Hi everyone! Finally I got to write my blog after 4 months in Baku, Azerbaijan. Pretty late to express the worst of culture shock, but I decided to start it for my friends and those who are interested what I'm doing here and what it is like to live in Azerbaijan.
I am a Master's student at Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Last spring when I was in the US on my Fulbright grant I decided I wanna go to grad school, so I applied for a bunch of schools in Europe. I got accepted to Dublin City University and ADA, Baku. On my way back to Siberia I was already thinking of repacking my luggage and applying for a Irish visa. But it turned out to be harder than that. The main problem was that I did not have any savings and could not afford going to Ireland. At the same period of time I successfully passed my interview to ADA and so I decided to go. My family was shocked. Dad said he would get a loan so that I could go to Ireland, but I said no. I suddenly remembered I had a friend in Baku, so I sent him a message on FB asking about Baku and ADA. He said: "Come visit Baku, stay for a couple of weeks and see if you like the city". By that time I already confirmed to the school I was arriving to Baku. The main reason he said that was most people either love this city passionately or hate it to the same extent. Now I know he was right.
Just before coming to Baku I translated for an international environmental project in Siberian taiga and had only couple days to pack my stuff and go to the airport. As my friend told me not to take warm clothes "because it is almost never below zero in Baku and I never wear a hat" I packed light and jumped on the plane. The flight was surprisingly fast and there was an ADA representative at the airport to pick me up. I got to the apartment to learn that I have two roommates from the Gambia and India and a quite a spacious room in a 15-storey compound in the city center. The weather was still hot, and one literally had to take shower 3 times a day. ADA turned out to be a small 3-storey building not far from our apartment but they were building a new big campus which they would open next year.
Life in Baku reminds me that of small towns in Russia where people stare at you without blinking just because you are a stranger. They may even come and start talking to you and usually it is complete non-sense from local guys who try to hit on you. At first we were really shocked: men whistling and teasing you in the streets, yelling from their cars, shouting "chocolatas" to my roommates. Total insanity. When I hung out alone I would also get a lot of attention, they would stare at me, say something or even stalk. Once I was stalked till my compound where the guy stopped and started masturbating in front of me. I freaked out and ran away, I was so scared. The next day when I told my classmates about this unpleasant accident they replied it never happens here. They also added that it is very typical of local men to stalk women and the latter even find it attractive. Out librarian told us that her husband had been stalking her for 2 months before he came up and started to talk to her. They say men do it to learn whether the girl is reputable and does not hang out with other guys. Anyways I do not appreciate stalking and usually try not to go alone after 9pm.
My classes have been pretty tough. There is so much homework to do that we, both internationals and locals, do not have any time to hang out in the city. My usual schedule is: wake up-->homework-->ADA-->home-->homework-->bed-->repeat. I do not even remember myself being so stressed at Wheaton, the US. I knew the academic life at ADA was pretty similar to the American system, but it is much harder here. They are no electives this semester, and all internationals have to keep their GPA above 3.0 to stay on scholarship which makes us very competitive. We also have Career Management classes which are compulsory. They teach us how to write a CV and go through a mock interview, that's ok, but why on Earth make it compulsory?? They also ave employer sessions and last time there were 2 guys who did not even speak English! Those guys are not gonna hire me because I am not a national of this country and they speak Turkish, so why would I stay in class? All internationals just left the room.
However, not everything is sad in my Azerbaijani life. We figured that hospitality is the greatest peculiarity of Azeri people. Since we came here, we were invited to 3 families - two professors and a classmate's. Azeri people are the best hosts ever. I never saw so much care about guests. And local cuisine is amazing - lots of greenery, nuts, veggies and of course meat. Since I do not eat beef, I never got to try many of local dishes but there are also plenty of dishes with lamb and chicken. Shaurma and doner are our typical fastfood choices and student lunch at ADA.
I also got to visit few places outside Baku. Me and some of my international classmates went to Goycay to a Pomegranate Festival. Goycay is a small town 5 hours away from Baku. It is famous for several dozens types of pomegranates and for the festival they hold yearly in October. At first we felt like animals in a zoo because everyone stares at us and even came ask t take pictures with us. Some did not even ask, just took out their phones and took pictures. I felt like people in Goycay never saw foreigners before and probably will never see them again. We were given our countries' flags and made stand in the street for 2 hours while government officials and foreign ambassadors were arriving to the festival. I was also asked to give an interview to a local TV company. Once I finished the interview I turned and saw a bunch of Chinese people behind me, so now Azeris probably have a very different view of contemporary Russia! In fact because of my appearance most of locals think I am Chinese so they keep saying Nihao to me which makes mad at times. Once I even yelled at 2 guys and cursed them in Russian. I realized it is really good to know Russian when you travel to former Soviet countries. However, less and less youth in Azerbaijan speak Russian which is a pity. I heard one senior student saying that almost every youngster in Baku speaks English and could not resist from arguing with him. Few people do, and when shop assistants speak neither English not Russian this is where a life of a foreigner gets complicated. I guess there is a lot of dislike toward Russians and Russian language but who can argue many people from this country go search for better lives in Russia. I looked through migration statistics between the two countries: several dozen thousands of Azeris left for Russia in 2011 and only 700 Russians to Azerbaijan. And I am one of them! I believe Azeris need to learn Russian to have better chances for employment and travel. Russian is a UN language as well. Most middle-aged and elderly people do which makes my life a lot easier here. I started to go to Azeri classes but it will take ma a while to understand and speak the language properly.
Now I am preparing for my finals and it is just killing me. So my stuff to do... I am looking forward to enjoying winter break: going out, visiting international classmates, sightseeing, museums , etc. We have this nice tradition of international dinners that each of us hosts. We gather together, bring our national dishes, listen to music and dance. Vlad, the Ukrainian guy started a board games club at ADA so hopefully on winter break we get to play board games and UNO a lot, as well watching movies and just doing nothing. I was also thinking of going to Tbilisi because it is way more liberal and cheaper city.
Will be posting soon about my November trip to Gabala.
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