As Promised....the long update that I forgot
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2004
1
6
27
Trip End
Dec 28, 2006
Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan
Thursday, September 30, 2004
I snuck into Ashgabat today with my host sister to try to send off my first email home. I probably won't be able to check any responses from this for a few weeks, but I thought I would send a letter home to let you all know how it has been. I will give forewarning; this is going to be a long email so take it in chunks! To let you know the truth, no matter how many words I type you will never understand this place. It has been the joke that it is "not quite hell on earth, but a short bus ride away!"
I finally got to get on the flight and I am really glad that I flew over by myself. The flight was really not that bad; I think thinking about a 25 hour flight for so long prepared me for it. In Germany, I was able to get a Frankfurter and some potato salad and of course a German beer! It was nice. Then I flew from Frankfurt to Baku with about 25 other people of those 22 got off in Baku and the rest of us (3) went on the Ashgabat! That is when I knew I was in for it, I met a British journalist and we talked about what I was about to do. Many things I cannot mention in this email, but I still have not fully grasped what is going on.
We spent the first week at the "resort" in Chuli. It was pretty nice, basically a desert oasis in the middle of the mountains. I would take a hike up to the top of the mountain and it looked like Nevada. It was just a dry mountain range right on the Iranian boarder. It was a pretty uneventful week, just a lot of language and preparation. Got the first of 26 rounds of shots and got ready to head out to the host families. It reminded me a lot of a summer camp with bigger bugs.
On Saturday we moved into the families. I am living in a huge house with lots of rugs. I have my own room (the only, only room in the house) and I am sleeping on the only bed. The family kitchen is outside and we eat on this oversized cot looking thing. We eat, watch TV, and drink 10 gallons of tea on the floor. My main goal is to become more flexible with this whole experience, because right now I am splashing soup all over me and it is a pain to keep hand washing my clothes. Most of the toilets are pits, but I was lucky enough to get a family with a toilet, although on second thought I think I would rather just have the pit! I think at one point it was a white toilet! It has been interesting wearing a skirt all the time. I kind of miss my legs....but I am getting used to it. Every time I go to my room, I put on shorts and a tank top and almost do a dance. It is so fricken hot that it is all I want to wear, but not so much. I went to the market to get some fabric for my future dresses, now I just have to find a good seamstress. My host sister is going to hook me up soon. Yes, I will be wearing dresses with flowers and bows!!!! It is really quite a sight what I look like everyday. I think I have taken 3 showers since I have been here and have no idea whether I stink or not. This whole place either smells like pits or trash. Take your pick. No matter what I smell like roses.
So about my host family....I have 4 host brothers and a host sister. My host mother is a big mama. She won't let me get too skinny. I was really worried about meeting my host dad since in their culture it is often the men won't talk to female guests, but my dad is really cool. He is very educated and has so many questions. Apparently he was a chemist back in soviet days and now is a business man....along with the whole village. Don't really know what anyone does during the day....but it is all good. My Turkmen is coming along; I can describe my family and my house and get out basic needs. My host sister speaks a lot of English so she can help me through. Eventually though, I may lose it with her. She has always wanted a sister and to speak more English and constantly talks to me. It was sweet at first, but now I will shoot her the next time she says I do something wrong...when I see her doing it that way 2 minutes later. I think that is the hardest thing to get used to right now. Everything I do is wrong: my clothes are wrinkled, my shoes are different, my hair is too short, my shoes are too dusty, my necklace is silver instead of gold, I sit wrong, I don't eat enough...I could go on for hours. I am constantly being watched and scrutinized. We are basically celebrities in this place....I think I will grow to hate Turkmen children. They are constantly throwing rocks at us, saying hello, flipping us off and asking me about Michael Jordan. It is cute and all, but the next pomegranate I see flying at me, I could lose it! I guess we tell the teachers about this and they will fix the problem....but first I need to learn how to tell on the flipping kid in Turkmen! But they are really beautiful people. At school, the boys all wear black pants, white dress shirt and a tie and the girls wear green dresses with an apron type thing and pig-tails with poofy, white bows. The people here are so beautiful. But they really don't age well. I think every 30 year old looks 50. They are very worked.
The food here is actually not too bad. I have been living off of produce basically. A lot of soups and tons of bread! They make it in this certain oven and eat it constantly with tea. The jams are amazing and so far I have had only one aorta in my soup! There are times I say to myself, "I can't deal with this" and then remember I am here for 2 years and I better. The meat scares me a little; especially on the way to school you see the dead cow in a field with the people making the sausages out of the intestines. This makes it really hard to look at meat. Although I am one of the last (knock on wood) trainees that has had no GI problems. So far so good. I try all the food and try to get my nutrients everyday, but I know I am already losing some weight. I have vitamins and calcium pills, so don't worry about that! Apparently this is the best season to come; there are many things in season. But, I am a little worried since the first 2 days I was with my host family; they were pickling over 100 jars for the "winter months."
That leads me to the women in this country. I have never seen harder working people in my life. The just are constantly cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and everything else the men need. The men don't do anything at all. I came home from class the other day and my host sister was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor and rugs and I asked her how often she has to do this and she said "oh, everyday when I have time." Then proceeded to make me and my friends tea and a meal within 10 minutes! The hospitality is amazing and the people are so welcoming. Everywhere we go, we get invited in to drink tea and chat. Then I do it and we all just sit there and laugh since we can't really talk at all. I hope that my Turkmen comes along, I would really like to start being able to express myself. Being a woman hasn't been too much of a problem yet. There are obvious differences, but I was placed with a family from the more liberal state. And I found out that is where I will be living for the next two years. I will be in the Lebab region which is north east of Ashgabat. If you look at a map you will probably see Mary/Merv and I am about 250 km to the east, right on the Uzbek boarder. Apparently there it is very liberal and there are many foreigners so it is not as traditional. The women can drink and they all eat together. I will be in a village of a few thousand people and only 20 km from the city. And good news, it is one of the best cities for email! So maybe communicating won't be that hard. I will be replacing a volunteer that is finishing her service. I think it will be a great place for me, we are very similar and seeing that she made it through 2 years of service was a huge uplift for me. I will have another volunteer, Ian from Michigan, in my village. There will also be 4 other volunteers in the city, so I will not be chillin in the middle of the desert by myself. It is exactly where I wanted to be so I am pretty excited about that news.
As for training, I am right outside of Ashgabat on the Iranian boarder. The mountains are not too far and I guess it is cool. Pretty is not a word I would use for this place except for the houses. You really do understand why the dress and carpets are so colorful and why people just stay at their houses, because the outside is just a dump. To describe how bad it is, I know which street to turn down because of a pile of rocks next to the rusted, broken down truck, and I know that I have to take a left after the big hole in the asphalt. It is just dusty, dirty and brown. But not that bad, I am not unhappy as of yet. Training is kind of a pain, very long days and a lot to learn. Better busy though than sitting around doing nothing.
Things here are ridiculously cheap, it is almost funny. For example: a bus ride is about a 1/5 of a penny, a flight across the country is $1.50 and an ice cream cone is 4 cents. And yes Jaquet, I am eating a cone a day, because I can eat a cone a day! Some things are really expensive that I already know I won't be able to afford, most toiletries especially conditioner, candy, beer (but a bottle of vodka is about 33 cents), and some other things. I guess when you get paid 85 bucks a month; some things can get out of hand. Something that is not cheap is calling home.
Just keep saying Katy, Katy, America....they will get the hint.
If you don't want to call there is always the option to send things. Honestly, I don't need that much yet, but here are some hints.
1. The only thing that I really NEED are a pair of chakos. I wear a size nine and they can't have a toe strap, just a foot one in general. I have to wear my hiking boots everyday because I only have flip flops and those are unacceptable (nothing between the toes). I am regretting every minute not buying them in Durango...but whatever. If you send these....make sure to send it priority express mail so it will get here. I will pay back anyone who gets me these as soon as I am back in the US. They are kind of expensive, but really I need these. They can be my chirstmas/birthday/chirstmas/birthday present! I really need these.
2. Some kind of powder to mix water with. I have to put bleach in all my water and it tastes like poo. So pink lemonade, kool aid, etc would be great. On that note another nalgene bottle would be helpful.
3. Conditioner and Lotion. Both are over 6 dollars here and you read the above statement.
4. Spicy things. Same problem in Germany...food is bland. Crushed red pepper would be great.
5. I have a DVD player J and I can read.
6. Letters!
Ok, I will shut up now. I hope all is well in the states. How is Kerry doing in the polls? I wish you all could see the news here...so much I could say but not allowed to write it is all being read. Keep in touch, two weeks in....only a lot more to go!!!
I will write more on week 5, I think that is when I get email again! Maybe sooner. Who knows.
Hope to talk to you soon.....
katy
