My camera died. It wasn’t my favorite camera to begin with, but it was still a huge setback since it was my only one. And naturally, it happened during prime seed-sprouting season and wedding season and iconic-photo-opportunity season. So I bought a new one….a Canon this time (the dead camera was a Nikon, my first and probably my last). I tried to buy a camera here in Terter but they wanted 250 manat for a Fujifilm model and I just wasn’t going to pay that (over $300). So I went to A Big City, Ganga, and enlisted some PCV and university student help in finding something good for a reasonable price. Canon in hand at a discount (110 manat), I returned home happy with life once again. I took the new camera straight out to my garden project to document the changes which are so rapidly happening…seeds sprouting, new patches being tilled and furrowed, the greenhouse being constructed, everything is happening at once! I knew the battery had just a little charge from when they charged it a bit in the store, so when it died I thought nothing of it. I’d just go home and plop it in my new battery charger.
Which, apparently, doesn’t work.
So today, finding out my new, shiny camera was useless, I headed to my first village toy (wedding party) a little down in the dumps. I’ve been to a city toy and a town toy, but not a village toy...they’re a little different. City and town toys are normally held in big saraylar, or wedding palaces. Village toys are held in specially-constructed tents in the backyard. They are also basically segregated by gender, with a men’s tent and a women’s tent, and the food, rather than being professionally catered, is prepared by the relatives and friends of the wedding pair’s families. And, as I discovered today, is REALLY GOOD. Not that the catered toys aren’t delicious, but I had a salad today that knocked my socks off. Or would have, had I been wearing any.
Here are some of the things I wish I’d had a camera or video to record:
My outfit: a black clingy number from Bebe (obtained years ago from my niece….thanks, Erin!) which, because it is inappropriately low-cut for Azerbaijan, I had to manipulate and pin into something more respectable. I would have also liked to have gotten a photo of myself clad in this dress and its whispy scarf (tied around my shoulders to hide my inappropriately bare skin) and my decidedly unglamorous flats, worn in an attempt to navigate the gravel and broken pavement between here and my office building without breaking my ankle. I did take strappy heels for the actual party; don't think I wasn't going to represent America in proper fashion!
The parking area at the toy location: cars parked everywhere except for beneath one tree, where a saddled horse was happily tied, watching all of the comings and goings.
My greeting by the groom’s mother and subsequent entry into the women’s tent: the groom’s father is the agronomist with whom I work on my garden project, so I know him, but I’d never met his wife (Sədagət) until today. She greeted me like I was her long lost friend, laughing and falling all over herself, her faced creased with smiles. She took my arm firmly in hers and led me to the tent, wherein she announced to everyone there that Leigh From America had arrived and they were to welcome me. We proceeded down the aisle between all of the tables arm in arm, with every single woman checking me out, some smiling, some not so much. I felt like The Queen and was very, very happy to make it to my seat without tripping.
The food: how to describe an Azeri toy….how about this: more food than you can possibly ever eat. They have individual place settings at toys, but the food is all put in the center of the table and is served family-style. There are plates of salad items (herbs, cut cucumbers and tomatoes), cold meats (sliced sausages and cold chicken pieces), hot dishes (hunks of stewed beef and potatoes served in an oily broth), lamb kabobs (my favorite are the chops on the ribs), sheep or lamb sausages (ick)(just a personal preference), a mayonnaise salad (today’s was The Best EVER with peas, carrot, egg, onion, meat….everything possible diced and mixed with mayo), and plates of sliced fruits. Often there is also plov (rice pilaf with meat, onions and dried fruit on top). But all of this food is served on tapas-sized plates and ends up being piled up, dish on top of dish, so the center of the table is just a huge mountain of food. You never, ever eat within several hours of going to a toy.
Pictures with the wedding pair: the bride and groom are seated at a table separate from everyone else and generally don’t partake in the feasting. They also don’t smile much and kind of look like this is the most miserable day of their lives. From what I can tell, their main function at the toy is to watch all of their friends and family eat while everyone comes periodically to have their picture taken with the lucky couple.
The children: little boys are little boys around the world and they love to flit in small packs from table to table, stealing a piece of sausage here, an orange there, then dash off before an adult can say anything.
The weather: just picture perfect….low 20s (high 60s) with clear skies and brilliant sunshine
The trip home: the young man, pitchfork balanced on his shoulder, walking out of the sun down the lane toward the main road
Damn you, battery charger!! Foiled again.
No comments:
Post a Comment