One of the most interesting aspects of growing accustomed to a culture is learning about their sense of humor. One of the first things I learned about Azeri humor was from watching American movies dubbed into Azerbaijani and shown on television. This is what I learned: Azeris love slapstick physical comedy. After I arrived at site, my host family would watch TV during meals and teatime, and often we would watch whatever movie was on. They showed the entire Home Alone series. My family all laughed uproariously. They also loved the Big Momma’s House series. In addition to the easy to translate cross-culturally physical humor, it also includes men dressed in drag, which Azeris seem to love.
Some humor doesn’t translate, however. There’s not a lot of surreal humor here. One of my sitemates showed some episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to his host brother. He repeatedly had to explain why the jokes were funny. Granted, the particular humor of the show is not funny to all American, either.
Sarcasm also doesn’t work much here either. Volunteers often have to follow up a sarcastic comment with the note that they had just told a joke.
Logic humor is the most popular verbal humor here. There’s a character in this region, a sort of analogue to Aesop, but crossed with Amelia Bedelia: Nasrettin Hoja (or Nasreddin Hoca). My host father enjoys telling his stories, which always elicit a laugh.
His favorite story seems to be this: One day Hoja went to the market to buy clothes. First he tested a pair of trousers. He didn't like the trousers and he gave back them to the shopkeeper. Then he tried a robe which had same price as the trousers. Hoja was pleased with the robe and he left the shop. Before he climbed on the donkey to ride home he stopped by the shopkeeper. “You didn't pay for the robe,” says the shopkeeper. “But I gave you the trousers instead of the robe, didn’t I?” replied Hoja. “Yes, but you didn't pay for the trousers, either!” said the shopkeeper.
“But I didn't buy the trousers,” replied Hoja. “I am not so stupid to pay for something which I newer bought.”
My students in particular love to hear about the little language lessons I’ve picked up over the months. I shared this story with my students: I was asking my host brother about the fee I pay at the post office when I get a package. He said that I should ask the postal worker for a recipit, the word for which in Azeri is “qabz” (rhymes with “grabs”). When I tried to pronounce it, it camed out more like qa-beez. Seymur quickly corrected me, saying that I should not say that word, as it means “constipated.” It took awhile to get class back on track after that story.
Two other humorous notes. The first comes from the I Don’t Think You’re Making the Point You Think You Are Department. From eurasianet.org:
“Eurovision in Düsseldorf cost 46 million euros [about $65.6 million], while some bridges or roads built in Azerbaijan cost more,” boasted DJ Fateh, a popular DJ at Baku’s MediaFM radio station. http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63509
The second bit needs a small preface. Azerbaijan does not get along well with its neighbor, Armenia (for more information, see the book Black Garden). To avoid conflict and argument with people in our community over the topic, PCVs have given Armenia a codename: Kansas (because Azerbaijan is Oz).
Okay, so June 26 was Army Day here, commemorating the formation of the modern Azerbaijan army. In our recent staff mailing letter, it was noted that “Azerbaijan's Armed Forces have a training cooperation partnership with the Oklahoma Army National Guard. (Note: As a point of trivia, the Armenian Armed Forces have a training cooperation with the Kansas National Guard).“
In the words of my comedist (a new religion, the basic tenant of which is that God is not just all-knowing and all-powerful, but also all-funny) philosophy professor: Live, laugh, and love.
