Narrow old streets in old town:

The port + oil rigs seen from the old town:

Today I'm just gonna make a list of stuff i've done/seen/thought to try to catch up here.

• yesterday saw a concert- an american who plays Azeri traditional music, called mugham.
• done three interviews so far this week, one with 2 women from ABA-CEELI (American Bar Association NGO here), so it was my first meeting with an international NGO (but I spoke with local staff). Interesting- new perspectives.
• i'd like to go out to the regions for a week and do interviews there
• i'd like to go to georgia but i need someone to go with and i need to figure out my visa
• someone called me yesterday and asked me what my phone number is- why?
• someone knocked on my door last night, and in local style, i refused to open it and talked through the door. i don't now what they wanted, but they went away
• last night the moon was huge and orange- when i saw it, it literally scared me for a sec, it was shockingly big!
• it has been so windy here, supposedly this is normal. cools everything off thank god
• my place in the office has been moved and i don't know how i feel about it yet.
• i'm kinda stressed out right now by life, but i'm moody, so that will probably change soon. a few days ago I was a bundle of optimism!
• i got a mobile phone! I am hooked up now!
• this town is crawling with foreigners!
• i have a map and a guide book now, i found them in an office supply store while strolling around. I am really happy to have the guide book, now i can go to museums and do some sightseeing other than simply wandering around. and it has lots info on where to find stuff which is good.
• you know that i haven't drank ANY coffee in like 2 weeks! Me!!! the coffee monster! here they have instant, which doesn't do it for me. i drink tea! But i passed a place yesterday called "cafe latte" and i wonder if they have REAL latte, in which case i will have one. it also looked more "western," meaning i could sit there by myself and take a load off (did i already write about the fact that most cafes are filled with ONLY MEN, as in 100%, and so i can't imagine just sitting down and relaxing at them- it's one difference about life here that is difficult for me)
• i'm going to be blogging for a news blog! more to come on that.

OK. i feel like i've cleared out a bunch of stuff in my head.