Basira's House

Today I was supposed to go back to Mollaisaqli, but when I got into the SUV to go I was immediately covered with soaking, wet mud. My coat, purse, shoes, and the bag I was carrying (full of Azeri-English dictionaries, camera, etc.) were drenched. So I got out and told them to go without me. It was okay - I was going to go to a town I've been to before and would have seen the same training session I saw in Kenoba, so it was no big loss. And now I can catch up on my writing for AzRIP Baku and post the photos of Basira's house... (btw - I'm only expected to work 20 hours per week here, but I work closer to 60, so it's kosher for me to take some time to catch up on personal stuff, too.)

Here's the outside of her house. All those vines in the air are grapes. Basira, Kamala, Telli, and I live on the second floor and the four college students live downstairs. To the left of the house is the metal entrance to her property. The street sides of everyone's properties are surrounded by stone walls with heavy metal doors where people and cars can come and go. Most stone walls have something sharp on top of them - like broken glass standing up - for added protection. 

...

And this is outside her metal entrance, onto Naşimi Küçəsi (Nashimi Street), named after a famous poet. The streets in Samaxi that do have names (many of them don't) are mostly named after writers and scientists. This town was once loaded with famous, influential people. Long time ago.

Most streets in Azerbaijan that I've seen look just like this - stone walls with metal gates, and that's about it.

At the end of this street is the town center. Basira's entrance is on the right. Her garbage can is the barrel in the center foreground. Trash is picked up about once a month. (Update... make that once a month during election time. Then it stops.)

This is looking the opposite direction on Naşimi Kuçəsi:

 

Basira's house is on the bottom right corner of a "T" intersection. The next photo looks down the T street that ends at Naşimi Kuç. The building I work in is at the end of this street (not visible here):

 

This is back inside her property looking at her house from her vegetable garden. 

 

Her well is in the foreground, with a bathtub behind it. Many people have bathtubs near their wells. They aren't used for baths, though. I've only seen them used for cleaning shoes and other muddy stuff. Her veggie garden is at the bottom of the photo.

My room is in this corner on the second floor. I have the window on the left of the corner and the two windows to the right of the corner.  The upstairs porch functions a lot like a kitchen, but the real kitchen is that little brick room downstairs, below and in front of my room.

Here's the inside of the real kitchen:

Here's Basira at the well...

This is where the chickens live. Originally, it must have been the hemam - the shower room. I figured that out by process of elimination. Nothing else could have been it. (Update: the hemam is down in the students' part of the house... this has always been a chicken coop.)

When I arrived Basira had 10 toyuks (chickens). Now she's down to two roosters and will buy a bunch more chicks in spring to last her through the year.

Here's the portable sink I told you about. Lots of people have these, though most I've seen are in better shape. They keep them outside so guests and family can wash their hands after using the toilet and before going inside for a meal. Basira's is used for washing dishes, brushing teeth, and washing hands after using the toilet.  

My hair gets tangled in all those grape vines when I brush my teeth here. But this contraption is usually empty (of water), so this time of year I usually brush my teeth in my room with bottled water.

The toilet cave is behind the porta-sink.

 

And here's the entrance to the toilet:

Here's another couple of shots of the well, bathtub, veggie garden, etc. 

The next-door neighbor's house is in the back of this shot (I'll tell you more about them sometime)...

And you can see the Jeep in Basira's yard in this shot:

 

And a picture of her metal gate - the porta-sink and toilet are to the left, and the steps to her front door are to the right:

Here are the front steps:

Here's Basira's 10-year-old granddaughter in the living room, wearing a Santa Claus mask that I gave her..

 

And this is her w/out the mask:

And with again:

 

And a couple of photos of Basira making baklava in the living room:

 

 

And another one of the red rooster:

And that's about it. When I take more photos inside her place, I'll put them up. And when all the grapes, pomegranates, etc. are blooming and the chicks arrive, I'll take more pics outside. 

If there's something in particular you want to see, let me know....

Görüşərik! (See ya later!)