Novruz, could quite possibly the best holiday ever… Or maybe the most weight gained in such a short amount of time holiday ever. That’s right… Move aside Thanksgiving! I got me a new eating holiday to love! Seriously now, Novruz is great. Ask any volunteer here and they’ll tell you, “Just wait until Novruz. I’m bringing that back to America.” Novruz is a sort of welcoming of the spring season and a new year. Living in always-sunny-California, I never really appreciated spring. Of course I loved all the flowers and blooming trees but I wasn’t crazy about it. Now that I’ve experienced the Winter Blues (and let me tell you, they’re real, these Winter Blues and should not be dismissed) I am ecstatic that spring is here! I have never been happier to see young green leaves, flowers blossoming on fruit trees, or even, THE SUN! Have you ever missed the sun? Now I have. I didn’t even know I missed it, but the day it came out I was so confused by all the light and finally realized that I have been living without it for MONTHS. What a downer right? Anyways, all I’m saying is, a holiday to commemorate spring is SO necessary. It’s really worth rejoicing over.
The date of Novruz is March 21st but it’s on the eve when all the festivities take place. Let me backtrack though, because the start of the holiday is four Tuesdays prior to the 21st. Also let me just add a quick disclaimer right here: there’s a lot of historical and cultural information as to how a pagan holiday (it really is pagan and you’ll understand why in a second) got to be the biggest holiday in a Muslim country. It’s celebrated all around this part of the world though. A dozen countries celebrate it all with different faiths. I’m not going to write about that. You can Wikipedia it. I’m going to tell you how my Novruz experience went down. Hazirsiz? (Are you ready?)
The four Tuesdays before Novruz each have a theme: Water, Fire, Wind, and Earth. (Pretty pagan right? Wait for it, there’s more.) These Tuesdays were celebrated by cooking Plov of course (rice pilaf.) When it got dark, all the action started. Looking out across Neftchala I saw fire everywhere. Before sunset, kids everywhere had set up little bonfires out of plywood. After the sun went down, they were all lit. The smallest kids were doing this. I saw a group of young boys the age of 9, completely unsupervised with their own tonqal (bonfire.) Then they all started jumping over the fire. (Pagan? I think pagan.) Now I’ve been told different things, but apparently you have to jump over three times for your wishes for the new year to come true. Another volunteer in Lenkeran told me it was seven times. However many, you gotta jump. Anyways, I did this for the first three Tuesdays in Neftchala, visiting different tonqals of my students’ every week. Then on the last Tuesday, I packed my bags and headed to Saray to see my old host family.
That Tuesday was the biggest of the Tuesdays. We had a tonqal first at their new house that is in the process of being built, then we had one at the house I lived in with them. We ate plov, they had samani (a little platter of grass) decorating their table, and for dessert had an assortment of nuts, bhaklava and shekerbura (a pastry filled with nuts and sugar.) After eating, we went to my old host mom’s aunt’s house where we (surprise surprise) ate again. They also had some colored eggs on the table that we played a game with. Two people hold an egg each and you hit the other person’s egg. If theirs breaks, then your wish will come true. Then we went papaq (hat) throwing. Me and Turana, my host cousin, took little Aysel to a house across the courtyard. We dropped our hats in front of their gate, banged on the door, and ran to hide around the corner. Minutes later, the gate opened and closed and then opened a moment after. When we went to pick up our hats, there were nuts and chocolate in it. Trick or treating!
Jade and I had planned to stay in Baku for a couple days before returning to site in time for the 20th. The day we were leaving, there were a lot of preparations for Novruz by the Maiden Tower (the most famous historical site in Azerbaijan.) People were dressed in national costumes, live music was playing, children were dancing, police were shutting down streets, and camera crews were everywhere. Turns out, they were preparing for Ilham Aliyev (the president) to speak there the next day. As we were walking around and taking pictures, a camera crew approached us for an interview. They asked us what we, as foreigners, thought about Novruz. That night, my host family called me and told me they saw us on TV!
The night of the 20th, I ate plov and had a bunch of bhaklava then met up with some of my students to go hat throwing. I was feeling sick and it was cold but it was really awesome. We went from apartment building to apartment building dropping our hats and running to hide. It was just great seeing people out at night. The streets were just filled with kids and it was so good seeing that they had something to do. Even if it’s just for one night, it was something. A time and place to socialize. The following days were just filled with guesting at relatives and friends. I ate bhaklava for days. Bhaklava is Delicious but there’s a problem when you squeeze your food and butter oozes out. Leyla made some bomb bhaklava with lots of oozing.
Novruz was magic. A couple days later, I took a mashrutka to visit Jade in Boradiga. On the bus ride down, everything was just so green and beautiful. The sun was out, the sky was blue and just like that it was spring. I felt light and happy and I felt a spark of something that I hadn’t fully felt yet in this country. It appeared out of nowhere, and just as quickly vanished. But the point is, it existed. It first came as a little spark deep down in there, like a match that immediately blows out when it is lit. Then, slowly, it grew stronger and stronger, and as it chugged along, I couldn’t contain it anymore and it sat bubbling in my throat. It went something like this… “I love my life” first as a whisper. Then, “I Love my Life. I LOVE my Life. I LOVE MY LIFE!”
Happy belated Novruz everyone. I hope you jumped over.
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