The absolute best thing to have come out of Turkmenistan in recent memory is this: 25 cover songs sung by the Turkmen children of Dashoguz School #10.
I found it last week on one of the computers in the PC office and, with the help of fellow PCTs, I’ve identified 2/3 of the songs on there.
This is the tracklist:
1. Saves the Day – (unknown song)
2. The Cure – “Boys Don’t Cry”
3. Unknown
4. Weezer – “Buddy Holly”
5. Unknown song from the “O, Brother Where Art Thou?” soundtrack
6. The Decemberists – “Eli, The Barrow Boy”
7. Unknown
8. Neil Young – “Heart of Gold”
9. Unknown
10. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “I Won’t Back Down”
11. Unknown
12. Unknown
13. Belle & Sebastian – “Judy and the Dream of Horses”
14. Radiohead – “Karma Police”
15. Guns and Roses – “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”
16. Damien Jurado – “Letters and Drawings”
17. Unknown
18. Bob Dylan – “Everybody Must Get Stoned”
19. Unknown
20. Iron and Wine – “Sodom, South Georgia”
21. Unknown
22. Shawn Colvin – “Sunny Came Home”
23. Unknown
24. The Flaming Lips – “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Part I”
25. Unknown
The volunteer who worked at Dashoguz School #10 has yet to be identified, though I’m sure if I ask around people might be able to divulge his identity. It shouldn’t be hard. He plays the guitar and dates himself by including the Decemberists and Iron and Wine tracks, which came out in 2005. So he was here in 2005 at least, meaning he was probably a T-12. The T-12 volunteers are no longer here (I am a T-16) so I might have to find his name and then his email. I could, obviously, just google the lyrics to the unknown songs, but if it were me, I would want to know that someone else that came after me appreciated such a project. And I do appreciate these – I have other such cover songs by young children choruses, including “Sexy Boy” by Air and “Desperado” by The Eagles.
November 11, 2007
October 28, 2007
First update from Turkmenistan
At this point it seems a weird exercise to update this thing. I left on September 28th and I am writing this on October 25th. So many incredible things to talk about and describe. A straightforward list would be most beneficial in this situation, I think:
- Toilets, for one, don’t exist in most places. I’ve become accustomed to a squat toilet, as much as Westerner can get accustomed to such a thing. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, though to me a porcelain commode is preferable whenever they are available, which is infrequently. It’s cold now, but I can only imagine what they’ll be like in the summer. My family uses toilet paper, but many use newspaper, old Russian books, and magazines.
- The host country nationals are great. I feel safe and welcomed here. I love my host family and they’re incredibly generous to me. I’m never hungry or in want of something to do. I’d like to be able to iron my own shirt or do my own laundry sometimes, but my host sister and host mother don’t allow it really. My host father is the director at a theater in Ashgabat and I’ve been to a play that’s the Turkmen version of Romeo and Juliet and also a German jazz concert, both of which were great experiences. I do have pictures, so maybe you’ll see them one day, as the internet here is prohibitively slow. I can’t do much beyond checking email.
- We sleep on the floor, eat on the floor, and sit on the floor. This is a holdover from nomadic times where you carried your home on your back and a chaise lounge or Eames chair wasn’t the most practical thing to keep with you moving around the Karakum Desert. Eating and sitting on the floor were easy to adjust to, though sleeping did present a problem for me personally. I had my first night of sleep only this week where I was able to sleep the whole night through.
- Marked gender differences, but they’re things one might expect. The power differential is more transparent and it guides more behaviors than in the US. Women wear these beautiful dresses and they wear a head scarf if married. My sister has a lot more work around the house than do my brothers. I never see women driving cars. Things of that nature. There is one thing that I envy the women for: if you are in the presence of your father-in-law and you don’t want to talk to him, you can cover your face like a blinder and you don’t have to talk at all.
- It’s a muslim country but beliefs are deeply mixed with tribal and shamanistic ones. The “Evil Eye” is a big deal here and there are innumerable talismans and practices against it. You can hang these triangular woven things in your home, for example, or you can hang peppers at the entrance of your home, or ram’s horns – all to protect against the evil eye. A cute practice that I’ve taken up is when you pour your tea. If there are bubbles in the tea, and the bubbles haven’t yet escaped to the periphery of your bakal [mug or cup], you must touch them with your finger and then touch your forehead. This means money is on its way to your household. Additionally, something that I’ve taken up, is not whistling inside nor shaking out the water from my hands after washing them. Both of these actions attract the Evil Eye and the money and luck will flow out of your household. It sounds silly but a volunteer reported that he was caught shaking out the water from his hands and the next day his host mother’s purse was lost.
- My fellow PCTs are tremendous. I like them a lot and I certainly hope they like me. I feel at times I come off as an insufferable know-it-all, or simply an asshole (it wouldn’t be the first time), so I seriously hope this isn’t what my actions and behavior betray to my new friends. We were informed that all PC volunteers talk about is food, sex, and poop, but so far my group has been talking about geopolitics, linguistics, science, public radio, books, and travel. But also sex and food and poop, for good measure.
- The town where I’m living until December is at the border, and over the mountains is Iran. PC has done a good job informing us on what to do and what will happen to us in case the US acts against Iran militarily.
- Miss a lot of you, one of you especially. Please write me letters; I have only received stuff from my family so far. Letters and parcels make dealing with mortality easier!
- Toilets, for one, don’t exist in most places. I’ve become accustomed to a squat toilet, as much as Westerner can get accustomed to such a thing. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, though to me a porcelain commode is preferable whenever they are available, which is infrequently. It’s cold now, but I can only imagine what they’ll be like in the summer. My family uses toilet paper, but many use newspaper, old Russian books, and magazines.
- The host country nationals are great. I feel safe and welcomed here. I love my host family and they’re incredibly generous to me. I’m never hungry or in want of something to do. I’d like to be able to iron my own shirt or do my own laundry sometimes, but my host sister and host mother don’t allow it really. My host father is the director at a theater in Ashgabat and I’ve been to a play that’s the Turkmen version of Romeo and Juliet and also a German jazz concert, both of which were great experiences. I do have pictures, so maybe you’ll see them one day, as the internet here is prohibitively slow. I can’t do much beyond checking email.
- We sleep on the floor, eat on the floor, and sit on the floor. This is a holdover from nomadic times where you carried your home on your back and a chaise lounge or Eames chair wasn’t the most practical thing to keep with you moving around the Karakum Desert. Eating and sitting on the floor were easy to adjust to, though sleeping did present a problem for me personally. I had my first night of sleep only this week where I was able to sleep the whole night through.
- Marked gender differences, but they’re things one might expect. The power differential is more transparent and it guides more behaviors than in the US. Women wear these beautiful dresses and they wear a head scarf if married. My sister has a lot more work around the house than do my brothers. I never see women driving cars. Things of that nature. There is one thing that I envy the women for: if you are in the presence of your father-in-law and you don’t want to talk to him, you can cover your face like a blinder and you don’t have to talk at all.
- It’s a muslim country but beliefs are deeply mixed with tribal and shamanistic ones. The “Evil Eye” is a big deal here and there are innumerable talismans and practices against it. You can hang these triangular woven things in your home, for example, or you can hang peppers at the entrance of your home, or ram’s horns – all to protect against the evil eye. A cute practice that I’ve taken up is when you pour your tea. If there are bubbles in the tea, and the bubbles haven’t yet escaped to the periphery of your bakal [mug or cup], you must touch them with your finger and then touch your forehead. This means money is on its way to your household. Additionally, something that I’ve taken up, is not whistling inside nor shaking out the water from my hands after washing them. Both of these actions attract the Evil Eye and the money and luck will flow out of your household. It sounds silly but a volunteer reported that he was caught shaking out the water from his hands and the next day his host mother’s purse was lost.
- My fellow PCTs are tremendous. I like them a lot and I certainly hope they like me. I feel at times I come off as an insufferable know-it-all, or simply an asshole (it wouldn’t be the first time), so I seriously hope this isn’t what my actions and behavior betray to my new friends. We were informed that all PC volunteers talk about is food, sex, and poop, but so far my group has been talking about geopolitics, linguistics, science, public radio, books, and travel. But also sex and food and poop, for good measure.
- The town where I’m living until December is at the border, and over the mountains is Iran. PC has done a good job informing us on what to do and what will happen to us in case the US acts against Iran militarily.
- Miss a lot of you, one of you especially. Please write me letters; I have only received stuff from my family so far. Letters and parcels make dealing with mortality easier!
September 29, 2007
Staging
I'm in Washington, D.C. at staging (orientation). Got in last night and there was this guy at the baggage claim and I think I got hustled by him. He took me to his car, which didn't have a meter or look like a taxi at all (it was Cadillac), but I got to the hotel fine, even though the fare was $45 flat. I shouldn't have followed that Ethiopian man.
But were given today a debit card to cover expenses and the government was surprisingly generous. I have plenty of money for incidentals and food and taxi rides. I had great Thai food tonight.
Today we went over a bunch of things, like our anxieties and fears and expectations for Turkmenistan. One really cool thing I learned was that Peace Corps is the only game in Turkmenistan, that we are literally the only aid group over there. No Habitat for Humanity or World Bank or UN or CARE. Just the Peace Corps. The awesome thing about this is that, as a volunteer, your results are more apparent. A common complaint (and reason for ETing) among volunteers is that they can't see the effects of their accomplishments. It was reassuring to learn that in T-stan that this won't be an issue.
Peace Corps really does open you up to many new experiences. For example, the guy I'm rooming with during staging, he had never ironed a shirt until I showed him how this afternoon. And as for me, he showed me his socks, all of which are tye-died. No joke.
But were given today a debit card to cover expenses and the government was surprisingly generous. I have plenty of money for incidentals and food and taxi rides. I had great Thai food tonight.
Today we went over a bunch of things, like our anxieties and fears and expectations for Turkmenistan. One really cool thing I learned was that Peace Corps is the only game in Turkmenistan, that we are literally the only aid group over there. No Habitat for Humanity or World Bank or UN or CARE. Just the Peace Corps. The awesome thing about this is that, as a volunteer, your results are more apparent. A common complaint (and reason for ETing) among volunteers is that they can't see the effects of their accomplishments. It was reassuring to learn that in T-stan that this won't be an issue.
Peace Corps really does open you up to many new experiences. For example, the guy I'm rooming with during staging, he had never ironed a shirt until I showed him how this afternoon. And as for me, he showed me his socks, all of which are tye-died. No joke.
September 24, 2007
Packing post
6 white undershirts
18 t-shirts
5 polos and button-down short-sleeve shirts
12 dress shirts for work
3 sweaters
2 long sleeve shirts
7 pairs of pants
exercise pants, shorts, and long-sleeve shirt
silk underwear bottoms and tops
one vest, one cardigan, one hoodie, one medium-weight coat, one heavy-weight coat
crushed red pepper
cumin
cinnamon
Sri Racha hot sauce
onion powder
garlic powder
curry powder
Italian mix
Sambas, brown loafers, black loafers, Chacos, running shoes
frying pan
hat
sleeping bag and insertable mat
English/Russian dictionary, field guide to birding around USSR, Donald Barthelme short stories, Limits of Language, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
pens, pencils, sharpies, pad
ties
belts
underwears
socks
Macbook, charger, sweater
external hard drive, mouse, camera, cords
USB thumb drive
headphones
binoculars
iPod shuffle
digital watch
toiletries
calendar and bookmarks (gifts for host family)
combination lock
laptop lock
Leatherman Multi-tool
Gameboy DS, games, charger
handcrank flashlight, keychain flashlight
international voltage converter
September 15, 2007
My burgeoning food blog?
I have a slight inclination to start a food blog, based on the 1100 varieties of melons to be found in Turkmenistan. It would be popular, I feel, because food buffs love exotic fruits. The mangosteen was recently legalized in America and already I've seen several proclamations of "the new pomegranate!"
It wouldn't be difficult to look into the melon-describing semantic sphere and pick up several words and phrases. I already have a name for it, which is personally the biggest motivation to start the blog. Turkmelonstan.
Also, it's surreal that I'll be there in two weeks.
It wouldn't be difficult to look into the melon-describing semantic sphere and pick up several words and phrases. I already have a name for it, which is personally the biggest motivation to start the blog. Turkmelonstan.
Also, it's surreal that I'll be there in two weeks.
July 24, 2007
Turkmenistan
I'll be going to Turkmenistan for my PC service. I will be in D.C. on September 29th for orientation, and then in Turkmenistan on October 3rd for pre-service training. My volunteer service ends December 21, 2009. So I'll be home for Christmas. I also plan at least one trip back to the states
Here's what I know about Turkmenistan and my service so far:
- Free water and electricity everywhere (vestiges of communism)
- Ashgabat, the capital city, is fairly modern and it's all white marble and real gold
- Turkmenbashi, the recently dead dictator/president-for-life, ruled with Soviet-style harshness
- The PC office there recently got satellite internet
- I will probably be in a rural area living with my host family for the entire two years.
- They eat lots of lamb and get lots of produce imported from Iran because the seasons are wonky. They have 100 degree summers but it also snows in the winter.
- I'm guessing that if the USA goes to war with Iran, I will be evacuated and my service will end, or they'll send me to Guatemala or something.
- 87% Muslim, though I hear it's not like Saudi Arabia. They are more culturally Muslim in the way that we are culturally Christian, someone said.
I have to go to work now. More later.
Here's what I know about Turkmenistan and my service so far:
- Free water and electricity everywhere (vestiges of communism)
- Ashgabat, the capital city, is fairly modern and it's all white marble and real gold
- Turkmenbashi, the recently dead dictator/president-for-life, ruled with Soviet-style harshness
- The PC office there recently got satellite internet
- I will probably be in a rural area living with my host family for the entire two years.
- They eat lots of lamb and get lots of produce imported from Iran because the seasons are wonky. They have 100 degree summers but it also snows in the winter.
- I'm guessing that if the USA goes to war with Iran, I will be evacuated and my service will end, or they'll send me to Guatemala or something.
- 87% Muslim, though I hear it's not like Saudi Arabia. They are more culturally Muslim in the way that we are culturally Christian, someone said.
I have to go to work now. More later.
July 22, 2007
July 18, 2007
Notified of my invitation
FINALLY.
After several months of checking my email first thing every morning, after expecting it to come by the time I finished school, then by the time I had my going-away party, then by the time I left Texas, I checked my email this morning and found this message from Peace Corps:
This means that my invitation (exactly where and when I will be going) is in the mail. The mailman here is going to become shortly acquainted with me as I wait for him daily at the mailbox. What happens is I get the invite in the mail, and see what it says, and then respond within 10 days to either accept or decline the invitation. Should I decline, I would have to wait longer for another assignment to come up. This would annoy my PO because she'd have to do more work, and it'd annoy Kristofer and Ashley, since I would have to live here longer than expected.
Here is what I am predicting based on my internet research: Turkmenistan, departing for staging September 29th, returning to the States January 2010.
(this paragraph is mostly for Ben)
So. Turkmenistan. The large majority of the population speaks Turkmen, while a minority speak Balochi (Western) and Kurmanji. I am betting that I will not have to learn the minority languages. Turkmen is an Altaic > Turkic language, meaning it has strong vowel harmony, restricted voicing between vcd/vcl with few minimal pairs even intervocalically, short/long vowel opposition, and simple syllable structure (CVCC at the most complex). It might be agglutinative, I'm not sure. All nouns decline the same way; all verbs conjugate the same way. There are no classes. It has number and case, with a basic set of case markings (NOM/ACC/GEN/LOC/DAT/ABL). Its word order is strictly verb-final.
Thank you to Kerry, who was able to quickly get his recommendation stuff in before my PO went on vacation. I most likely would not have received this today if he didn't complete his shit on time. I finally get to update the timeline in the sidebar.
After several months of checking my email first thing every morning, after expecting it to come by the time I finished school, then by the time I had my going-away party, then by the time I left Texas, I checked my email this morning and found this message from Peace Corps:
Peace Corps has updated your Application Status account. Log in to http://www.peacecorps.gov/mytoolkit to see the latest information.
This means that my invitation (exactly where and when I will be going) is in the mail. The mailman here is going to become shortly acquainted with me as I wait for him daily at the mailbox. What happens is I get the invite in the mail, and see what it says, and then respond within 10 days to either accept or decline the invitation. Should I decline, I would have to wait longer for another assignment to come up. This would annoy my PO because she'd have to do more work, and it'd annoy Kristofer and Ashley, since I would have to live here longer than expected.
Here is what I am predicting based on my internet research: Turkmenistan, departing for staging September 29th, returning to the States January 2010.
(this paragraph is mostly for Ben)
So. Turkmenistan. The large majority of the population speaks Turkmen, while a minority speak Balochi (Western) and Kurmanji. I am betting that I will not have to learn the minority languages. Turkmen is an Altaic > Turkic language, meaning it has strong vowel harmony, restricted voicing between vcd/vcl with few minimal pairs even intervocalically, short/long vowel opposition, and simple syllable structure (CVCC at the most complex). It might be agglutinative, I'm not sure. All nouns decline the same way; all verbs conjugate the same way. There are no classes. It has number and case, with a basic set of case markings (NOM/ACC/GEN/LOC/DAT/ABL). Its word order is strictly verb-final.
Thank you to Kerry, who was able to quickly get his recommendation stuff in before my PO went on vacation. I most likely would not have received this today if he didn't complete his shit on time. I finally get to update the timeline in the sidebar.
July 16, 2007
Finally a second nomination
My PO Julie Thompson called me this afternoon and gave me a more accurate nomination:
Late September 2007
Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Central Asia
This is exciting because TEFL was my first choice of assignment because that would work better when I apply to grad school for linguistics. It's not that teaching science would have been bad, but I just would have rather taught English. Now I need my linguistics books! And I was also reading a book earlier this year by Comrie about Caucasian languages, which might be of use if I learn one of those.
According to the PC website, "Central Asia" is the following countries:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyz Republic
Turkmenistan
Late September 2007
Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Central Asia
This is exciting because TEFL was my first choice of assignment because that would work better when I apply to grad school for linguistics. It's not that teaching science would have been bad, but I just would have rather taught English. Now I need my linguistics books! And I was also reading a book earlier this year by Comrie about Caucasian languages, which might be of use if I learn one of those.
According to the PC website, "Central Asia" is the following countries:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyz Republic
Turkmenistan
July 11, 2007
A little closer
My PO called my Saturday afternoon. I was surprised she was working then, but she said it was busy season at the placement office.
We talked for an hour about how prepared I am to serve and several other issues like coping with stress, Kristofer, communication with people back home, and timelines.
She said she'd call me back this week, so this definitely means my application is in motion.
We talked for an hour about how prepared I am to serve and several other issues like coping with stress, Kristofer, communication with people back home, and timelines.
She said she'd call me back this week, so this definitely means my application is in motion.
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