Hello, Baku!



Due to a slight miscommunication with the school, our first day in Baku was mostly spent waiting around our hotel, with a small excursion around dinner time to change money and go to a local market for some food.  On Friday, though, we got to see our school (or at least Rachel's school- Colleen and I will aparently be at a different one) and meet some lovely Azeri teachers who will be our 'assistants'. 

 

They took us on a tour of the school and all the different classrooms as well as the cafeteria where we will probably end up eating lunch most days.  As an unexpected part of the tour we were able to see some traditional Turkish dances!  School doesn't officially open for another week, but there was a group of 6-7th grade girls practicing for a dance competition in Turkey, and they performed two pieces for us.  It was beautiful and different from anything I'd seen before.  In one dance, each girl had two wooden spoons in each hand which she clapped together in rhythm as part of the dance. 

 

After seeing the school (and stopping for tea twice) our new friends took us downtown to see the bay and a little of the city.  I have only one word for you.  WOW.  It is gorgeous.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures that really do it justice, but I'll work on that.  We just couldn't get over it.  I lost count of how many times one or more of us would randomly exclaim over the absolute beauty of our surroundings!

At first we walked in the park along the bay.  There are a number of benches, restaurants, and even a small amusement park along the way, not to mention wonderful views of the city.  I hope that I will be able to make regular trips down there, just to sit on a bench with a book or journal and soak up the atmosphere!  There was a pier where you can usually catch a boat trip around the bay, but today we just walked out on it.  Here's a picture of us with part of the bay/city behind us.  If you look behind my head a little to the left, you can see the Flame Towers, one of the pictures I posted in my last entry.

T, Rachael, Colleen, me, and P

After the park, the girls took us to the old city, just across the street.  The old city wall is still intact- and looks like a castle while we're on the subject- and stepping inside is like stepping into another world.  We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of Arabian Nights, complete with a vendor selling carpets that are older than our entire country.  Times 4.  And then we turn a corner and see the super contemporary Flame Towers (again) rising up behind the old architecture.  On only one day's acquaintance, I can tell you that this is my impression of Baku:


 

(Though the buildings in the foreground aren't the best examples of what the old city looked like- these seem to be the newer of the old buildings)

 

After exploring the old city we stopped for tea again.  They definitely love their tea, possibly even more than our Russian friends did!  We were actually offered tea several more times than we ended up taking it.  Then the girls bought us dinner before heading back to our hotel.  All in all, it was a wonderful day.  I'm looking forward to settling in here, getting to know the city, and getting to know our new friends better.  Baku has made a wonderful first impression.