One Year

It's official.  We're now been here one year.  One year ago yesterday we landed at the Heydar Aliyev Airport, took the short diplomat line through passport control, and stumbled into the amazingly small baggage claim area.

After meeting our sponsor, and almost next-door neighbor, we sleep-walked out into the cold, slightly fuzzy Baku night and drove through the city to home.

I'm very happy to be on this end of 2012 with a year-old baby, a lived-in unpacked house, and a whole year to go before I have to uproot again.

So, in summary, one year into Baku.  I still like Baku and I'm not dying to leave.  The traffic can get incredibly insane sometimes, but I don't have to deal with it.  The people here are nice, friendly, and seem to see foreigners as a cute, faintly funny joke.  It's like they think someone dressed up a little monkey and taught it to say 'salaam.'  

The mission here is great, and we have made lots of wonderful friends who have lots of children for my children to play with.  If there are nasty things going on, I'm blissfully unaware.  There are lots of fun things going on, and plenty of people to do them with.

So, here's to another year in Baku!