With the time left we will blog about our daily life and Azerbaijan culture. The pictures are from the International Museum Day on May 16, 2009 with the traditional Azerbaijan dress and musical instruments.
The name of the round drum is galval and the stringed instrument is a tar. The children were performing a traditional dance.
It is still very hot here with the temperature in the 90’s. We prepare a lot of ice each day because we cannot buy it anywhere. Azerbaijanis drink cool, but not ice cold drinks. There are many ice cream bars available, but you must eat quickly before they melt.
The washing of the carpets is done in hot weather. During the winter the carpets are beaten. Since we are nearing the end of summer, any water day there are many women washing their carpets outdoors. Our neighbors take the carpets and lay them outside on the sides of the streets, wet them, poor laundry detergent, on hands and knees scrub with a brush, then rinse and squeegee with a flat wooden piece at the end of a handle, repeating the rinsing and squeegee several times. The water comes from a hose and a lot of water runs down the street and into the courtyard. The wet carpets are then hung to dry on the clothes lines if sturdy or on the benches and playground equipment in the courtyard. Washing and drying the carpets take precedence over any other use of the courtyard. Every water day the past two weeks we see dozens of carpet washings while we walk.
With my deepest apologies to the 46% of the households in the world without running water (National Geographic, April, 2010) we think it is difficult having water every other day. In extremely hot or cold days we may only get a few hours of water on a water day. Because of where our apartment is situated and with reduced water pressure, our neighbors or other buildings may have water, and we do not. We keep the faucet on and wait, sometimes for small trickles, and sometimes a nice flow of water. This is to make a point. When we do not have water I envy those with water tanks, or those who are getting water when we are not. Then when we do not have water and I observe waste, I become resentful. This experience has made me realize what the third world must feel when they see abundance and even waste in developed countries.
Today is a market day for us. We generally buy something at a market daily due to lack of storage and freezer space. We once bought some unripe peaches, but stored them in the refrigerator because the dark and warmth helped them ripen. Anyway, it made us recall a woman named Lillian Garland who was in her eighties and would walk to the local grocery store about 2 blocks away almost every day. She would only buy what she could carry. Life is like that here in Shirvan. People buy what they can carry, and if they purchase more than that, a taxi is needed at a cost of 1 AZN ($1.25).
After visiting the United States my counterpart asked me why there were no small markets? Now the inventory of a small general market here is about like a 7/11 with better prices and some bulk items such as flour, cookies, and candy. They are important because of the carrying factor. We try to support a couple of local markets, and a larger “super market” in the bazaar. The super market has better prices, the prices are marked, a little variety, a shopping basket, I get to pick the items off the shelf, and a computer checkout.
No matter whether we buy from a small market or the super market, or anywhere, our items are placed in plastic bags. (I keep remembering seeing the Wal-mart and Hy-Vee plastic bags caught in the trees along our street in Kansas City.) These bags are very important! We use them to cover and store our leftovers, carry out our daily trash, and use to transport any items we need to take to work. The really nice plastic bags that are not transparent are used for lunch boxes, toolboxes, and suitcases.
Today we purchased a litter of milk, 30 eggs, flour, peaches, tangerines, butter and bread. We have enough bags for a day or so!
Such is a portion of our daily experience.
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