My Life in Azerbaijan - Hospitability

August 17, 2010

Although the trip to Turkey was not as enjoyable as I would like due to the hot weather, I was delighted to meet the people in Turkey and impressed by their friendliness and hospitability. On two occasions, we were treated by the locals with kindness. They offered us assistance and invited us to join them with Çay (Tea).

After the 12 hours long bus ride, we arrived in Trabzon with no solid plan. We walked aimlessly the entire afternoon in the hot sun and were about to head to the bus terminal for another overnight bus ride. Three of us were carrying our backpack, looking very tired and searching for the bus station. Realizing we were lost, we stopped by a restaurant and asked for direction.

An elderly lady was sweeping the floor when we approached her with the question. First she looked at us with wild open eyes. Without sleep and shower for 24 hours and with the sweat drenched to our shirt, our appearance must have been so miserable that she took a pity on us. Instead of answering our question, she invited us to go inside the shop, led us to the table right next to an air conditioner and offered us tea.

“How much is the tea?” One of my companions asked. (I really wish she did not ask that question)

She did not give us the answer and walked back to the kitchen. Seconds later, the owner of the restaurant approached us:

“You will have tea and it is on me!” He said it in a firm tone of voice.

The elderly lady appeared again with tea and cookies; she smiled and urged us to rest. Soon, the owner came back with lots of maps. Since we could speak some Azerbaijani which is similar to the language of Turkey, we were able to communicate well with the owner. After we well rested, I offered to pay for the tea and the owner just absolutely refused to accept. When we were ready to go, the owner accompanied us to the street and pointed out the direction to our bus station. We thanked him whole heartily and said our farewell.

When I looked back to the restaurant, both the shop owner and the elderly lady were still standing there watching us. Recalling the e-mail message from the US embassy warning us the potential danger of traveling in Turkey, I could not help but dismissing it immediately.