Novruz Bayramı

It's official - Novruz is now my favorite holiday. This festive celebration commemorates the coming of Spring, and in Azerbaijan it is officially observed (workers get those days off). Why is it my favorite holiday? Because it's awesome. Why is it so awesome?

1) Fire!
For four consecutive Tuesdays, you celebrate a different element (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water) and jump over bonfires. A few days after the fourth Tuesday there is an even bigger celebration, with more fires! Fire is awesome. They are warm, they are cool to watch, and what could be more exhilarating than the fear of getting your crotch burned as you soar over the top of giant flames?

2) Papaq Atmaq-ing
On the last Tuesday, it is customary for children to take a hat and go knocking on people's houses, asking for sweets. It's like an Azerbaijani version of trick or treating! I partook in this tradition this year, except instead of a hat I went around with a plastic bag (I asked some friends and they said this was okay, it didn't have to be an actual hat). I went out with Löki and Könül, and we made some random boys we saw on the street take us with them as they went around the neighborhood. We would run up to someone's door, yelling "BAYRAM PAYI! BAYRAM PAYI!," knock on their door really loudly, leave our bag on their doorstep, and then run and hide. At this point my remorse would set in and I would just come out of hiding and say hello to whoever came out to give candy. I never did much trick or treating as a child (it's hard to do that in the Heights, we usually went to our aunt's building or to the local bodegas and instead of awesome candy, would get pennies, candy corn, and those cheap little butterscotch candies), so as a 24 year old trick or treating in Zaqatala, I was having a BLAST!

3) CANDAYYYYYYY!
(Yes, I know I put an extra 'A' in the word candy.) I love sweet things. I love candy, chocolate, cakes, cookies, any/all other kinds of sugary pastries.... I'm surprised I have any teeth left considering how much I love to eat desserts and candy. Two of the main foods of Novruz are şəkərburə and paxlava. The former is a half moon shaped foldover-pocket of dough with a sugary-nut mixture as a filling. (They kind of remind me of tiny, fat pastelitos). Paxlava, according to wikipedia, is 'Central Asian Turkic' in origin, and was very popular in the Ottoman Empire. Unlike the baklava familiar to most Americans, Azerbaijani paxlava is not made with filo dough -- it is a much thicker and heartier pastry. It is basically layers of dough and nuts drenched in honey, and it is DELICIOUS. It is tradition for families to make homemade şəkərburə and paxlava for the holiday, or at least have some in the house. Besides these two incredibly sweet & delicious desserts, there is also all the candy that I scored from people's houses during the papaq atmaqing! Basically I have spent the past two weeks going into and out of sugar comas. It's been wonderful!

4) It's time to PARTY
Here in Zaqatala, the Novruz holiday is like a preview of the awesomeness that will happen in the summer. Many people come to the region to spend a week with family or just spend some vacation time, which means that the town fills up with people walking around the park and the plazas (which is exactly what will happen during the summer). I love when there are a lot of people in Zaqatala, because everyone starts hanging outside, by their houses or in the park. It reminds me of summers in NYC when people would just chill on their stoops and the street. The past two Novruz Bayrams that I have been in Zaqatala there have also been huge festivals sponsored by the local government. The festival was like (what I assume) a County Fair is like in America...there were attractions (a tightrope walker, a model airplane demonstration, wrestling demonstrations, judo performances, traditional dance performances), fair food (tea, kebab, peroshkis, qutab, and other pastries), a lot of picnic tables, and a concert at the end featuring singers from all over Azerbaijan and several dance groups performing. There were tons of people there too, it seemed like the entire region was celebrating. As the sun started setting, more music was performed and youth started forming impromptu dance circles in which they showed off their dancing skills! How cool is that?!?


BEST HOLIDAY EVER!