Hot Child in the City

July 30, 2008

Today I ate sushi, went into TWO different grocery stores, and attempted to call America.

Unfortunately, although making phone calls is an easier experience, it's also an extremely expensive one.

It's alright though...I have all this internet access to make up for it.

Ugh...I ate too much cheese today and now my stomach hurts. But I'm really excited that I had the ability to truthfully write that.

I love Almaty.

A Return to Normalcy

June 29, 2008

What is the greatest thing about spending five days in Almaty?

I feel beautiful.

I’m not covered in dust and sweat. I’m not tired and lethargic because of the heat. I’m not asked a million questions every day. Nobody has asked me to either teach them English or take them back with me to America.

Over the last few days I have:

Eaten seafood for lunch and dinner every night.

Worn makeup.

Worn jeans.

Gone to a movie theater.

Had a Jack and Coke.

Felt the mist and drizzle of a light rain on my face.

Eaten cheese every day.

Checked my email every day. (Usually TWICE!)

Used an ATM.

Eaten sushi.

Gone swimming.

Been stuck in traffic.

Slept in a bed with a mattress.

Peed more than once a day.

Showered.

I feel clean, refreshed, and beautiful. I’m not sweating out all my liquids and I’m not complaining about how dirty my feet are. Because they’re not.

Every volunteer has their own set of problems, but after talking to the PC volunteers in Kazakhstan I realized how incredibly unique and interesting my own Peace Corps experience is in Turkmenistan. Many had indoor plumbing and some of them even have internet at home! Pretty awesome!

Me: So how much does material cost in KZ?

Them: Material? You guys don’t buy your clothes in stores?

Me: Ummm….clothing stores?

Or:

Them: What are the movie theaters like in T-stan?

Me: Ummm…movie theaters?

I could sit here all day and write about my hardships and frustrations, as everyone else could. But the past few days have opened my eyes and inspired me on a new level.

A Birthday Story

June 15, 2008

Today I was informed through a series of hectic messages at the last minute that I had to get to Ashgabat tomorrow morning. Irritated and pissed off, I dragged myself to the train station to learn there were only four tickets left for tonight’s journey and naturally everyone in the station charged the window and my pathetic attempt for a ticket was unsuccessful.

Defeated and angry I kicked rocks on the long walk home knowing I’d have to get up before dawn and pay a ridiculous sum of money for a taxi to get into the capital tomorrow morning.

I didn’t want to do anything…and I especially wasn’t interested in going to one of my student’s birthday parties that evening, but I had promised.

I showed up, tired and pissed off, and explained I wouldn’t stay long, that I was very tired and upset and had many things to do. Basically I told him over and over again that I was more important than spending a few hours with him and his family for his birthday.

For one, he was upset because none of his other friends had come. And secondly, who the hell was I to shove my irritation in the face of a kid on his birthday?

But I didn’t realize this at the time, and he told me sadly that this was turning out to be a very bad birthday. He was upset that I was upset.

And I realized that I was pawning off my negativity onto him, and on his BIRTHDAY for crying out loud. How low could I go?

I stepped into his house and was greeted warmly by one of the most gracious, kind-hearted families I’ve ever met in my life. My problems vanished immediately and I felt amazing being around these people. My spirits lifted within seconds and I immediately felt like an asshole for not seeing how much this meant to him. Just being there made a huge difference in this kid’s life. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t even want to take a few hours out of my life to do this.

Being here does make a difference…it happens in small doses when I’m not looking, but it really does happen.

Blowing in the Wind

June 15, 2008


I thought I’d be at a higher level of success after six months here in Yoloten, but how is success measured?

My biggest accomplishment so far has been getting to work with all the English teachers this month. It seems small, but the fact that they’ve shown up consistently every day the teacher’s club is a fantastic success.

My other project ideas have been denied, and at first I was pretty upset but there will be others in the future. EVERY cloud has a silver lining…just have to look hard sometimes to find it.

I was pretty depressed over these past few weeks over the things that have been happening, but I realized as I was walking home yesterday that overall I really do love it here.

For every mean boy who calls me bad names, throws rocks at me and makes fun of me on the street there are over 20 sweet children and adults giving me hugs, thanking me for being here, and generally being kind.

I have to see the good in these situations. I have to find the good in these people who don’t understand what it’s like to be a foreigner. Otherwise I’ll bury myself in anger and never want to talk to anyone again.

No News is Good News

June 10, 2008

Well the dollar is back up a tiny bit so I guess things aren’t all that bad but the rumors just keep on flying.


Local plane tickets recently skyrocketed to about $17 when they were only $1.50 before. At least the lines at the aerokassa won’t be as long.


International tickets went down thankfully, just in time for me to buy another ticket to vacate yet again this August. Whew!


The summer, so far, has been pretty uneventful. I teach for three hours in the morning, then spend the rest of the day studying, cooking and sleeping. I thought I’d take up a hobby and teach myself how to sew but I quickly realized that just because every Turkmen woman can do it, doesn’t mean I can.


The heat can drain the energy from my body on an average day. Maybe everyone should spend a year in the desert at some point in their life…yes that’s a very good idea…

Down Down Down

The dollar has dropped...AGAIN.



This sucks more than anything that has ever sucked before.



I arrived October 3 and it was 24,000 to the dollar.



Today it has dropped to 10,000.



To give an idea of what this means...A Snickers bar that was once 40 cents is now a dollar. A taxi ride that was once one dollar is now two, and a kilo of tomatoes now costs about $1.50 when it was before about 40 cents.



Why why why does this keep happening?