Expectations of Azerbaijan

In anticipation of arriving in our new home city of Baku, Azerbaijan, Jeremy and I prepared our list of expectations for the next two years:

• Although Azerbaijan is a Muslim country, it practices a liberal form of the religion.  I predict we will see more mini skirts than headscarves.
• We will grow to appreciate four seasons of weather after four years of living in perpetual summer.  Baku gets windy, but the temperatures will actually be milder than the DC area.
• Jeremy will finally go skiing for the first time in five years.  Although Baku is not a ski town, there are ski resorts within a few hours drive.
• We will have to learn to keep a straight, stern face.  I've heard that smiling at strangers is interpreted as flirting!  I'm hoping once I've become acquainted with someone, it will then be okay to smile at them.
• We both hope to play more soccer, or find another team sport to get involved in.
• Azerbaijan will be more developed than Kenya or Cambodia, both of which are developing countries that receive significant amounts of monetary aid from donor countries.  Azerbaijan has its own wealth in oil and natural gas.
• We don't know a lot about the local cuisine, but I'm dreading potentially two years of Russian Borscht and meat & cabbage pies.  Hopefully that won't be the case!  Jeremy is crossing his fingers that Azerbaijani food will be better than Cambodian food.
• Baku will be the safest overseas city we've lived in yet.
• I'm worried about encountering more of a language barrier.  In Kenya, English was an official language.  And in Cambodia, English was readily spoken.  I feel that English will be less common in Azerbaijan, so I'll really have to work at learning the local language, which is called Azerbaijani or Azeri.
• Although I've never been a rug person, we will buy at least one rug.  Azerbaijan is known for its oriental-style rugs.

Stay tuned to our blog as we find out how many of these expectations come true!