Today we went to Baku to celebrate Valentine's day and our 6th year anniversary of being a couple (wow!). I'll be honest, I love Marshrutka rides because they, more than anything else, make me feel like I'm living in another country. Here's how's today's ride went:
We arrived in the morning to a mostly-full bus. The driver decides where everyone sits, arranging people like tetris blocks as to use the space as efficiently as possible. I end up in the front row next to a couple of grandmothers and Mathias ends up in the back row with the men. We waited for a few minutes for the four more people needed to fill the bus. I'm delighted to see that our bus just so happens to have a bunch of red and white silk flowers on the dashboard (a good Valentine's day omen!). Marshrutkas are independently owned and everyone decorates their own. In addition to the flowers there is a heart shaped ribbon thing pinned to the ceiling with a bunch of dried herbs and a hanging pendent of Mecca. Suction-cupped to the windshield is a portrait of Mohammad. When the last seat is filled, we take off!
The Grandmothers next to me pray us across a bridge and when it becomes foggy and visibility drops they pray us through that too. They sit with their hands raised, praying aloud. When it is clear that we are safe they say "Thanks be to God!" and go to sleep.
We hit a bump and suddenly a "Bk-Kaw!" emanates from the row behind me. I jump, surprised and other passengers look at me bemusedly. Of course there was a chicken on the bus with us, how could I have missed him coming on? (I missed him because he was in a grocery bag).
The soundtrack is as I imagine it, the Azerbaijani "Nine Lessons in Carols". A male voice narrates powerfully, punctuated with a woman's singing. Her wavering, belting voice performs gymnastic acts I never imagined possible and I get goosebumps. I love this soundtrack. I think its a tape because the other times We've ridden I've heard it, but only in the morning and after that the radio comes on.
We are passed by Lada's, BMW's, and Land Rovers. In Baku there are even more luxury cars and so many Luxury SUV's I look around to see who's filming a Hip-Hop video. Unlike in America, the SUV's make perfect sense here-the road is so pitted and potholed that sometimes everyone drives on the shoulder-it's smoother- or the road completely turns into dirt. There is a lot of construction going on but it seems like the strategy was to tear up the road completely and then rebuild it later.
As we near the city people give instructions to the driver where to stop. This person in the suburbs, this person by the overpass. One of the grandmothers hands the driver a phone number and has him call on his cellphone to find out where to take her. He ends up meeting her friend/relative's car on the side of the highway. Everyone pays when they get off. You get on and are allowed to ride the entire way on the good faith that you will have the money when you reach your destination. We do and we depart with everyone else in the heart of the city.
~Emma
Saturday, February 14, 2009
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