A Wedding in Azerbaijan
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2006
1
23
60
Trip End
Mar 28, 2007
Baku, Azerbaijan
Monday, September 11, 2006
The ferry ticket cost $45 per person for foreigners. Once on board, they sold us an officer's cabin ("super lux," they called it) for an extra $30 for the two of us. We finally left the dock the next morning. I spent most of my time in the cabin, since I was troubled by a mild motion sickness. 18 hours later we arrived Baku (population 1.7M), the capital of Azerbaijan. There were quite a few huge oil-industry related structures along the way.
Arriving at 3am in a new country is not a lot of fun. After much discussion, three of us hired a taxi to go into town to a overnight cafe. We hang around there until day break. One of the locals got quite upset simply seeing our "Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan" travel guidebook. They have a lot of hatred against the Armenians due to the wars.
It is in Baku that I saw the first MacDonald's since I left Moscow. A lot of foreigners go to MacDonald's. They often have the cleanest bathrooms in town.
I successfully obtained my Russian visa (since I will be back in Russia later in the month) while in Baku.
While I was in the metro, a local guy started talking to me. Before I arrived at my station, I was already invited to his brother's wedding in the village the next day!
The next morning, I met him and his wife and caught a minibus to go to his village. His family was most welcoming. Even though it was a busy day for the family, they made me feel extremely welcome.
I witnessed the festivities throughout the whole day. First, the groom's relatives kept arriving at the house. By late afternoon, the caravan of cars (some modestly decorated) went to the house of the bride-to-be. The ladies brought with them suitcases, beddings and sweets to try to lure the bride-to-be. There were also dances and music. After much convincing, she finally came out of the house dressed in white wedding gown. The groom, on the other hand, wore a peach color short sleeve shirt.
We then all drove to the village's wedding hall (yes, weddings are the only events held here), honking all the way. Men and women were seated, at 20 long banquest tables, separately in the hall. It was packed with some 350 people. There were food, wine, vodka, live band and singers and a lot of speeches and dancing. They have a lot of arm movements when they dance - both guys and girls. I could not tell who are husbands and wives since they did not interact at all throughout the event.
After 4 hours, the party at the wedding hall came to an end at 12:30am. It was only adjourned to the bride's home for more drinks and snacks.
The new bride did not come home with the groom that night. I found out that the "real" wedding will be held a week or so later, where the majority of the guests will be from the groom's family. The party will be held at the same wedding hall.
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