The Novice Goes Carpet Shopping

If there is one single thing that I wanted to take from Baku when we left, it's a carpet. I'd say Persian carpet but, according to the Azeris, there is no such thing as a Persian carpet because there are 20 million Azeris in Iran.....and so all Persian carpets are really Azeri carpets.....even though I don't think they make all the carpets. Also, there are many different kinds of Azeri carpets depending on the fiber, the region it was made, or where the design originated. I think after a week of intense carpet shopping, I can identify a few of them by sight. It really impresses me that I managed to get beyond 'ooohing' and 'ahhhhhing' to actually absorb some of what I was told in the shops.

At first I thought I wanted a silk pile rug large enough for a dining room. This was going to be at the absolute top of my budget but would still cost a lot less than if I was to buy one at home. My first stop was here, at "The Flying Carpet"


I went with Barbara on that first day. She introduced me to Ruslan (the shop's owner) as an absolute carpet neophyte, and I got the full crash course on "Carpetology"...served, of course, with hot cups of tea. Each lesson was accompanied by a full spread of delicious colors and textures as Ruslan, rolled out one beautiful carpet after another. It didn't matter to Ruslan what kind of carpet I said I wanted in the beginning, he had to show all types because I was new and couldn't really know what I wanted until I saw many. He told me to be patient he would get to the large silk ones later.

In the end I left "The Flying Carpet" with 4 rugs, 2 for the floor and 2 wall hangings. No money exchanged hands. I was to take them home on a try out.

This wool Quba carpet is about 40 years old, all the dyes are natural but the only thing I remember is that the reds come from beet root and the outer layers of onions. Oh, the teal blues are made by oxidizing copper, and a lot of the other colors are from different flowers that the rug maker would have grown in her yard. It was my first choice of the First Day Four. John wasn't all that wild about it. He said, "Keep shopping." Like that would be a problem?


I also really liked this wall hanging, The Garden of Eden. It has a little silk in it and is the only one I brought home that has any silk in it at all. So much for initial intentions.


I thought John would like this one, but he didn't, so it went back too.


This is the 4th one from the first day shopping at Ruslan's. Once I got this one home, it took me about 2 minutes to decide I didn't want it.


We took the 3rd and the 4th ones back the next day. Hung out with Ruslan, had some more tea while he showed us the larger silk on silk carpets he had in the shop (kind of like a well lit dungeon surrounded with piles of cushions and colors...rolled carpets leaning against the stone walls. John really really liked this silk Tabriz one.....it wasn't as dark as this in real life and the picture doesn't do it justice at all. The shading on the silk pile....just like velvet. I don't think I drooled on it but if I did Ruslan was kind enough not to comment.


I really really liked it, too. But being as we are beginning a new How Can We Ever Afford To Live in Europe? frugality plan, the $1500 best price made us hesitate.....more shopping. I could get the Quba and The Garden of Eden for $600 for both.

I learned a lot about carpet shopping from Ruslan. Not everything I needed to know was about the carpets, there were some things I learned about carpet sellers as well. First of all, you will always be offered tea and asked to sit. Sometimes you get a nice place to sit and sometimes it isn't so nice.....like an antique (I am being generous here) settee that looks like it's about to collapse, or eat you, when you sit on it. Carpet sellers are charming people who have a very logical and philosophical approach to their trade. As Ruslan told me, he can't lose if I don't buy a particular carpet. He can sell that carpet to someone else. (Insert appropriately accented English here.) "No problem...I no lose." Now, me on the other hand, I can lose. I walk away without buying something I like and, since he can sell it to someone else....I can lose. So, naturally, my interests are his greatest concern because no harm can come to him, only poor vulnerable me. I must remember to apply this way of thinking to other things in my life, such as a new pair of boots.

The second most lethal weapon in the arsenal of a carpet seller (taking a back seat only to the carpets themselves) is this.....

The simple, innocuous, desktop calculator. The tool that helps new recruits like me get over that first initial haggling experience with some grace and dignity, especially in the presence of others whose sheer presence would be enough to make that first low ball offer strangle in your throat. Most of the time the "last price" isn't given first, though a couple of times it was (as in the case of the silk beauty up there). So, haggling is expected but this ain't a bag of cherries, there are emotional ties in the mix. And sometimes there are other customers in the store who you just KNOW are experts and KNOW how much you should expect to pay for the privilege of taking your treasured one home with you forever. The fear of looking stupid can be overpowering. It can make fainthearted shoppers like myself exit stage left when no one is looking. So, if you pause for a deep breath after...'How much are you willing to pay?'....the calculator will be passed so you can sheepishly enter your amount without uttering a word. The calculator will be passed back and forth with each party getting closer until everyone is happy, and nobody loses. I am kind of proud that I had to resort to the calculator for only my first time. Ever since then, I've managed to blurt out my counteroffers without hesitation. Ruslan said I learned quick.

After we left 'The Flying Carpet', Ali took us to another carpet place close to where he lives. Using our usual North American logic, we thought that if it was away from the "tourist section" of town, the prices might be even better. Unfortunately, this is the lobby. It is not attached to a hotel. But it had hotel lobby prices.


We were offered cognac instead of tea. Instead of dungeon like stone walls, the main showroom had the proportions of a ballroom.


It also had some absolutely gargantuan silk rugs....with matching price tags.


I am so glad they don't take credit cards!


I don't remember the name of this carpet shop, if I ever did know it at all. I'll never forget the Mercedes S-class parked by the front steps with a couple of young Russian mafia types in dark sunglasses sitting in the front seat. And I'll never forget what was behind these doors.


This was amazing to watch.


There were about 8 looms in this room with 4 women at each, bent over and hands flying as they worked. They work five days a week, 10 hours a day. A wool rug takes 6 to 7 months to complete and a silk one longer, 9 months to a year.


None of the women gave us more than a passing glance and I think they're used to the touring customers.


And then there was the dying room...


And the dyed silk just hanging there waiting for my fingers to play with it.


At this point everything was beginning to get fuzzy and I wished I had taken that cognac to steady my hands. Drooling, quivering people do not win the bargaining game for carpets....even though I was pretty sure if I so much as asked price in this fancy-schmancy carpet place John would clamp a hand over my mouth before I could get the chance to show off my new bartering skills. I wonder if those mafia types parked out front were the boys they sent out to collect the carpets sent out on approval that didn't make it back as promised. That's logical right? If you've got their rug, you've got to come back...and probably 99% of the time that works.

By now we had been shopping for 2 days. John decided he really needed to get back to the office, so Ali took him there and then drove me home. I rested up for the next time. We were going to Samir's.

To be continued......

A Day in the Burbs

Ali drove me to the international school to get something signed the other day and didn't I leave my camera home on the desk! Monday must be laundry day in Baku because almost all of the apartment balconies we passed were decorated with clothes. I have no idea how clothes hanging to dry over a dusty dirt road would be clean for very long, but I am making a point to go back that same way next Monday to get a picture. It wasn't an overly attractive thing, but it was perfect nonetheless. There are many examples of beautiful architecture in this city, and that's all well and good....but for some reason I am drawn to the square Soviet block apartments. They have nothing in particular to recommend them but they fascinate me, despite their downright ugliness. Just weird I guess.

Another thing that we passed on our way to the school was one of those old Soviet neighborhood heating plants. There were a couple of smoke stacks that drew my attention as we drove past this rusting abandoned plant. Ali told me it was for heat back in "Soviet Time". Apparently the Soviets heated entire neighborhoods of apartment blocks with one single boiler. It was hot water heating via wall rads and the heat was turned on in the middle of November and turned off in the middle of March. No one had a thermostat to control their own temperature, no one could turn the individual rads on or off....which is the same in our house. I always thought it was odd that the rads had no shut off valves. There are no thermostats, either. If I want heat I go outside to the mechanical room and turn the crank. If I want it off, I got outside and turn it back. Rudimentary system, but at least I have the control and not the Polit Bureau.

I did finally get around to taking a picture of the Dom Soviet this weekend. It was built by German P.O.W's during the second world war. This thing is huge (see the teeny tiny cars?) and has an enormous square in front. Back in "Soviet Time"....before 1991, it was the Soviet Ministry Building and I've heard it called just "the ministry." It's gorgeous when it's all lit up at night, so that's another photo I have to get before we leave here.



A few of weekends ago we decided to take the dog for a drive. We ended up on the north side of the Absheron Peninsula (Baku is on the south side). We only drove about 30 kilometers at the most but we passed what is supposed to someday be a neighborhood that looks like one in a western country. The plan on the website shows normal sized houses, with lawns, yards, and sidewalks, and no high walls separating one neighbor from another.

Right now it looks like this......



Across the road from the new development was a field with "badam" trees supporting a crop of grocery bags.



I think "badam" are hazelnuts (as per the hand signals accompanied by circuitous description and deduction between Ali and me). This is something he tried to explain to me a long time ago since we live in the area of the city known as Badamdar. But, as with most things, it took me a while to get it.

When we left Villa Badam, we followed the road further up the shore toward Sumqayit, the 3rd largest city in Azerbaijan. Here they make (or have at some point made)......stuff.....like synthetic rubber, fertilizers, aluminum, batteries, and caustic soda, in addition to various and sundry petrochemicals. The Soviets made lots of.....um....stuff.... there too, back in the day. I do believe it has come to the attention of WHO. I think I read somewhere that a nearby town is called "Polymer." No kidding!

What would a nice heavily industrialized, ecologically interesting town be without nearby beaches?


It's kind of universal how things just tend to go to pot over the winter, eh?



I'm really sorry I'm not going to be here in the summer and won't get the chance to change in one of these handy dandy cabanas. Or sip a few margaritas at the Marlboro Bar (which is supposed to be busy and rockin' in the summer with happy beach goers).....



Then again, the way our moves always get delayed and pushed back due to unforeseen circumstances, I might get that chance after all. I sure would like to know if I dipped a toe in the Caspian would my nail polish come off? Honestly, these folks have to be made of hardier stuff than I am.



Where is his hard hat? Where is his fall protection? What about his voltage absorbing gloves and shoes? Are there no industrial supply companies in Baku? I am sure you can get all of this stuff at Taza Bazaar! He could drop his wire cutters out of that basket onto the head of a passing pedestrian!

This electric company repairman held my fascination while John was in the Baku Roasting Company getting us a couple of lattes. That process takes about 15 minutes, with no line up, and in that time, this guy got his wires up and connected to the pole with nary a spark. He was down on the ground and safely back in his truck by the time my coffee was passed through the car window. I burnt my lips on it and suffered more injury than this guy with his death defying attitude toward electrocution. I'm amazed that this was a genuine electric company employee, and it makes me a little hesitant to report outages. Next time I need to call, I'm going to wait until the freezer full of Alberta beef is on its last few ice crystals. I'm not sure I could handle the guilt of sending someone up the power pole like that.

But if I did lose all that meat, I could take a little stroll down to the corner to get one of these guys.....except.....not!



Those sheep are grazing inside the concrete bunker for the power pole and these turkeys are left to wander along the sides of the road (mostly in the road). The number of turkeys is dwindling so I guess that they turned out to be a profitable investment for Buddy, the Green-Shack-Rancher-Butcher. Is it really necessary for every few streets to have an outdoor butcher shop? Go ahead, call me a "lamb hugger."


And just because it's free range poultry, doesn't necessarily mean it's good for you.

When I get to Denmark, I'll take some pictures of the happy Danish cows. They're supposed to be the happiest cows in the world....or maybe that's the people. Er....no, I don't mean the people are happy cows.....I mean the cows themselves are happy...really happy......like the people, who are the happiest people in the world. Danes are so freakin' happy, they are even happy to pay taxes. I discovered this little tidbit on a website for people moving to Denmark. WOW! There's obviously something way more interesting in their water than heavy metals!

If I find some Danish sheep I will photograph them, too. I bet the ewes will have pink bows and the rams, spit polished hooves. They won't graze inside concrete power pole bunkers, they'll romp in perfect green, government-maintained, meadows....under the watchful eyes of expensively groomed Sheep Dogs. Like this one.



He will look like this again when he gets to Denmark! I swear he will! (Even though he claims to have lost his passport and would prefer to stay here.....where there is a woeful lack of grooming parlors.)

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.