Turkmenistan is hot.
Really really really hot.
I drink 4 liters of water a day and eat at least three ice creams.
The sun really hurts.
I miss winter.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Back to The Daily Grind
July 19, 2008
The past few weeks have been fantastic, but now it has all come to an end.
I return to Turkmenistan refreshed, revitalized, with nasty gastric calamities due to Turkmen Air food.
It's alright...nothing I haven't experienced before.
Over the past few weeks I have:
Eaten frog
Chased after a mugger
Tried chewing tobacco
Had a facial AND pedicure
Met Jerry Springer
Eaten crap soup
Held a python
Roamed through the waterfalls of Vietnam
Tried every type of shellfish SouthEast Asia has to offer
I love being on vacation, but it's nice to be back, speaking Turkmen with the locals, reminiscing with friends and dreaming of my next trip.
Three more weeks until Bishkek...
The past few weeks have been fantastic, but now it has all come to an end.
I return to Turkmenistan refreshed, revitalized, with nasty gastric calamities due to Turkmen Air food.
It's alright...nothing I haven't experienced before.
Over the past few weeks I have:
Eaten frog
Chased after a mugger
Tried chewing tobacco
Had a facial AND pedicure
Met Jerry Springer
Eaten crap soup
Held a python
Roamed through the waterfalls of Vietnam
Tried every type of shellfish SouthEast Asia has to offer
I love being on vacation, but it's nice to be back, speaking Turkmen with the locals, reminiscing with friends and dreaming of my next trip.
Three more weeks until Bishkek...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
You Live WHERE?
Nobody knows where Turkmenistan is, and few know what Peace Corps is and what we do, so for the past two weeks on our vacation, Alice and I have had to explain this over and over again to every single person we meet.
Locals usually just nod their head and give us a funny look, but other westerners have had much more interesting reactions.
I started noting the ones I liked best:
"PEACE CORPS???? What, are you like putting up white flags all over the place or something?"
"What the HELL is that?"
"What? Is that even a real place?"
"Peace Corps? So is there like a war going on or something?"
"Alice and Angela...you two are like a bloody pair of batteries, aren't ya?"
"So...like part of Afghanistan?"
Locals usually just nod their head and give us a funny look, but other westerners have had much more interesting reactions.
I started noting the ones I liked best:
"PEACE CORPS???? What, are you like putting up white flags all over the place or something?"
"What the HELL is that?"
"What? Is that even a real place?"
"Peace Corps? So is there like a war going on or something?"
"Alice and Angela...you two are like a bloody pair of batteries, aren't ya?"
"So...like part of Afghanistan?"
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Last Night...
Last night the Sailing Club blew up with the Miss Universe after party- never have I ever been surrounded by so many ridiculously tall, insanely beautiful women.
In Turkmenistan people are always wanting my attention, taking my photo, yelling my name, everywhere I go. Last night I was the one taking photos, mingling in the background, staring at everyone, enjoying the scenery.
I can't describe the entirety of the evening, but I think Alice summed it up nicely with this phrase:
"I've never seen so many iPhones in one place."
Rich celebrities are interesting people...they were afraid of Vietnamese bottled water, wore their collars popped up and opted for San Pelligrino. They yelled at the Vietnamese waiters, complained about the heat and one of the Miss Universe hairdressers even said how surprised he was that the pagaent was here.
"I mean, Vietnam really isn't your top tourist destination," he said.
I wonder what life must be like inside that bubble. I honestly met a man last night who told me he spent $5000 on a pen once. Granted, he was one of the electricians working on the show, and pretty much the coolest person I've ever met in my life, but I can't fathom what that must be like.
I think I'd like to see what a $5000 pen looks like. The pens in Turkmenistan cost about eight cents and usually last about 12 minutes.
In Turkmenistan people are always wanting my attention, taking my photo, yelling my name, everywhere I go. Last night I was the one taking photos, mingling in the background, staring at everyone, enjoying the scenery.
I can't describe the entirety of the evening, but I think Alice summed it up nicely with this phrase:
"I've never seen so many iPhones in one place."
Rich celebrities are interesting people...they were afraid of Vietnamese bottled water, wore their collars popped up and opted for San Pelligrino. They yelled at the Vietnamese waiters, complained about the heat and one of the Miss Universe hairdressers even said how surprised he was that the pagaent was here.
"I mean, Vietnam really isn't your top tourist destination," he said.
I wonder what life must be like inside that bubble. I honestly met a man last night who told me he spent $5000 on a pen once. Granted, he was one of the electricians working on the show, and pretty much the coolest person I've ever met in my life, but I can't fathom what that must be like.
I think I'd like to see what a $5000 pen looks like. The pens in Turkmenistan cost about eight cents and usually last about 12 minutes.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Welcome Miss Universe
July 14, 2008
My life right now feels like a dream.
The sky exploded with fireworks last night kicking off the Miss Universe pagaent here in the gorgeous beach city of Nha Trang, Vietnam. Donald Trump and company have all arrived, along with Jerry Springer, Mel B and an insane amount of beautiful women from all across the globe.
At a beach party last night an English dude walked up to me and said, "So, what country are you representing?"
It was positively adorable.
"I represent Austria," I said with a smile and a really bad accent.
"Well Austria will surely win," he replied.
The last few days here on the beach have been far too much fun. We laid around in the sun all day and swam in the clearest water I've ever seen, and a little old lady cooked us some shellfish right on the sand. We've been consuming tons of fresh, tropical fruit and swimming, eating tons of seafood, dancing all night, loving every minute of this place.
I don't believe a country has ever stolen my heart as much as Vietnam has. I absolutely love it here.
My life right now feels like a dream.
The sky exploded with fireworks last night kicking off the Miss Universe pagaent here in the gorgeous beach city of Nha Trang, Vietnam. Donald Trump and company have all arrived, along with Jerry Springer, Mel B and an insane amount of beautiful women from all across the globe.
At a beach party last night an English dude walked up to me and said, "So, what country are you representing?"
It was positively adorable.
"I represent Austria," I said with a smile and a really bad accent.
"Well Austria will surely win," he replied.
The last few days here on the beach have been far too much fun. We laid around in the sun all day and swam in the clearest water I've ever seen, and a little old lady cooked us some shellfish right on the sand. We've been consuming tons of fresh, tropical fruit and swimming, eating tons of seafood, dancing all night, loving every minute of this place.
I don't believe a country has ever stolen my heart as much as Vietnam has. I absolutely love it here.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Saigon You Take My Breath Away
I loved Cambodia, but Vietnam has stolen my heart.
Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) has been amazing...I could absolutely live here.
I met a pompous English fellow last night. He told me that we crazy Americans have butchered the good English language.
"We GAVE you the bloody dialect and you just rip it apart!" he said. "Nobody in America can speak proper bloody English."
I continued to listen to his rant against Americans...
"You Americans are so fat," he said. "In England we have large people but not like you Americans. How can you let yourself GET that way???"
It went on...
"In America you're so damn picky about your food. You go into a restaurant and it takes you a lifetime to order because you're so particular about every little thing. In England they just bring you a bloody plate of food! And you eat it!"
"We have the strongest currency in the world, us English people. We GAVE the world English- we never learn a second language. What's the point? The whole world speaks English."
This was my favorite: "You Americans think the whole bloody world revolves around you. You're just a bunch of wankers."
Ohhhhh how that made me laugh. I love people.
Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) has been amazing...I could absolutely live here.
I met a pompous English fellow last night. He told me that we crazy Americans have butchered the good English language.
"We GAVE you the bloody dialect and you just rip it apart!" he said. "Nobody in America can speak proper bloody English."
I continued to listen to his rant against Americans...
"You Americans are so fat," he said. "In England we have large people but not like you Americans. How can you let yourself GET that way???"
It went on...
"In America you're so damn picky about your food. You go into a restaurant and it takes you a lifetime to order because you're so particular about every little thing. In England they just bring you a bloody plate of food! And you eat it!"
"We have the strongest currency in the world, us English people. We GAVE the world English- we never learn a second language. What's the point? The whole world speaks English."
This was my favorite: "You Americans think the whole bloody world revolves around you. You're just a bunch of wankers."
Ohhhhh how that made me laugh. I love people.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Ankor WHAT???
July 9, 2008
Cambodia is amazing.
After the bus ride to the border, we met up with some awesome guys from Amsterdam and together we worked to find a taxi to take us to Siem Reap. Unfortunately that process took about an hour, but after a long negotiation, and an incredible journey across the practically non-existant road for four hours, we arrived.
We hung out with our new Dutch friends throughout our stay in Siem Reap and it was an absolute blast, but the most wonderful thing I will take away from my Siem Reap experience will be the amazing temples of Ankor Wat.
We started exploring the temples around 5:00am so we could be there for the sunrise. The incredible detail that went into the construction of these structures was just mindblowing, and I honestly don't think I've seen anything cooler in my life. Don't mean to hype it up, but Cambodia all-around rocks.
The entire city was alive that night, dancing on tables, having an amazing time singing along to American songs I haven't heard in nine months. We stuffed ourselves with ridiculously cheap spring rolls, seafood and cocktails, and at one point the bartender where we were at took me aside and said, "You know, I've seen my share of really out of control people, but for some reason, I don't know why, tonight EVERYBODY is OUT OF THEIR MIND!"
It was true. We were all out of our minds. I thought of that this morning as I fell into the seat of the bus to Phenom Penh after about two hours of sleep.
After arriving in the capital, we burst into the Vietnam embassy thirty minutes before they were closing and some random dude snatched up an application, my passport and said, "You take too long. I help you," and began applying for my visa for me.
Ten minutes later we had our visas.
Next destination: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Cambodia is amazing.
After the bus ride to the border, we met up with some awesome guys from Amsterdam and together we worked to find a taxi to take us to Siem Reap. Unfortunately that process took about an hour, but after a long negotiation, and an incredible journey across the practically non-existant road for four hours, we arrived.
We hung out with our new Dutch friends throughout our stay in Siem Reap and it was an absolute blast, but the most wonderful thing I will take away from my Siem Reap experience will be the amazing temples of Ankor Wat.
We started exploring the temples around 5:00am so we could be there for the sunrise. The incredible detail that went into the construction of these structures was just mindblowing, and I honestly don't think I've seen anything cooler in my life. Don't mean to hype it up, but Cambodia all-around rocks.
The entire city was alive that night, dancing on tables, having an amazing time singing along to American songs I haven't heard in nine months. We stuffed ourselves with ridiculously cheap spring rolls, seafood and cocktails, and at one point the bartender where we were at took me aside and said, "You know, I've seen my share of really out of control people, but for some reason, I don't know why, tonight EVERYBODY is OUT OF THEIR MIND!"
It was true. We were all out of our minds. I thought of that this morning as I fell into the seat of the bus to Phenom Penh after about two hours of sleep.
After arriving in the capital, we burst into the Vietnam embassy thirty minutes before they were closing and some random dude snatched up an application, my passport and said, "You take too long. I help you," and began applying for my visa for me.
Ten minutes later we had our visas.
Next destination: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Fourteen Hours and Counting...
July 5, 2008
Yesterday was quite the memorable Fourth of July...we ate copius amounts of watermelon, cooked curry, and toasted with some amazing Hungarian liquor in a small Russian village.
Today Alice and I are just counting down the hours till our plane leaves...I can't believe tomorrow I'll be in Thailand...then Cambodia, then Vietnam.
I'm going to eat so much shrimp Southeast Asia will have a shortage.
Yesterday was quite the memorable Fourth of July...we ate copius amounts of watermelon, cooked curry, and toasted with some amazing Hungarian liquor in a small Russian village.
Today Alice and I are just counting down the hours till our plane leaves...I can't believe tomorrow I'll be in Thailand...then Cambodia, then Vietnam.
I'm going to eat so much shrimp Southeast Asia will have a shortage.
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