I'm going to Kazakhstan!!!!!!!
My proposal for the Central Asia Teachers of English Conference was accepted and I'm going to Almaty June 27-July 3!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
What a Perfect Day
May 22, 2008
Today is a joyous day for the people of Yoloten because today was the day that Yoloten began to receive cell phone reception.
Cell phones that were once used only for the mere joy of photos and videos are now actually being used to talk, and people can be seen everywhere holding up their cell phones trying to find a signal.
One small step for the digital world, one giant leap for Yoloten.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Little Steps
May 17, 2008
A few months ago two guys in their twenties started coming to my English club. At first I thought they just came to laugh and point because the novelty of an American in their town is still pretty thick.
But they kept coming back, and have barely missed a day since.
Then one day I went to my sitemate’s school to ask him a question, and I saw the two of them in his English club.
“What’s their story?” I asked him later.
“One day you asked one of them a question on the street,” he replied. “Maybe you couldn’t find something or you were lost, who knows- it was awhile ago. But you couldn’t understand each other and you gave up and went on your way. He felt really bad because he couldn’t help you so he decided to learn English.”
So he decided to learn English.
Because a retarded American girl on the street couldn’t find where she could buy bananas. Or toilet paper. Who the heck knows.
But he decided to learn English.
A few months ago two guys in their twenties started coming to my English club. At first I thought they just came to laugh and point because the novelty of an American in their town is still pretty thick.
But they kept coming back, and have barely missed a day since.
Then one day I went to my sitemate’s school to ask him a question, and I saw the two of them in his English club.
“What’s their story?” I asked him later.
“One day you asked one of them a question on the street,” he replied. “Maybe you couldn’t find something or you were lost, who knows- it was awhile ago. But you couldn’t understand each other and you gave up and went on your way. He felt really bad because he couldn’t help you so he decided to learn English.”
So he decided to learn English.
Because a retarded American girl on the street couldn’t find where she could buy bananas. Or toilet paper. Who the heck knows.
But he decided to learn English.
Friday, May 16, 2008
CSI: Yoloten
May 13, 2008
Yesterday our doorbell was stolen. My host mother was pretty upset because it had been given to her for her birthday just a month and a half ago.
“Alright everyone,” my host brother said as he paced the living room. It was 10:30 at night. “Mom, make some tea. Angela will drink coffee. Let’s figure this out…we have to find out who did this.”
“Well whoever did it had to reach all the way up above the door so if it was a kid they have to be pretty tall,” I said.
“And they have to be pretty stupid because it’s not going to work unless you have the other piece from inside the house,” my host sister added.
We laughed as we imagined some stupid kid pressing the button repeatedly hoping the sound would come out.
“I just can’t believe they stole our DOORBELL!” my host mom said.
My host brother smiled and said, “It’s alright. I’ll call Agatha Christie and she’ll take care of this. We’re good friends. Angela, we’ll contact the FBI too, okay?”
So the Case of the Missing Doorbell begins.
Yesterday our doorbell was stolen. My host mother was pretty upset because it had been given to her for her birthday just a month and a half ago.
“Alright everyone,” my host brother said as he paced the living room. It was 10:30 at night. “Mom, make some tea. Angela will drink coffee. Let’s figure this out…we have to find out who did this.”
“Well whoever did it had to reach all the way up above the door so if it was a kid they have to be pretty tall,” I said.
“And they have to be pretty stupid because it’s not going to work unless you have the other piece from inside the house,” my host sister added.
We laughed as we imagined some stupid kid pressing the button repeatedly hoping the sound would come out.
“I just can’t believe they stole our DOORBELL!” my host mom said.
My host brother smiled and said, “It’s alright. I’ll call Agatha Christie and she’ll take care of this. We’re good friends. Angela, we’ll contact the FBI too, okay?”
So the Case of the Missing Doorbell begins.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
I Love Taxis
May 7, 2008
My friend Halley and I were sitting in a taxi waiting to go to Mary this morning when an intoxicated, one-legged man hobbled his way into our car.
Did I say intoxicated?
I meant completely, beyond all belief, absolutely trashed.
As we began our journey into the city he snapped at Halley and I for talking.
“Shut up!” he slurred in Turkmen. “I have a headache!”
Immediately our cab driver, who was a friend of mine, jumped to our defense.
“Hey be quiet!” he warned him. The drunk man’s head was rolling around back and forth and occasionally dropping down into the driver’s right leg.
“These American girls are our guests. You have to be nice to them,” he told the drunkard.
So we drove on and the man passed out with his head hanging and flopping back and forth to the gear shifter and glove compartment.
“Angela guess what!” the driver said. “It’s my birthday this week!”
So immediately I started singing happy birthday and the driver woke up the drunkard so he could join in. Our drunk friend wasn’t happy about that and Halley and I immediately started laughing.
This pissed him off more than ever and he started screaming as loud as he could but he was so drunk that no one in the car could understand a word he was saying.
And so the rest of the ride was like this…Halley and I talking, the drunk man either trying to hold her hand or telling us to shut up, him passing out and knocking his head against the gear shifter, and him waking up and yelling incoherently.
Oh and at one point he nearly burned his fingers trying to light a cigarette.
The adventures keep on coming.
My friend Halley and I were sitting in a taxi waiting to go to Mary this morning when an intoxicated, one-legged man hobbled his way into our car.
Did I say intoxicated?
I meant completely, beyond all belief, absolutely trashed.
As we began our journey into the city he snapped at Halley and I for talking.
“Shut up!” he slurred in Turkmen. “I have a headache!”
Immediately our cab driver, who was a friend of mine, jumped to our defense.
“Hey be quiet!” he warned him. The drunk man’s head was rolling around back and forth and occasionally dropping down into the driver’s right leg.
“These American girls are our guests. You have to be nice to them,” he told the drunkard.
So we drove on and the man passed out with his head hanging and flopping back and forth to the gear shifter and glove compartment.
“Angela guess what!” the driver said. “It’s my birthday this week!”
So immediately I started singing happy birthday and the driver woke up the drunkard so he could join in. Our drunk friend wasn’t happy about that and Halley and I immediately started laughing.
This pissed him off more than ever and he started screaming as loud as he could but he was so drunk that no one in the car could understand a word he was saying.
And so the rest of the ride was like this…Halley and I talking, the drunk man either trying to hold her hand or telling us to shut up, him passing out and knocking his head against the gear shifter, and him waking up and yelling incoherently.
Oh and at one point he nearly burned his fingers trying to light a cigarette.
The adventures keep on coming.
Look Out, General Mills
May 6, 2008
A few weeks ago in Ashgabat I found a box of cornflakes in a store and it was the absolute highlight of my life until I ran out. Every time I went to Mary City I scoured the bazaars and stores thinking that I just might find a box of cornflakes in one of them. You never know…it just might happen.
But every time I asked for cereal I was directed to where they kept boxes of baby food.
Then last Friday, sitting in a window in a small store in Mary City were five boxes of American cereal. It was absolutely beautiful and I got so excited I ran in the store and asked for the cereal.
Naturally I was directed to the baby food.
“IN THE WINDOW!!!” I explained.
They parted the curtains and took out the dusty items sitting in the window sill that have probably been sitting there for at least half a year.
“70,000 manat,” they told me when I asked the price.
Immediately my heart dropped. With the way prices have been rising recently there’s no way I could afford five whole dollars for a small box of cereal. Living on $120 a month is really hard sometimes.
But instead of getting pissed off about the situation I decided to do something about it. And I am proud to announce that yesterday I made my own cornflakes. They were more like corn chips than flakes, but it rocked.
Cost: $0
Taste: Fantastic
I can remember Turkmenistan as the days I learned how to milk a cow, translate phrases into three different languages consecutively, wash all my clothes by hand, and make cereal.
A few weeks ago in Ashgabat I found a box of cornflakes in a store and it was the absolute highlight of my life until I ran out. Every time I went to Mary City I scoured the bazaars and stores thinking that I just might find a box of cornflakes in one of them. You never know…it just might happen.
But every time I asked for cereal I was directed to where they kept boxes of baby food.
Then last Friday, sitting in a window in a small store in Mary City were five boxes of American cereal. It was absolutely beautiful and I got so excited I ran in the store and asked for the cereal.
Naturally I was directed to the baby food.
“IN THE WINDOW!!!” I explained.
They parted the curtains and took out the dusty items sitting in the window sill that have probably been sitting there for at least half a year.
“70,000 manat,” they told me when I asked the price.
Immediately my heart dropped. With the way prices have been rising recently there’s no way I could afford five whole dollars for a small box of cereal. Living on $120 a month is really hard sometimes.
But instead of getting pissed off about the situation I decided to do something about it. And I am proud to announce that yesterday I made my own cornflakes. They were more like corn chips than flakes, but it rocked.
Cost: $0
Taste: Fantastic
I can remember Turkmenistan as the days I learned how to milk a cow, translate phrases into three different languages consecutively, wash all my clothes by hand, and make cereal.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Seven Months
May 1, 2008
Seven months! I think it’s gone by pretty fast…or maybe that’s just because I’m so crazy busy.
Today my students wrote, “WE LAKE ANGELA!!!!” on the board. That was cute.
I started an activity club with my older kids a few weeks ago and except for my fourth form class, it’s pretty much my favorite time of the week now. And cooking club is debuting this week also so we’ll see how that goes. Of course they all want to make pizza.
My map project is still in my head and not on paper yet, but we will get there. At least the geography teachers are excited about working with me.
I can’t help but feel overwhelmed on a daily basis by all the things I want to do each and every day…I have a pile of books to read, a box of pictures, pens, papers and other stuff for English club projects that need to be sorted through and organized, lesson plans that need to be written, and all I want to do is study Russian and make a strawberry pie since they’re so beautifully in season now.
I am getting one hell of a tan out here…living in the desert is a phenomenal experience.
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