Winter is coming

Written by Frederik

Except, not really!? When one thinks about Caucasian winters, you think of meter high snow, wind and bitter -20°C weather. But it is not happening here! Sun all day, with a fluffy 5 to 10 degrees. It is quite loveable! The daily routine of project writing, preparing clubs and all other kinds of work had us tightly in its grip, when we decided to spice up things a little bit. The faraway lands were calling us, so we applied for a visa, booked a train ticket, and suddenly we were on our way to Baku in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is a land of meat and taxi drivers, both are things which are usually nice in moderation, but when it comes to an excess aren’t enjoyable anymore. But I shall talk about the positive things first, shall I? Baku is a crazy city, super modern and clean. Thankfuly we had some local people around who could show us all the secret spaces and interesting history bits. That was really great! In the evening we tried out traditional Azeri food, which is an interesting mixture between Turkish and Russian cuisine. My favorite was Qutab, which is a pancake filled with fresh greens. The next day it rained. All day. Plus 5 °C. It was quite terrible, but we managed somehow. Next day we went to Shaki, a smaller town in the north. We tried to hitchhike there, but that’s where the taxi drivers came in. It was almost impossible to get a ride when you are treated like a walking banknote. But even that, we managed eventually. The day after Shaki we went to Ganja, the second biggest city in Azerbaijan, and then went home back to our warm flats in Georgia. The whole trip was a big adventure, but I will be honest with you here: in the direct comparison Georgia – Azerbaijan, Georgia wins big time. Sorry!

With Christmas approaching, we are also busy spreading the Christmas spirits into our clubs and activities. I had a German-style Christmas party with my German class, including Plätzchen (Christmas Cookies) and Punsch. At my English Club we played secret Santa, where I gave away some homemade parsley-cilantro pesto and got a pomegranate and a billiard game. Now I am busy buying Christmas presents and preparing everything for my holiday back to Germany. Daška and Damián already left for Slovakia, so at the moment I am the only one at our flat. Living alone is also very pleasant, nobody cares if you don’t wash your dishes immediately or leave your clothes on the drier for two days!

Anyway, this one been a bit shorter, but mostly because we are very preoccupied with Christmas and our travels. Stay tuned for the next post!