Season of watermelons or watermelon story :))

Experience says that best, meaning tasty and ecologically safe watermelons are usually available in Azerbaijan starting each August...but of course watermelons start to appear in June, July...Elder people wisely say that these must be either greenhouse watermelons or at least not sweet and juicy enough ones...but of course later they give up and here watermelon season is officially open...

Now I must say that in Azerbaijan (as most probably in many other places) watermelons are not bought in slices...but are bought as one (at least) whole watermelon...

Let me also mention here one Azeri phrase which is "əli boş"...which means "empty handed" and "əli dolu" which means "full handed"...these are notions that everyone inherits here genetically...thus anyone who visits someone else would usually take something in his/her hands...box of chocolates, some other sweets (the list can get creative depending if visited place has children, elder people, occasions etc etc)...So in summer one of the best options is...to get a watermelon and take it to the household you visit...the only risk is how delicious would be the watermelon...there are many tricks on choosing the watermelon, the one I know is to "knock" on the berry (yes, watermelon is a berry :) and the sound of good fruit would be sonorous (found this word in dictionary, meaning that it has to be a clear sound :). Many sellers would agree to cut the fruit so that you can check at least the colour but the real guru is the person who can choose without cutting and if the choice is good then the "chooser" is the star of the evening when the fruit is cut and shared among all and everyone is praising the choice and how sweet, refreshing and juicy and tasty the watermelon is :))

There is another tradition that I will try to explain, the circle around "tail" of the watermelon is demonstratively cut, then divided to four pieces, then everyone makes a wish and the pieces are thrown on the ground, depending on the combination that people thought of they would know if their wishes come true :) I am not sure about origin of this habit and maybe this is a confusing description but this is extra fun that is added to the session of cutting the watermelon and causes extra laughter and joy :)

I am almost over...but there is another thing that I must mention besides I have good pictures for that :) ... watermelon goes best with white cheese and also depending how hungry you are with thin bread made in "təndir", tandir bread (I hope you know about tandir, this requires a separate post :) This combination is very tasty, believe me :)

watermelons everywhere...

concept of "əli dolu" i.e. "full handed"

watermelon and cheese combination - almost a must on Azeri table...

ad which talks re above :) ...it says...watermelon and cheese...love story on your table :))

choice was good! :)

Baku boulevard...100 years old now...

Today I will be writing about Baku Boulevard.

A little bit of history (information taken from http://deyerler.org/ and http://www.azadliq.org/): Baku boulevard’s foundation was laid in 1909 when Mohammad Hasan Hajinski made a speech in Baku Duma (equivalent of Parliament) and suggested to create boulevard for leisure times of Bakuvians…This is when decision was made to start the works and here we are in 2009 celebrating 100 years of our Baku boulevard…

Since 2008 boulevard started to gain a new appearance: pavements became smoother, lawns greener, cafes prettier, fountains bigger and more sophisticated and overall the whole boulevard cleaner. Personally I enjoy this total transformation very much and hope that there will be constancy and continuity in cleanliness and good service. In hot summer days boulevard is very crowded…but then…unless people have other places to have long walks and enjoy sea breeze this is very natural…Works are now continuing, a lot still needs to be done and they say that length of the boulevard will also be extended to 25 km from existing 3 km 750 m…so this should help…

Although it is very popular nowadays to be unhappy with any changes or reconstruction and there are always opinions and rumours how something could have been much better and how less money could have been spent etc etc…personally I am happy to see cleaner, greener and prettier boulevard and hope that it will be even better. There also needs to happen a major transformation in people’s minds to realise that this is actually their city and to keep it clean and pretty is also their duty…I am afraid this will take some time though and would require penalties :)

sorry for so many photos just trying to convey the atmosphere...:)

everything starts with an idea - Mohammad Hasan Hajinski came up with the idea of Baku boulevard...May he rest in peace!...

old boulevard...

new boulevard:

new cafes...

reconstruction is continuing...

the same Caspian better seaside :)

new fountains...

new pavement...

new attractions...

Michael Jackson...-...person of the Universe...

I wanted to write about Michael Jackson…it is strange how people say so many good things after the person passes away…it is the same everywhere…well good things are said not about everyone after death…but…I mean that why don’t we praise when people are still alive and can actually hear and enjoy the praise…Michael most probably never lacked love of his fans, he must have felt that love during all his life…life that seemed quite interesting and different…I don’t think anybody knows exactly what was happening in his heart and mind…and I hope that with all his talent he was a happy person at the end of the day.

I assume that Michael maybe never knew about this part of the world and for example about Azerbaijan but there are many fans here who love and know his songs and moves and are his fans and have sympathy (to say the least) towards his talent.

One of the greatest achievements for one’s life must be ability, talent to create/cause sympathy, respect, love, positive energy and adoration in people’s, in strangers’ hearts with your talent, your genius, your way of life…no matter where those other people live, which language they speak etc etc…Michael achieved that in his own way…May he rest in peace…

I have taken below photos from Internet...

They say Michael was never happy enough with his appearance...his fans most probably would had loved him anyway he looked...but the main thing I suppose is if the person is happy personally...within...

This is how Michael wanted us to see and know him..apparently...

June in Sheki...

My dear readers, I am very happy to be back...thank you for sending me your notes asking if I was ok and the reason why I was not blogging...thank you very much for your support! I appreciate it very much! Everything is great, thank you! and here I am

I was planning to write this post in June but I am writing it only now...this is what I wanted to write at that time...

June is the month when many students are going back to Sheki for their summer holidays or grandchildren go to spend their summer with grannies and grandpas. Month when parents and grandparents are anticipating their favourite children and grandchildren to come back home planning to cook children's favourite dishes...to them no matter how old children get they are still someone to take care of...I must say that culture in Azerbaijan still continues to be such that parents take care of their children and then continue to take care of their grandchildren till the end of their lives ...this care never finishes...young people of course often complain that they need more freedom but all of them definitely enjoy delicious dishes and extreme care...this "giving" nature is something that I am afraid is less common and popular nowadays especially among younger generations...nevertheless...currently my kid is with my parents in Sheki...who took him there knowing that their vacation would turn into an active and at times very tiring way of spending their free time...but they do it and do it with pure love and self-sacrifice...Different books say that children that are taken care by grannies are more spoiled but happier since there is tremendous love around them. Well, at the end of the day I think grannies definitely believe that as The Beatles sang "All you need is love"...:)

Today I am posting a photo that dates back to late 50s or early 60s of last century I am not sure...Photo is taken in Sheki with my grand-grand mother and her grandchildren (not all of them are there I think). Granny Mina had very hard times and years during her life but her children and grandchildren were her highest reward...

Sorry for the quality of photo but I thought I would share it with you as to me it is very warming and conveys the family tradition that I am touching upon in this post...be well :)