photo revelation and latest from Baku



One block from our apartment--they cost a dollar, and YUM

Well well well. Apologies to you dear reader. I have just figured out that I can upload full size photos here, thanks to superior internet capability I suppose. So you hopefully won't have to squint and use your imagination quite so much.

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wind tunnel street

It isn't windy every day, but when it is, the side street leading to the main thoroughfare becomes a veritable wind tunnel. Today I had to lean into it--felt like a 45 degree angle. Good thing I am not a skinny stick or I might have drifted hopelessly askew. 



building on the corner

The hair is limp straw in this climate, the skin cries out for emollients, which fortunately I have brought a healthy supply of (except that mostly it is in the boxes sent from Tacoma that haven't reached us yet). Also sunblock.

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"Our" subway station, the Old City

Each subway stop has its own few bars of identifying music, that let you know, rather pleasantly, which stop is coming up.

At our local station (see photo), new and dramatic escalators carry us surprisingly deep for being so close to the sea, and feature lights that alternate colors, to amuse us as we descend. Far more exciting are the older, Soviet built escalators, which move at a very rapid pace. At the bottom of each escalator, new or old, sits a matron in a booth.

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T and approaching train

Below, the Old City walls. Just beyond the walls on one side are a row of stores: Bulgari, Dior, Emporio Armani...  They face the "Bulvar" --the long park at the edge of the Sea.

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On Sunday we spent three hours trying to find the English-speaking church, held at the Baku International School (ed note: Tom's school is The International School of Azerbaijan).  There is no sign for the Baku Int'l School. Well-meaning souls directed us to three or four international schools (wow, there are lots!) around town. Two subway rides, one lasting more than 20 minutes, and--I've lost count but I think 7 bus rides, not to mention considerable walking in the 90+ degree heat, led us to an English speaking heroine (on the last bus), who walked us all over the neighborhood, quizzing shopkeepers, until we found the place, an anonymous looking door in a high wall. Sheesh.  The lady turned out to be Christian, perhaps that provided extra motivation, though her desire to aid us was undoubtedly genuine in any case. She invited us to her house for tea (we declined, exhausted). We invited her to come to church there the following week. Tom is going to check in to child care for her, and call her on Saturday.

One of the nearby fountains