to the top of the city for a great view, hanging out in the cafes and other sightseeing.
Apparently the Georgians don't like their president, blaming him for the war with the Russians last summer and they were having daily protests in the central square. Some people from the regions had been camping out in little booths, voicing their displeasure.
Like Azerbaijan, outside of the capital city, many people are very poor and unlike Azerbaijan, some go without food because it isn't as easy to grow food in Georgia as it is in Azerbaijan. Also like Azerbaijan, the older people who remember the Soviet Union days tend to look upon it as a golden period when everyone was middle class, had a job and some financial security. Now, reportedly a few people are rich and most are very poor.
Our trip to Georgia helped us learn more about Azerbaijan--we had thought that some of the traditions in Azerbaijan, such as no dating, marriages that are usually arranged by the families and limited opportunities for women were related to Muslim culture. However, Georgians are Christian and have these same traditions. Georgians seem to attend church in larger numbers, but in Azerbaijan people will say they are Muslim, but rarely go to mosque and few do the five times daily prayers or observe Ramadan.
This is only the fourth country I have visited in the world, but in my opinion, people who have been to all of the popular countries could have a good trip in Georgia. Besides the capital city, there are the Upper Caucusus (mountains) to hike, interesting and beautiful countryside villages to visit and Black Sea resorts, which are very popular in the summer. The Georgian people are very welcoming and friendly.
So 12 Peace Corps volunteers set out for Tbilisi last month. It is about an hour and a half to the border, which is in a barren-looking area. It took us a half hour to go through the Azeri and Georgian guard stations and then about an hour to get to Tbilisi.
Georgia was one of the 15 former Soviet Union countries, like Azerbaijan, but the atmosphere is different.
Some of the first things we saw were a nice cityscape--interesting, European style buildings and a lively street scene with bars, outdoor cafes, street art, fashionably dressed people and dogs with owners (as opposed to homeless dogs). People are out at night, and since the biggest export in Georgia is wine, people were drinking it.
We arranged to meet some young people who had come to our town for an exchange project and got a personal tour of the city of a period of a few days. It was great to take a real vacation. We had a great time visiting old ruins and interesting buildings, climbing to the top of the city for a great view, hanging out in the cafes and other sightseeing.
Apparently the Georgians don't like their president, blaming him for the war with the Russians last summer and they were having daily protests in the central square. Some people from the regions had been camping out in little booths, voicing their displeasure.
Like Azerbaijan, outside of the capital city, many people are very poor and unlike Azerbaijan, some go without food because it isn't as easy to grow food in Georgia as it is in Azerbaijan. Also like Azerbaijan, the older people who remember the Soviet Union days tend to look upon it as a golden period when everyone was middle class, had a job and some financial security. Now, reportedly a few people are rich and most are very poor.
Our trip to Georgia helped us learn more about Azerbaijan--we had thought that some of the traditions in Azerbaijan, such as no dating, marriages that are usually arranged by the families and limited opportunities for women were related to Muslim culture. However, Georgians are Christian and have these same traditions. Georgians seem to attend church in larger numbers, but in Azerbaijan people will say they are Muslim, but rarely go to mosque and few do the five times daily prayers or observe Ramadan.
This is only the fourth country I have visited in the world, but in my opinion, people who have been to all of the popular countries could have a good trip in Georgia. Besides the capital city, there are the Upper Caucusus (mountains) to hike, interesting and beautiful countryside villages to visit and Black Sea resorts, which are very popular in the summer. The Georgian people are very welcoming and friendly.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Crooks and Michael Jackson
One of the really endearing things about Azerbaijan is how trusting people are with valuables.
For example, on the buses, the driver is busy driving. So a passenger--any passenger who happens to be sitting in the jump seat near the driver collects the fares, puts them in a cardboard box left there for that purpose and gives change. When that person gets off, someone else comes up and fills in.
Also on the buses, women sitting with standing women in front of them typically take the purse out of the standing woman's hand and balance it on their laps.
I was at a concert in another large city last fall. At intermission time, everyone headed out to the lobby for refreshments. I noticed that the woman next to me had left her purse on the seat. I was alarmed and ready to grab the purse and find her when I noticed that many other women had done the same thing.
More than a decade ago, the alphabet was changed from Cyrillic to Roman. In other words, it looked sort of Russian before and now the letters look mostly like our alphabet. As a result, the pensioners going the ATM's to get their monthly allotment can't read the new alphabet and don't know how to work the ATM.
So they give their card to strangers (like me), along with their PINs and have the stranger get their monthly allotment out of the ATM for them. I have heard of no old person getting ripped off or even being warned not to do this.
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I have lost count of the number of times people have stopped me to offer me their condolences on the death of Michael Jackson. I did not suspect when I came here that anyone would know who he is. The music is different here, they are not down with androgyny and take a very dim view of anyone accused of molesting children. But he was a very big star here among all generations.
In Tibilisi, Georgia, there were large billboards mourning his death and offering condolences to Americans. I don't know what to say, so I mostly say "thank you."
For example, on the buses, the driver is busy driving. So a passenger--any passenger who happens to be sitting in the jump seat near the driver collects the fares, puts them in a cardboard box left there for that purpose and gives change. When that person gets off, someone else comes up and fills in.
Also on the buses, women sitting with standing women in front of them typically take the purse out of the standing woman's hand and balance it on their laps.
I was at a concert in another large city last fall. At intermission time, everyone headed out to the lobby for refreshments. I noticed that the woman next to me had left her purse on the seat. I was alarmed and ready to grab the purse and find her when I noticed that many other women had done the same thing.
More than a decade ago, the alphabet was changed from Cyrillic to Roman. In other words, it looked sort of Russian before and now the letters look mostly like our alphabet. As a result, the pensioners going the ATM's to get their monthly allotment can't read the new alphabet and don't know how to work the ATM.
So they give their card to strangers (like me), along with their PINs and have the stranger get their monthly allotment out of the ATM for them. I have heard of no old person getting ripped off or even being warned not to do this.
-----------------------
I have lost count of the number of times people have stopped me to offer me their condolences on the death of Michael Jackson. I did not suspect when I came here that anyone would know who he is. The music is different here, they are not down with androgyny and take a very dim view of anyone accused of molesting children. But he was a very big star here among all generations.
In Tibilisi, Georgia, there were large billboards mourning his death and offering condolences to Americans. I don't know what to say, so I mostly say "thank you."
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Hot Weather
All over America gardeners fuss with their roses, adding things to the soil, spraying them for bugs and pruning them. Here in Azerbaijan, the roses are absolutely gorgeous, climb all over buildings and look super-healthy with a lot more flowers per plant than in US.
Yet the soil is supposedly poor here and the roses mostly grow wild, with no one watering, spraying or fertilizing them.
-----------------------
In Azerbaijan, most living rooms, which are called “guest rooms” here, have an elaborate chandelier, with sockets for many bulbs. One of the first things the volunteers noticed when we arrived is that many times there is only one bulb in the sockets, sometimes two and if the family is really extravagant, three bulbs. Electricity is considered to be expensive, little reading is done and no one seems to mind.
It is the end of June as I write this and today is the first day the air conditioning has been turned on in my office. It is a little warmer here than in St. Louis, so it is a welcome blast of air. We do have windows that open and I am in an old brick building that is naturally more cool than a wooden building. The vast majority of homes have no air conditioning, but most have at least one fan. My family has told me that fans are unhealthy (not an unusual attitude here) so they don't use one. I can buy one for my room if I want to.
Just as in Azeri homes, there is a marked lack of clutter in Azeri offices. People don’t have files in their desks (except for me), so there is no need for a file drawer ( I have a cardboard box under my drawerless desk which holds my files. ) The company’s records are kept in some binders in a bookcase.
Customers in my micro-finance institution have one file each, which is not actually in a traditional manila folder. I have not seen any of those here. There are about 7 phones for 40 or so people, but many have personal cell phones. If you want to make a call on one of the 7 phones you call the operator, who places it for you.
At work, we have a bathroom in our courtyard and also a kitchen, featuring a sink, 2 hotplates and some water. No refrigerator. All of the US office wars about who keeps what nasty food for weeks in the fridge are not a problem here. And I have not seen an ice cube tray or ice cubes here. Cold water is thought to be unhealthy. Ice cream is sold only in hot weather, as it is thought that eating ice cream in cool or cold weather will make a person sick.
Yet the soil is supposedly poor here and the roses mostly grow wild, with no one watering, spraying or fertilizing them.
-----------------------
In Azerbaijan, most living rooms, which are called “guest rooms” here, have an elaborate chandelier, with sockets for many bulbs. One of the first things the volunteers noticed when we arrived is that many times there is only one bulb in the sockets, sometimes two and if the family is really extravagant, three bulbs. Electricity is considered to be expensive, little reading is done and no one seems to mind.
It is the end of June as I write this and today is the first day the air conditioning has been turned on in my office. It is a little warmer here than in St. Louis, so it is a welcome blast of air. We do have windows that open and I am in an old brick building that is naturally more cool than a wooden building. The vast majority of homes have no air conditioning, but most have at least one fan. My family has told me that fans are unhealthy (not an unusual attitude here) so they don't use one. I can buy one for my room if I want to.
Just as in Azeri homes, there is a marked lack of clutter in Azeri offices. People don’t have files in their desks (except for me), so there is no need for a file drawer ( I have a cardboard box under my drawerless desk which holds my files. ) The company’s records are kept in some binders in a bookcase.
Customers in my micro-finance institution have one file each, which is not actually in a traditional manila folder. I have not seen any of those here. There are about 7 phones for 40 or so people, but many have personal cell phones. If you want to make a call on one of the 7 phones you call the operator, who places it for you.
At work, we have a bathroom in our courtyard and also a kitchen, featuring a sink, 2 hotplates and some water. No refrigerator. All of the US office wars about who keeps what nasty food for weeks in the fridge are not a problem here. And I have not seen an ice cube tray or ice cubes here. Cold water is thought to be unhealthy. Ice cream is sold only in hot weather, as it is thought that eating ice cream in cool or cold weather will make a person sick.
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