Thursday, January 27, 2011

Foretaste of Thailand/ Przedsmaczek Tajlandii :)

Thailand...Who would have thought I would fall in love so utterly J Really, I do not fall in love so easily! Although, in the case of Thailand, the meaning of the old saying that the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach is very pertinent. Even into a vegetarian heart! Although the Thai people love meat and all kinds of seafood, there was also plenty to eat for me. There are lots of vegetarian restaurants that serve vegetarian versions of traditional Thai dishes. Spicy noodles with tofu, vegetables and nuts, hot aromatic green and red curries, veggies in batter with sweet and sour sauce... simply delicious! The real cacophony of flavour! Our tears of joy were mixing with tears caused by spices. Thais believe in the principle according to which each dish should contain all five flavours: spicy, sour, sweet, salty and bitter. And that is what makes them so incredibly delicious! And as if this were not enough, for dessert, sticky rice in coconut milk with fresh mangoes and roti pancakes with bananas in chocolate! Amazing! Not to mention fresh pineapples, papayas, watermelons and melons for breakfast... Our culinary orgy lasted two weeks... and I’m back in Baku and nothing tastes right. Oh, I’m longing for Thailand... and especially for Chang Mai, where food is the best... As soon as I will get out of this nostalgia, I will certainly describe our trip. Here you go a few pictures of my favourite treats as a foretaste of Thailand:

Tajlandia... któż by pomyślał, że zakocham się tak bezgranicznie ;) Naprawdę, wcale się tak łatwo nie zakochuję! Chociaż w przypadku Tajlandii sprawdza się powiedzenie, że do serca najłatwiej dostać się przez żołądek ;) Nawet do wegetariańskiego serca! Bo chociaż Tajowie uwielbiają mięso i różnego rodzaju owoce morza, to i dla mnie coś się znalazło J Mnóstwo wegetariańskich restauracji serwuje tradycyjne potrawy w wersji wegetariańskiej. Pikantne noodle z tofu, warzywami i orzechami, wypalajace dziurę w gardle aromatyczne zielone i czerwone curry, warzywka w cieście z sosem słodko-kwaśnym....pychotka! Prawdziwa kakofonia smaku! Roześmiany żołądek i łzy radości pomieszanie z łzami wywołanymi przyprawami. Tajowie wyznają zasadę według której każda potrawa powinna zawierać wszystkie pięć smaków: pikantny, kwaśny, słodki, słony i gorzki. I to właśnie czyni je tak niesamowicie przepyszne. I jak by tego było mało, na deser kleisty ryż na mleku kokosowym ze świeżym mango i naleśniki roti z bananami i czekoladą! Poezja! Że nie wspomnę o swieżych ananasach, papaji, arbuzach i melonach na śniadanie... Nasza orgia kulinarna trwała dwa tygodnie... i teraz nic juz nie smakuje tak samo. Ach, tęskno mi za Tajlandią...a szczególnie za Chang Mai, gdzie jedzonko jest właśnie najlepsze J Jak już się trochę z tej tęsknoty pozbieram to z pewnością opiszę naszą wyprawę. A póki co załączam na zachętę zdjęcia moich ulubionych przysmaków:







Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Euronews Interview with Ilham Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan

Shining Baku

As the whole city was getting excited about the coming New Year...

...there were shining New Year Trees everywhere...




....you could even find a snowman if you searched hard enough....


...and some other shining things...

Joy, joy everywhere! 

It seems however, as all this New Year excitement led to some confusion over here...



or maybe Baku is just getting ready for the Chinese Year of the Rabbit?


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Azerbaijani Villagers Protest Hijab Ban In Schools






Nardaran is a small town located in close proximity to Baku. It is known as the Azerbaijan centre of conservative Islam. Women of the town wear headscarves and are rarely seen on the streets.

Recently, the government imposed a ban on the wearing of hijabs in schools. During this years Ashura ceremony in Nardaran, several thousand villagers protested against the ban. Ashura is a Shia holiday commemorating the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein.

According to Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, the villagers chanted slogans and blamed unnamed officials for depriving them of electricity, closing and destroying mosques, and ordering a reduction in the loudness of the Azan, the call to prayer.

Such government behaviour may cause the rise of extremism in the region. It has been criticised by international organisations for oppressing its religious minorities (International Crisis Group, 2010).

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Music of the East

Recently, we attended an amazing concert, organised by the Polish Embassy as a closing event of the celebrations of Chopin’s year in Baku.

During the first part of the concert, a Polish group Prusinowski Trio performed Chopin’s compositions and their own variations on Polish folk music. During the second part we could listen to the famous mugham artists: Alim Qasimov and his daughter Fergana Qasimova. But the most exciting part of the concert began when the Polish and Azerbajiani artists began performing traditional Polish music jointly with mugham music. It was a kind of competition between the two groups but it created an amazing, moving and harmonious performance. I’d love to share it with you, but I don’t have a recording of it. I simply did not expect it to be so good!

Instead, I’ve also uploaded a few videos of Alim Qasimov and his daughter performing in different places. But firstly, a few words about mugham music. Since 2003, it has been recognized by UNESCO as one of the great forms of intangible cultural heritage. Mugham could be best described as the art of passing oral tradition in an improvised vocal and instrumental form. Traditionally, a mugham artist would perform accompanied by players of bowed kamancha, plucked tar and oboe-like balaban at the weddings. Mugham music is intensely emotional and spiritual. Below you can see a great example of it:



Short film about Alim and Fargana Qasimov and their music, and some good shoots of Baku:



I would also like to show you a few videos of the Prusinowski Trio, great avant-garde performers bringing the traditional Polish folk music to the 21st century.



I also tried to find some examples of the modern Azerbajiani music and came across jazz-mugham Shahin Novrasli Trio:


And here is something that I find incredibly humorous... at least I hope they are not for real. A good example of what not to do with music:



Thursday, December 2, 2010

People of Baku


Kids from the neighbourhood :)

Of course, the best photos were taken by J :) 
(the one above and the one below)


Nard - Azeri backgammon. Very popular with local men.


Some very nice school kids. I reckon, in the UK they would all be sticking their middle fingers up!

Ladies making bread in the old town.


He actually asked me to take a picture of him...

This is why Baku is not boring ;)


The omnipresent Heydar Aliyev - deceased former president, the leader of the nation and the father of the current president.