Girls Rule Boys Drool (Oct 6, 2007)

Girls Rule Boys Drool

Never have I ever had such an amazing night like tonight. I am absolutely KICKING myself for not bringing my video camera along on this adventure because there’s no way I can capture the charisma and genuine overall beauty of tonight simply with words.

I met my host family this afternoon and like everyone else’s first meeting it was awkward and quiet because the only things I know in Turkmen are hello, how are you, how old are you, what job do you do and are you married?

Oh and I can count to 1000 also. But anyway, it was awkward. Plus my stomach was just barely feeling the effects of the mother load of Pepto Bismol and Ibuprofen I had taken due to gastric calamities, so I sat there picking at some rice and cucumbers, sipping on soda water and smiling and nodding and saying, “Gowy!” (good!) at everything that was said to me.

So we arrived at my new home (for the next three months) and it is pretty much waaaaay better than I expected. My room is on the upper level with my own private entrance and I have a fold out bed, wardrobe, table and chair. I was surprised because it’s the most furniture I’ve seen in the whole house. In Turkmen culture you sit and the floor, eat on the floor, lay on pillows on the floor, etc, so there really isn’t any furniture. Another thing that made me happy was there is a light in the squatter, as well as a lock on the door. And it doesn’t smell nearly as bad as I thought it would in there (but it’s still pretty raunchy…just gotta hold my breath).

In the washroom there are two barrels of water that are heated by gas, and a little scooper next to it so basically you just scoop up some water and pour it on yourself to wash yourself. I’m really glad I brought my flip flops.

So as soon as I got here we all sat down on the floor around a table cloth and enjoyed some lovely tea. I pointed to my stomach and made a sad face when I was offered any food…I didn’t really want to risk it. My family consists of the mother and father, their five kids and the spouses of the five kids, and then their 12 grandchildren. There are a ton of people here, and the kids are absolutely hilarious! The youngest girl is just so cute! I’ll have to start taking some photos of them soon.

Then later, after I somewhat unpacked, we all had dinner. The men were served their dinner in the other room on trays, but the women and children (and myself) all sat around the table cloth on the floor and had a fabulous dinner. I didn’t eat anything except for some bread due to my gastric calamities, but it was the most fun I’ve ever had at dinner in my life. This family is so charismatic and animated, and although the severe language barrier, it was awesome. We kept making toasts because it was one of the kids’ birthdays, and they even had me do one in English! After dinner we had cake (which I DID eat, and it was very, very good) and sang happy birthday in English to the little one while he sat there with a huge cheesy grin on his 10-year-old face.

Then came the after dinner fun…

“You like dance?” Jemel, the sixteen-year-old granddaughter said with a smile.

“Uhhh…hawa?” I responded.

I was motioned to follow her into the other room (also without furniture, except for a large entertainment center and a few pillows) with all the children and the women and I sat down on the floor. Jemel put in a cd and all the kids started dancing around like crazy. My host mom sat in a rocking chair and clapped her hands and then the other women started dancing also and motioned for me to join them.

I cannot describe how much fun it was, it was our own little dance party. We danced to Shakira, Akon, and then a bunch of Turkmen music. I just started mimicking the other women with their Turkmen dance and we were laughing so hard I was crying. My host mom said that was the best souvenir. It was so much fun that I even forgot about my gastric calamities and started to actually feel pretty awesome.

One thing is definitely for sure: This may be a male-dominated society, but it’s the girls who truly know how to have fun.