Monday, January 7, 2008
Wish List Updated!
If you look to the right you will see a new and improved wish list. So if you want to send me a package, look here for ideas. Thanks again for all your support and wonderful letters and food. I really appriciate it!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!!!
Where Am I?
One of the things that is most inconvenient for people who are visiting Turkmenistan is that there aren't really many maps of any kind. And if you were wanting a road map, well, that's just a joke. So when you find yourself lost in the middle of Ashgabat (or any other city or town), finding your way is not as easy as looking at an address near you and looking it up on a map. And that's a whole different problem - addresses. These tend to work out a lot better if the streets are named consistently and have signs telling you what the names are. In the case of Turkmenistan (or at least Ashgabat, since it's the only major city I've seen yet) the streets have old names and new names - and neither of these names are actually on a sign anywhere. And now I've been told that all the names have been replaced by numbers. What?!?! But since these aren't really put on signs either, and none of the locals have bothered to learn them, you'll never get directions like "Take 2026 street until you get to 1748 street and take a left". Instead, you'll get directions using the old names for streets. This becomes a problem when you are trying to find the Peace Corps office and all you have is an address (written with the new name, of course) because everyone you ask just shakes their head because they don't know the new name, they know the old one. And they've probably tried to explain this to you, but since you speak Turkmen like a 4 year old and understand what most people say even less than that, then all that just went over your head, and you're standing there, looking confused, with no better idea of where you're supposed to go than when you started. Oh, and I forgot to mention that everything looks the same here. Every apartment building looks about the same as the next, all the government buildings are white marble and pretty unremarkable. Just about every corner has a Dukan (a convenience store). And in the villages it isn't any better - every gate is either blue or green, every house is the same dirty white color. I've lived in Gokja now long enough that I know my way around pretty well, as long as I stay on the west side of the main road because that's where I live, where all the other volunteers live, and where the school and clinic are. But three months wasn't even long enough for me to know hardly anything about the east side of town. I've been over there a few times with the nurses to visit families, but have no idea where I am when we do this. As far as Ashgabat is concerned, it works out pretty well if you know the name of the bazaar closest to where you want to go, so all you have to say is "Teke Bazar akitjekmi?" to the taxi driver (which I can do now, but I still continue to get the answer in Russian because everyone here still thinks I am Russian - but hey, at least I'm fitting in right?). The bus system is MUCH cheaper, so I'm working on learning the routes. And when I say cheaper, I mean that the average cab ride is about 10,000 manats (the exchange rate is about 1$ = 23,000 manats, so that's a little less than 50 cents) and for the bus you just pay 50 manats each time you get on (which is less than a penny). This is getting off topic, but I've become a serious bargain shopper here. I'll never by a 1.5 liter of Coke for more than 20,000 manats (I usually only pay 10,000 or 15,000 manats) and I know where to get a mug of beer for only 15,000 manats, and I occasionally barter the price of cookies down by 500 manats. I forget how little I'm bargaining for sometimes, until I say something like "Wow, there's not way I'm paying 75,000 manats for Nutella! That's so expensive!" and then Brian says "Andrea, that's only like $3." Americans are often ripped off here because they feel so freaking rich after they exchange their dollars for manats - when I change a $20, I get a gigantic wad of cash because the biggest bill in manats is 10,000. I don't know why the Turkmen government hasn't come out with bigger bills - if you want to buy something that costs a few hundred dollars, you can imagine how many bills you'd have to carry with you. So people end up just paying for really expensive things in dollars anyway. Oh, and credit cards just don't exist here - I'm not sure about checks, but I've never seen anyone write one. I was thinking about credit cards the other day and what it will be like to come back home and actually use one. I actually got a little giddy at the thought because after living in a cash-only economy for three months, the idea of a credit card is seriously like magic.
Language Barrier
On Friday all the volunteers had to have their language skills tested. In years past, volunteers in Turkmenistan were only required to reach the Novice level for their training to be considered a success. The T-16's, however, have been held to a higher standard - they want us to reach at least Intermediate-Low. The difference in Novice and Intermediate levels is that a person at the Novice level can communicate, but mostly just using individual words to get their point across. A person at the Intermediate level, however, uses full sentences. Since the grammar rules in Turkmen are completely different than those in English, this is a tough goal, but I'm proud to say that everyone in Gokja passed! Brian even got Intermediate-High, which basically means he gave more complicated sentences. I was really worried about my score because I blanked a little on one of the questions, but apparently I did well enough. And this week I start my Russian lessons, but I'll still have to use Turkmen for a while until my Russian gets better. I'll be getting plenty of practice in every language once I get to my permanent site because I'll be using Turkmen at work (and maybe some Russian later), I'll have to use Russian at home, especially with the two boys, and Mahri (who is "technically" my host mom, but she's too young for me to call her mom) wants me to help her with her English. I'm really excited to learn Russian for a lot of reasons - the first being that I'm tired of people speaking to me in Russian all the time because of my blonde hair and me not understanding a single word, the second is that I really want to know what Jelil, my 5 year-old brother says to me when he pulls on my arm and whispers something to me (because it always sounds so important), and the third is that Russian is a much more valuable language to know in the long run because there are so many people all over the world who speak it (while Turkmen is only spoken by the Turkmen people, and therefore only really helpful in Turkmenistan). Oh, AND if I can learn it well enough, I may be able to pass myself off as Russian when I'm traveling, which would be good since the current American government has made all Americans look pretty bad in they eyes of most countries around the world. Hahaha, this is off topic again, but poor Anita - she's from Texas, and one time she tells this to a Turkmen, the first thing they say is "Oh! Bush!". Ha, on yet another side note, all these languages being mixed together is actually kind of fun, but really strange. I was trying to ask Clemens the other day if he speaks French, in French, and what came out was "Tu parle fracaismi?" which is a mostly French phrase, except for the "mi" on the end, which is the Turkmen ending for any yes/no question. Ok, so this may only be funny to me but it's just one example of how mixed up it all gets.
Music in Turkmenistan
Generally, there are two subgroups of music that is considered Turkmen - the traditional and the new popular music. Of course, many Turkmen also listen to music from other countries, especially Russian, India, and America. The traditional Turkmen music is alright - it sounds a bit like a mix of traditional Irish music and Indian music. It's usually played with an instrument somewhat like a guitar (it's called a dutar) and maybe a few traditional drums and sometimes a singer and sometimes this mouth harp thing. The new music is very rarely (if ever) entirely original. They take popular American, Russian, or Indian songs and put Turkmen words to it. Sometimes they'll keep some of the English words by the original singer too. My favorites so far are the Turkmen versions of: that song by WHAM! that goes "I don't ever want to dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm", 50 cent's "Candy Shop", Rhianna's "Murderer", Eminem's "Smack That", and then there's a whole bunch of Nsync and Backstreet Boys covers that are fun. Me and some of the other volunteers actually got to go to a live concert the other night and it was awesome! They even had a comedy act in between each of the set changes. Unfortunately they didn't play any of my favorite songs, but it was still a lot of fun. Then we went to a fireworks show. Oh, that reminds me - Turkmen claim to have the best of a lot of things, like the best wine, the best horses etc. And while a lot of the time this is somewhat of an exaggeration, there are at least two occasions when I would agree. The first is the melons - they mean it when they say they have the best because I don't think I'll ever really enjoy a watermelon in America again now that I know what they're supposed to taste like. And the second is the fireworks. WOW it's just incredible. They last for at least half an hour, and they coordinate them with lights on the buildings and music and I've never ever seen anything like it in my life. I literally stood in awe the entire time. The four of us standing there were acting like little kids seeing a fireworks show for the first time - we were all "OOOOOHHH" and "AWWWW man! That was awesome!!!" and "Oh my god did you see that one??" I'm sure we looked ridiculous, but I don't care, it was fun.
I HAVE A CELL PHONE!!!!!
I have a cell phone that works here in Turkmenistan with calls from America! I talked to my mom for about an hour last night and it didn't use up ANY of my minutes! So, it might be a little expensive for you to call me, but you won't have to worry about it costing me anything. If you would like the number, post a comment on this blog with your email address and I'll send it to you. Or, if you know my mom, ask her for it. I would LOVE to hear from all of you, so don't hesitate to ask for the number. I just don't want to post it here because this blog is open to the public and anyone who has access to the internet at all can be reading this, not just my friends and family. EDIT: For Christmas, I received calls from my family and it did charge my minutes this time. But it was less than $20 for an hour, which isn't bad. So, you can still feel free to call me, but I might have to answer and just tell you that I'm out of minutes (I have a pre-pay plan, so when I run out, that's the end of my calls - I can't go over even if I wanted to). As of Dec. 26 at 7pm (my time) I only have a few dollars left, so I'll need to buy more before people can call me.
Christmas and the New Year
My Christmas morning was spent hanging out with the other T-16's at our country director's apartment in Ashgabat, which was amazing! We did secret santa and sang carols and ate lots of food. Then I went shopping and bought myself a nice Christian Dior knock-off purse at one the bazaars. I also went to visit my new host family, where Mahri helped me celebrate christmas by bringing out several different types of cakes and cookies and chocolates, which was really sweet of her. Then I went back to hotel where I got to talk to both sides of my family, which made the day pretty much perfect. After that we all went down to the disco to hang out and say goodbye to each other since everyone else had to leave very early the next day. Overall the only thing I really missed about Christmas were completely intagible. There are Christmas trees everywhere, and I even got to open and give a present, but a phone call is just a poor substitute for actually hanging out with your family. So I was sad for a while, but I expected that. And then there was New Years. For Turkmen, this is the biggest holiday. All of their Christmas trees are actually New Years trees. There's even have a giant one in the middle of Ashgabat. New Years is a celebration where they basically smash all the holiday traditions we have in the states all year round into one insane night. So, they take the Christmas trees from Christmas, they make rediculous amounts of food and stuff a bird like we do for Thanksgiving, the Russian kids on TV all dressed up like kids in the US do for Halloween, and then everyone has sparklers and blow up fireworks like we do for the 4th. Oh, and of course they stay up until midnight and go crazy when the clock strikes 12. For me, the day started up pretty well. I went to work and we ate lots of cake and drank lots of juice. Then I came home and we had a great lunch with snicker's cake for desert (yeah, Mahri is amazing). Then we all took a nap so that we could stay up late that night. When we woke up, we started watching Harry Potter, which the boys love. All night they went around waving pens saying "Expecto Patronum!!", which was adorable. Oh, and for some reason, the name Harry is changed to Garry in Russian. I have no idea why. Then, Mahri started bringing out the food, which never seemed to stop - there were about seven different types of salads, some of which included chicken and pickled fish. And then there was the stuffed chicken and then the chicken roulettes. And then the shashlik. All of it was great and I ate WAY too much. Then some of Mahri's relatives came over and hung out with us for a while. After they left, we started dancing and being pretty silly. Russian music is kinda hard to dance to, but it was fun just the same. The channel we were watching had a New Years Eve show with all the most famous singers from Russian in it. While all of this was going on, Ata would occationally come in and give the kids sparklers. That were lit. In the house. So that was exciting. And at midnight we all went outside and blew up some fireworks, as did all of our hundreds of neighbors - it smelled just like the 4th of July outside. And each person was expected to give a toast. The boys did theirs in Russian, of course, but Ata and I did ours in English and then he translated for everyone else. I ended up passing out earlier than everyone else because after 5 beers and then a few cups of relaxing tea, I was just done. I think the rest of the family finally went to sleep around 2 or 3 in the morning. So, my New Years was pretty awesome and made up a little for the slightly sad Christmas. Sadly, I didn't have anyone to kiss at midnight, but considering what I was expecting from a New Years in Turkmenistan, the reality was much MUCH better. I really hope everyone else had a great time back home as well. :)
One of the things that is most inconvenient for people who are visiting Turkmenistan is that there aren't really many maps of any kind. And if you were wanting a road map, well, that's just a joke. So when you find yourself lost in the middle of Ashgabat (or any other city or town), finding your way is not as easy as looking at an address near you and looking it up on a map. And that's a whole different problem - addresses. These tend to work out a lot better if the streets are named consistently and have signs telling you what the names are. In the case of Turkmenistan (or at least Ashgabat, since it's the only major city I've seen yet) the streets have old names and new names - and neither of these names are actually on a sign anywhere. And now I've been told that all the names have been replaced by numbers. What?!?! But since these aren't really put on signs either, and none of the locals have bothered to learn them, you'll never get directions like "Take 2026 street until you get to 1748 street and take a left". Instead, you'll get directions using the old names for streets. This becomes a problem when you are trying to find the Peace Corps office and all you have is an address (written with the new name, of course) because everyone you ask just shakes their head because they don't know the new name, they know the old one. And they've probably tried to explain this to you, but since you speak Turkmen like a 4 year old and understand what most people say even less than that, then all that just went over your head, and you're standing there, looking confused, with no better idea of where you're supposed to go than when you started. Oh, and I forgot to mention that everything looks the same here. Every apartment building looks about the same as the next, all the government buildings are white marble and pretty unremarkable. Just about every corner has a Dukan (a convenience store). And in the villages it isn't any better - every gate is either blue or green, every house is the same dirty white color. I've lived in Gokja now long enough that I know my way around pretty well, as long as I stay on the west side of the main road because that's where I live, where all the other volunteers live, and where the school and clinic are. But three months wasn't even long enough for me to know hardly anything about the east side of town. I've been over there a few times with the nurses to visit families, but have no idea where I am when we do this. As far as Ashgabat is concerned, it works out pretty well if you know the name of the bazaar closest to where you want to go, so all you have to say is "Teke Bazar akitjekmi?" to the taxi driver (which I can do now, but I still continue to get the answer in Russian because everyone here still thinks I am Russian - but hey, at least I'm fitting in right?). The bus system is MUCH cheaper, so I'm working on learning the routes. And when I say cheaper, I mean that the average cab ride is about 10,000 manats (the exchange rate is about 1$ = 23,000 manats, so that's a little less than 50 cents) and for the bus you just pay 50 manats each time you get on (which is less than a penny). This is getting off topic, but I've become a serious bargain shopper here. I'll never by a 1.5 liter of Coke for more than 20,000 manats (I usually only pay 10,000 or 15,000 manats) and I know where to get a mug of beer for only 15,000 manats, and I occasionally barter the price of cookies down by 500 manats. I forget how little I'm bargaining for sometimes, until I say something like "Wow, there's not way I'm paying 75,000 manats for Nutella! That's so expensive!" and then Brian says "Andrea, that's only like $3." Americans are often ripped off here because they feel so freaking rich after they exchange their dollars for manats - when I change a $20, I get a gigantic wad of cash because the biggest bill in manats is 10,000. I don't know why the Turkmen government hasn't come out with bigger bills - if you want to buy something that costs a few hundred dollars, you can imagine how many bills you'd have to carry with you. So people end up just paying for really expensive things in dollars anyway. Oh, and credit cards just don't exist here - I'm not sure about checks, but I've never seen anyone write one. I was thinking about credit cards the other day and what it will be like to come back home and actually use one. I actually got a little giddy at the thought because after living in a cash-only economy for three months, the idea of a credit card is seriously like magic.
Language Barrier
On Friday all the volunteers had to have their language skills tested. In years past, volunteers in Turkmenistan were only required to reach the Novice level for their training to be considered a success. The T-16's, however, have been held to a higher standard - they want us to reach at least Intermediate-Low. The difference in Novice and Intermediate levels is that a person at the Novice level can communicate, but mostly just using individual words to get their point across. A person at the Intermediate level, however, uses full sentences. Since the grammar rules in Turkmen are completely different than those in English, this is a tough goal, but I'm proud to say that everyone in Gokja passed! Brian even got Intermediate-High, which basically means he gave more complicated sentences. I was really worried about my score because I blanked a little on one of the questions, but apparently I did well enough. And this week I start my Russian lessons, but I'll still have to use Turkmen for a while until my Russian gets better. I'll be getting plenty of practice in every language once I get to my permanent site because I'll be using Turkmen at work (and maybe some Russian later), I'll have to use Russian at home, especially with the two boys, and Mahri (who is "technically" my host mom, but she's too young for me to call her mom) wants me to help her with her English. I'm really excited to learn Russian for a lot of reasons - the first being that I'm tired of people speaking to me in Russian all the time because of my blonde hair and me not understanding a single word, the second is that I really want to know what Jelil, my 5 year-old brother says to me when he pulls on my arm and whispers something to me (because it always sounds so important), and the third is that Russian is a much more valuable language to know in the long run because there are so many people all over the world who speak it (while Turkmen is only spoken by the Turkmen people, and therefore only really helpful in Turkmenistan). Oh, AND if I can learn it well enough, I may be able to pass myself off as Russian when I'm traveling, which would be good since the current American government has made all Americans look pretty bad in they eyes of most countries around the world. Hahaha, this is off topic again, but poor Anita - she's from Texas, and one time she tells this to a Turkmen, the first thing they say is "Oh! Bush!". Ha, on yet another side note, all these languages being mixed together is actually kind of fun, but really strange. I was trying to ask Clemens the other day if he speaks French, in French, and what came out was "Tu parle fracaismi?" which is a mostly French phrase, except for the "mi" on the end, which is the Turkmen ending for any yes/no question. Ok, so this may only be funny to me but it's just one example of how mixed up it all gets.
Music in Turkmenistan
Generally, there are two subgroups of music that is considered Turkmen - the traditional and the new popular music. Of course, many Turkmen also listen to music from other countries, especially Russian, India, and America. The traditional Turkmen music is alright - it sounds a bit like a mix of traditional Irish music and Indian music. It's usually played with an instrument somewhat like a guitar (it's called a dutar) and maybe a few traditional drums and sometimes a singer and sometimes this mouth harp thing. The new music is very rarely (if ever) entirely original. They take popular American, Russian, or Indian songs and put Turkmen words to it. Sometimes they'll keep some of the English words by the original singer too. My favorites so far are the Turkmen versions of: that song by WHAM! that goes "I don't ever want to dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm", 50 cent's "Candy Shop", Rhianna's "Murderer", Eminem's "Smack That", and then there's a whole bunch of Nsync and Backstreet Boys covers that are fun. Me and some of the other volunteers actually got to go to a live concert the other night and it was awesome! They even had a comedy act in between each of the set changes. Unfortunately they didn't play any of my favorite songs, but it was still a lot of fun. Then we went to a fireworks show. Oh, that reminds me - Turkmen claim to have the best of a lot of things, like the best wine, the best horses etc. And while a lot of the time this is somewhat of an exaggeration, there are at least two occasions when I would agree. The first is the melons - they mean it when they say they have the best because I don't think I'll ever really enjoy a watermelon in America again now that I know what they're supposed to taste like. And the second is the fireworks. WOW it's just incredible. They last for at least half an hour, and they coordinate them with lights on the buildings and music and I've never ever seen anything like it in my life. I literally stood in awe the entire time. The four of us standing there were acting like little kids seeing a fireworks show for the first time - we were all "OOOOOHHH" and "AWWWW man! That was awesome!!!" and "Oh my god did you see that one??" I'm sure we looked ridiculous, but I don't care, it was fun.
I HAVE A CELL PHONE!!!!!
I have a cell phone that works here in Turkmenistan with calls from America! I talked to my mom for about an hour last night and it didn't use up ANY of my minutes! So, it might be a little expensive for you to call me, but you won't have to worry about it costing me anything. If you would like the number, post a comment on this blog with your email address and I'll send it to you. Or, if you know my mom, ask her for it. I would LOVE to hear from all of you, so don't hesitate to ask for the number. I just don't want to post it here because this blog is open to the public and anyone who has access to the internet at all can be reading this, not just my friends and family. EDIT: For Christmas, I received calls from my family and it did charge my minutes this time. But it was less than $20 for an hour, which isn't bad. So, you can still feel free to call me, but I might have to answer and just tell you that I'm out of minutes (I have a pre-pay plan, so when I run out, that's the end of my calls - I can't go over even if I wanted to). As of Dec. 26 at 7pm (my time) I only have a few dollars left, so I'll need to buy more before people can call me.
Christmas and the New Year
My Christmas morning was spent hanging out with the other T-16's at our country director's apartment in Ashgabat, which was amazing! We did secret santa and sang carols and ate lots of food. Then I went shopping and bought myself a nice Christian Dior knock-off purse at one the bazaars. I also went to visit my new host family, where Mahri helped me celebrate christmas by bringing out several different types of cakes and cookies and chocolates, which was really sweet of her. Then I went back to hotel where I got to talk to both sides of my family, which made the day pretty much perfect. After that we all went down to the disco to hang out and say goodbye to each other since everyone else had to leave very early the next day. Overall the only thing I really missed about Christmas were completely intagible. There are Christmas trees everywhere, and I even got to open and give a present, but a phone call is just a poor substitute for actually hanging out with your family. So I was sad for a while, but I expected that. And then there was New Years. For Turkmen, this is the biggest holiday. All of their Christmas trees are actually New Years trees. There's even have a giant one in the middle of Ashgabat. New Years is a celebration where they basically smash all the holiday traditions we have in the states all year round into one insane night. So, they take the Christmas trees from Christmas, they make rediculous amounts of food and stuff a bird like we do for Thanksgiving, the Russian kids on TV all dressed up like kids in the US do for Halloween, and then everyone has sparklers and blow up fireworks like we do for the 4th. Oh, and of course they stay up until midnight and go crazy when the clock strikes 12. For me, the day started up pretty well. I went to work and we ate lots of cake and drank lots of juice. Then I came home and we had a great lunch with snicker's cake for desert (yeah, Mahri is amazing). Then we all took a nap so that we could stay up late that night. When we woke up, we started watching Harry Potter, which the boys love. All night they went around waving pens saying "Expecto Patronum!!", which was adorable. Oh, and for some reason, the name Harry is changed to Garry in Russian. I have no idea why. Then, Mahri started bringing out the food, which never seemed to stop - there were about seven different types of salads, some of which included chicken and pickled fish. And then there was the stuffed chicken and then the chicken roulettes. And then the shashlik. All of it was great and I ate WAY too much. Then some of Mahri's relatives came over and hung out with us for a while. After they left, we started dancing and being pretty silly. Russian music is kinda hard to dance to, but it was fun just the same. The channel we were watching had a New Years Eve show with all the most famous singers from Russian in it. While all of this was going on, Ata would occationally come in and give the kids sparklers. That were lit. In the house. So that was exciting. And at midnight we all went outside and blew up some fireworks, as did all of our hundreds of neighbors - it smelled just like the 4th of July outside. And each person was expected to give a toast. The boys did theirs in Russian, of course, but Ata and I did ours in English and then he translated for everyone else. I ended up passing out earlier than everyone else because after 5 beers and then a few cups of relaxing tea, I was just done. I think the rest of the family finally went to sleep around 2 or 3 in the morning. So, my New Years was pretty awesome and made up a little for the slightly sad Christmas. Sadly, I didn't have anyone to kiss at midnight, but considering what I was expecting from a New Years in Turkmenistan, the reality was much MUCH better. I really hope everyone else had a great time back home as well. :)
Sunday, December 2, 2007
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 :)
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 :)
Friday, November 2, 2007
Wish List!
- tampons
- a button-down (or zipper) sweater
- journal
- music
- pictures
- movies
- nalgene bottle
- post-it notes
- note books
- scissors
- cheese (in a form that doesn't have to be refrigerated before opening, but its ok if it needs to be refrigerated afterwards because my family has one)
- chocolate, especially Rolos
- trail mix
- hair rubber bands
- you can use toilet paper as a stuffer because I can get some here, but its expensive, only in some bazars, and not very good quality.
- a button-down (or zipper) sweater
- journal
- music
- pictures
- movies
- nalgene bottle
- post-it notes
- note books
- scissors
- cheese (in a form that doesn't have to be refrigerated before opening, but its ok if it needs to be refrigerated afterwards because my family has one)
- chocolate, especially Rolos
- trail mix
- hair rubber bands
- you can use toilet paper as a stuffer because I can get some here, but its expensive, only in some bazars, and not very good quality.
YAY new blog!!
Oct. 31, 2007
So today was halloween and it's the first one that I've spent without dressing up, which is kind of sad. But, the PC staff gave us all American halloween candy which consisted of candy corn (of course), hot tamales (yes!!!! great care package idea *hint hint), runts, and a blow-pop (which I haven't had in forever). It was nice of them, and I ate it all in one sitting, which was a bad idea, but you'd do the same in my position. Then tonight we (my training group, who i will describe in detail later) all decided to celebrate by making American-ish food and watching a scary movie. One of the things I brought from home with me was velveeta cheese, but I hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet, so I decided tonight was as good a night as any. So I brought over my two packages - one plain, and one spicy mexican. In the end, we figured that between the six of us (our Turkmen teacher was also there) we could finish off both packages in one night. So we heated up the regular cheese, got some tomato sauce (which they have here - they can their own) and some chorak (Turkmen bread), and made our version of pizza. It didn't turn out exactly like we thought it would, but honestly, I couldn't have cared less. You should have seen my face when I took my first bite of the spicy mexican cheese - I'm sure it was hilarious. I was so happy I almost cried tears of joy. To say that Turkmenistan doesn't have much cheese is a sever understatement - they have what they call "cheese" but its nothing like what you can find at home. And I realize that velveeta isn't really cheese - it's cheese product in fact - but compared to what I've had in the last month, it was the best cheese ever! Also, Turkmen don't have much in the way of spicy food, and for someone who's favorite foods are mexican and Indian food, that's rather disappointing. So the combination of spicy and cheese all at once was almost too much for my hopeful heart to handle. Needless to say, I ate way too much and my stomach was NOT happy with me, but it was totally worth it. So, spicy velveeta cheese is something I would be eternally grateful to have sent to me. But I'd recommend only sending one package of it at a time, because I WILL eat it all in one sitting, and that's really not healthy. Anyway, I wanted to tell you all about tonight first because it's fresh in my mind. The rest of this blog will be snippets of things I've found interesting in Turkmenistan and what my daily life is like here. Also, I'm really sorry for not posting anything sooner, but during my three months of training, my schedule is PACKED with things I have to get done, places I have to be, and stuff I have to learn, and travel for us has been somewhat restricted for us until this week because we didn't really know the language well enough before to get around (or more importantly, get directions if we're lost). My time is no less packed now, but I've free to travel, so hopefully I'll be able to get on a little more often. And I'm also very sorry that I haven't sent any letters yet - they are written and sealed in envelopes, but sending things here is harder than you'd think. But I've got it figured out now, so look for them in the next month or so. And I may end up just sending a whole bunch of letters to my mom, and then asking her to give them to you (for those of you in the KC area anyway). My
Turkmen Family
The day that we met the people we'd be living with for three months was a bit crazy. We were all extremely nervous. Would they like us? Would they be offended by our clothes, our actions? And its not like you can explain yourself when you mess up because the most we could say in Turkmen was "Hi, how are you? I'm doing well/not well. I'm from America. I'm 23. I'm not married." You've got a million questions for them, but no way to ask them, and even if you figure it out from the Turkmen/English dictionary, it's not like you'd understand the answers. And you know that they are bursting with questions for you (and they did try to ask most of them), but all you can do is stand there and look confused and shake your head helplessly. Anyway, so we (the volunteers) are all standing in the big hall and we see the families being brought in and they all stand on the opposite side. One of the LCF's (I can't remember what it stands for, but they're the Turkmen language teachers that live in our villages with us during training) went to the middle and started calling out the volunteer's name and then the family's name. Each volunteer went, in turn, to meet their family in the middle. With each meeting came an awkward exchange of hello's and hugs, and then they went upstairs where we were supposed to eat lunch with our families. When they called my name, I was greeted by my eje (mom) and my gyz jigi (little sister). They looked really excited, and I really wished that I could have told them how grateful I was that they were taking me in to their family. As we went upstairs, I went through the questions and answers I knew (which took all of 30 seconds) and then the rest of the communication consisted mostly of jumbled words and pantomiming. But they seemed very nice and happy to have me, so most of my nerves were put to ease. Now, I've lived with my mashgala (family) for a little less than a month, and they are very nice people. My eje's name is Ulgashirin, my gyz jigi's name is Enejan, my gelneje's (sister-in-law) is Ulgashat, and I also have a host father and host brother, but I hardly ever see them. Out of respect for me, as an unmarried woman, the men of the house avoid me as much as possible and have yet to utter a single word to me. It's weird to live with someone and never speak to them, but its one of the many cultural differences that I'll get to deal with on a daily basis. It could be much worse - I don't have to wear a burka, or cover my face, and they tolerate my knee-length skirts and my short hair that I wear down occasionally. Enejan is the person I interact with the most. She's 16 and still in school. She's very out-going and we joke with each other a lot now. Ulgashat is 23, married to my host brother, and has a 3 month old son named Ekrem (pronounced A-krem). We get along pretty well, but it's a strange relationship sometimes because we're the same age but lead such different lives. My host mom is 54 and she's extremely sweet. She tells me that she is so happy now because she has three daughters instead of just two. She worries if I don't eat breakfast and if I don't make it home before the sunsets. I pray that my family at my permanent site is HALF as good as this one. We live a pretty rural area, but not exactly a farm because our land isn't that big. We've got a decent sized house which is kept very very clean. We have a small garden with a few date trees, lots of egg plants, and a few other things that I haven't identified yet. We have a couple of cows (who like to moo at me when I go to the out house), and a few sheep/goats. Apparently they slaughtered a goat in honor of my arrival. I didn't see the slaughter (thank God), but just about every meal we've had so far has been goat. Because of this, I've learned something unfortunate about myself - I really really REALLY don't like goat (I'll expand on that more later). But, regardless, it was an extremely nice thing for them to do in my honor. Oh, and they also gave me a Turkmen name, Beygul (pronounced BAY-ul), which means "rose".
Turkmen Food
While I certainly miss the food I ate in America, it turns out that Turkmenistan has a few things that I'll miss when I leave here. The fruit here is generally smaller and not as pretty as the fruit you can get at your local Hy-Vee store, but the taste is SO much better and all of it is extremely fresh, and I'll bet that it's smaller and less pretty because they don't use pesticides and genetic alterations here like they do in America. Here, EVERY grape tastes as sweet as candy - none of them are sour. Turkmenistan is known for its melons, and they are wonderful! The watermelon you all are eating in the states tastes, well, like water, compared to the one's I get here everyday - they taste amazing! And we get pomegranates ALL the time and they are very tart, but very good. Sadly, when winter comes, the fruit will be too expensive to get as often as we do now and I'll have to settle for the jams and preserves they make, which are good, but not as good as the fresh fruits. For veggies, it's mostly cucumbers, egg plants and tomatoes, but we get carrots, cabbage, peppers, and onions fairly often as well. In the winter we'll mostly just get canned tomatoes and peppers though. My chief complaint with the food here is the amount of fat and oil. It can be quite disgusting how much of it is used. They fry half of their food, which does taste pretty good, but it gets old after a while. My secondary complaint is goat. I really hate it. In fact, I dislike it so much that the first time I put it in my mouth, I had an instant and almost over-welling urge to vomit all over the dinner table. And I'm pretty sure that it isn't because of the way its prepared because all of the food my family has given me, sans goat, has been really good. The best meat here, by FAR, is shashlik. It's Iranian, not Turkmen, and it's not easy to make at home, so my family has never served it, but you can find it in the city and in bazars. I know that it's beef, that it's smoked and I know that it's delicious, and beyond that, I probably don't want to know because I think it'll be ruined for me if I really find out how it's made.
Getting Sick
My first week here was good until about the fourth day. What I experienced has been dubbed by some other volunteers as a "gastric calamity", which is a pretty accurate description. I'll spare you the details, but I will say that it was pretty horrible and I am thankful each and every time that I go to the outhouse and I don't have to experience that anymore. I was one of the lucky ones because it only lasted for about two days, while other's were sick for a week. I've been told that you aren't a "real" PCV until you have a gastric calamity accident (i.e. you don't make it to the outhouse in time). Thankfully, I was given some advice in this department that has saved me on more than one occasion - "Never trust a fart."
My Training Group
The group of about 40 people who joined Peace Corps in Turkmenistan with me are called the T-16's (we're the 16th group of volunteers to work in Tstan). We spent about a week together in Ashgabat, and then we were split into small training groups and sent to some villages outside of Ashgabat. The people in my group are the people that will live in the same village with me, they'll go to Turkmen language class with me, and they're the people I'll get to hang out with on a daily basis. We are really lucky because we all get along really well and there hasn't been any drama so far. We're all pretty laid back, and we all have a similar sense of humor. My group consists of Anita, Brian, Clemens, and Halley. Our LCF, Gyzlgul (we call her Gul), also lives in the village with us and she's a big part of our lives during training. Anita is 23, speaks spanish, and was a teacher for a year before she became a PCV. She's really outgoing and fun, and has a really strong personality. She's from Texas and has been to sever South American countries. Brian is 27 (I think that's right, give or take a year or two) and he was a house appraiser before he joined. He's lived in several different states, including Minnesota and Washington and he's traveled all over Europe. He's an outdoors-man and likes hunting and fishing. He's just about the most courteous person I've ever met. Clemens is freaking hilarious! I'm not entirely sure how to describe him, but I'll try. He's spent more time outside of the US than in it because is parents are US diplomats. He is 22 and has dual citizenship - US and Germany. He speaks German and Russian pretty well. Before he became a PCV, he did some kind of computer technical stuff in Washington D.C.. He's very talkative and very funny, but sometimes not on purpose. Halley, is also very interesting. She's from Pennsylvania and has done just about every job you can imagine (but they all slip my mind at the moment). She delights in all things different and quirky and has a very "go with the flow" attitude, or as Brian says, she's "casually disinterested". She's also the only other Health volunteer in our group besides me, so we spend a little more time together. Gyzlgul is probably one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. She was born and raised in Turkmenistan, but she spent 2 years in Indian. She speaks fluent Turkmen, Russian, and English, and a little Hindi. She is an AMAZING Turkmen teacher. She is in her early 30's and has a very fun, open, strong and out-going personality. Without her, I wouldn't be able to get any complicated idea across to my family, or understand a complicated idea from them. Without her I wouldn't have been able to leave the village, or buy anything from the bazar, or even know where a bazar was at. So basically, when training is over, I'm going to be a mess because I'll have to leave these five people, as well as my host family. It'll be a little like leaving America all over again - not quite as hard because I won't have known them as long, and they'll be somewhat closer than my real family is, but harder because when this is all over, I don't if I'll ever see them again. But, for everyone at home reading this, rest assured that at least for these next few months, I'm in very good hands :)
And a note for the blog comments: I have to approve the comments before they will appear, so if you write one, it won't show up until I get on and approve it. So don't worry, it's working even if you don't see it.
Oh, and i've been trying to upload pictures, but its not working and my time here is really limited. I probably won't have them up until training is over, sorry :(
So today was halloween and it's the first one that I've spent without dressing up, which is kind of sad. But, the PC staff gave us all American halloween candy which consisted of candy corn (of course), hot tamales (yes!!!! great care package idea *hint hint), runts, and a blow-pop (which I haven't had in forever). It was nice of them, and I ate it all in one sitting, which was a bad idea, but you'd do the same in my position. Then tonight we (my training group, who i will describe in detail later) all decided to celebrate by making American-ish food and watching a scary movie. One of the things I brought from home with me was velveeta cheese, but I hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet, so I decided tonight was as good a night as any. So I brought over my two packages - one plain, and one spicy mexican. In the end, we figured that between the six of us (our Turkmen teacher was also there) we could finish off both packages in one night. So we heated up the regular cheese, got some tomato sauce (which they have here - they can their own) and some chorak (Turkmen bread), and made our version of pizza. It didn't turn out exactly like we thought it would, but honestly, I couldn't have cared less. You should have seen my face when I took my first bite of the spicy mexican cheese - I'm sure it was hilarious. I was so happy I almost cried tears of joy. To say that Turkmenistan doesn't have much cheese is a sever understatement - they have what they call "cheese" but its nothing like what you can find at home. And I realize that velveeta isn't really cheese - it's cheese product in fact - but compared to what I've had in the last month, it was the best cheese ever! Also, Turkmen don't have much in the way of spicy food, and for someone who's favorite foods are mexican and Indian food, that's rather disappointing. So the combination of spicy and cheese all at once was almost too much for my hopeful heart to handle. Needless to say, I ate way too much and my stomach was NOT happy with me, but it was totally worth it. So, spicy velveeta cheese is something I would be eternally grateful to have sent to me. But I'd recommend only sending one package of it at a time, because I WILL eat it all in one sitting, and that's really not healthy. Anyway, I wanted to tell you all about tonight first because it's fresh in my mind. The rest of this blog will be snippets of things I've found interesting in Turkmenistan and what my daily life is like here. Also, I'm really sorry for not posting anything sooner, but during my three months of training, my schedule is PACKED with things I have to get done, places I have to be, and stuff I have to learn, and travel for us has been somewhat restricted for us until this week because we didn't really know the language well enough before to get around (or more importantly, get directions if we're lost). My time is no less packed now, but I've free to travel, so hopefully I'll be able to get on a little more often. And I'm also very sorry that I haven't sent any letters yet - they are written and sealed in envelopes, but sending things here is harder than you'd think. But I've got it figured out now, so look for them in the next month or so. And I may end up just sending a whole bunch of letters to my mom, and then asking her to give them to you (for those of you in the KC area anyway). My
Turkmen Family
The day that we met the people we'd be living with for three months was a bit crazy. We were all extremely nervous. Would they like us? Would they be offended by our clothes, our actions? And its not like you can explain yourself when you mess up because the most we could say in Turkmen was "Hi, how are you? I'm doing well/not well. I'm from America. I'm 23. I'm not married." You've got a million questions for them, but no way to ask them, and even if you figure it out from the Turkmen/English dictionary, it's not like you'd understand the answers. And you know that they are bursting with questions for you (and they did try to ask most of them), but all you can do is stand there and look confused and shake your head helplessly. Anyway, so we (the volunteers) are all standing in the big hall and we see the families being brought in and they all stand on the opposite side. One of the LCF's (I can't remember what it stands for, but they're the Turkmen language teachers that live in our villages with us during training) went to the middle and started calling out the volunteer's name and then the family's name. Each volunteer went, in turn, to meet their family in the middle. With each meeting came an awkward exchange of hello's and hugs, and then they went upstairs where we were supposed to eat lunch with our families. When they called my name, I was greeted by my eje (mom) and my gyz jigi (little sister). They looked really excited, and I really wished that I could have told them how grateful I was that they were taking me in to their family. As we went upstairs, I went through the questions and answers I knew (which took all of 30 seconds) and then the rest of the communication consisted mostly of jumbled words and pantomiming. But they seemed very nice and happy to have me, so most of my nerves were put to ease. Now, I've lived with my mashgala (family) for a little less than a month, and they are very nice people. My eje's name is Ulgashirin, my gyz jigi's name is Enejan, my gelneje's (sister-in-law) is Ulgashat, and I also have a host father and host brother, but I hardly ever see them. Out of respect for me, as an unmarried woman, the men of the house avoid me as much as possible and have yet to utter a single word to me. It's weird to live with someone and never speak to them, but its one of the many cultural differences that I'll get to deal with on a daily basis. It could be much worse - I don't have to wear a burka, or cover my face, and they tolerate my knee-length skirts and my short hair that I wear down occasionally. Enejan is the person I interact with the most. She's 16 and still in school. She's very out-going and we joke with each other a lot now. Ulgashat is 23, married to my host brother, and has a 3 month old son named Ekrem (pronounced A-krem). We get along pretty well, but it's a strange relationship sometimes because we're the same age but lead such different lives. My host mom is 54 and she's extremely sweet. She tells me that she is so happy now because she has three daughters instead of just two. She worries if I don't eat breakfast and if I don't make it home before the sunsets. I pray that my family at my permanent site is HALF as good as this one. We live a pretty rural area, but not exactly a farm because our land isn't that big. We've got a decent sized house which is kept very very clean. We have a small garden with a few date trees, lots of egg plants, and a few other things that I haven't identified yet. We have a couple of cows (who like to moo at me when I go to the out house), and a few sheep/goats. Apparently they slaughtered a goat in honor of my arrival. I didn't see the slaughter (thank God), but just about every meal we've had so far has been goat. Because of this, I've learned something unfortunate about myself - I really really REALLY don't like goat (I'll expand on that more later). But, regardless, it was an extremely nice thing for them to do in my honor. Oh, and they also gave me a Turkmen name, Beygul (pronounced BAY-ul), which means "rose".
Turkmen Food
While I certainly miss the food I ate in America, it turns out that Turkmenistan has a few things that I'll miss when I leave here. The fruit here is generally smaller and not as pretty as the fruit you can get at your local Hy-Vee store, but the taste is SO much better and all of it is extremely fresh, and I'll bet that it's smaller and less pretty because they don't use pesticides and genetic alterations here like they do in America. Here, EVERY grape tastes as sweet as candy - none of them are sour. Turkmenistan is known for its melons, and they are wonderful! The watermelon you all are eating in the states tastes, well, like water, compared to the one's I get here everyday - they taste amazing! And we get pomegranates ALL the time and they are very tart, but very good. Sadly, when winter comes, the fruit will be too expensive to get as often as we do now and I'll have to settle for the jams and preserves they make, which are good, but not as good as the fresh fruits. For veggies, it's mostly cucumbers, egg plants and tomatoes, but we get carrots, cabbage, peppers, and onions fairly often as well. In the winter we'll mostly just get canned tomatoes and peppers though. My chief complaint with the food here is the amount of fat and oil. It can be quite disgusting how much of it is used. They fry half of their food, which does taste pretty good, but it gets old after a while. My secondary complaint is goat. I really hate it. In fact, I dislike it so much that the first time I put it in my mouth, I had an instant and almost over-welling urge to vomit all over the dinner table. And I'm pretty sure that it isn't because of the way its prepared because all of the food my family has given me, sans goat, has been really good. The best meat here, by FAR, is shashlik. It's Iranian, not Turkmen, and it's not easy to make at home, so my family has never served it, but you can find it in the city and in bazars. I know that it's beef, that it's smoked and I know that it's delicious, and beyond that, I probably don't want to know because I think it'll be ruined for me if I really find out how it's made.
Getting Sick
My first week here was good until about the fourth day. What I experienced has been dubbed by some other volunteers as a "gastric calamity", which is a pretty accurate description. I'll spare you the details, but I will say that it was pretty horrible and I am thankful each and every time that I go to the outhouse and I don't have to experience that anymore. I was one of the lucky ones because it only lasted for about two days, while other's were sick for a week. I've been told that you aren't a "real" PCV until you have a gastric calamity accident (i.e. you don't make it to the outhouse in time). Thankfully, I was given some advice in this department that has saved me on more than one occasion - "Never trust a fart."
My Training Group
The group of about 40 people who joined Peace Corps in Turkmenistan with me are called the T-16's (we're the 16th group of volunteers to work in Tstan). We spent about a week together in Ashgabat, and then we were split into small training groups and sent to some villages outside of Ashgabat. The people in my group are the people that will live in the same village with me, they'll go to Turkmen language class with me, and they're the people I'll get to hang out with on a daily basis. We are really lucky because we all get along really well and there hasn't been any drama so far. We're all pretty laid back, and we all have a similar sense of humor. My group consists of Anita, Brian, Clemens, and Halley. Our LCF, Gyzlgul (we call her Gul), also lives in the village with us and she's a big part of our lives during training. Anita is 23, speaks spanish, and was a teacher for a year before she became a PCV. She's really outgoing and fun, and has a really strong personality. She's from Texas and has been to sever South American countries. Brian is 27 (I think that's right, give or take a year or two) and he was a house appraiser before he joined. He's lived in several different states, including Minnesota and Washington and he's traveled all over Europe. He's an outdoors-man and likes hunting and fishing. He's just about the most courteous person I've ever met. Clemens is freaking hilarious! I'm not entirely sure how to describe him, but I'll try. He's spent more time outside of the US than in it because is parents are US diplomats. He is 22 and has dual citizenship - US and Germany. He speaks German and Russian pretty well. Before he became a PCV, he did some kind of computer technical stuff in Washington D.C.. He's very talkative and very funny, but sometimes not on purpose. Halley, is also very interesting. She's from Pennsylvania and has done just about every job you can imagine (but they all slip my mind at the moment). She delights in all things different and quirky and has a very "go with the flow" attitude, or as Brian says, she's "casually disinterested". She's also the only other Health volunteer in our group besides me, so we spend a little more time together. Gyzlgul is probably one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. She was born and raised in Turkmenistan, but she spent 2 years in Indian. She speaks fluent Turkmen, Russian, and English, and a little Hindi. She is an AMAZING Turkmen teacher. She is in her early 30's and has a very fun, open, strong and out-going personality. Without her, I wouldn't be able to get any complicated idea across to my family, or understand a complicated idea from them. Without her I wouldn't have been able to leave the village, or buy anything from the bazar, or even know where a bazar was at. So basically, when training is over, I'm going to be a mess because I'll have to leave these five people, as well as my host family. It'll be a little like leaving America all over again - not quite as hard because I won't have known them as long, and they'll be somewhat closer than my real family is, but harder because when this is all over, I don't if I'll ever see them again. But, for everyone at home reading this, rest assured that at least for these next few months, I'm in very good hands :)
And a note for the blog comments: I have to approve the comments before they will appear, so if you write one, it won't show up until I get on and approve it. So don't worry, it's working even if you don't see it.
Oh, and i've been trying to upload pictures, but its not working and my time here is really limited. I probably won't have them up until training is over, sorry :(
Friday, October 19, 2007
I'm finally writing a real entry for you!!
Oct 4, 2007
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan First of all, I can hardly believe that I'm in Turkmenistan. I've been working so hard to get here for so long that it just doesn't seem possible. My disbelief is not helped by the fact that Ashgabat is NOTHING like what I pictured Turkmenistan to be. There are beautiful marble building everywhere - in fact I've never seen so much marble in one place. We have electricity and plumbing that seem just about as reliable as any US city. Everyone walks around with briefcases and cell phones. But, this is not really representative of the rest of the country. On saturday we will move in with our host families on the outskirts of the city, and at this point we should have a better idea of how the average Turkmen lives. The other volunteers are so much fun to be around. While we were in D.C. I had so much fun just hanging out and talking with everyone. I've only known these people for a few days, but sometimes it feels like we've been friends for a lot longer, which is a really nice feeling considering how much I miss all my friends at home. Anyway, D.C. was exciting, but very busy and a little overwhelming because there was so much information to cover. The trip over was very very long, but the jet lag still didn't over-shadow my excitement. By the last leg of the journey, some of us were a little cranky, but over all everyone was pretty cool considering that we had been traveling for so long. We stopped in Germany, but we didn't leave the airport because we were afraid of getting lost or not getting back through security in time, so we hung out by our terminal for about 6 hours. When we finally arrived in Ashgabat, we basically just went back to the hotel and passed out. But not before someone handed me a letter from home. Apparently my mom had sent it to me way back in August so that I would have it waiting for me when I got there. Several others also had letters, but I soon found out that I had two packages waiting as well! Thank you Mom, it made my day, you are amazing! When I woke up the next morning, I didn't open my eyes right away because I was afraid that I had dreamt all of this and that when I did open them, I'd just be laying in my bed at home. But no, I was still laying in the hotel bed with my roommate Annie across the room. So I took a shower (one of the few real one's I'll get in Turkmenistan) and headed up to breakfast for my first Turkmen meal! They had a great layout of fruits, cheeses, bread, and - to my great surprise - they had Coco Puffs. So I took my share of the delicious cereal, but I also took an assortment of other things that looked unfamiliar. One of the things I grabbed was a cube of white cheese that was floating in what appeared to be water, but I assumed it was brine (when I worked as a Hy-Vee cheese girl, some of it was in brine and it was quite tasty). I sat down with some of the other volunteers and we all chatted while we ate. When it came time for me to try this cube of white cheese, I debated for a moment about whether or not I should put the whole thing in my mouth or cut it and take a smaller bite. I personally love cheese and I haven't really tried many I don't like, so I decided that a whole mouthful would be fine. So in the middle of our conversation, I put it in my mouth. This is when I realize that I had made several bad decisions. The first is that I assumed the cube was cheese. It wasn't. The second is that I assumed the liquid it was in was brine. It wasn't. And the third is that I thought taking the whole thing at once was a good idea. Clearly it wasn't. I'm not really sure exactly what this stuff was, but it felt like I had taken a big bite of butter (not margarine), and the taste is something I don't think I can accurately explain, but basically, it was not at all like cheese and it was not at all tasty. So, as I realized my errors, I had an urge to spit it out, but I didn't want to offend anyone or gross them out. At the same time I realized the humor of the situation and started laughing at myself. And now everyone at the table is staring at me wondering what's wrong with me. So I'm trying really hard to chew it up and swallow it, but the laughing made it even more difficult than the taste. Eventually, with tears streaming down my face, I get it down and explain to the rest of my table what happened. It was slightly embarrassing, but I learned my lesson. Anyway, the main goal for us now is to get through training. Today and yesterday was spent getting to know the staff who will be teaching us, learning about Turkmenistan, the Turkmen language, and about the Peace Corps programs here. We also had a big welcoming party which was a lot of fun. On saturday we will go to our training sites and meet our host families. My host family (for while I'm training) lives in a small village outside of Ashgabat called Golcche. I'm excited and a little nervous to meet them because they don't speak any English at all. Thankfully our Turkmen teachers are great, and I've already learned a lot more than I expected to. I will probably have access to internet about once a week, and usually on fridays, so that's when you can expect updates. I will work on getting a cell phone, but it may not happen. I will be sending letters as soon as I can, so expect some in a month or so. And if you write me, write "Via Istanbul" on the envelop and it should get to me faster. Love and miss you all!!
P.S. I've taken a lot of pictures and I hope to have them up by next Thursday.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan First of all, I can hardly believe that I'm in Turkmenistan. I've been working so hard to get here for so long that it just doesn't seem possible. My disbelief is not helped by the fact that Ashgabat is NOTHING like what I pictured Turkmenistan to be. There are beautiful marble building everywhere - in fact I've never seen so much marble in one place. We have electricity and plumbing that seem just about as reliable as any US city. Everyone walks around with briefcases and cell phones. But, this is not really representative of the rest of the country. On saturday we will move in with our host families on the outskirts of the city, and at this point we should have a better idea of how the average Turkmen lives. The other volunteers are so much fun to be around. While we were in D.C. I had so much fun just hanging out and talking with everyone. I've only known these people for a few days, but sometimes it feels like we've been friends for a lot longer, which is a really nice feeling considering how much I miss all my friends at home. Anyway, D.C. was exciting, but very busy and a little overwhelming because there was so much information to cover. The trip over was very very long, but the jet lag still didn't over-shadow my excitement. By the last leg of the journey, some of us were a little cranky, but over all everyone was pretty cool considering that we had been traveling for so long. We stopped in Germany, but we didn't leave the airport because we were afraid of getting lost or not getting back through security in time, so we hung out by our terminal for about 6 hours. When we finally arrived in Ashgabat, we basically just went back to the hotel and passed out. But not before someone handed me a letter from home. Apparently my mom had sent it to me way back in August so that I would have it waiting for me when I got there. Several others also had letters, but I soon found out that I had two packages waiting as well! Thank you Mom, it made my day, you are amazing! When I woke up the next morning, I didn't open my eyes right away because I was afraid that I had dreamt all of this and that when I did open them, I'd just be laying in my bed at home. But no, I was still laying in the hotel bed with my roommate Annie across the room. So I took a shower (one of the few real one's I'll get in Turkmenistan) and headed up to breakfast for my first Turkmen meal! They had a great layout of fruits, cheeses, bread, and - to my great surprise - they had Coco Puffs. So I took my share of the delicious cereal, but I also took an assortment of other things that looked unfamiliar. One of the things I grabbed was a cube of white cheese that was floating in what appeared to be water, but I assumed it was brine (when I worked as a Hy-Vee cheese girl, some of it was in brine and it was quite tasty). I sat down with some of the other volunteers and we all chatted while we ate. When it came time for me to try this cube of white cheese, I debated for a moment about whether or not I should put the whole thing in my mouth or cut it and take a smaller bite. I personally love cheese and I haven't really tried many I don't like, so I decided that a whole mouthful would be fine. So in the middle of our conversation, I put it in my mouth. This is when I realize that I had made several bad decisions. The first is that I assumed the cube was cheese. It wasn't. The second is that I assumed the liquid it was in was brine. It wasn't. And the third is that I thought taking the whole thing at once was a good idea. Clearly it wasn't. I'm not really sure exactly what this stuff was, but it felt like I had taken a big bite of butter (not margarine), and the taste is something I don't think I can accurately explain, but basically, it was not at all like cheese and it was not at all tasty. So, as I realized my errors, I had an urge to spit it out, but I didn't want to offend anyone or gross them out. At the same time I realized the humor of the situation and started laughing at myself. And now everyone at the table is staring at me wondering what's wrong with me. So I'm trying really hard to chew it up and swallow it, but the laughing made it even more difficult than the taste. Eventually, with tears streaming down my face, I get it down and explain to the rest of my table what happened. It was slightly embarrassing, but I learned my lesson. Anyway, the main goal for us now is to get through training. Today and yesterday was spent getting to know the staff who will be teaching us, learning about Turkmenistan, the Turkmen language, and about the Peace Corps programs here. We also had a big welcoming party which was a lot of fun. On saturday we will go to our training sites and meet our host families. My host family (for while I'm training) lives in a small village outside of Ashgabat called Golcche. I'm excited and a little nervous to meet them because they don't speak any English at all. Thankfully our Turkmen teachers are great, and I've already learned a lot more than I expected to. I will probably have access to internet about once a week, and usually on fridays, so that's when you can expect updates. I will work on getting a cell phone, but it may not happen. I will be sending letters as soon as I can, so expect some in a month or so. And if you write me, write "Via Istanbul" on the envelop and it should get to me faster. Love and miss you all!!
P.S. I've taken a lot of pictures and I hope to have them up by next Thursday.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Hello from Tstan!
My internet time here is being cut short, but I just wanted to say Hello! and tell everyone that I'm here in Turkmenistan and safe and happy. I had two packages and a letter from Mom waiting from me when I arrived which was SO wonderful! And I just got another package from her today. Things to send: cool books you've read that you think i'll like, cd's with new music ( i like just about anything, but i'd really like some salsa music and any new rock, alternative, or indie music you like). Mom, it'd be great if you could send one of the journals to me and a sweater from my closet (not a turtleneck). I don't need food or toilet paper, but pictures of you would be great (old ones with me in it are best). ok, i have to go. LOVE YOU!!!!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
And the adventure begins!
I don't have much time to write a detailed entry about getting to D.C., but it was interesting and I'll share the details later. The important thing is that I got here safely and on time! And also that I love and miss you all very much, but I'm SO very excited to be here. The other volunteers are AMAZING people - all very interesting, very polite, and also very excited to be here. We haven't had a whole lot of time to bond yet, but I'm sure there will be plenty of that to come. Anyway, it looks like I probably won't be able to get online again until I've been over there for a few weeks, so don't expect another entry right away. I hope everything back home is going well and I look forward to letters, pictures and news whenever you get a chance to send it.
Sag bol (goodbye)!
Sag bol (goodbye)!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Change of Plans
I moved my flight back to Sept. 29. I'll be taking off at 7:45 am that Saturday. Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the wonderful send-offs I've had so far! You all are amazing and I am continually grateful for the support I've been given.
And if you plan on sending me a package, here are some guidelines straight from the Peace Corps headquarters:
The Central Asia Desk has created some guidelines for family and friends who want to send a Trainee letters, care packages, and other correspondence by post during Pre-Service Training for Turkmenistan trainees. This address will only be valid up to December 26, 2007, so please plan your deliveries accordingly (no later than the first week of December, considering delivery times).
Feel free to make several copies of the following address sheet. You can cut and tape the address directly to an envelope or a package. Delivery of your letter and/or package will be delivered if addressed only in English – however, an accompanying Turkmen version may expedite delivery.
At the post office: Airmail delivery of letters and packages can generally take a few weeks. Surface delivery of packages can take much, much longer. Your post office will be able to assist in determining a reliable and cost-effective way of shipping items to the Trainee.
A note on sending packages: Please be sure to seal all packages with strong packing tape. Insuring the package may discourage tampering and pilfering. PC/Turkmenistan cannot be held responsible for damaged or open packages, but will file a complaint to postal authorities on your behalf.
For example, the address is as follows:
US Peace Corps/Turkmenistan
P.O. Box 258, Krugozor
Central Post Office
Ashgabat, 744000
(your name in English)
TURKMENISTAN
Türkmenistan Aşgabat, 744000
Merkezi poçta
abonent 258, Krugozor
Parahatçylyk Korpusy, Türkmenistan
(your name in English)
TÜRKMENISTAN
And if you plan on sending me a package, here are some guidelines straight from the Peace Corps headquarters:
The Central Asia Desk has created some guidelines for family and friends who want to send a Trainee letters, care packages, and other correspondence by post during Pre-Service Training for Turkmenistan trainees. This address will only be valid up to December 26, 2007, so please plan your deliveries accordingly (no later than the first week of December, considering delivery times).
Feel free to make several copies of the following address sheet. You can cut and tape the address directly to an envelope or a package. Delivery of your letter and/or package will be delivered if addressed only in English – however, an accompanying Turkmen version may expedite delivery.
At the post office: Airmail delivery of letters and packages can generally take a few weeks. Surface delivery of packages can take much, much longer. Your post office will be able to assist in determining a reliable and cost-effective way of shipping items to the Trainee.
A note on sending packages: Please be sure to seal all packages with strong packing tape. Insuring the package may discourage tampering and pilfering. PC/Turkmenistan cannot be held responsible for damaged or open packages, but will file a complaint to postal authorities on your behalf.
For example, the address is as follows:
US Peace Corps/Turkmenistan
P.O. Box 258, Krugozor
Central Post Office
Ashgabat, 744000
(your name in English)
TURKMENISTAN
Türkmenistan Aşgabat, 744000
Merkezi poçta
abonent 258, Krugozor
Parahatçylyk Korpusy, Türkmenistan
(your name in English)
TÜRKMENISTAN
Monday, September 3, 2007
Flight plan!
So, I set up my flights and here's how it will go:
I will leave KC at 8:00am on Wednesday, Sept. 26 and go to Washington DC for conferences, classes, shots, and "get-to-know-you" kinds of things for a few days. Then in the afternoon on Monday, Oct. 1 we will all be flying to Frankfurt, Germany (8 hours) and have a lay-over for a few hours. Then we'll be off to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and land there around 11:00 in the evening on Oct. 2.
So, if you plan to see me off at the airport, you should plan to be there before 8am on Wed. Sept. 26!
I will leave KC at 8:00am on Wednesday, Sept. 26 and go to Washington DC for conferences, classes, shots, and "get-to-know-you" kinds of things for a few days. Then in the afternoon on Monday, Oct. 1 we will all be flying to Frankfurt, Germany (8 hours) and have a lay-over for a few hours. Then we'll be off to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and land there around 11:00 in the evening on Oct. 2.
So, if you plan to see me off at the airport, you should plan to be there before 8am on Wed. Sept. 26!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Anonymous, I'll get you!
I just recieved another anonymous comment from someone. I know that some of you are just joining us, but if you read the rest of my entries, you will see that I've addressed this issue before. But I'll do it again....
If you post a comment and do not have an account with google blog, or you haven't logged into your account, then your comment won't have a name attached (google is cool, but it can't read your mind....yet). So, this means that you will have to sign your message if you want me to have any clue as to who wrote it, ESPECIALLY if you want a question answered. All you have to do is hit enter a few times after you've writen all you need to say, and then type in your name. That's it!
Since I don't know who it is that asked the last question, I can't send them the answer, so I'll just give it here:
The Peace Corps give us "lessons" on their website that is specifically for people who have been invited to serve as a volunteer somewhere. I could give you the address, but you don't have a password and couldn't get in. They have only given me lessons in Turkmen, but I'm sure they have material on a ton of languages.
If you post a comment and do not have an account with google blog, or you haven't logged into your account, then your comment won't have a name attached (google is cool, but it can't read your mind....yet). So, this means that you will have to sign your message if you want me to have any clue as to who wrote it, ESPECIALLY if you want a question answered. All you have to do is hit enter a few times after you've writen all you need to say, and then type in your name. That's it!
Since I don't know who it is that asked the last question, I can't send them the answer, so I'll just give it here:
The Peace Corps give us "lessons" on their website that is specifically for people who have been invited to serve as a volunteer somewhere. I could give you the address, but you don't have a password and couldn't get in. They have only given me lessons in Turkmen, but I'm sure they have material on a ton of languages.
Languages!
In Turmanistan, there are two predominant languages spoken - Russian and Turkmen. So far, I'm not fluent in either, so I'll be learning both. Yay! The Peace Corps has made the very wise decision to give us a website to start learning Turkmen before we go over there, so hopefully in a month, I'll at least be able to get around a little. But for now all I can say is "Salam!" which means hello!
Also, I'm turning in my passport and visa applications today, so hopefully I'll get my staging kit soon. It'll have my plane tickets and schedule for me, so I can let you all know more details on my departure then.
Love you!
Also, I'm turning in my passport and visa applications today, so hopefully I'll get my staging kit soon. It'll have my plane tickets and schedule for me, so I can let you all know more details on my departure then.
Love you!
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