New Year's Eve

My last post of the year -- I'm actually surprised I posted as many as I did, even accounting for the long periods of nothingness.

The weather is cool/cold here, but clear, so I'm looking forward to a good view of the fireworks tonight. We were going to go downtown and watch them from a friend's apartment right off of Skanderbeg Square, but all of our Albanian friends kept pointing out how packed the square would be at midnight, to the point of not being able to move. So instead of going downtown at nine and not being able to leave until two a.m. or so, we're going down the street to a house which has an unobstructed view towards town, and we'll go up on the roof (three storeys) and watch from there. Sounds much better. All this presupposes that I'll still be awake, of course.

We have nothing much planned for our four-day weekend. We're off Monday too because Saturday is an Albanian holiday, so since it falls on Saturday we're off Monday.

Over the last few years I've made a pot of gumbo for my birthday, and I'm planning on doing the same this year, and maybe some red beans and rice. The problem is that there are no gumbo crabs here, nor is there any andouille. There is no substitute for gumbo crabs, and not a real substitute for andouille. But there is a very small German store here that sells kielbasa and other types of sausage, so I may have to try some for the base. I'll have a report in a couple of weeks.

A giant mall has opened in Tirana, called City Park. Not sure what all they have, but I think we're going one afternoon while we're off. They are supposed to have a very big and nice grocery store. The company is out of Slovenia. Each time a new store opens there are new products available. When we got here April of 2008 sour cream was not available, or buttermilk, or several other things. Since then I've seen sweet potatoes (only once, but I saw them), peanut butter, intermittently and not very good, Kraft mayonaise -- it says Kraft, but it's different. So a new grocery store brings hope -- vanilla extract? Cottage cheese? We'll see.

Ten years ago today I was in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, babysitting Jackson the dog while his owners were in Belize. The intervening 10 years have seen a lot of changes, not the least of which is that the Ocean Springs house washed completely away in Katrina. Cindy and I got married, completely remodeled a house, then sold it and moved to DC and now Albania. We're both enjoying our life here, and even enjoying being "homeless."

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Gezuar viten i ri!

Baku

Our trip to Baku was very restful and enjoyable for me; a lot of work for Cindy. The old part of town (Icherisheher) has been settled since the 5th Century B.C. At one time Baku produced over half of the world's oil; it is still the main source of Azeri income. Baku started producing oil commercially in the 19th century; by the turn of the century it was a wealthy place. Outside of the Old City it is Parisian architecture, laid out with parks and boulevards and French-styled buildings and fountains. Then beyond that is the Soviet part, which is pretty drab and unimaginative.

Friday afternoon the Azeri prosecutor who had been coordinating and presenting the Azerbaijan government positions took us on a tour, and this is one of the places we went. This is a good brief website for further info. http://www.sputnik.in-baku.com/inbound/atesh.html

Atashgah Temple on the Apsheron peninsula.

This is also from our Friday afternoon tour. It is a defensive position now on the outskirts of Baku. Our guide told us that when the Russians took over Azerbaijan in the 18th and 19th centuries, they tore most of these down. He said something like 30 to 40 large ones were torn down. They left this one because it is so small and they didn't feel threatened by it.

The view back towards the city and the Caspian Sea from the castle above. It overlooks some of the oilfields, which I think are pretty polluted. Not much in the way of environmental standards in the 19th Century, or during Soviet times either. Stalingrad, now back to Volgograd, is not too far north of here. The World War II battle of Stalingrad was initiated because Hitler, against the advice of his generals, decided to try to capture the Baku oil fields before he finished his capture of Moscow. Bad decision -- he lost both.
The Maiden Tower on the Caspian Sea in downtown Baku, in the Old City. This is taken from our hotel balcony restaurant, which fortunately had an inside part as well.
The new theatre. Modern plays as well as Shakespeare were on the marquee.

The minaret at one of the old mosques in the Old City. Much of the city is built with sandstone, which is carvable without a lot of difficulty, which accounts for the delicate carvings all over.

Dave on the top of the Maiden Tower. The guard wanted to take my picture; then he asked me if I had any cigarettes. When I said no, I offered him about $1 in coins, but he wouldn't take it.
Old city wall. The entire wall around the old city is still almost entirely intact. it used to extend to the Sea, but in this century the "beach" was extended a hundred meters or so and is now a long promenade.

Sharm el-Sheikh

We just returned from a little trip to Egypt over our Thanksgiving holidays. Because of three Albanian holidays and Thanksgiving and a weekend, we get six days off. So Cindy, Taylor and I went to Sharm el-Sheikh, at the very tip of the Sinai peninsula, and took life easy for a few days. Sharm used to be a quiet little fishing village, but now is a destination tourist resort, owing entirely to the spectacular coral reefs and tropical fish close by. Sharm is at the very top of the Red Sea, where it divides into the Gulf of Suez to the south and the Gulf of Aqaba to the north. The water is very, very clear. This first photo is of a small batch of coral close to the shore. It looks sort of like seaweed or something, but it is a coral bed almost to the surface.

This is also taken from the boat. The entire Sinai landscape is exceedingly desolate looking. Mt. Sinai is about 75 to 100 miles north of here. Other than the new resort city, hardly anyone lives on Sinai, and haven't for thousands of years. Since it's a peninsula it is not on the way to anywhere, there is no water, no vegetation, and few people. No wonder the Children of Israel got annoyed wandering around here.
On the boat, after a couple snorkling outings (three for Taylor; two for Cindy) recuperating.
The view from our balcony. Red Sea in the distance. Palm trees imported from somewhere. Grass -- all this stuff is imported. It reminded me of Las Vegas.
Another view of the Red Sea and Sinai. Flying over it on the way in I could see nothing green. The mountains go on for mile after mile, and nothing seems to be growing. Desalinization plants seem to provide the water.