LET'S START FROM THE BEGINNING!

¡Hola a todos! Soy Carolina, una colombiana en Azerbaiyán :)

I was born some decades ago in what Colombians call The City of Eternal Spring⚘. However, its actual name is Medellín, a beautiful place surrounded by the Andes mountains in Colombia.

Maybe you've heard some things about Colombia like: our coffee is delicious, some guys are really good at playing football (Falcao, Pibe Valderrama, René Higuita), and some others are really good at being famous singers (Shakira, Maluma, J Balvin). We also love to dance, dance, dance! 

Probably you've also heard about the most infamous person our country has ever had the misfortune of producing. He (who shall not be named) was no Robin Hood come to life as many people this side of the world seem to believe. The truth is that we Colombians have suffered a lot because of him. He brought a lot of grief, anger and violence to our people.

However, those days are long gone and now Colombia is an awesome tourist hotspot in Latin America (specially for backpackers and retirees), so if you ever want to experience the famous Latin culture, you can't miss it!

Anyway! This only answers the second most asked question in my life right now, which is: Where are you from?

Now going to the question I get asked the most here: Why did you come to Azerbaijan? Well, the answer to this question is not as straight forward as I would like. Sometimes I don't even know how I got here. Let's just say it was a combination of luck, curiosity and restlessness.

Keep in mind that I've always liked travelling. I lived in India for four years and that experience taught me how much a person can grow when they live different cultures and mindsets. So I kind of wanted to be in a place totally new for me. And believe me, it couldn't get any newer. I had no idea where Azerbaijan was when I saw a post about studying here 😓 But I liked the idea of going to this place none of my friends or relatives even knew existed and then being able to share many stories about my life there with them. 

So, after mulling over it for a while I said to myself: Why not go there? And here I am!

The first thing I noticed is that people here are really, really nice. They're always ready to help you and they're very eager to share their history and culture with you. I've had the chance to see some beautiful towns here and to taste food I had never tasted before. I love the chai breaks, watching people do their traditional dances (that is some serious feet movement they got!), trying to learn their language (my brain is definitely not wired for this) and listening to their perceptions about the country.  

WHAT ABOUT THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT?

When I came here one of the first things I heard was that the country had a conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. I admit I had no idea about it, so I read some and talked to people some more.

This territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but due to having a lot of ethnic Armenians living there, Armenia claims it's theirs instead. There was a war over it some 30 years ago, which ended up in around 20% of Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenia, a lot of internally displaced people, and a lot of casualties. I had the chance to visit some commemorative places that showed the extent of the damage and how much suffering the last war caused. 

I realized that there was a lot of left over anger in the hearts of the people here due to its outcome. All those who lost their loved ones and their homes needed a sense of justice to feel at peace. So this is why, once the country got stronger they decided to fight and free their territory. 

I found myself very moved by the Azerbaijani people's will to fight. It was incredible to see how everyone was united in this feeling of hope that they would recover their lost land and in the feeling of grief over the lives lost in the fight. Many brave people perished in this struggle, but thanks to their sacrifice many regions were freed and a peace deal was signed.

Unfortunately, a lot of the foreign media used to picture Armenians as the underdogs and victims in this fight and Azerbaijanis as the ones trying to crush them for no reason. Now, as an outsider, having first-hand experience of how Azerbaijanis were feeling, I can say that they just wanted to recover what was rightfully theirs, and all the people who got displaced some decades ago just wanted to go home. 

Having seen in my own country a lot of Colombians left homeless due to senseless violence, I can honestly say that I share the pain of the people here and that I stand with them.

Finally, I just want to express how happy I am that my Azerbaijani friends got smiles back on their faces once again.

¡Viva Azerbaiyán!