Happy Novruz!

Happy NOVRUZ from Azerbaijan! Even though it's March, we've got a week off of work to celebrate the new year! I've been calling this the "frozen-in-time new year" because this used to be the celebration of the Muslim New Year, the New Year of the Islamic calendar which is longer than the calendar we use in America, but it has been frozen in time in March. So, Happy New Year! This holiday not only celebrates a new year, but symbolizes the renewal of nature, warm weather, and the beginning of spring!

I've been experiencing this culture in new ways through celebrating their biggest holiday with Azeri friends. It's exciting over here...the city life we didn't see ALL winter is alive again! You can't walk out your door without seeing families spending time together and people building and jumping over fires (more about that later)! I posted a LOT pictures below (your own little Azeri culture lesson), and each of them will give you a little idea of exactly what this holiday is about...I'll explain the pictures as they pass...enjoy!

This holiday has many traditions and customs, many of them involve FOOD. The picture below is of a dish that is special to one of Azerbaijan's northern region--Sheki. It's called Halva, and it's sweet and to be eaten with hot tea. It says, "Happy Novruz Holiday" in Azeri.

The whole downtown area was filled with performers...these children are playing national instruments, and accompanying a singer (which you can't see, but you're not missing much. the kids are MUCH cuter!)

The city center had an area set up that highlighted each of Azerbaijan's regions...they had food from that region available at their booth, and wore clothes from their region. Below you can see a little bit of Guba, a region about two hours outside of Baku.

More performers playing national instruments.

I thought these women were adorable! Everyone wears new clothes for Novruz...

Seriously, this child is a DOLL! He's wearing a national Azeri hat. Darling, right?

For Novruz, people buy wheat grass (like you see behind us) and put it in their homes, much like Americans do with pumpkins in October... This grass is called Semeni, and it comes with a thick red ribbon around it. Right now, it's sold everywhere and every home has it! Here's Geoff and me in front of a GIANT Semeni... When I decided to eat the grass, Geoff followed suit:

aaaaand, starting here we got really weird looks. The looks only got weirder as Geoff decided the wheat grass tasted good, and went on to keep it in his mouth for a LONG time.

So, we took a normal picture. Semeni!

The POLIS were EVERYWHERE.

We walked along the seaside and then out on the pier... I LOVE looking back at the city from the end of the pier...it's one of my favorite places in Baku! I especially love the visible oil on the water in this picture. It's SO characteristic of Baku, the land of OIL.

And, a few more pictures of the beautiful sunset over our beautiful city.

Me and Elly and Semeni.

On the pier, I recognized this guy...he's the new American Ambassador to Azerbaijan--Matthew Bryza. He arrived a few weeks ago, and everyone is excited that he's here! All the locals were asking for pictures with him, so we decided to as well. We talked to him and his wife for a while. Before we left, we shook his hand and he said "G bless you!" to us. This man is going to do cool things in this country! G bless you, too, sir!

For Novruz eve, Geoff and I celebrated with Elmira's family at her house. Below is your introduction to Novruz food and customs, like fire jumping! Read on...

Here's the end of the Novruz table...see the semeni? Platters of nuts, dried fruit, fried wheat, and decorated, boiled eggs are everywhere. The candles you see in the platter symbolize respect for fire and the desire for it's cleansing from the evil of the previous year...one candle for each person at the table.

This is a fish stuffed with (can't remember the name) a mix of onion and wheat and garlic, and maaaaaaaaaan was it strong!

This is PLOV...well, at least the rice part. I ate this often in Kazakhstan, but in Kaz, I always at the Uzbek version, with carrots, oil, and meat. This plov is VERY different. It's sweet, served with beef, chestnuts, and dried fruit...

Here's the chestnuts, dried fruit, and meat mix...this goes on top of the plov rice:

These sweets are made especially for Novruz. The big, round one is called Gogal, and it is not sweet. It has a spicy, curry-like paste in the middle, and is generally eaten for breakfast with sweet tea. The diamond-shaped pieces are pakhlava (like Turkish Baklava), and the little tire-tread pockets are baked dough filled with a mix of squashed up nuts and sugar. Those are called shekerbura, and I thought they tasted a little like overstuffed brown sugar and cinnamon pop-tarts.

Hello, Semeni!

Elmira and I, after we banged our eggs together...clearly, her egg was superior. There's really no reason behind this tradition, but I really enjoyed it!

Geoff and Orxan:

We did another tradition where one person leaves the room, and someone else hides something (a ring, money, an onion, candy) in each of the four corners of the room. The person who left them comes back and chooses a corner... If you get money, you'll become rich. If you get the onion, well, too bad for you. It's not going to be a good year! If you get the ring (like I did), you'll get married before the next Novruz...

And if you get the candy (like Geoff did), you'll meet the person of your dreams...

Then, we went "hatting"...it's sort of like trick-or-treating. You take a hat, put it outside of someone's door, knock, and run away. The door is opened, the hat is filled with treats like candy and fruit and nuts, and when the door is closed, you sneak back up and get your hat... See the hat sitting on the floor in the picture below?

Look at my loot!

And finally, FIRE JUMPING. The fire below is actually one of the smallest we saw (which is why I agreed to jump). It's not really about jumping OVER the fire, it's more about jumping through the flames...right through them. Some of the fires I've watched people jump through have been higher than the people...they run, and just come out the other side. It's CRAZY. The religious roots of Azerbaijan are in Zoroastrianism--fire worship. Fire is very, very respected in this country, and is viewed as a purifier. This tradition is done on Novruz Eve, like we did, and also on each Tuesday (for 4 weeks, each celebrating one of the following: water, fire, earth, wind.) during the Novruz month. It is viewed as leaving all the evil things from the previous year behind and starting fresh for the coming year.

Here goes Geoff:

Aaaaaaand, me!

To end a fantastic day, we drove through the downtown festivities once more. Here's a lights display of Semeni and in the middle, a teacup (this particular teacup is Azeri...all the formal teacups here look like this).

We stopped to take pictures in front of one of my favorite buildings in Azerbaijan. It was the Azeri spot for all of the Soviet BigWigs to stay, and the building is one of the most beautiful in Baku! We actually climbed a locked gate to get to this spot, and thankfully didn't get caught :)
Love these people!

And that, friends, is Novruz. Pretty great, right? Today is Monday, and I have the WHOLE week off! I'm sure more pictures will come as the celebration continues!

Happy New Year!