October 23rd 2008: First day

My first day in Odessa has been a blast! I spent the day with Dawn- the wife of one of Arun’s coworkers. She showed me around town and hours flew by as we talked- and talked- and talked some more. In the evening we spent time with a couple of Arun’s friends visiting from Azerbaijan. They are two of the most wonderful people you’ll ever meet; and somehow reminded me of Balki and Larry from Perfect Strangers. Idamir is a native-Azerbaijanian; and Anoosh is from Santa Barbara (woo! Californian!) I could not stop laughing the entire night as I tried to learn about their experiences in Baku. Some examples of the comedy:

Population Discussion

Me: “So how many people live in Baku?”
Idamir: “Well, there are about 8 million people in Azerbaijan. Officially, they state that there are only 2.5 million people in Baku, but due to jobs; there are really probably 6-7 million.”
I glance over to Anoosh. He shakes his head softly and puts up two fingers.
I start to laugh. “Anoosh says there’s only 2 million.”
Idamir: “Well, it FEELS like 6 million.”
Anoosh smiling, “No….there’s 2…”
Idamir: “Well, they must ALL come out when I go out then, it’s just so crowded!”
Anoosh: “Feeling crowded doesn’t exactly double the population.”
Idamir: “It just FEELS like 6 million.”
Anoosh quietly puts up two fingers again and shakes his head.

Malls and Shopping

Arun: “So do they have malls like they have here in Odessa?”
Anoosh immediately starts to shake his head no.
Idamir: “Of course!”
Anoosh smiles and mouths no.
Idamir: “What do you mean? There’s Nargis Mall, and C—Mall and the one by the coffee shop”
Anoosh: “Those wouldn’t really be called malls.”
Idamir: “Why not?”
In the meantime, Arun and I are laughing at the discrepencies in perspective. Idamir, is of course, defending his hometown. Anoosh is trying to bring things to an American perspective.

Beaches

Arun: “They have beaches there right?”
Idamir: “Yes! They are beautiful!”
Anoosh: “I wouldn’t swim in them.”
Idamir: “Well, the government will be cleaning them up. And then Baku will be like Dubai!”

Mexican Food

Arun: “Do they have Mexican food in Baku?”
Now- I really don’t know why Arun was so interested. He doesn’t really care about anything except Chinese food; and he would rarely suggest having Mexican food even when we were in Dallas.
Idamir: “Yes, it is very good!”
Anoosh: “Well, it’s really more like a gyro with cubes of melted cheese baked on top…”
Idamir: “It’s very good”
Anoosh quietly shakes his head.

Anyway, one of the most charming evenings I’ve had. I am simply counting days down until we visit Idamir and Anoosh in Baku.