Friday, May 18, 2007

See, Hear, Taste, Smell, Feel

Today I stood on the street corner and saw a car go up a one way street, the wrong way, while traffic was oncoming. I watched some kids climb up a big statue of Lenin's head and dance around in an empty swimming pool. I saw an old woman sitting on the curb, selling wilted radishes and carrots from what I can only assume would be her own garden. I watched a little girl throw a flower at a car, twenty feet away. The flower slipped out of her hand and landed on her head. I witnessed a squadron of miltary officers practice marching up and down outside our new offices (next to the Ministry of Military Affairs). I tried not to look as a man wearing a purple velour jacket and NO SHIRT sat next to me a breakfast. (Nice chest hair, Vlad!)

Today, I heard about four hours too much of Turkish MTV, including "Fergalicious" about six times. In fact, I think I've heard almost every slow song I love turned into a dance remix by Azeri singers. I heard several police sirens, two babies wailing and a boat pull in from the Caspian Sea this morning. I think I heard an old man hiss at me as I crossed the street. I heard an accordian being played along the board walk. I listened to a traffic jam. I heard one Chinese accent, three Australian, two English, several Azeri/Russian/Turkish, three Italian and one German accent.

Of interest, today I've tasted really yummy palak paneer, a grainy banana, a package of mixed nuts (including pumpkin seeds!) and one half of a bounty bar. Oh yeah, and some mineral water, but that stuff doesn't really taste....except mineral-y.

I have a cold so I didn't really smell much. But what I could catch a whiff of smelled pungent (perfume), sweet (lilacs!) and damp/moldy.

After a long day, I felt a bit sticky, a bit cold, a bit hot, gritty and kind of damp. I also felt tired. I also felt some silk scarves, as Baku is on what used to be considered the "Great Silk Road". My nose has felt raw. My head feels pretty full and heavy. My eyes feel itchy. For a little while, I felt light-headed. Overall though, I'm feelin' ok!

Hope you are "Five Sensing" your way through wherever you are, too.

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