Sorry it's been so long!

I would like to preface this blog with a few apologies - firstly, I am sorry that it has been so long since I've been online - it has been much harder than I predicted to get to the PC office and use the internet. I am also sorry that no one has gotten any letters - I wrote the addresses incorrectly and the Turkmen post office sent them back to me (it's an easy mistake to make since they write it on the envelop exactly opposite of how we do it in America). I also want to apologize for my English grammar, typos, and diminishing vocabulary. I'm working on learning two other languages at the same time, so I hope you'll forgive me for not keeping up with a third one :)

Training

So the idea of training is to improve our language and job skills, and to get us used to Turkmen culture before we actually start our jobs. Training is much different than our actual jobs will be, which is good and bad. During training, we have very little free time and we are watched very closely by the PC staff and we have to follow a lot of rules, like being home at a certain time, etc. We go to class and work everyday except sunday. On a regular day, I get up around 7am, get dressed, take a bucket shower, clean my room (mom, dad, don't have a heart attack), eat breakfast with Ulgashat and Ekrem, and then head to language class. We have our language class at Anita's family's house because her host gel-neja is a cook and she makes us lunch everyday except sundays. From 9am to 12 me, Brian, Anita, Halley, and Clemens learn Turkmen from Gyzlgul. Then we eat lunch and Clemens, Anita, and Brian go to the school and help the Turkmen teachers teach English as a foreign language (TEFL) and me and Halley go to the clinic and shadow the nurses and doctors there for a few hours. We are also expected to spend time with our families, getting to know them, practicing our language with them, and helping them out with chores. We weren't allowed to leave the village without our host family or without the PC staff for the first month, but now we can take trips to Ashgabat or the other bazars whenever we want, as long as we are home with our families by 10pm. But we rarely stay out after dark because our families worry about us as if we are 12 year-olds. They mean well, and in the end, its a small sacrifice, but it's a bit hard to get used to having to make a call home because you want to watch a movie at your friend's house, and you might not be home until the extremely late hour of 8pm. It's a little better for the guys because they're "men", but since we girls are young and unmarried, we are a bit more sheltered. It is unlikely that this particular element will change once we get to our permanent sites. But, if I'm really lucky, I may be at a site where I can get my own place after I've lived there a few more months. This would provide a whole host of other benefits (including getting to prepare all my own food!), but I don't want to talk about it too much because it's really not all that likely to happen.
Training, in the end, is the best part of being a PCV and the worst. It's the best because you always have something to do, you always have other Americans to hang out with, you have a teacher who acts as a translator for you, and you are a short (15 minute) bus ride away from the city. But you have less freedoms, and you feel a bit useless at your job because you're just learning. And you can't plan anything long term with the people you're working with because you'll be gone in a few months. Speaking of being gone - we find out what are permanent sites will be very soon. I'm both excited and scared. I really want to know, but I'm afraid I won't like it. I'm also afraid they'll place me really far away from the volunteers I've come to love in my training village. I'll let you know how it works out.


The Dangers of Turkmenistan

More than one person has expressed concern over the fact that Iran is directly south of Tstan. This is true, but the only impact it has had on me so far is that I get to enjoy shashlik a lot more often than I did in the US. And when it really comes down to it, I'm safer here from the Iranians than you all are at home. The Iranians have nothing against Tstan, and Tstan has claimed "eternal neutrality". And there are hardly any Americans in Tstan, unlike other countries in this region. So if the Iranians wanted some Americans to hurt, this is really the last place they look.
The biggest dangers to me come in much more subtle forms. Like dogs. I love dogs. But not Tstan dogs. They have been trained at a very young age to be guard dogs and/or fighting dogs. There are a few exceptions of course and whenever I become successful with the uploading of pictures, you'll see my favorite puppy ever. But seriously, the threat of dog attack here is pretty scary, which is probably why one of the first vaccinations we got here was for rabies. But luckily (and sadly) the children of Tstan have trained the dogs from puppy-hood to be very afraid of rock-throwing. They actually back off when they see you just bending down to get a rock. I've tried this out already because I got attacked, not once, but twice the other day. It was on my way to catch the shuttle to Ashgabat. Thank God I was wearing jeans, because he came out of nowhere and bit my pant leg. If I had been wearing my normal Turkmen outfit, I probably would have had to get another rabies booster. Anyway, he let go because I kicked him, but he didn't back off much, so I picked up a rock and threw it at him, and that seemed to work. On my way back from Ashgabat, I saw him again, but I was prepared this time. I threw my rock and he seemed to understand that I meant business. I really hope I don't have to see him again, but he taught me a very valuable lesson: Always carry rocks when walking around in Turkmenistan, even if you walk that way all the time and never have trouble.
Cars are also a fairly serious concern. In the village it's not as bad because they have to drive slow to make it through all the pot-holes. But in the city, it can get pretty scary. If you've been in just about any European city, I think it's probably similar. But don't worry too much, Mom - I always look both ways before I cross :).
Other than that, the most abundant problems are microbial. But really, it's not much worse here than back home, except I have to boil my water and be a bit more careful about food poisoning. And really, it usually ends up just being diarrhea, which isn't fun, but it's not really all that serious.

Field Trip!
So we (my training group) went up to some ruins a few days ago. We met up at 5:30am. The point was to walk there (apparently a 45 minute trek) and see the sun rise. Of course, we get lost. But we eventually figure it out and still end up making it there with about 20 minutes to spare. The walk was very cold and very dark, but really fun, actually. The pictures I got were really pretty amazing, but physically sitting there, in the brisk pre-dawn, it was unbelievable. From where I sat I could see the lights of Ashgabat, the Turkmenbashy Mosque (which is HUGE), the mountains, and the ruins. And the sun rising. What a great way to spend the morning. And to make it that much better, we walked into a near-by town and ate gyzygun chorak (fresh, hot bread) and drank Coke. I love that I'm so far away from home, but I can still get a Coke and a Snickers bar at just about any dukan (store).

Love
So, it finally happened. I've completely fallen head-over-heals. And with a Turkmen! Her name is Enejan, she's six years old, and she's just about the most adorable kid I've ever seen! (OK, so it's not romantic love, but it's love nonetheless) I call her my little sprite-fairy because that's pretty much exactly what she looks like. She has big brown eyes and dark hair that is almost always in pig-tails. She's brave and sweet and carefree and polite and joyful and silly and she makes me never want to leave this village. I don't know exactly what house she lives in yet because I only see her when she's playing at the school next to my house. Whenever she sees me, she runs up to me all giggly, grabs my hand and she walks me to my door. I don't see her everyday, but when I do it brightens my day SO much! I think Clemens and Brian think that I'm on some sort of drugs because I burst into Clemens's room the other day all cheerful and bubbly beyond reason, and when they asked why, all I could say was "I got to play with my little sprite-fairy today!"

Packages
I just want to take a moment and point out to anyone who doesn't know it that I have the best family in the world! I've already gotten so many packages that when the PC van comes around to our village to distribute mail, everyone just expects that I'll have something. I've actually gotten so much stuff that I'm a bit worried about how I'm going to get it all to my permanent site! Thank you all soooooooooooo much! It really means a lot to me.

MY PERMANENT SITE!!
So, I can't even begin to describe how excited I am!! My permanent site is ASHGABAT!!! As in the capital. As in, I basically don't have to move at all! I will be in the city, in an apartment (on the 12th floor), with running water, a REAL toilet, and, oh yeah, you know AIR CONDITIONING! Now, you may just be saying to your self "that doesn't really sound like Peace Corps to me." Yeah, that's what I said too. In fact, its just about the easiest site placement I could possibly get. No outhouses, no crazy dogs, no dirt roads, no bucket showers. I think the conditions I lived in Kirksville were worse than the ones I'm moving to. But, here's the deal: even though it's the stereotypical way to look at Peace Corps, living in rural and rugged and poor conditions is not exactly what it's all about. It's about helping people have better access to basic needs. I will be working in a Health Information Center helping to develop posters, flyers, seminars, TV commercials, etc. Oh, and one difficulty will be that I'll have to learn Russian (even though I've spent the last 8 weeks learning Turkmen, which is completely different, right down to the alphabet). But, I kinda wanted to learn Russian anyway because it will be more useful, and because everyone in this country tries to speak Russian to me anyway (I have blond hair, how could I possibly speak Turkmen?). I am a little sad, though, because NONE of my training site buddies got placed with me. Anita, Clemens, and Halley are all in Mary Villiat (Villiat is like a state - Ashgabat is in Ahal Villiat) Brian got placed in the middle of nowhere, right next to the Iranian boarder in as town called Etrek. But, since I'm in the capital, everyone will come here for conferences and other things, so I'll see them fairly often anyway. AND since I'm in the city, if I really want to I will be able to get a place of my own! Oh, and I can wear my jeans!! (well, not to the office, but still, it's awesome!) AND (this is an important one) my family has a phone, so you can call me! And I'll be able to get on the internet more! And if you come and visit me, it'll be soooooo much easier than if I lived anywhere else. I'm so excited!!!!!

Thanksgiving, Turkmen style!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! It was strange here because it really didn't feel like Thanksgiving at all at first. No family, no football, no fall leaves (except for the decorations my mom sent - thanks Mom!!). But we (me, Anita, Halley, Clemens, and Brian) decided to give Thanksgiving dinner our best shot. I'll admit that I was pretty skeptical. Although I know how to make several of the required dishes, making them from scratch, with ingredients that aren't quite the same as in America, and with an gas oven that doesn't have a thermometer is a different story. So, of course, the first problem to tackle was the turkey. They do have turkeys here, but I've never seen anyone eat one, let alone cook a whole one in the oven. Actually, I haven't seen a Turkmen cook ANYTHING in the oven. Baking just isn't their thing. So Brian and Clemens went and bought a turkey. A LIVE turkey. I didn't get to see them slaughter it because I was giving a presentation in the clinic, but I saw the pictures, and I was extremely impressed. The next important dish we wanted was stuffing. Sadly, there isn't celery in this country, but they've got plenty of bread, apples, onions, garlic, and mushrooms, so that's what when into ours. Then of course we needed mashed potatoes. Potatoes are quite abundant here, so that was no problem either. And then there's the gravy. The rest of us are really lucky that Brian usually makes Thanksgiving dinner for his family, because we would have been so lost without his expert cooking knowledge. Even while we were cooking, I still didn't feel like it was Thanksgiving. The moment it really hit home was when the turkey was finally done. I took a small piece to try, and the moment it touched my tongue, I actually teared up a bit. It was perfect! And in keeping with the tradition, I ate WAY too much food. And the next day we had left-overs. So even though it wasn't quite the holiday I'm used to, it was still a very good day.

Rain!
On Thanksgiving day here, we got a small miracle - it rained! I've heard that it rains an average of around 3-5 inches a year here, which is basically nothing. This really is the desert. But now, it hasn't stopped raining - it's rained for three days straight. Granted, it's not a heavy rain, it's more like mist actually, but that still creates some problems. First, the power has been off the whole time except for maybe a few hours. The second problem is the roads. The roads here are pretty bad anyway since most of them in the village aren't paved. Normally they're bad because there are so many potholes and because they are so dirty and dusty. You don't have to be a genius to figure out what happens to a potholed, dirty, dusty road when you add lots and lots of water. Mud. LOTS of mud. And it's completely impossible to avoid. You end up walking down the road in a zig-zag pattern trying to find fragments of exposed asphalt, but there just isn't enough. It ends up taking me twice as long to walk to class, and when I get there, I'm sopping wet (why didn't I bring an umbrella? Oh, yeah, because I'm living in a desert.), and the lower half of me is covered in mud. Not fun. And it's pretty cold here now. I don't have a thermometer, but I'd say it's in the 40's. In the summer, when it's around 130 degrees, I'll be praying for this kind of weather, I'm sure.

My New Turkmen Family!
For 4 days, I get to go to my permanent site to meet my new host family and see my new work site and meet my Turkmen counterpart. Originally, I was supposed to live with a family on the 12th floor of an apartment building, but there's a rule that was overlooked when they picked that site - apparently volunteers are not allowed to be placed above the 5th floor of any building. So, a few days before we were supposed to go to our new families, I was told this and given information on my new family. They also live in an apartment building, but they're on the first floor. I have a mom named Mary and a dad named Ata. They have two sons, Eziz and Jelil, who are 8 and 5, respectively. They are wonderful kids and my host parents are great as well. They all speak mostly Russian, as do most people in Ashgabat, but my mom and dad speak enough English that we can talk about most things anyway. They have a dog named Princessa, a real toilet, a real shower, a washing machine (which is great because my knuckles are raw from scrubbing my clothes in the village), and I get to have a real bed and reliable electricity. Oh, and my host mom is a great cook! She doesn't fry everything or use much oil or fat. She doesn't even put that much meat in her food either, and they like to have a salad for dinner instead of a huge meal! I'm SO lucky and so excited that I'll get to live there for two years. I about cried when I saw how nice the apartment was. And they are very nice people, and the kids are a ton of fun to play with. OH, and did I mention that they filter their drinking water? Yeah, awesome. :) :) :)

My Permanent Site Job
For the two years I'll be living in Ashgabat, I will be working at the Health Information Center. It is an organization that is responsible for distributing health information (i.e. pamphlets, fliers, TV PSA's, radio PSA's, seminars, conferences, etc.). They have to approve ALL health information that is published in this country. I don't really have an exact job, but basically I'm there to help in any way that I can. So far they want me to help them make a video montage, which I should be able to do as long as I can learn the program they use (thank God it'll probably be in English, and it'll probably be Adobe). I will probably also be helping them with the posters and fliers and such that they publish. If anyone from Truman's HES program is reading this, thank you SOOOO much for making me take Methods for Health Educators! And Program Planning. And really, just about every other HES required course. My counterpart really wants to have us go to the schools and teach health education there as well. I can't wait to do this because my experience so far with Turkmen children has been great. They're fun to work with and they learn so quickly, and they don't hesitate to correct my Turkmen (and they do it very nicely). I'm extremely lucky to have this job at this site. Most of the other health volunteers are working with doctors and nurses in clinics or hospitals. Not that this is a bad place for them to be, but it's much harder work, and I didn't feel at all like I was qualified to do it. Here, at my site, I feel like I can actually help them, and I was really afraid that I would never feel that here.

Dancing in Turkmenistan
A few weeks ago I went to a wedding reception-type party in my training village with the rest of my training group. This kind of party is called a "toy" in Turkmen. This toy was pretty big and I was excited to see one finally because I had heard about them several times since I came here. Dancing is a big part of the toy, and you probably already know how much I like dancing, so this was something I was really looking forward to. At first I was quite disappointed because the Turkmen girls at the toy were doing what we call the "wrist dance" because all they really do is move their arms back and forth and twist their wrists around. This is not at all satisfying because you don't really move your hips or your head or anything. It's actually really difficult to do, especially when there's a good song on. At some point though, the women and girls started to loosen up a bit and we had a lot more fun. The guy's dance is CRAZY though! And Clemens and Brian really got into it too. I don't really know how to describe it - I only wish that I had video evidence of it.
Unfortunately that was my only real group dance experience ( I dance alone in my room all the time), until a few days ago. All of the T-16's had to come to Ashgabat before we went on our permanent site visits. We all stayed in the same hotel, which happened to be right next to a disco. Awesome! So we made plans to go dancing around midnight. We went in a group of about 15 and we practically filled the entire dance floor with crazy, loud, obnoxious Americans. We were all screaming and dancing and basically not caring at all how stupid or weird we looked. It was probably the most fun I've had in Tstan yet. I basically never left the dance floor and I stayed past 3am. I paid for it the next day, but it was totally worth it.

Packages, part deux
Now that I know where my permanent site is, I know what stores I have access to. Since I'm in Ashgabat, it's basically like being in any European city. There are not many things I can't get here, unlike in the villages. They have cheese and chocolate and toilet paper and western clothes etc. The problem, though, is that a lot of these more western things cost a lot more (i.e. too expensive for someone living on a Peace Corps salary). So, if you want to continue sending me packages with these kinds of things, I will continue to appreciate them because they will be saving me from wasting all my cash on American food. I just didn't want you all to be under impression that I am starving - nothing could be further from the truth. In fact my host mom made me crepes last night! Some things that you definitely do NOT need to send me are:
-books (my mom, dad, and grandmother all sent way more than I'll probably ever read!)
-pictures (unless they are new ones taken since I left, or if you haven't sent any yet)
-trinkets (i've got a very very small room now and Turkmen hate clutter)
-clothes (i've got plenty)
-toilet paper (my new family has plenty)
-trail mix (they have it here, and it's really good!)

Snow In Turkmenistan?!?!?!
I woke up this morning and my host mom was like "Andrea, it snows outside." Her English is better than my Turkmen and WAY better than my Russian, but sometimes she mixes words up. So I thought maybe she just meant it was raining (it hasn't been very sunny for the last week or so since it rained for three days). But no, she insisted, and when I looked outside, there it was - all white and wintery and so completely contrary to what I thought Turkmenistan would look like. I told my host father about my confusion and he said "What did you expect Turkmenistan to be like?" and I said, "Well, like a desert." He laughed and said, "In the summer, you will be reminded that you are in a desert." So maybe I'll get a white Christmas after all :)