Long Livers and Lacy Underwear – Lerik, Azerbaijan

When told we were off to Lerik to see some long livers, we weren’t sure what to expect. Here in the countryside of Azerbaijan there’s no heavy industry and everyone we met seems to eat healthy, home-produced food. What would cause a medical condition that elongated the liver, and how severe is it that the president has recently dedicated a new museum to the phenomenon?

Lerik sits amongst the Talysh mountians, with their clean air, cool weather and fertile soil. The populace here is famous in Azerbaijan for having remarkably extended lifetimes. They are known as ‘Long Livers’.

We were sent to visit the ‘Museum of Long Livers’, a small red-brick building housing artefacts and photos of elderly villagers.

The oldest person whose age was verified by modern standards was a French lady called Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122. The record holder in Azerbaijan is Shirali Muslimov, who lived to be 168, from 1805 to 1973. Shirali Muslimov didn’t smoke or drink, and only ate fruits, vegetables and low fat cheese and yoghurt, but did outlast several wives.

No official records exist, but his claims reached both Time magazine and National Geographic. The resulting media visits ensured that Lerik was rapidly wired up to receive both electricity and television reception.

A TV in the corner showed looped grainy news footage of the Long Livers getting swamped with prizes and awards for not dying. They uniformly responded with a big smile and a thumbs up sign.

With the regional accents, translation was a bit of a problem here. This poem was used to dedicate the museum:

Life of old,
When I was young I didn’t understand the life.
If you want something you say it’s not cooked,
Before was green,
Then it’s ripe

– Hamid Abbas

This is how it was translated to me, which I suspect may not be the exact words of a poet.

Rightfully Proud Grandmother

The current batch of Long Livers are all less than 100 years old, so we were shipped off to meet a lady born in 1919. Proudly holding up her passport she tells us she’s 93. My great aunt reached 101 and H’s grandfather is now 102, so I’m not exactly bowled over by this fact.

To be fair, she was still very active. When we arrived she was busy making butter by rocking milk in a heavy earthenware jar, stoppered with sheep stomach. She kept working whilst the three younger generations of her family sat idly watching with a glass of tea.

She was kind enough to answer a few questions. The first obvious one was to ask her how she did it. She claimed it was due to a clean natural life free from additives and toxins. They grow their own food on land which was a gift from the president. She then went on to explain that she loved the government and the president. This was in no way influenced by the three government officials standing behind her, who gave big smiles, and thumbs up signs.

Later she added that she is happiest when with her family and that she likes everything about modern life, but prefers to use yoghurt and milk instead of soap and shampoo.

I figured we weren’t going to get any in depth revelations about age or the human condition, so just chatted about the cheese instead. She continued to churn the butter whilst explaining that Nor, Lot and Shot are the powdery buttermilks. These are fiddly to eat, but worth the effort and less salty than the more solid feta-style cheeses.

When she finished making the butter and cheese her daughter unexpectedly served it up on the table, along with freshly harvested honeycomb and home-made jam, bread, cream and the aforementioned selection of cheeses.

This was the first home-cooked food we’d tried in Azerbaijan , and among the best we tasted. Everything felt so fresh and pure. When our host asked how it was, I followed the earlier example of a big smile and a thumbs up sign. She seemed pleased.

Oddly Proud father

We happened upon a wedding procession on the way back to town. The bride-to-be was horrified at the extra attention but all the relatives were very proud and forced her to pose for photos.

Much to the brides anguish, her father proudly showed off a box of skimpy red lace lingerie, ready for her wedding night. I caught myself before offering a big smile and a thumbs up sign, which seemed suddenly very inappropriate.

This trip was arranged by the Azerbaijan Tourist Board, as part of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Silk Road Conference.