For our second anniversary we went to Sheki for the weekend. Sheki is a mountain town about an hour and a half away from here by bus… probably 45 minutes by taxi. It is nestled in the valley of two foothills of the Caucuses. We have been looking forward to visiting Sheki since we first heard we were coming to Azerbaijan.

When we got to the hotel, it was dark, cold and rainy. Since Sheki is a small mountain town, they often don’t have electricity or gas. This was one such night. Luckily the Caravanserai has a generator and they started that up when we got there! When we made our reservation we asked for the simple room. Getting to Sheki we realized that means there is no heat, so we upgraded to the deluxe. Well worth the extra money to have heat in our room if you ask me!



The Caravanserai is an old hotel that was used as a stop for the caravans of camels and goods on the silk route. It is an amazing place! It really felt like we were transported back in time.

There is another hotel in Sheki – the new hotel or Besh Ulduz (5 Stars) as the taxi drivers know it. We chose to stay in the Caravanserai because of the history and ambiance, but that didn’t stop us from eating every meal at Besh Ulduz! They have Americanish food. We ate very well during our anniversary weekend. My favorite was the creamy corn soup and I think Jesse’s favorite was the tomato soup. We also had cheeseburgers, club sandwiches, omelets, spring rolls, pizza and fried rice! Every meal we had in the restaurant, we ran into someone from America. The first night there were two men from the South who were traveling around the Caucus region. The next day we ran into a family of Americans who are working for BP in Baku. It’s weird to see Americans and overhear English conversations, since there are no other English speakers in Mingechevir.

On Saturday we went to the Khan Palace. We took the tour in Azerbaijani, so I’m not totally sure of the history of the palace, but I know one of the Khans built it and it’s very beautiful. Our vocabulary doesn’t quite include historical and artistic words quite yet. We couldn’t get anyone to give us an accurate date for when it was built, but such is life in Azerbaijan. There are amazing stained glass windows that are constructed with glass and wood frames, with no nails or anything. It was beautiful. All the walls inside the palace are intricately painted with wildlife and historical battles. The palace sits on a hill in an old walled part of town. It was very beautiful.

At lunch at the Besh Ulduz, we ran into Dwight and Joel. Dwight was studying her Azeri and Joel came to show us around town. We walked down to the bazaar, which I though wasn’t as cool as the bazaar in Mingechevir. Home town pride, you know? We also got to see Joel’s house, which has the most amazing view of the old walled city and over the city, past minarets to the other side of the valley. Sheki is what I imagined when we were told we were going to Eastern Europe. It’s an old city with cobbled streets and cultural significance. It was great.

We all met Dwight for dinner at Besh Ulduz and then went to Charlie’s house for poker with Jenny and Maria. Charlie is from the third group to come to Azerbaijan, Jenny and Maria are from the 4th. They had made popcorn balls and playing poker was fun.

Photos are: 1. The courtyard of the Caravanserai Hotel. 2. Our hotel room. (Mom, Steve, George and Debbie - You will LOVE IT!!!) 3. Me on our balcony. 4. A view of the Caucuses. 5. Jesse at the Khan Palace. 6. Me with the famous Wolf Man of Sheki. This guy walks around with his stuffed wolf and will light up the eyes and take a picture for a donation. 7. Joel and Jesse walking down a cobbled hill.

Mystery Produce!!

Azerbaijan is the land of interesting produce... Here are some examples.

Not produce, but a pretty purple flower in front of an outhouse at an IDP (Internally Displaced People) camp in Barda. I thought it was pretty. The flower, not the outhouse.
The cabbage here is HUGE. I mean really, really huge! It puts the word "head" to shame, because it's the size of a yoga ball!
Persimmons are in season now. It's kind of disappointing, because I always think they are orange trees, but alas, they are persimmons. I like oranges better.
Speaking of orange... here's a crazy purple carrot held by the beautiful Mere who lives in Barda. Who ever heard of a purple carrot?!?
These are the true mysteries. We found the bumpy thing in a square in Mingechevir and picked it up. There are a bunch that fell from the tree. We are scared to eat it. The little thing is in abundance in the bazaar. It tastes familiar, but like a candy I've eaten.

If anyone can identify these fruits, you win!!! Please leave a comment if you know what they are!

Halloween Ziyafət!

We had our first experience with patience in Azerbaijan last week. Last Friday (the 26th) we spent hours and hours at Mike’s apartment helping him and his girlfriend Kate prepare for a Halloween party to be thrown the next day at School 3. It was really fun getting ready; we got to eat Kate’s spaghetti and Mike’s M&M cookies. We were making decorations, carving pumpkins, planning games and baking cookies until about 11pm. The next morning we went back to Mike’s to finish getting ready. Cindy and Bev came over and helped me peel grapes. Not an easy task. We hailed 2 cabs, loaded everything into them, and drove through rainy Mingechevir to School 3.

When we got there, Sevil, the teacher Kate knows at School 3 was talking to the director. We took everything back to the auditorium to set up. Sevil came back and told us we had to see the director. She informed us that it would be impossible for us to have the party that day. (This would have been no big deal to us, except that we gave up going to the Nar Festival to throw this party!! I was really looking forward to the Nar Fest; apparently last year they had a nar that weighed 2 kilos or something… that’s a big nar!) We planned to do the party on Monday morning. We learned we must be patient and learned that as Mike says, "The more you plan something, the more likely it will fall through." Such is life in Peace Corps, at lease in Azerbaijan.

On Monday we walked (again in the rain) back to School 3. We set everything up and about 30 kids came. Everything went really well! Jesse ran the pumpkin carving station, I helped out with the mask making, Mike led the gross out table (goo, peeled grapes, spaghetti, severed hot dog fingers), Kate played pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern. When all the kids had done every station, we had a pumpkin walk. All the kids got cookies and the winner got one of the carved jack-o-lanterns.

I was really impressed with the group of kids we had. We were told that creativity isn’t really encouraged in schools, but these kids were very creative! Some of the masks they made were amazing and artistic! They did a great job making unique jack-o-lanterns – one even had a moustache and uni-brow. Appropriate.

It was really neat to be part of a Peace Corps project! Even though it wasn’t our project and Kate isn’t even in Peace Corps (she lives in Ganja and is working on her masters degree), it was still good to see how parties work and it was fun to be involved in it.

Kate and Mike leading Pin the Nose...

Some of my favorite masks!

One of Jesse's jack o lantern groups with their finished project!

Six little Jack o Lanterns Sitting on a Stage...