I don't think I have a book in me!

Well - I don't think I'll be writing a book in this lifetime. Just trying to blog daily is getting hard. I mean who really wants to hear that we had Chicken Casserole for dinner? Who cares that when Ayten put Jav's favorite T-shirt in the wash today that he screamed and cried through out the entire wash cycle? Does anyone care that when the shirt came out of the wash he grabbed it and promptly put it in the "trunk" of his tricycle? No hanging on the line for Javs shirt - he just wanted it with him. Yes it's been a rough day for the Prince of Azerbaijan which leads me right into some old Azerbaijan Folklore.



The tale of the Devil's Eye


The picture above is a photo of the "devil's eye" - the devil's eye is said to remove or deflect bad thoughts that someone might be having and it is known to get rid of bad behavior. Typically people hang this above their doors. Kind of how Catholics hang a crucifix near the door. Now when you need to "call on the spirit of the devils eye" you take these seeds that look like pop tops (those things you throw on the ground on the 4th of July and they POP) and put the seeds in a little bitty pan. Put the pan on the stove and heat them - get them really really hot. Next you need to fill your sinuses with the scent of the little pops. Then you take the pan and move it over the top of your head in a circular fashion 3 times. Once this is done it is assumed that the devil has been removed. You can only buy this spice (the pop top) in Azerbaijan - Ayten keeps some on hand. Yesterday the Prince woke up from his nap in a nasty mood. She said "See, it's the devils eye - we need to remove it." So she heated the pops up and went through the ritual. When she put it under his nose to sniff it he made a bad face and quickly moved his head away. I said "Let me smell that stuff." I took of whiff of it and Lord A'mighty was it stinky! I said "No wonder he moved his head away so fast." Anyway Ayten thought it worked and he was a little better. So today when he was carrying on about the T-shirt I said "The devils eye has him again!" And that is the legion of the Devil's Eye.


And last but not least a picture of Sweet Little Farhad...