On Thursday, November 20, 2008, HBSCA presented a music entertainment program to the retirees living at the Goldberg Retirement Home.  Besides the screening of a movie about Baku's cultural heritage, the program included a classical piano performance by Tarana Taylor followed by traditional Azerbaijani folk music and songs performed by Lala Abbasova's (piano) new music ensemble with Seva Gustin (vocals), Ali Hagshenaz (Azeri harmonica) and Varan Hagshenaz (nagara).  The event was well received by over 50 retirees, many of whom are natives of Baku, and the bakhlava sweets served during the breaks gave everyone refreshed energy to sing and clap along with the music and even join in with the Azeri style dancing.

WorldQuest, an exciting team game of international trivia, under patronage of World Affairs Council of Houston, was played this year at Westin Galleria on November 17, 2008. The team  named Prometheus comprised of 4 Turkish, 4 Azerbaijani and 2 Russian nationals, some of them wearing colorful traditional Azeri kaftans and dance dress took part in the competition.

On November 5, 2008, HBSCA welcomed the Houston community to an Azerbaijani Music Night with live folk music performed by two young guests from Baku, Hatice Alizade (Azerbaijan Economy University) and Ibrahim Farzaliyev (School No. 23).  They were accompanied by a Houston based music group recently created by Lala Abbasova (piano) with Ali Hagshenaz (Azeri harmonica) and Varan Hagshenaz (nagara).  The evening which was held at the brand new Turquoise Center offered a great opportunity for the 50+ guests, mostly from Houston's Turkish and Azerbaijni community, to meet old and new friends and enjoy beautiful traditional music of Azerbaijan.

Each fall, the Houston International Protocol office and the Visitors Center work together with the Consular Corps of Houston and multicultural organizations such as Sister Cities of Houston to present Holidays Around the World, as a display of miniature trees honoring various international holiday traditions. This year's participants include: the consulates of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland and the Baku and Huelva Sister Cities Associations as well as Sister Cities of Houston, Inc. Please click here to download photos of the trees.

The 24-inch trees exhibit the culture unique to a particular country or region through ornaments, national symbols and colors. The tree for Baku has been decorated with handmade traditional Buta ornaments designed by our HBSCA Vice-President and ceramic artist Saida Fagala.  

After two losses to Abu Dhabi and Kazakhstan, both 1:3, our team managed to pull itself together and win Angola LNG 3:2.

All games witnessed a huge support by Azeri fans, from Houston as well as other Texas cities. Uniforms for our players were furnished by the Association of Futbol Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA).

Saida's ceramic work will be on show at the Foelber Pottery Gallery, 706 Richmond Avenue, Houston, Texas 77006 as part of the "Thinking Outside the Pot" exhibition from November 8 until December 6, 2008. Please join us for the opening of this exhibition which will take place on Saturday, November 8 at 6.00 pm. Reception with light refreshments will follow until 9.00 pm. More information can be found at http://www.foelberpottery.com/upcomingevents.html.

 The weekend of November 1 and 2, 2008 became memorable for Houston for an outstanding joint festival of Turkic people (http://turkicfest.org). The multiparty celebration was made possible by the Turkish Raindrop Foundation. HBSCA and U.S. Azeri Network (USAN) actively participated in this showcase of Turkic Cultures and Children's festival representing Azerbaijan.

On October 25, 2008, former President of HBSCA, the late Douwe de Vries, will be honored by the University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering as the first inductee into its Hall of Fame, his records will be accepted in the university’s archives and the Dean’s conference room will be named in his memory.