Post #16 Braving the Blizzard

Entry #10 I posted a blog with several questions I had been asking myself since arriving in country. One of those questions was "would I die in a marshutka," (Mini-bus/van). Well, Friday Febuary 5th I can say that I had some close calls.

I began my journey from Mingechevir to Baku; usually a 4 hour marshutka ride. Many of us planned on meeting there to watch the Super Bowl. I had been told there was going to be a huge blizzard hitting the country that weekend but figured I could complete my travels before the storm really got going....

About 1.5 hours in, snow had started falling and the landscape was blanketed in white. It was at that point I recieved a call from one of my fellow volunteers saying "Sean, the storm is really bad in Baku and roads are begining to shut down. The wind is insane and the roads are covered in ice. You might not want to get on the bus after all."I responded saying that I was already on my way and chuckled at my sercomstance.

Soon after the call ,I recieved a text that went out to all the volunteers from the Peace Corps Staff urging every PCV to not travel at all do to the weather. Public transportation was being shut down and the roads all over the country and especially near and around the capital Baku, were extremely dangerous....

So here is what the rest of the day had in store for me:

1> Once the roads became ice, the marshutka began fishtaling every once in while. At one point we were no longer parrallel with the road we were on. Twice we were skidding exactly perpendicular with the road.

2> As the weather was clearly getting worse I could see more and more vehicals that had lost control or

skidded off the road and became stuck off to the side or even in ditches....we kept going.

3> White-out conditions: about 5 hours into it, the wind was so bad and the roads so icy that when we were going at a snails pace we were actually being pushed sideways. The result of this was similar to bumper cars. Slowly, we bumped into other vehicals, and they bumped into us. This was made worse by the fact that we couldn't even see other vehicals until they were touching us at some points.

4> 3 different times, all of the men passangers got out of the marshutka to push the van out of being stuck. We were lucky to have all of us. Some cars that we passed didn't seem to have a chance.

5> The finale: as we were stationary in a long line of automobiles because of an accident up ahead, I watched all sorts of vehicles slowly moving passed my window going the opposite direction. I looked forward a little bit and saw a big bus moving towards us as normal. But, I noticed the back wheels were spinning a little funny. Just then, the bus started to fish-tale and the back end began to swing. Other passangers noticed as well and began to yell, moving to the other side of the marshutka. The bus literally hit right next to my window. Ironically, the icy roads were kind of our saving grace. Because of them, my van slid due to the impact rather than remaining in one place which would have probably resulted in a serious accident. No one was hurt, but we did need too remove ourselves from being stuck yet again.

8.5 hours later we made it to the bus station in Baku. We were safe! Everyone congratulated each other and shook the hand of our driver. In Azerbaijan people simply do not interact with each other on public transportation. However, because of the traumatizing experiences we had all shared that day, there was a sense of comradery that we shared. For the rest of the weekend there was a travel ban and people were not allowed to leave the city. Some of my friends who were planning to come into Baku on Saturday and Sunday simply couldn't leave their communities because no one was willing to drive on the roads. The next few nights I slept at a US Embassy worker's house along with some other volunteers who had met this person before. He was an incredibly gracious host & it was very relaxing...and warm.

Reminder: If you want to join the Private Email List mentioned in Post #15, just send your email to seaninazerbaijan@gmail.com and say who you are. I haven't sent one yet, but it'll happen eventually.

Pictures: I wasn't really in the mood to snap pictures during the crazy ride but I did manage to get a couple during the more mellow part of the trip. The other pictures are from the Super Bowl at 4am in a hotel in Baku.

-----Comments From Last Time-----

Rob: Hey buddy boy. Hope'n things are going well on the mean streets of SF. Hope you're staying safe. I remember you mentioning your roommate it has actually crossed my mind from time to time.

Breea: Glad you liked the reference. New you would. hope the first couple weeks back at school have been nice and exciting. Enjoy it!