January 16, 2007
On my first day of school a line of kids stood outside the school, snowballs in hand, pelting everyone and anyone who walked past. I glanced up at them, completely aware of my surroundings but was met with an enthusiastic, “HELLO TEACHER!!!”
My schedule is so packed that my head is spinning and I wish I had Danielle with me to organize my life like she used to do in college. She actually made me my special box for all the things I always lose…I thought of that special box when I broke down and cried over losing my special REI alarm clock the other day. Ugh, it still hurts to think about that.
One of the 9th form kids in my advanced English club often talks about how he wants to be an ambassador some day and all the countries he wants to visit. I can’t help wondering what I would be like today if I had that clear of a vision as to what the heck I wanted in my life at age fifteen.
Being around these students is the most interesting experience because they all are so different, and some of them are so smart I don’t even know what to do with them. It’s only the first week of school and I have three different clubs already and more and more people show up at each session.
I may not have a lot of experience, but I absolutely adore teaching English to these kids.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Who Wants Fish?
January 11, 2008
Charging down the bumpy road into the city in regular weather is scary enough but when it’s covered in a thick sheet of snow and ice and it’s negative 10 degrees outside, I start to pray every time I get in a car. Today was no exception, as at one point on the ride home the taxi driver lost control of the car and skidded off the road.
“Are you scared Angela? Are you alright?” he asked laughingly over and over again as I yelled and clutched onto the door with all my strength. Luckily we had only gone halfway over the snow bank and we were able to get out and push the car back onto the road. The snow was coming down pretty hard at this point.
But it was an adventure, nonetheless. It took almost two hours to get into the city this morning because of the crappy weather, and when we got there everything was closed. No post office, no internet café, no bank…nothing. However, I’ve learned to accept this happening without getting angry now because nothing is ever how you think it’s going to be over here.
So friends and I wandered through Mary trying to find a café that was open, which was pretty much impossible. Then we met a man on the street who told us he would find us a café…and the adventure continued, but the only place that was open was catering to some type of funeral party.
“Many people have died,” the man told us in broken English, but he might have meant that many have come to mourn. Who knows?
So we made our way toward the taxis and at the nearby bazaar he bought a gigantic bag of etly somsas (meat pies) and handed them to us, refusing to take our money. We finally found an open café with a few tables by the taxi stand at that point and we walked in and sat down. Then the man opened the large purse he was carrying and proudly pulled out a fish with every intention for us to enjoy it for lunch.
I told him I wouldn’t eat it and he didn’t understand why. He was asking the ladies working in the café if they could cook it for us.
“No, I’m not going to eat your fish,” I told him. Without having a good excuse I just told him I’m allergic.
He laughed and we offered to buy him a beer but he said he only drinks whiskey. So we found him some whiskey and we ate meat pies and drank instant coffee and had a jolly good afternoon. He insisted we take his phone number and we come hang out with him whenever we come to Mary. He was one of the coolest people I’ve ever met in this country.
But I’d like to add that I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to trying food, and I’m sure his fish would have made a delicious meal. I just usually try to stay away from animals that random people on the street pull out of their purses.
Charging down the bumpy road into the city in regular weather is scary enough but when it’s covered in a thick sheet of snow and ice and it’s negative 10 degrees outside, I start to pray every time I get in a car. Today was no exception, as at one point on the ride home the taxi driver lost control of the car and skidded off the road.
“Are you scared Angela? Are you alright?” he asked laughingly over and over again as I yelled and clutched onto the door with all my strength. Luckily we had only gone halfway over the snow bank and we were able to get out and push the car back onto the road. The snow was coming down pretty hard at this point.
But it was an adventure, nonetheless. It took almost two hours to get into the city this morning because of the crappy weather, and when we got there everything was closed. No post office, no internet café, no bank…nothing. However, I’ve learned to accept this happening without getting angry now because nothing is ever how you think it’s going to be over here.
So friends and I wandered through Mary trying to find a café that was open, which was pretty much impossible. Then we met a man on the street who told us he would find us a café…and the adventure continued, but the only place that was open was catering to some type of funeral party.
“Many people have died,” the man told us in broken English, but he might have meant that many have come to mourn. Who knows?
So we made our way toward the taxis and at the nearby bazaar he bought a gigantic bag of etly somsas (meat pies) and handed them to us, refusing to take our money. We finally found an open café with a few tables by the taxi stand at that point and we walked in and sat down. Then the man opened the large purse he was carrying and proudly pulled out a fish with every intention for us to enjoy it for lunch.
I told him I wouldn’t eat it and he didn’t understand why. He was asking the ladies working in the café if they could cook it for us.
“No, I’m not going to eat your fish,” I told him. Without having a good excuse I just told him I’m allergic.
He laughed and we offered to buy him a beer but he said he only drinks whiskey. So we found him some whiskey and we ate meat pies and drank instant coffee and had a jolly good afternoon. He insisted we take his phone number and we come hang out with him whenever we come to Mary. He was one of the coolest people I’ve ever met in this country.
But I’d like to add that I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to trying food, and I’m sure his fish would have made a delicious meal. I just usually try to stay away from animals that random people on the street pull out of their purses.
Stormy Weather
January 8, 2008
At first I thought the snowy weather was freakin awesome because I’d just finished reading the Golden Compass and every time I journeyed through the cold I thought of little Lyra clutching to Iorek Borkenson’s white bear fur, plunging through the Arctic.
But I don’t have a massive armored polar bear to carry me through the cold. Nor do I have Lyra’s special furs and skins to keep myself warm in this crazy weather. I just have a pair REI snow shoes and a Turkish coat that’s already starting to wear and tear.
It’s so cold here that the icicles on my house could be used as registered weapons, I have to pour warm water on my toothpaste to unfreeze it before actually being used to brush my teeth, five layers of clothes isn’t enough, doing laundry is impossible, gathering water from outside is a pain because it’s all frozen, taxi drivers can charge three times the amount to drive into the city, and I am perfectly content sitting at home watching RUTV and writing pointless blogs.
But one thing is for sure: The thick white blanket of snow that covers Yoleten is absolutely GORGEOUS and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
At first I thought the snowy weather was freakin awesome because I’d just finished reading the Golden Compass and every time I journeyed through the cold I thought of little Lyra clutching to Iorek Borkenson’s white bear fur, plunging through the Arctic.
But I don’t have a massive armored polar bear to carry me through the cold. Nor do I have Lyra’s special furs and skins to keep myself warm in this crazy weather. I just have a pair REI snow shoes and a Turkish coat that’s already starting to wear and tear.
It’s so cold here that the icicles on my house could be used as registered weapons, I have to pour warm water on my toothpaste to unfreeze it before actually being used to brush my teeth, five layers of clothes isn’t enough, doing laundry is impossible, gathering water from outside is a pain because it’s all frozen, taxi drivers can charge three times the amount to drive into the city, and I am perfectly content sitting at home watching RUTV and writing pointless blogs.
But one thing is for sure: The thick white blanket of snow that covers Yoleten is absolutely GORGEOUS and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Little Differences
January 4, 2008
A couple days ago I spent some time talking with an elderly woman, and the first thing that came to my mind as I sat down and started talking with her was how different we were. I immediately felt sorry for her…I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not have most of my teeth and to not be able to walk well. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have ailments, to not have my freedom and independence to run and jump and do whatever it was I wanted to do on a daily basis. We might as well have been of two different species the way I saw her at first.
Then, as if she knew what I was thinking, she lifted the strand of beads she wore around her neck and pointed to the beaded necklace I was wearing.
‘We have the same necklace,’ she was saying.
Well naturally her 99 beads of Allah that she displayed weren’t the same as the beaded necklace my Annau family brought me back from India, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that she was showing me that we were similar.
So I thought about why I was so quick to point out our differences, and I wondered what it would be like if every person I met I immediately noticed the ways in which we were similar instead.
We spent the afternoon talking about all sorts of things…she told me many stories from her life, about her days as a seamstress sewing blankets, her children, her children’s children, and so on. She was old and sick but she was happy to be with her family every day. She spoke slowly so I could understand her Turkmen and was kind and open-hearted and she passed no judgment on me.
When I grow up, I think I’d like to be like her.
My Resolutions for 2008: To bring people together with their similarities
To be true to myself, and my hopes and dreams
To read and speak Russian
To gain the highest level of patience possible
To make people smile.
A couple days ago I spent some time talking with an elderly woman, and the first thing that came to my mind as I sat down and started talking with her was how different we were. I immediately felt sorry for her…I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not have most of my teeth and to not be able to walk well. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have ailments, to not have my freedom and independence to run and jump and do whatever it was I wanted to do on a daily basis. We might as well have been of two different species the way I saw her at first.
Then, as if she knew what I was thinking, she lifted the strand of beads she wore around her neck and pointed to the beaded necklace I was wearing.
‘We have the same necklace,’ she was saying.
Well naturally her 99 beads of Allah that she displayed weren’t the same as the beaded necklace my Annau family brought me back from India, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that she was showing me that we were similar.
So I thought about why I was so quick to point out our differences, and I wondered what it would be like if every person I met I immediately noticed the ways in which we were similar instead.
We spent the afternoon talking about all sorts of things…she told me many stories from her life, about her days as a seamstress sewing blankets, her children, her children’s children, and so on. She was old and sick but she was happy to be with her family every day. She spoke slowly so I could understand her Turkmen and was kind and open-hearted and she passed no judgment on me.
When I grow up, I think I’d like to be like her.
My Resolutions for 2008: To bring people together with their similarities
To be true to myself, and my hopes and dreams
To read and speak Russian
To gain the highest level of patience possible
To make people smile.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Yo Yo Yoleten
January 1, 2008
I spent the first few days in Yoleten moaning and groaning about how much it sucked to be away from all my friends, how much I missed Annau, and how I didn’t want to learn a whole new town.
I took a trip into Mary yesterday and spent the whole time pissed off and angry that I couldn’t figure out where anything was, I couldn’t figure out where I needed to open my bank account, I couldn’t understand anything anyone was telling me at the telegraf office when I tried to make a phone call to Ashgabat, and then of course the internet was down at the internet café.
When I asked questions in Turkmen, people responded in Russian and I just wanted to cry.
Then I ran into one of my few Turkmen friends, and she was my saving grace. She helped me open my bank account and make my phone call…things that seem so freaking easy but really were a big pain in the ass. Especially when there’s a zillion people packed into the telegraf office all wanting to make phone calls as well.
It took a few days to adjust but I can honestly say I truly love it here. Yoleten is a fantastic town with a humongous bazaar that puts the Annau bazaar to shame. Tree-lined streets, streams and canals with cute little bridges over them, parks and all kinds of little shops are all over the place.
But overall, the best thing about living here is the amazing support and care I have from my new host family. They are an amazing group of people and I felt truly blessed to ring in the new year with them.
I'm pretty lucky out here.
I spent the first few days in Yoleten moaning and groaning about how much it sucked to be away from all my friends, how much I missed Annau, and how I didn’t want to learn a whole new town.
I took a trip into Mary yesterday and spent the whole time pissed off and angry that I couldn’t figure out where anything was, I couldn’t figure out where I needed to open my bank account, I couldn’t understand anything anyone was telling me at the telegraf office when I tried to make a phone call to Ashgabat, and then of course the internet was down at the internet café.
When I asked questions in Turkmen, people responded in Russian and I just wanted to cry.
Then I ran into one of my few Turkmen friends, and she was my saving grace. She helped me open my bank account and make my phone call…things that seem so freaking easy but really were a big pain in the ass. Especially when there’s a zillion people packed into the telegraf office all wanting to make phone calls as well.
It took a few days to adjust but I can honestly say I truly love it here. Yoleten is a fantastic town with a humongous bazaar that puts the Annau bazaar to shame. Tree-lined streets, streams and canals with cute little bridges over them, parks and all kinds of little shops are all over the place.
But overall, the best thing about living here is the amazing support and care I have from my new host family. They are an amazing group of people and I felt truly blessed to ring in the new year with them.
I'm pretty lucky out here.
Happy New Year
December 31, 2007
The new year is here and I think it’s hilarious to look back a year and think about where I was then…and compare it to where I am now.
I have survived my first Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthday here in T-stan, and am about to experience my first T-stan New Year.
So let’s see…
Last year on Thanksgiving I had a humongous feast of everything Thanksgiving is all about, including a baked turkey as well as deep fried turkey, and duck. I ate a crapload of pie, drank a ton of champagne, and sang karaoke.
This year I had giardia. I ate half a potato and a small piece of bread.
Last year on Christmas I drank candy cane martinis, opened an insane amount of presents, watched Christmas movies, and ate a TON of fantastic food.
This year I exchanged music and photos in a hotel room in Ashgabat, ate some granola bars and cookies that my fantastic aunts sent me from Ohio, and danced to Rhianna at the disco.
Last year on my birthday I was thrown a surprise birthday party with lots of food, a chocolate cake, a ton of balloons, and a huge cardboard cutout of Orlando Bloom.
This year I ate fried potatoes and meat, drank a crapload of tea and received the coolest Turkmen music video dvd on the planet (among other T-stan style presents).
I can’t wait to see what the new year brings.
The new year is here and I think it’s hilarious to look back a year and think about where I was then…and compare it to where I am now.
I have survived my first Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthday here in T-stan, and am about to experience my first T-stan New Year.
So let’s see…
Last year on Thanksgiving I had a humongous feast of everything Thanksgiving is all about, including a baked turkey as well as deep fried turkey, and duck. I ate a crapload of pie, drank a ton of champagne, and sang karaoke.
This year I had giardia. I ate half a potato and a small piece of bread.
Last year on Christmas I drank candy cane martinis, opened an insane amount of presents, watched Christmas movies, and ate a TON of fantastic food.
This year I exchanged music and photos in a hotel room in Ashgabat, ate some granola bars and cookies that my fantastic aunts sent me from Ohio, and danced to Rhianna at the disco.
Last year on my birthday I was thrown a surprise birthday party with lots of food, a chocolate cake, a ton of balloons, and a huge cardboard cutout of Orlando Bloom.
This year I ate fried potatoes and meat, drank a crapload of tea and received the coolest Turkmen music video dvd on the planet (among other T-stan style presents).
I can’t wait to see what the new year brings.
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