First update from Turkmenistan

October 5, 2008

Salaam Blog Readers!

I have officially been in the country for two weeks today! It is hard to believe! I have been staying with a family for the past 5 or 6 days now and am learning new things every day. Some days it is frustrating and some days it is very rewarding (usually everyday is some of both). I am staying in a small town just west of Ashgabat and learning Turkmen as fast as I can. When I first arrived at my host family I could say (in Turkmen) Hi, How are you, Where is the toilet, Where is the wash room, How old are you, Are you married, and I could ask about your family and say I don’t understand. Now I have also learned about housing and family and food and tomorrow I’ll begin learning about the post office which means I’ll be able to send you all the letters that have been piling up in my room. As of yesterday I had 15 letters – that means I’ve been writing an average of 2 a day. I’ve lost count for now. This experience has already been nothing I could have imagined. Every single day I face unbelievable challenges but I’ve heard that those kinds of challenges produce the best rewards. I’ll give you one example: I arrived at my host family’s residence and immediately I placed my belongings in my room and we sat down for chai. We drank around three cups while I exhausted my Turkmen and we sat there for about a half an hour – me in near silence and my gilnege (sister-in-law, also a word for woman older than me but not old) and her mother in niece(I think) talking. Prior to this we had been spoiled (we were given chairs anytime we wanted to sit down). The half hour I spent on the floor attempting to find the best way to be comfortable. It wasn’t easy but I finally figured it out. Then we attempted to communicate (this consisted of my host sister in law and her cousin saying the same thing over and over and over again while I sat there dumbfounded repeating I don’t understand!). I was then taken inside the house and shown how to vacuum, sweep many rugs, wipe down with wet rags anything that was not covered by rugs and then repeated the process in each room. For those of you who know me I am someone who cooks, not someone who cleans! The cleaning process was repeated the next day (they show me how to do something, take it away from me when I do it wrong, show me again and then return the task to me). Meanwhile anytime we take a break from cleaning we are either cooking or sipping chai (sitting on the floor of course). So right now my lower back and hips hurt in places I didn’t know existed. The hurt is a constant reminder of just how much I am going to be changed (and hopefully the change that will occur because of me). Finally, I thought you might be interested in some of the current ideas, thoughts, quotes, etc. that are getting me from moment to moment.


From Planet Walker by John Francis (thanks Leeann!)
“I have taken the first step on a journey that will shape my life. I cannot stop now”


From my journal thanks to Steve (although I don’t know who the original author is…ask Steve!)
“If you ever feel stuck, and think you can’t do much, look past the structures of today, because love will flip the world sideways.” I like this one because one of my major complaints or grieves is the extreme division of men and women here. It is noticeable in each and every day in many ways. And once I move past that and remember the intense swell of love that I feel for our world the little things no longer matter.

Thanks everyone for your support! Send letters, send letters, send letters! You have no idea how wonderful it is to receive a small word of support from home! Sunday I was feeling so negative about my situation until I had a chance to talk with the other Americans in my town. The whole world changed in an instant (or more likely my whole world). A little bit of the known makes the unknown much less scary!
Sag bol!


KELSEY

P.S. I’ve been trying to take lots of pictures and will hopefully send/post some of them soon-ish!