Fresh eyes

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First, the apartment. It took a couple of days but I have come to my senses and started to settle in. The apartment isn't that bad--it was a shock, but it isn't that bad. I realized that most of the knickknacks left behind were intended to add to the décor. The wallpaper is actually new, and the place has just been painted. Few staff live in palaces, or have tasteful furniture. The apartment we saw in April was an exception, and it wasn't downtown. One administrator gave up trying to get the school to move all the extra furniture from her apartment. It isn’t that they don’t care, it just isn’t a priority; it shouldn’t matter. The furnishings are not the reason we are here. Not that we will give up trying to make it more liveable...here are some of the chairs we really need to get rid of, with wallpaper behind. Not shown: two 6' long credenzas. Make the school a lovely, comfortable place—that is a priority. Fair enough. And as for shopping convenience, Baku ain’t Beirut or, obviously, the US.  Small neighborhood stores (say, 8 X 15’) are the norm, and serve a surprisingly large area. Tiny vegetable stands on the sidewalk ditto. (I think they retreat to stairwells in the winter). Probably I will walk 15 minutes to one larger store and could take the bus back from it. Occasionally a two-bus trip will get me to a Russian products store that is more reasonable and has a wider selection. The Indian-owned supermarket 20 minutes’ walk down the Bulvar (= Boulevard, Corniche, seaside) turns out to not be really worth the effort. But it wouldn't matter what part of town we are in--shopping options are largely the same.

Here is one early effort at easing the trauma of the onslaught of garish design--flip the bedspread over.

Baku! Fascinating place. Many, many massive administrative buildings and museums—think Washington, D.C. or even Rome in design. An utterly charming walled old city, UNESCO heritage site. In fact we walk through the old city to get the Metro (subway), about 10 minutes away. Contrasting with the classical, sedate and often ornate public buildings are dramatic modern high rises. Three shaped like flames jut into the sky from the hill behind where we live, making great landmarks. Much construction: dismantling or refurbishing of old, building of new, in both classic and modern styles. Small parks and fountains abound.

Old style building with modern behind, above, and from closer up, below.

Corner where we catch the bus

And below, Tom in front of our building.

There is a W O N D E R F U L story about the parks! It is surprising to realize that this place is essentially a desert. In the 1860s/70s when British oil executives found themselves pining for England’s greenery, they hit on a plan: tankers carrying oil were levied a special tax, payable if they returned empty, but waived if they returned with cargos of soil and saplings! Brilliant. And a canal was dug from the Russian border (300+  miles!) to bring water to care for them. And voila, the many parks of Baku, almost every one of which has a fountain.

The guide book says that at least one of the filling stations in the city dispenses not gasoline, but water.

A fountain in front of the old city walls

Other fascinating notes: GDP has grown 1000% in the last decade.  95% of the economy is based on oil and gas. At one time, Azerbaijan once provided 50% of the world’s oil. Though the end of the oil reserve is in sight, natural gas was recently discovered. Oil and gas have produced an attractive, somewhat cosmopolitan city. Surprising, no Starbucks as yet.

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For the record, it was about 17 hours of flying from Seattle,  34 hours door to door due to long layover in NY.

Tom navigated us to a large covered market. We started out at our local subway stop, which sports a glass pyramid that is positively Lourvre-esque, and walked many blocks. At the market (sorry no pix) the smell of fresh dill and peaches waft over. Also warm meat, but we won’t dwell on that here.


----more to come