Happy St. Patrick's Day

Who would have ever thought that an invite to a St. Patrick's Day function would come with the note..."Black Tie, Suit, Formal"? Not me that's for sure. We found out about the St. Patrick's Day funk-she-on....to be held in the Guba Ballroom at the Hyatt while grocery shopping at the end of February. It came highly recommended by friends as the best of the Baku expat parties, bar none.....well, bar open like all the rest of them I actually.

John looked into getting us tickets....which he got....and then he forwarded the email with all the details. The "black tie formal" thing freaked me out more than a little. Why were we being asked to get all gussied up to drink green beer and eat corned beef and cabbage? I don't think I've ever dressed up for St. Pat's in anything more fancy than a "Kiss Me I'm Irish" tee shirt accessorized with a glitter covered bowler. I hadn't bargained on any more fancy parties following the Robbie Burns supper back in January. I thought I was going to get out of Dodge without having to dress up again. I am starting to get really sick of those black palazzo pants.

So, the big do wasn't exactly on St.Patrick's Day. It was on March 7th since everyone was going to be vacating Baku for spring break. Thank goodness for that! I figured that would take care of the requirement to wear green because it wasn't really St. Patrick's Day. In the end, I did find something to wear, got all dressed up and the whole thing was much better than I expected. A quick check of the seating chart let us know that we were sitting with the band.....this time a quintet of guys flown in from Ireland just for this. We exchanged cards and an "If you're ever in the area." Filling out the remaining spots in our group was a contingent of Norwegians who made me explain why St. Patrick was held in such high esteem by the Irish. And, I kid you not....me...this Irish Catholic girl who graduated from St. Patrick's High School and a Jesuit University.....came up with "It has something to do with some snakes." I thought I did much better with my explanation of a Leprechaun......"A cross between and elf and a troll." The Norwegians understood "troll".

Well, there wasn't a green beer in sight and the meal was beef tenderloin followed by chocolate mousse. This travesty, though delicious, was mitigated by the large bottle of Bailey's on every table. The Norwegians were good and fun company. They even shamed me into dancing. And as always we won something in the raffles....no trips this time, though. I now have my very own hurling stick and ball.

Jutland, Jutland, Jutland

So, it's official. We are moving to Denmark. The notice on the house has been given for the end of this month, and the movers have been here to do their estimates. John is going to Copenhagen on Thursday and Friday to meet with his boss-to-be, and I guess I'm supposed to be starting the sorting and tossing process any time now. Probably should have started that last week but.....I was having a hard time getting my head around picking up stakes after only a year. So, I have to admit I was dragging my heels. It isn't that I don't want to move to Denmark, it's just that I'm not totally in the mood to move anywhere yet. I was rather enjoying being hunkered down with my books and my freezer full of Alberta beef. I haven't read a quarter of the books yet, but we are making a concerted effort to get through the beef before we go. (I will confess to buying a chicken last week to break the monotony of rib eyes, though.)

Today I made a list of things to think about doing before the big day. The big day is the 30th of March, our planned departure from Baku. The movers said they could be here to pack and load on the weekend of the 28th and 29th, so that's what we'll do. My visa expires on April 2nd, so I have to be gone by then unless I want to spend the money to renew it. And even more important than the money, the upcoming Novruz holidays means that getting a new visa, even on the fast track, is going to take too long. I don't want to have my passport out of my hands for a couple of weeks. I wish Canada would do what Britain does and allow you to have an extra one. Sure would come in handy when you have to hand it over to a foreign government.

Anyway, I seem to have way too many clothes here so I want to cull the dregs out of the wardrobes, and maybe some of John's dregs, too.....if I can get him to give something up. I have to separate our things from those of the landlord, and then put our things into some sort of order so I won't have a mess on my hands at the other end. I also need to decide what's coming with us and what can go on the truck. Oh....and I can't forget to call British Midland to get the lowdown on transiting Kenai through Heathrow. They HAVE to have a place to kennel dogs overnight.....I sure hope so! If we can overnight in London, we can get the direct flight to Halifax which makes the whole dog importing business a whole lot easier. I dread the thought of having to fly all the way to Toronto, only to pick him up for customs clearance, give him just a hug, and then put him right back on a plane for Halifax. The flying time will be hours longer. So, add to the list that phone call and getting his health certificate from the vet here. I need to find one!

John is planning a dinner with all of the folks from the office for next week and there are some friends we want to see before we leave. I am getting some prints made of photos taken by a famous Baku photographer (who looks and awful lot like Bono). I wish I had time to get them, and about a dozen other things I had planned, framed before we go. Framing is so cheap in Baku. But I have a feeling that isn't going to get done. Since we are going to one of the most expensive places to live, I'm trying to think of what I'm going to need and don't have with me here. I saw a salad spinner at Master Tibot's last month for about $15 so I'm adding that as a necessity. Mine is in storage in Houston.

I think John and I are going to Copenhagen next week to look for a place to live. We had tickets for tonight but we just didn't have a chance to get things set up to go. The decision not to go was made this afternoon, so I'm glad I didn't waste time packing. And I'm glad I'll be in bed at 3:00 am tonight instead of driving to the airport. Tomorrow, I'm going to spend some time going over the offerings on that website of rentals he sent me today. It only took a glance to see that I am going to be downsizing considerably....which is okay considering there ain't gonna be no maid with this house.

Speaking of which....our new one starts tomorrow. Does that not say something about my ironing? John insisted we replace Lena when she quit working. I've been trying to keep up with the shirts and the pants (drawing the line at underwear and night clothes). Anyway, I can't hold a candle to Lena's abilities with laundry...and so I am to be replaced.

I miss Lena a lot. She was here every Tuesday and Friday and it was nice to have someone else in this great big house besides just me. Sadly her health situation isn't good and understandably she stopped coming a few weeks ago. She was here on a Friday, and when I woke up the following Tuesday the house was too quiet. I knew then that she wasn't coming back.....and we've since found out that her cancer is much more advanced than they originally thought. Instead of stage two, it's stage four. A bone scan revealed that it had spread to her leg. Apparently surgery is out and she began her chemotherapy treatments last week. It sounds like they are doing the same things they do back home but I can't say for sure. Her daughter told us she is to get one treatment every three weeks for six months. It doesn't sound good but I'm hoping for the best. I have to check with her daughter this week to see if she is up to some company. I have to say good bye before we leave.

Oh...I don't like the way that sounds.....at all.

Okay, onto carpet shopping. We got one. Even though we have joined the ranks of the recently frugal......and for some strange reason I have started to view purchases in light of how much better use that money could be put. Maybe it was the CNN item I watched the other week about the woman in India who lost her job, and had to tell her kids that they couldn't go back to their public school because she couldn't pay the $3 fee that the school required. For some reason that little item, just made all of "this" which includes 21 handbags, 46 pairs of shoes, and 9 pairs of jeans that don't fit because I eat too much seem really really shameful. I wanted 3 carpets but I only bought one. But I'm not fooling myself either, when I get within 100 feet of Macy's again.....I'll totally forget how many pairs of shoes I have. I just know I will.

I Think There Is A Pickled Herring In My Future

Just when I thought I was actually going to learn a foreign language, John comes homes and tells me that I might not be studying the foreign language I really need after all. He's been offered a transfer to Denmark, and should all the details fall into place, and we be blowin' this pop stand in a few weeks. I will have just gotten through the Russian alphabet in time!

I'm still going to be proud of the fact that I know what the letter that looks like a lollipop sounds like...."fuh".....all the while that I'm wondering what those two dots on top of the "o" in "kroner" mean. So, I haven't begun to pack yet or think about it too much. I did go online and find a quaint little abode that probably won't be available for rent when we get there, and I checked on importing Kenai. Thank goodness, Denmark isn't as bad as some countries but he has to go back to Canada for a few months before he can enter. From Azerbaijan he has to go through the blood test thing (he finally gets to use his microchip) but the wait following the test is only three months instead of six. Better he wait out his time at home. If he were coming direct from Canada he could come without delay but he gets a wee vacation instead.

Preliminary ideas....can't say plans yet....too early....have us leaving here in a few weeks. We'll get movers to come in and pack and load everything into a shipping container and when John goes to Copenhagen, I'll head to Halifax with the dog. From there, I know nothing.

Head spinning will commence next week. This week is dedicated to searching the internet for information, reading Twilight, cooking as much of the perishable food as I can, and generally taking it easy. This hanging in the limbo between "this is what's happening" and "this is actually happening!" is like this. Can't do a thing until everything is signed, sealed and fed exed....so more tea and carrot cake will do for now.

Oh! And I have a crap load of things I want to take pictures of and haven't done so yet. Time to begin a tentative list I suppose.

I Can Haz Coffees and Cornbread!

I first heard that there was new coffee shop in town from another blog. I learned from that blog that this new place was pretty close to being a Starbucks and it had WiFi.....no clue as to its name, its neighborhood, or anything else that might help me find it in this concrete jungle of three million tea drinkers. But before I went home for Christmas, Barbara happened to mention that there was a new cafe called "Baku Roasting Company" that she'd been to, and that we'd have to try it once we were both back on town.

Could this be the same place? Her description sure made it sound like it was....something HUGE to look forward to when I got back. Not only did this new place serve lattes and cappucinos, it served just plain regular coffee in nice tall take away cups, if you wanted to take it away. This could mean we wouldn't have to drive all the way to the Gangeliek McDonald's to get one of their wee cappucinos to take in the car. I've been getting two of those wee caps per visit to "McDrav" because the first one is usually gone before we get beyond the roundabout across from it. Maybe those stainless car mugs I got for Christmas could be retired and the few remaining Folgers Singles that I had left could be saved for a rainy driver-less day.

John, being the resourceful type, googled "Baku Roasting Company", found their Facebook page and got the address...a little detail he kept from me when we set out this weekend to find it. I thought we were in for this great Saturday adventure, combing the streets in the Narimanov district for the illusive nectar. So, like an idiot I am disagreeing with him at every turn when he already knows where it is. Alrighty, then.....

We found it, and it's relatively close to our house. Not walking distance close but before you get to the really snarled up traffic close. It probably takes less than 10 minutes to drive there. The hype was deserved. The coffee was so good. Just what I've been craving since I left Halifax in January. Sometimes it doesn't take much...

This week we've started to learn Russian which is easier, despite the wonky Cyrillic alphabet, to learn. I seem to be able to pick up the words in speech better. Too bad I can't retain anything thanks to moderate old age. I've got bang on pronunciation, though.....of the three words that I do I remember. John remembers the words better, but he doesn't quite hear them way the rest of the world does. I figure between the two of us we should be able to get by. Symbiosis is the foundation of many a great relationship.

Hopefully, the Russian lingo isn't all for naught. I think we are barely hanging on by a thread here and the discovery of the new and most favored coffee shop will likely hasten our departure.....in the sense that this is the way these things always go, right? If we are leaving Baku, and where we are going, is still up in the air. I have a feeling we should have a decision of sorts by the end of the month.

For this reason, the pictures are still lined up on the floor along the walls they were supposed to have been hung on a long time ago. I found out that DHL doesn't have a flat rate box from Canada, ***why am I not surprised** and therefore I have to trust my goods to Canada Post. Can I do that with everything up in the air? I'm not sure. I would hate for my best jeans to be following me around the world, always a few months behind. And those best jeans are supposed to be too big for me in a few months anyway!

****Stuffs another handful of potato chips into her mouth.****

Saturdays are turning out to be grocery days and we've settled on the Citi Mart on Semed Vergun as the best place to go. It's not cheap, but it has pretty much everything we need and lots of things that we can't get other places....like celery. That exclusivity allows them to charge eleven manat (about $14USD) but every once in a while ants on a log are just so worth it.

I've had this huge taste for corn bread that won't go away, so this weeks goal was to find corn meal. Earlier attempts to locate some have been futile but one of the joys of Citi Mart is the ever changing stock....the "now you see it, now you don't" aspect isn't always fun...(I really really want the croissants back!)....but maybe this week they would have corn meal.

Well.....I didn't see corn meal....but I spied "Organic Polenta" which sure as hell looked like cornmeal. I tossed a bag in my cart but as I started to walk away something made me turn back to look at the shelf for the price. It was fourteen manat....that bag of polenta was very gently replaced on the shelf for another week. This weeks big ticket item was celery. Next week, I'd get the corn meal.

Yesterday, I had Ali take me to Citi Mart again. This time to get some baking supplies. If I couldn't have cornbread I could have carrot cake, banana muffins, and sugar cookies. I really think there is something to that business about eating the thing that you want the most and thereby saving all the calories from the "also rans". Anyway, I'm pushing my little cart down the little aisles and I round the corner where the baking supplies are. Across the aisle is rice in a hundred different varieties, and what else did I see? Clear bags with Russian labels that looked and a lot like cornmeal....for 1.60 manats. I searched the label for any English at all but could find none, just the two words "corn grats".....close enough....."grits"...."grats"...."meal".....whatever. They can keep their fancy "polenta"....I'll take the "grats" thank you very much.

Another Week Alone

John left for Kazakhstan a little while ago. He says he will be going over there pretty much every other week for the foreseeable future (the reason we are starting Russian language lessons on the 10th) and he gets to fly in one of these really cool planes! That's him closest to the camera....looks thrilled, eh?



I just looked over at the coffee table and the noise canceling headphones I gave him for Christmas are still sitting there. I have a feeling he might miss them on this flight.

This is his second trip since Christmas, his first being about twelve hours after I got back here from Canada. It was kind of a nice welcome home surprise, but I guess I was lucky....he had to do some fancy flight wrangling to not be already gone when I arrived.

I've begun a list of all the things I want included in my next DHL care package from home. Stupid me left my two favorite pairs of pants in the dryer back home, so I might as well throw in some more things to fill up that flat rate box. I can't get the Folger's Singles that I am going to run out of next month since I haven't seen them for sale in Nova Scotia, but I'm going to get the textbook for my summer class, some brown gravy mix, Costco canned chicken, Red Rose tea bags, the rest of my afghan yarn, and a few large boxes of Milk Bones....so far. I can send up to 55 lbs in this pretty good sized box. Maybe I should get my good Nikon sent over so I'll have it for our vacation.

John took part in the Azerbaijan Open Golf Tournament in Dubai in December. The Azerbaijan Open is held in Dubai because there are no golf courses in Azerbaijan. Lucky him won 2 round trip air tickets to anywhere in Europe and after much humming and hawing we have decided to fly to Frankfurt. From there we plan to rent a car and drive to Austria where we'll spend a week touring around, and getting touch with our inner Von Trapp. We might even go to Prague. Our plans are still sketchy at the moment but we have a week and I think we should be able to do it.

So this trip will be it until we go home in late June. I have to make it in Baku for 6 months, which I didn't really think was going to be all that tough until I found out about John being away every second week, and friends here began expressing sympathy.....extending invitations to girls weekends out in Istanbul.

I'll make it. I know I will and I'll have a new afghan to show for it. I'll be must better read, too, since I loaded my bags with books this time....plus one New York Times Crossword Puzzle Book. I have still one more set of Clay concert photos from 2007 to edit, and all of my film negatives with me to scan into digital files. My class this term isn't turning out to be much of a challenge other than the fact that I have to find someone here to proctor my midterm and my final. I'm going to try the principal at the international school but if that doesn't work out there are a ton of universities here, full of people who won't object to making a few extra manat. Explaining what I want and actually pulling it off will be the hard part. I have to get going on these arrangements soon.

Lena was here today and left about noon, before she left she passed on some very bad news. She has a breast tumor.....the "C" word being taboo in these parts. I have a bad feeling that such a diagnosis could be a death sentence here. I also have a bad feeling that early diagnosis isn't the norm here, either. Her eyes were puffy and she told me she had been crying all day yesterday. It was obvious she is very worried. Tomorrow she has another doctor's appointment and she will find out more about her treatment, but she did say she needs an operation....or in her words "cut". After she left, I had to call John to translate some of her Russian words for me, as she didn't know all of the English words to describe what she had. John asked Ali, and Ali explained what she meant, though I had at least gotten the general idea. I tried to ask her about medicines or other treatments in addition to surgery and she nodded, but I don't think that means very much.

She is worried about herself, but I think she is worried about how she is going to pay for it. It kind of mindboggles me that a country that was once part of the Soviet Union doesn't have universal health care but apparently it doesn't. Lena said the operation would cost about $2500.....a bargain by American standards but a fortune when you make $600 a month. I don't know how it all works exactly but my understanding is that doctors do get paid by the government but the pay is small and patients are expected to kick in the rest (or the bulk) of the cost. Ali told me it cost him about $500 for his wife's prenatal care and their baby's delivery. And that's pretty much all I know about paying for health care in Baku. Do they bill? Do you have to pay up front? Are there ways to work around the system?

I'll try to talk to her on Friday when she comes back, and maybe if it's okay with her, I can call her daughter to get some more details about what they are going to to do and what is available to her. I wish I felt more optimistic, but I just watched a very sad woman walk out of my gate to her bus stop.

One Ringy Dingy

I never bother to pick up the house phone when it rings since no one calling that number can speak English. There doesn't seem to be much point. I used to answer it but what ensued was just a back and forth of "Hello?" Allo. Hello? Allo. When I drop my "h's" and it becomes a volley of "Allos" I hang up. Most of the time, I find out who wants me when the line goes dead the next day....it's always the phone company wanting payment of my "debt."

Yesterday, it rang while I was downstairs. I thought about going upstairs to play a little game of Hello-Allo, because the caller was letting it ring forever, but I stayed in the kitchen with my book. This morning it rang again, and since I was right next to it, and the dog began to bark like it was an important call he was expecting, I answered it.

A few "Allo's" followed by a lot of "blah-blah-bah" in Azeri then me with a few "Sorry. English?" Then the inevitable switch to Russian followed by some more "Sorry. English?" from me. All the while the dog is barking his head off in the immediate background and I'm grateful my non-English speaking caller doesn't understand the words, "SHUT UP!!!" which are meant for the dog whose English isn't all that great either. I gave up and hung up but he called right back. More "blah blah blah" but there was someone in the background he was talking to this time. It seemed like it was really important that he communicate to me whatever it was he had to communicate but he and the other guy were laughing, so I laughed too at the whole situation. He eventually hung up on me because the Russian wasn't working either.

A few minutes pass and the phone rings again. I'm pretty sure now that this isn't the phone company calling about my "debt." This has to be a couple of guys who have figured out that they can say anything to the illiterate ditz on the other end of the line because she hasn't a clue. Just as I'm thinking about slamming the phone down, he gets out two words "telephoney money." It was the telephone company and these guys must have called around the office until they found someone who could give them two useful words in English. "Ah," says I......okay. Okay? Okay. The universal symbol of understanding.....except here it doesn't really mean that. It's actually the universal symbol of "I am pretending to understand you, so you will go away and leave me alone."

I think the sheep slaughter guy at the end of the street is branching out. Ali and I drove buy on our way to the grocery store today and there was a flock of about 8 turkeys standing just outside his hut/facility/home/meat-packing plant. I sat bolt upright in my seat and shouted, "TURKEYS!!" Ali, responds with a "Huh?" He has turkeys! Ali thinks the name turkeys is hilarious. "Like the country?" he asks. Yeps, like the country. I began to get wonderful visions of a delicious turkey dinner this weekend.

He tells me the call them "India Birds" Like the country. He also tells me they sell for around $18 a kilo. (So, the $99 frozen Butterball I saw at City Mart the other day was a bargain after all.) My chances of a turkey dinner are fading fast. But then Ali tells me he's going to stop at the guy's place and see how much of a deal he can get me on a turkey. OY! If he gets me a good deal is it kosher....er....maybe that should be "halal" to tell him I don't want the head, the feet, or anything that remotely resembles entrails to come with it? Can I send down my own plastic bag to bring it home in? Will he promise not to hang my turkey by the side of the dusty road until we come for it? Maybe I had enough turkey over the holidays.
I hope he gets rid of them before John get's back and see his favorite meal just waiting to be de-feathered for him. I think I will become a vegetarian as soon as my freezer full of Canadian beef is empty.
I haven't posted any pictures in a while......

A Corner of the Ministry Building Constructed by German POW's



Sunday Shopping



The Caravansarai in Sheki

Round Trip Ticket

I got back on Sunday night after 12 hours of being squished into to the middle seat in the middle section of the plane because the, now fired, travel agent didn’t bother to book the seats when she booked the flights. I guess she figured we would do better making a run for it during the boarding call. Unfortunately, we were still downstairs trying to get the paper ticket/e-ticket business straightened out when that first boarding call came. That being the case, there would have been no chance to lunge for a first class seat if that was the way it was done on Air Canada For some reason we had paper tickets for the Baku-London-Baku portion of this trip and pieces of printer paper with an incorrect booking reference number for the London-Halifax-London part. I am still mystified, but since we somehow had double reservations without seats….I kid you not….one of them turned out to be good, even though the reservation had never been ticketed.

It’s taken me some time to be able to complain about the abysmal service we’ve been getting from the travel agent. Despite all of wrong numbers, missing numbers, and middle seats, we’ve always managed to get where we were going when we were supposed to get there.

I, on the other hand, pulled a doozey this time around and have been keeping silent on the ineptitude of flight bookers in Baku. Carolyn and I flew into Halifax on the 8^th following an overnight in London. (Go see Les Miserables if you haven’t already…..put it on the list of ten things to do before you cash in your chips. It’s THAT good!) We were supposed to have a day and a half in Halifax and then travel to Houston to pick up the car. There was a wee problem with that plan since we arrived at the airport in Halifax on the 10^th to discover that I had booked the tickets for the 9^th, and not the 10^th. Who knew? Certainly not me! I had no idea we were supposed to be there the day before. I never MEANT to book the tickets for the 9^th. I blame my scroll wheel and am now fine with criticizing the travel agent.

In my case, perhaps booking travel should not be attempted at home without supervision……or at least without reading ones confirmation email before the day AFTER one’s departure date.

I felt bad for Carolyn who thought she was going on another little holiday and was left waiting at the altar of Continental Check-In. She told me that if her Dad was there we’d be going but I tend to think we’d be going to jail, instead.

Anyway, I just got back on Sunday like I said and I’m already working on reservations to go back at the end of September……which has sort of led to a new diversion….combing websites dedicated to maximizing those airline mileage points. I found two bonus mileage offers that I can use and weren’t sent to me by the airline or the hotel chain that is offering them….unless of course I forgot to open those emails, too. But I’m not going to think about that right now. My wounds are still a little too fresh.

Last night, we had dinner downtown and on the way home stopped into Kamran Market in search of vodka and caviar. The woman who manages the liquor wall was there to greet me with a smile of recognition, as she speaks no English. You know, you don’t really begin to feel at home until you’re missed at the corner store. A little while later I was over at the dairy counter trying to guess whether or not a particular container held cottage cheese, sour cream, or some unknown white milky substance....I heard liquor wall lady ask John where Carolyn was….not in so many words but I got the idea from the sign language. Very sweet...but why does she remember Carolyn so well? We explained that she was in Canada, got a nod of recognition, then an “America?” I guess that’s close enough.

Now, shouldn’t Russia and Azerbaijan be close enough together that the caviar labeled Russian and the caviar labeled Azerbaijan, in identical jars with identical lids be closer in price than 70 manat and 2 manat? For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why the difference in price, but then I never did come to a definite conclusion on what was in the white plastic container of sour cream/cottage cheese/ white milky substance, either.

Our shipment arrived while I was gone. I have Kraft Dinner and my pots and my pans, and the Nikon camera…which was never supposed to be in there in the first place. Everything seems to be here and only a few inconsequential things were broken. There is enough wrinkled clothing to keep Lena ironing until the sheep come home.

The gazebo still isn’t finished but gazebo master still shows up every now and again to do some work. Right now, he is building an outdoor kitchen in one corner of it. The main part still needs some finishing touches but starting that outdoor kitchen was a plus. I was all set to move until I saw that going in....a built in gas barbecue in a land where there are none…..nothing to sneeze at. I fear that my gazebo has become a casualty of the Russian-Georgian conflict.I’ve been told the landlord is up in his native Georgia and therefore gazebo master isn’t getting paid. When he isn’t getting paid, he doesn’t tend to show up for work.

Everything seems business as usual in Baku. No one seems too concerned about the goings-on between our neighbors to the north but I do wish we had gone to Tblisi in June like we had planned. It doesn’t look like we will get there, now. We went here that weekend instead. Sheki……

We stayed here..which is a story in itself....

This is Carolyn and our lovely hostess, Arzu. She gets the gold medal for constant hovering...

No trip to Sheki is complete without a visit to the interactive museum....they encouraged us to climb on the antique carriages and sit on the furniture holding the antique weapons....

We checked out the handpainted interior of the Sheki Palace.....


It had beautiful stained glass windows....
Places to shop for the latest in fashion...
Household necessities...
And some absolutely beautiful scenery...
Breakfast under the trees on the way....

I'll keep this last on under wraps until the next post....