The city of blinding lights, the country of black gold

I love the way Baku looks at night- brightly lid up streets and buildings, beautifully renovated parks. The dust from construction sites settles down, the morning chaos dissolves into a silence, less cars and traffic jam.

And then the morning comes, the stillness of previous night disappears and a different life begins. Students rush to schools, people hurry to work, cars speed down the streets or stand still in frozen traffic. There are only stern looks wherever one looks, black clothes with bright colors popping up every once in a while, and concerned faces.

People pass the streets, without noticing anything around them- everyone is consumed with their own thoughts.

Then, there are the lemon ladies, women selling lemons on the streets, outside of metro stations, there are so many of them that makes me think- i guess there is that much demand for lemons? Strange...

There are also taxi drivers, lined up, patiently waiting for new customers, smoking, talking, trying to keep themselves warm in their cars.

There are unemployed men, waiting on the street corners, hoping that someone will call them for a job at a construction site or at someone's house.

The never ending, mixed lines in front of ATMs.

Mobile phone guys waiting for a customer to use one of their phones for a phone call.

Expensive cars and fancy phones.

Overweight police officers (spotted taking bribes).

And life thats on the inside- homes with no heating and electricity, teachers and doctors with low salaries who are forced to take bribes, weak education system, worsening health care system and many more.

I love the way Baku looks at night- the city of blinding lights, because then, one can forget of troubles awaiting you in the morning. The bright lights get your mind off the sadness, intrigue, corruption- the country of black gold.