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The Peace Corps Benefit Package

I found myself lying awake last night wondering how difficult it would be to compute my hourly wage. There are many things that have to go into the accounting process. Firstly there are all of the specific allotments that we receive. There is the living allowance (the money we actually get every month), travel allowance (money that is given to us on a quarterly basis specifically for travel out of country), readjustment allowance (money that is given to us once we complete our service) and settling in allowance (a one time payment used to furnish your living space). Then you have to take into account that most of the money we don’t get until we are finished with service (in my accounting I discounted this and added it in as if I were getting it spread throughout my service). You also have to account for mandatory expenses, namely, my monthly payment to my host family. Finally, being a PCV is a 24/7 job.
After changing all of the manat payments into dollars and calculating the hourly amount of each of those allowances listed above I have determined that I am making a grand total of $0.52 every hour of my service in Peace Corps. If you decide to join Peace Corps for the money you will be disappointed (until you get 1/3 of your readjustment allowance upon leaving the country). However, I assume most people do not join Peace Corps to make their fortune.
I am just beginning to learn about the wealth I am reaping from this experience. I have been in Turkmenistan for the past 9 months (yes it has been that long) and every day I seem to gain something new. I have had ample opportunity to think about my life and where I am headed in the future, I have anthems of children’s voices following me everywhere I go, I have reflected upon what opportunity truly means and realized just how privileged I am having been born in the US, I have several good friends who will live here for the rest of their lives, and I can truly appreciate how frustrating grass roots change can be. These are just some of the things that I will cherish for the rest of my life, much longer than the money I’m making will last.
I truly believe that wealth lies not in money but in experience, knowledge and love. I will gladly live on $0.52 an hour when it comes with such an amazing benefit package.

Public Transportation - PC Turkmenistan

Getting around is, generally, a universal concern. As such, I figured I would talk a little about how I get around and compare it to my host family and other Turkmen that I know.
I travel to visit other PCV friends, to go to Ashgabat for PC business, to go to Halach for my monthly living allowance, to go to Charjew for internet and mail, and to travel to other countries for vacation.
The first step for all of these trips is to catch a taxi. I am lucky to live less than 15 minute walk from the one road that travels between Charjew (and north of the city) and the Afghan border. Every vehicle traveling along the road serves as a taxi. Essentially I am hitchhiking, I throw my arm out to my side and wait for someone to pull over. I inquire if they are going where I am going and then (according to PC policy) I am supposed to ask how much it will be. For most trips that I usually take I know how much they will charge and therefore rarely ask.
There are four ways to get from Lebap to Ashgabat: train, plane, taxi, or marshrutka. The train costs 70,000 ($4.92) and takes 14 hours to get from Charjew to Ashgabat. I can take the train from a village near my village and it costs an extra $.50 or so but takes an additional 5 hours. The plane leaves from Charjew and costs 250,000 ($17.59) and takes 50 minutes. The taxi and marshrutka I hear are extremely painful ways to travel and while they are between the cost of train and plane it seems like something I won’t do without large amounts of encouragement. When I moved to my site I took a marshrutka with 3 other volunteers and all of our belongings and it was extremely cold. We all pulled out sleeping bags in order to stay warm. I was lucky enough to be able to join a Peace Corps driver coming out to Charjew on my way back from vacation but the PC vehicles have air conditioning and are very comfortable, clean, and the driver is nice and not constantly bugging you.
My host family has a vehicle which they use when my host father goes places, however if my sister-in-law needs to go to the bazaar but my host father isn’t going she takes a taxi just like I would. When traveling within my village the most common modes of transportation are walking or biking, however after dark cars are most often used.