巴库的风在夏天可以很友好：摇动着我眼前的绿植，轻轻掀起淡蓝色格格的桌布。眼中有远处的海，感觉风是来自海上，来自远方。油然而生一种神秘感和浪漫。我们坐下来，一通拍照之后，才开始关注餐厅里鹦鹉的私语，窗外城市中小麦色的房屋建筑。在此地绵长悠久的历史背景下，眼前的小景物都更有故事感。放眼望去，海天一色。承蒙今天大晴天的配合，让我这次短暂旅行的中间时段完美无缺。相对人的一生来说，此时此刻又算什么？弹指之间，挥之而过。然而，我们就活在此时此刻中。
Ram Dass说：Be Here Now（活在当下）。 我们可以缅怀流连过去，或者畅想忧虑未来，而忽略此时此景。经过我几个月的思考和学习，我的旅行还有一个任务，就是要实践Be Here Now。尽可能地全神投入眼前，不让思绪分散游荡在各个时间角落，从我对过去的不满和对未来的硬性规划中解脱出来。努力感受这一分钟，感受它的和谐与不和谐，从观察者的角度活在当下。我突然发现，用这样的心态体会生活，面对同伴，有很大不同。好像生命被延长了。因为每一分钟都是实实在在的一分钟，而我在里面也更加快乐。
Baku’s wind can be so friendly in this early summer. Like today, it moves through my hair, lifts the light blue table cloth, and animates various plants on the top floor of the Société Bar and Restaurant in the city center of Baku. Matt left for his meeting, leaving me to this beautiful day, beautiful view, refreshing lemonade, and thoughts of Ram Dass. Ram Dass said: Be Here Now. How does learning about this place and its long, rich, and confusing history help me be here now? I guess I do feel lucky that wherever I have been living or will choose to live is/will always be in a peaceful time. No wars, no dynasty changes. The security of home, identity, job, love and friendships is more vast than I usually feel. I am lucky at this moment where food is presented to me, friends are saying hi to me, mom is talking with me, my beloved is doing his best to make my trip awesome.
I wish this minute stays for longer. I wish I could have more days here in Baku. But I have to go back to my work and the life I am running with a cat in Shirlington, Virginia. It is not that that life is more interesting. The meaning of it is that the life there represents my ability and my agency to be a low-key but independent person. No matter where I am, a place where I can be would be a place where I can be myself and grow, through work, self-discovery, interaction with my surroundings. I need to be rooted in some way, then I grow and glow 🙂 The external environment matters when it doesn’t provide me a way to do this. It won’t matter that much once I become familiar and at ease with the environment, I will start to find myself again. I am here in Baku the second time, and I feel much more relaxed (with the Be-Here-Now mindset). I enjoy it ten times more than I did on my first trip here last fall. I don’t fret about not knowing the local languages any more; I don’t feel uncomfortable about being stared at in crowds; the acquaintances I made last time become more enthusiastic this time; I am meeting new people. I feel I start to fit in, mentally.
In theory, this could happen in any reasonably safe place. Given enough time, we will fit in and find ourselves. Let me not forget how interesting and fun the world is, and how resilient and flexible human beings can be.
Excerpt from “The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture – Azerbaijan”
If you are reading this guide, you may already be on your way to Azerbaijan. You won’t regret it. Whether you have been lured by the promise of the exotic mixture of East and West, or by the antiquity of the medieval Shirvanshah’s Palace and the mysterious Maiden’s Tower in the center of Baku, you are bound to enjoy your journey.
You will find a country where, despite the hardships of daily life, people have preserved their ability to be generous and empathic, where long-standing traditions merge harmoniously with the ultramodern, where family and friends make sure that you are never left to feel lonely, and where you will always find a sympathetic ear when you need one.
Even if you don’t like everything that you see, you will acquaint yourself with a fascinating region, full of contradictions and rich in history, meet people who will make you feel welcome, and experience as genuine warmth and curiosity that is so often lacking in other places.
Azerbaijan’s rich cultural heritage, music, and fine arts will leave you deeply moved and will take you beyond the cliche proliferating in the international media that focus mainly on its oil reserves and politics. You will come to appreciate the eclectic mix of European and Asian influences that make Baku and its people so fascinating.
The flavor of freshly brewed tea, which will remind you of Iran, mixes with the aromas of strong Turkish coffee; delicious vapors of lamb stew lend with the scent of imported smoked sausages on the table; the sound of Russian disco music blasting from car windows competes with the latest Western hits and with authentic Azeri jazz emanating from others; and the Muslim call to prayer from the numerous minarets chimes in with the ringing bells of a Russian Orthodox church.
Approach this remarkable country with an open mind and let your heart guide you through your excursions, bearing witness to the ups and downs of life of ordinary Azerbaijanis. You will be rewarded many times over.
Dandan + ART 