HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2004
1
11
27
Trip End
Dec 28, 2006
Turkmenabat,
Turkmenistan
Friday, November 26, 2004
So this is the 5th time I have tried to get this email out, I really hope it works this time....sometimes this email is the most frustrating thing I face in Tstan. Right now the internet is down, I am typing this in word, in hopes that by Christmas you will get my Tstan Thanksgiving email. Ahhhh.....it might actually be faster to wait for the post.
So right now you are all finishing up the night of Thanksgiving. I hope your turkey night went well, mine went surprisingly well. All of the volunteers went to a families house, we killed two turkeys and had a great meal all in thanks to a lot of packages from home. If on that parent website you can thank Sandra Ball's mother for all the food, that would be great. So we ate like kings and made a mini America!
So, sorry this is late and you can't read it at the dinner table, but I thought I would try to revise the list from Germany of things I never thought I would be thankful for but since living in Tstan know they are a huge part of my life:
10. Table and chairs. Well actually, lets make it furniture. While you all ate your lovely meal, you probably sat at a table for 10 with clean dishes, then after the meal sat on your couch watching a TV in a bookshelf with your feet up on another table, and took your turkey nap in a nice cozy bed and will wake up to an alarm clock on your night stand.....I am thankful for that. I am trying to build a bookshelf right now for all my books, my clothes are in stacks on the floor, and my mat on the floor is getting more comfortable every night. Appreciate you furniture!
9. Tonic Water. In the states you couldn't get me to drink a vodka tonic, but man, it would really help the home brewed vodka here. Shot after shot with host fathers can be rather painful and usually the vodka is dirty...fun times.
8. Pockets. I am thankful for pockets and jeans. Wearing dresses everyday is quite comfortable, but when I need to continually carry a passport and all my documents, I almost need a suitcase to be legal! I think I will invent a handy passport pocket in my next tailor made, flower dress.
7. A social life. I miss the days that I was allowed to go out after dark, enjoy the night and not have an 11:00 city cerfew. I thought the 12:30 last call was bad...
6. Fr__dom of sp__ch. All I can say without getting whacked!
5. Everything I disliked in the USA: malls, morris the Taurus, and Bush. It can be much worse, trust me.
4. I am thankful for the fact I got to use the calculus book in high school and not wipe my butt with it. Yes that is right, they use old books to wipe their butts with, this weeks addition polynomials. I think a secondary project will be to go to all pits and get the books for a library.
3. Running water. I miss just being able to shower without buckets involved, wash my hands without a well involved and just be able to get a glass of water from the tap that doesn't look like pond water...
2. I am thankful for washing machines and dryers. Yes, I was the girl that paid my brother to do my laundry in the states, no longer William! I am going to play with that invention for a long time when I get home. I might put myself into the machine I will be so excited. Just to give you an idea, to wash 4 dresses, it takes me about 2 hours: Boil the water, mix the water with soap, soak, rinse twice and hang. Now it is getting cold too...so my knuckles freeze.
1. Being a person. Sometimes the girl thing gets to me, the language thing gets to me, or something else. I miss being treated like a 23 year old and not a 2 year old. Maybe I will be able to speak at 3.
So anyway....I thought I would put a positive spin on this
Top ten reasons Thanksgiving was better in Tstan!
10. Vodka is a lot cheaper here
9. No DD cousin necessary
8. Get to spend it with other PCVs and those are like no other people in the world...no other!
7. We are truly grateful when the electricity works and we can cook the turkey
6. It is a little bit warmer...
5. We get to cook like the real Indians did....fire!
4. Damn
3. I am running out of reasons
2. I don't have to dress up, I got to wear pants!
1. Ok, Thanksgiving could never be better here, but at least I only have 1 more!
I am really thankful for all your letters! Please keep them up, I live by them really. Email is not easy, so try to mail!
I miss you all and happy thanksgiving!!!
Love
katy
