Bakü’yü Dinliyorum – I am Listening to Baku
- vivianojane
- Aug 18, 2018
- 5 min read
There’s a famous poem by Orhan Veli titled “Istanbul’u Dinliyorum” and for our closing CLS program ceremony I jumped at the opportunity to read the poem in front of CLS staff, teachers, participants, host families, and language partners. I had forgotten how much I love to read poetry, the way it slips off your tongue and can convey a message unique to the person who reads it. Each stanza begins and ends with “Istanbul’u Dinliyorum” and instead of reciting “Istanbul” each time, I changed “Istanbul” to “Baku” at the hint of our resident director, Bianca.
My experience in Baku was a lot harder than I thought it would be and I spent at least half of the program puzzled over what made it so much more difficult than my previous experiences. I came with the expectation that living in Baku for two months could be easy – I had done 11 months in Turkey with no language experience, nine in Jordan where the program was very much hands-off, and two in a small city in Morocco where every business was closed during the day for Ramadan for the first three weeks. In the end, I realized it was not Baku or my living situation that made this experience difficult, but it the expectations that I mistakenly made in the beginning. This experience was unique for me because I learned a valuable lesson that I never thought this experience would teach me: how to become a better listener and get along with people whom you may often disagree with.
Yes! I gained valuable skills in Turkish! In our class discussions our teacher, Rana, encouraged us to express our opinions on complex topics in Turkish. Here are some of the things we discussed over the summer:
Similarities between Arabs and Azerbaijanis: both warm-hearted, hospitable, and good listeners when you’re trying to explain yourself in a foreign language!
When asked to write a story with a given word bank, I re-wrote the fable of the turtle who beat the rabbit in a race using as many grammar concepts as I could think of
Holidays, including Youth and Sports Day and Azerbaijan’s Novruz holiday that celebrates the natural elements – earth, air, water, and fire – during Novruz celebrations people jump over fire pits for good luck
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle with food and exercise and other healthy living tips to make it through difficult obstacles during our summer
Soviet culture and the influence of Russian/Russian culture on Azerbaijani/Azerbaijani culture – did you know Azerbaijani was first written in the Arabic script and then Cyrillic before it was changed to Latin?
Doğa Için Çal: An initiative that records various musicians all over Turkey in collective song. Azerbaijan also has its own version, but because video recording is not allowed in some places in Baku, musicians set up their recording devices and instruments in the streets at 5am!
Experiences
Visiting Gabala: Gabala is an interesting place in Azerbaijan. As you leave Baku, the geography of the country changes, from lowland to sloping farmland to dense, cool forests and mountains. When we arrived to our cabin campground in Gabala it was the coolest weather we had experienced in Baku so far. During our two-day stay we conversed with some of the many Arabic-speaking tourists, ate Indian food twice, rode four chair lifts to peaks of the Caucus mountains, visited a waterfall, and ate breakfast with sheep peering at us. It was so interesting to be in a place where Americans and Arabs were tourists together.
Sheki tour: Our large group tour was to Sheki on the western side of the country. My host mom made a joke (that many actually believe!) that Shekians are the smartest Azerbaijanis because they are well educated and are not breathing the polluted Baku air! The trip was wonderful, the weather was cool and we visited a palace, a famous helva pastry shop, a few mosques, a village reenactment, and ate a grand meal in Gabala on our way back to Baku.
Visiting mosques: We visited at least five mosques during our time in Azerbaijan and I was happy to find that foreigners were welcomed. We visited Heydar Aliyev Mosque that I could always see lit up at night from my neighborhood. I also visited Bibiheybat Mosque with my language partner and learned about the life of the mosque’s namesake (a woman!!) who is buried there.
My host family, whom I will miss terribly
Aida or “Teacher Aida” as she is known throughout the community: my host mother, an elementary school teacher who can often be found doing any job a man can do, whether it’s building a new kitchen, de-heading a chicken, or tending to our garden. She often cooked my favorites: string beans with egg, menemen (eggs and tomatoes), or friend eggplant and french fries.
Sultan, my host brother who is married to Ayşe. Taxi/Uber drive who often sleeps by day and works by night. He has all the tips on Baku, for example, where to eat and what to avoid, and if he’s being overly “I-told-you-so” just give him an “Uf ya Sultan!/Seriously dude!?” and everyone will break out in laughter.
Aida or “Moti” is named after her grandmother, daughter of Sultan and I still do not know where “Moti” comes from. She can be found playing with her little cousin, digging up dirt in the yard, or eagerly asking to read Orhan Pamuk with me.
Nena, my youngest sister who is slightly older than me and works for the Azerbaijani cultural ministry. The second week she kindly gave me free tickets to the Iranian Philharmonic and theater show. Although she had been recovering from surgery for most of the summer she was always there with a smile, to sit at the dinner table and watch Turkish TV shows with me. She was the first to take me to the Caspian Sea with her cousins.
Zamale, my older host sister still looks stunningly beautiful as she runs after her two-year-old and yanks him out of major accidents in the nick of time. She is a henna artist and works long hours but is there to tend to everyone. Although all my siblings spoke Turkish, I especially enjoyed my conversations with Zamale
Sabir, two years old. On my first day in Baku I met a little boy in our garden with a bush of brown hair. The next day another little boy appeared with a shaven head and it took me a week to realize it was the same Sabir! Always getting into trouble, never listening, Sabir has 10+ tandrums a day, but I can’t help but adore him, especially when he steals my snacks and eats them under the dining room table or orders me not to eat chocolate because my teeth will fall out. We taught him well.
Towards the end of the program I began to have moments in odd places, at the breakfast table, on the bus, walking to school, where I had to remind myself that I was in a foreign country. Did I have to? Sights had become so familiar, just as familiar places from Istanbul remain in my mind. I was finally becoming use to Baku and there were many moments where I did not want to leave towards the end…
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