Not all doners are created equal

I had to close my organization's satellite office in the capital of Azerbaijan (Baku) due to pressure from the donor organization and some from out regional office (where my immediate superiors reside) so I am now left without a office/bed when I have to go to Baku (the office also has a bedroom). So I have had to find somewhere else to stay (or more accurately had to have my staff find). Now my knee jerk choice would just be to stay in a hotel but in Baku there is no such thing as a budget hotel, they (it, only one) are either mediocre or insanely expensive (considering the monthly salary of middle class Azerbaijani is around 500eur/mo) and there is the politics of keeping staff’s feelings in mind. I have not entertained the idea of paying a large amount for hotels so they have the option of staying at the mediocre hotel or staying with family so other than playing the “because I’m the boss” card I can’t really justify my spending minimum of $120/night at a middle-of-the-road hotel (for the record, I found that when I gave staff money for hotel they would just keep it and stay at their relatives houses).

So, ANYWAY, the point is I have found a guesthouse run by ADRA that is a very respectable 30eur/night and is quite acceptable (shared bathroom etc but hey). This place is located in another part of town so I find myself having to relearn my way around, different shops, etc, including the donar shops.

Donars are a Turkish food (Azerbaijan is ethnically very similar to Turkey as are customs foods etc) that normally consists of a mixed meat with a few vegetables in a tortilla wrap, kinda. It is a very popular fast food here and while not health food I would wager it is no worse (probably better) than Mickey Ds plus they are dirt cheap compared to other food in Baku (about 1.20eur) so considering they are usually quite tasty and my being cheap I treat myself to donars when I am in Baku. There was a string of shops near my old office and two of the three had pretty good doners but the doner situation near the guest house where I am staying is a bit different.  I went to one and the tomatoes were grainy and they put cold greasy French fries in it, the second shop had some herb I hate premixed in with the cucumbers so the only vegetables they had to put in were tomatoes and pickles. Two shops down, one to go… change can be difficult.