Travel Story «London To Baku»

Azebaijan ... something different | Azerbaijan | 0 Comments 09 March 2014 - Last Update 15 March 2014

G'Day all!

It has been a while since I used this blog but as there is a general 'interest' in my move to Baku and as there is a lot to tell about Baku, I decided to pick it up again. I will try to update it on a regular base but no promises!

This story starts in December 2013! Or should I say London 2012? In December one of my managers, Karl, from the London Olympics contacted me. He asked me if I was interested to come over to Baku to work for the first ever European Games. He offered me this role (Village support operations manager) and it is basically a reward from my hard work during the London Games. People that worked with me, or know me well enough, will know that London 2012 wasn't always fun. There were many challenges we had to overcome but I never gave up. Unlike some others, no names, I kept going and got the job done. You can all understand that this opportunity, as a result of my hard work, tastes really good ... and I admit that towards some other people it does feel as my little sweet revenge.

Fast forward to March 2013!

My last weeks in London were amazing. I could be a little tourist for the last week as I stop work. Hanging around with friends in Richmond Park, watching England beat Denmark in Wembley, coffee dates, winning the pub quiz, ... it was a good week. My leaving party was in Camden and it was all what I wanted from in. Well there were some people that didn't make it that I would have loved to see ... but they missed out. A nice bunch of people came along and we danced the night away in Camden. I managed to get up early on the Saturday to get some cheese cake at Broadway market before going to my favo Vietnamese for a last hot and spicy prawn noodle soup. Although the late lunch was really fun, it started to kick in really hard that I had to leave some amazing people behind. I think it was a good thing that they left one by one but it the result was: tears in the restaurant, tears in front of the restaurant, tears in front of my local Tesco, tears in front of the Oreo milkshake bar and in front of the post office ... yes a lot of tears. That night I packed up my last stuff, yes some more tears, and had one last little chat with my flat mate.

Sunday ... well that was all on automatic pilot. Tears when saying bye to Trine, talking to the taxi driver of my time driving people to the airport, check in, breakfast, plane, movie, tears, movie, landing, visa, hotel ... I couldn't see much of the city on arrival as it was past 8 pm when I left the airport. In the hotel Karl was waiting for me and we had a nice chat about Baku and the job. It was good to catch up with him and his enthusiasm made me feel a lot better.

I am really bad with jet lags so the first days were a bit of a struggle. I went to work straight away on Monday. My work week consisted mainly of meeting new people, meeting familiar faces and meetings. I had an introduction on Wednesday, a medical test on Thursday. For a temporary residence visa in Azerbaijan you have to undergo a medical and blood test and a very "serious" psychological test. That last one got me labelled as "reasonable sane" so we know now that I am not that crazy as some people think I am.

On Thursday I also moved from the hotel to a tiny studio more central in Baku. That night I went out for a little stroll, saw the shopping mall, the sea side and had a really nice dinner. Friday I was told that a flat became available and that I should go and check it out. What I didn't mention yet is that my friend and ex-colleague from London 2012 Teresa will join me here on this adventure. We are going to share a flat ... well a mega flat! For anybody who wants to come and visit Teresa and me and can assure you we have space. Our entrance hall is the size of my room in London (!), we have a big kitchen, a separate living area with sofas and dining table, 3 double bedrooms with balcony, 2 bathrooms and an extra toilet. This place is massive but perfect size for a party! It is on the 18th floor so we have a view off the Caspian Sea! Not bad I would think ... well went in today to pick up the keys and there were still some essentials missing (shower heads, taps, TV, iron, toaster, water dispenser …) but it will get there! It is a new building and they are just filling up the apartments. I just hope Teresa will like it as well cause I had to decide on the spot if we would take it or not. To be fair it is nice and big enough to hide from each other if it was necessary hahaha! Or we could play hide and seek! And for who is wondering ... yes they do come and clean it as well!

The language is very, I mean very, different so a massive struggle. This gives funny (or annoying depending from the point of view you take to look at it) situations in taxis and shops. My name means 'house' in Azeri so I can see my name on a lot of buildings. Only one person thought it was funny when I told her my name ... ah well could have been worse.

I think this is long enough for a first blog so will leave that for next time! Have to get ready as Teresa should be landing in Baku really soon! *exciting*

Sağolun

House