What's New in Baku: December 2015

Since Azerbaijan is a Muslim country, I didn't expect to find much Christmas in Baku. Boy was I wrong!

Since early December, there has been a holiday market in Fountain Square in center city. I heard it's technically for New Years, but it sure seemed to be inspired by German Christmas markets. Of course, it still had Azerbaijani flair, with speakers pumping out loud dance tunes throughout the day.

Erica enjoying the holiday market

Many storefronts also had bright displays with Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, and wrapped presents. My favorite was the one shown below. It had a mannequin with a skirt made of peacock feathers wrapped with a strand of Christmas lights. Underneath was a sign that read "Mezzy Christmas." I have no idea what it all meant, but it sure brought a grin to my face!

A very "Mezzy Christmas" to you!

I got to see the Nutcracker ballet for the first time in at least 5 years. It was an interesting performance, most notably because the same dancer who portrayed Clara was also the Sugar Plum Fairy. I'm a little hazy on the exact details of the story, but I thought Clara was supposed to be a young girl, and the Sugar Plum Fairy was a grown woman. Oh well. I was happy to see a ballet, with live orchestra and choral accompaniment. Plus I got a free ticket in the 4th row through my embassy colleague who knew one of the dancers, so I really can't complain!

Nutcracker Waltz of the Flowers

I also spied several Santas around town, including this one pictured below who was displayed on the sidewalk next to a popular bathhouse, whose customers stared at us when we stopped to take a photo. I guess they were not as amused by Santa as we were!

Jeremy was super psyched to see Santa!

And, of course, we had our own little Christmas display in the house, with stockings, a tree, reindeer, and our infamous Christmas hats. No snow here, thank goodness, but a lovely Christmas nonetheless and lots of good friends to celebrate with!

The Covers hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Israel's En Gedi Nature Reserve

Jeremy and I recently returned from a trip to Israel and Jordan. My pose above is a good summary of my feelings about the trip -- It was amazing!

Our first stop was Tel Aviv. As we strolled through the open-air Carmel Market, we came to a stand selling something we had never seen before. The vendor was only too glad to offer samples of his product -- halva, a sweet, dense confection popular across a wide swath of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. In Israel, halva is usually made from tahini paste and then flavored with ingredients such as nuts or chocolate. The vendor, the Halva King, had at least 40 flavors and seemed to want us to try every one of them. Did I mention that halva is dense and sweet?? We finally called a halt to the tasting and selected two flavors to buy. The King knew suckers when he had seen them, and cut off big hunks without actually asking how much we wanted. He wrapped them up nicely and told us the price: 50 USD! Not having the heart to backtrack on the sale at that point, we gulped, paid the money, and figured we were now stocked up on halva for the rest of our trip.

Jeremy with the Halva King

After Tel Aviv, we headed north to the Sea of Galilee, where we visited several national parks with historical ruins and waterfalls. In Arbel National Park, we reached the first lookout to find the area filled with Israeli teenagers running, shouting, playing music, taking selfies, and generally being teenagers. We moved on from the lookout, hoping to get in front of the group. No such luck. While waiting at a narrow point where only one person at a time could descend the trail, we realized we were smack in the middle of a large school group. As the kids continued to play music loudly and the boys jostled each other, creating mini stone landslides, my visions of a peaceful hike faded away and I was about ready to throw in the towel and return to the car. Then I saw Jeremy talking with some of the kids, telling them his name and where he was from, and they were smiling back at him. My icy heart warmed a little, I told myself "Serenity now," and I re-committed myself to the hike. And I'm glad I did, because it was one of the best hikes of the trip, with great views and a fun trail scrambling over rocks or clinging to cliff sides. By the end, one of the kids even asked for a picture with us!

Erica navigating the narrow trail at Arbel National Park

Then we turned south to the Dead Sea, and the obligatory photo shoot of floating in its salty waters. We paid for beach access and made our way to the water's edge. Thank goodness I was wearing water shoes, because the ground was hard and sharp from the salt deposits. I don't know how Jeremy managed it barefoot. We each floated and took pictures and then we looked at each other and said "now what?" The scenery was beautiful with the mountains of Jordan in the background, but the aroma was not fragrant, the water tasted horrible, the salt stung every small cut on our skin, but worst of all, the water left this slimy film on us. With the photos finished, we left the beach and had a shower at the first available opportunity!

Jeremy floating in the Dead Sea

Having enjoyed some of the natural beauty of Israel, we visited Jerusalem. We were both struck by the rich history of the city. And that history was further enriched by the malleability with which it's claimed by different segments of the population. During a walking tour of the Old City, our guide would stop at a landmark, tell us a story about why it was important and then say "But you may ask, do we know for sure that event took place on this spot? Well..." And then he would launch into a story about how a different group of people think the same event took place in a completely different location. He would never take sides. He would simply tell the multiple stories and say it was up to each of us to decide what we believed. Fascinating! We could have spent several more days in Jerusalem, for the history, food, and nightlife!

Jeremy at Jerusalem's Old City Damascus Gate

But, next it was on to Petra, the ancient city chiseled into the cliffs of southern Jordan. While the landscape of Petra was stunning and the carvings were impressive, I was continually struck by the lack of tourists at the site. Tourism in Jordan has plummeted in recent years due to general instability in the region because of the Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIS. The vendors and guides of Petra were quite hopeful for our business. Within our first hour in Petra, we met a young boy named Omar who offered us a ride on his donkey, Michael. Despite Omar's excellent English and persuasive sales tactics, we declined. But we saw Omar several more times and heard several more of his persistent sales pitches. I'm not sure I ever saw him with a paying customer though. I can only hope he earned some money that day.

Jeremy at Petra w/ Omar, his donkey Michael & other friends

From Petra, we continued to Wadi Rum, a desert landscape of towering rock formations and sand dunes. After a half-day 4x4 tour of the highlights -- including climbing sand dunes and scrambling around on the rocks -- we were anxious to reach our camp before sunset. But then the car suddenly stopped, the driver made several attempts to restart it, and then pronounced that we would wait for another car to come get us. As the sun fully sank, darkness surrounded us, and the cool chill became even colder, my mind thought more and more of being lost and stranded in the desert. And more and more of how cold and hungry I was! But eventually salvation appeared in the form of headlights drawing closer and closer and delivering us to camp in time for dinner.

Erica waiting by our broken-down vehicle in Wadi Rum

Those are some of the fun stories from our trip. I'll close with some more pictures of the landscape, which was stunningly beautiful. If you haven't been, I highly encourage a visit to Israel and Jordan!