Train Adventures

I wanted to share two experiences I had recently on the train. But first, a little about the trains. The cheapest way for me to get to Ashgabat is to take an overnight train. It costs about $5.50 to get a train from a village about 20 minutes to the north all the way to Ashgabat in a cupe (cabin with four beds). There is a cheaper ticket, but I have heard horror stories so as long as I have a choice I’ll pay the little extra to get a nicer place to stay. The trip from Ashgabat to Charjew or vice versa is about 12 hours. If you want to travel all the way to my village (well close to my village) it is about another 4 hours (this takes 2 by taxi).
Each cupe has four beds like I said before. Two are at the level that normal chairs would be and the other two are hung higher up on the ceiling. Under the two bottom stools there is storage room. And There is also storage on the top level at the end and between the upper beds (above the door to the cupe). Whenever traveling on the train you never know what kinds of cupe mates you will be assigned so whenever possible I try to travel with another volunteer so that I at least have someone sane and ‘normal’. The following are descriptions of two different trips that I’ve recently taken. Both trips I was accompanied by Jessie – a fellow volunteer. I believe both trips were from Ashgabat to Charjew.
Trip #1: The Plant Lady
Jessie and I were running late and I was worried we weren’t going to make it on time so we are running to the train. We get on and realize we are the first in our cupe. So, we arrange our things below our side of the bench and it takes up about half the room. Then we each grab books and our iPods and relax for the long trip.
We have barely gotten settled when a woman comes in with her arms filled with huge boxes that she has lashed together with rope to make handles. She sets them on the empty bench and disappears. Jessie and I look at one another, make that slightly suspicious/wondering face and return to our reading. Two minutes later she returns accompanied by a man (we learn later this is her father) and both of them are loaded with more boxes. The woman puts the boxes on the table we are supposed to use for dining and the man sets his down next to the ones already on the opposite bench. They both disappear again. Now half of the other bench is covered with these boxes and all of the dining table is covered. I glance at Jessie and give her an apprehensive look and we both return to our reading. The man and woman return with yet more boxes and again disappear. Now nearly all of the opposite bench is covered, the dining table, and part of one of the upper bunks. I look at Jessie and we start laughing. The woman and man return yet again with more boxes and disappear. Both of the opposite bunks are covered, the dining table and part of the floor. I begin to wonder if they are expecting to place themselves in this cupe as well as all of these boxes. The woman and man return one more time and now it is impossible for us to get out and for more than one of them to come into the cupe. All three beds are covered with boxes, the floor, the dining table and there is a box sitting outside the door. Our cabin mates begin to settle all of their boxes and the woman shows us what is inside them. They are all filled with plants. I have never seen plants for sale in T-stan – only seeds.
The man and woman fill the storage under their seat and the remaining half of ours as well as the storage overhead, two boxes end up under the dining table and another two boxes end up on top of it (we’ve all agreed that we’ve already eaten dinner and therefore don’t have a need for it). There are still a few remaining boxes. One ends up on the bed the woman is sleeping on and the other sits on the floor – severely limiting the space in our cabin. Jessie and I have been eyeing one another the entire time attempting not to break out in hysterical laughter. The woman and man both felt that this was a totally normal thing to travel with so many items that they overflow out of the storage containers and spill onto the floor and beds. The woman also stated – I would never put them into storage (I guess the trains have luggage compartments but I have no idea how one would use them) because she is responsible for the life of these plants and if someone treated them badly she would be out of money.
Overall it was an enjoyable, however bazaar, experience.
Trip #2 The Russians
Jessie and I were once again traveling together and arrived in the cabin to find it empty. We settled in, grabbed our books, but started talking instead of reading. We just finished with our Mid-service conference and felt the need to discuss it.
Several minutes later an older man and younger man entered our cabin. The older man smelled distinctly like vodka and cigarettes while the younger man was decently attractive and had rather large muscles.
We discovered very quickly that they were Russians. There are a fair number of Russians living in Turkmenistan – mostly in the cities. Most Russians living in Turkmenistan don’t know Turkmen because Turkmen became the national language after the country declared independence in 1991 and in the city you don’t NEED to know Turkmen. All restaurants and public services are offered in Russian (often only in Russian). Jessie and I silently breathed a sigh of relief as this meant we weren’t expected to interact with them because of the very difficult language barrier (we spoke almost no Russian).
Once they got settled the older man started trying to talk with us. He soon discovered what we had already determined. We spoke only Turkmen with tiny snippets of Russian while he and his son (we were able to figure this out) spoke only Russian with tiny bits of Turkmen. Normally this would prevent most people from making an effort to communicate (especially when communication is not strictly necessary) but not this man.
Given the language restrictions we learned that this man, his wife and four children lived in Charjew. The man worked in Ashgabat fairly regularly and the son was attending school in Ashgabat. The man is an animal lover and they have two dogs and several cats. We even were privileged to see a video of the mans’ family at a celebration attempting to include the dog in the toasts.
We also learned that his mother (or grandmother, not too sure) is a psychic/fortune teller. And, she passed on those traits to him – the son/grandson. At this point he pulls out two decks of tarot cards and proceeds to read my cards. Remember – we can’t communicate more than the most basic sentiments.
My reading: There will be two important men in my life. The first will be important but not the one I end up with forever. The second one, will have a farm, a good job, and he won’t be American. September is a very important month for me. There are at least 3 or 4 things that will happen to me during September. One of them involved one of those two men from above. I will have children – many of them. I am not allowed to become bored – as that will cause my mind to _____(this word was bad, but I have no idea what exactly he was saying, it was obvious this should not be allowed to happen).
The above was all I managed to understand in the 25 minute (or so) reading that he gave me.
You just never know what you might end up with when traveling by train.
Last year I took the train to get to Ashgabat to go on vacation and the man insisted that I had to call him when my family came to visit (in over a year). I had just met this man.
When I travel in a cabin that is all Americans the train directors (I’m sure they have a name but my English capabilities are declining rapidly) open our cabin every hour or so and bring spectators to stare at us. This happens even when we lock the cabin.

Top 10 reasons to live in Labop

1. Most verdant welayat in Turkmenistan.
2. Greatest access to water as a result of the Amu Dariya.
3. The regional capital is probably the only place in the world where the local dialect combines Turkmen, Uzbek and Russian. Volunteers (and some residents) have dubbed this unique language “charjewski”.
4. We have the best kBac. (a drink made of fermented bread)
5. We also have the best cocktails. (tiny portions of milkshakes that aren’t cold or made with ice cream)
6. Koyten Dag/Dinosaur footprints (beautiful national park with waterfalls, caves, and fossilized dinosaur footprints)!!!!!
7. Most awesome volunteer living quarters with the most educated, most married, and most gay volunteers in the straightest line.
8. Most liberal welayate with the most liberal people like my host father who said when discussing world travel, “people must travel if they can, they need to meet more people because, afterall, we are all just people”. We also supposedly have the only free radio in the country. Supposedly, because we can’t confirm its existence as we are not allowed to talk or meet with its producers.
9. We know how to party – every gathering is guaranteed to discuss public radio (specifically This American Life), AI, and the paper game (don’t ask).
10. We don’t have stinky camels or çal (fermented camel’s milk)!

16 months and counting

Today is February 4th. I have been in Turkmenistan for 16 months and counting. I have somewhere between 9 and 10 months left of service. Last week all of the volunteers were in Ashgabat for our ‘mid-service conference’. It is hard to believe that I’m already well over half done. I thought that instead of having a theme to my post today I would take some quotes from things I’ve been reading lately and comment on them and why they have spoken to me.
“And we shouldn’t be here at all, if we’d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it’s often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of sport, as you might say. But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folks seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn’t. And if they had, we shouldn’t know, because they’d have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on – and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same – like old Mr. Bilbo. But those aren’t always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into?” Lord of the Rings The Two Towers p 321
I haven’t read LOTR in such a long time that I decided it would be great to re-read them. When I read this part I thought how wonderfully true it was. If I had known everything Peace Corps entailed before arriving in Turkmenistan, I’m not 100% sure I would still have done it. However, having said that, I also am so incredibly happy that I made that leap. This experience has been more than I ever would have thought and I will forever be different as a result of being here and experiencing this place.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but nobody thinks of changing himself.” Tolstoy
This isn’t actually from a book, because I have not (yet) read Tolstoy. I feel like this is very true of myself right now. I plan on returning back to the states to get further training to do the kind of work I feel I need to. Specifically I will be getting either an MPH/MD or an MPH/MSN degree. I then plan to work internationally on public health.
“It’s good to meet new people [and travel to new places], we are, after all, all just people” Begglych – my Turkmen host father, translated by myself
My new host family has been truly amazing I could not be happier with them and this quote embodies so much of what I love about them. My host father said this during a long conversation Jessica, Jessie (two other PCV’s) and I had with him about three weeks after moving in. I have never heard another Turkmen talk about anything remotely like this. And the fact that my host father believes that all people are equal is a sentiment that nearly brought me to tears. I am so thankful to be here and living with this family.
“All people have to lead good, wholesome lives. It doesn’t matter if you are a Muslim, a Christian, or a Bhuddist. Live a good life and you will be a good person.” Begglych – my Turkmen host father, translated by myself
Again, my host family is very welcoming and I think that one of the great benefits of Peace Corps is this ability to meet people who are so different from you and have so many new and different experiences. I am so happy that my host family has taken the diversity they have come into contact with and incorporated that into their worldview. I think this is one of the first steps towards a happier, more understanding, peaceful and loving world.
“It was very important to Paul to witness things,” Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder p98
Mountains Beyond Mountains is an amazing book about a man named Paul Farmer who started a non-profit called Partners in Health. The work that he does is truly amazing and if I had his personality I would strive to become Paul Farmer. I do not think it would be possible, but the book about him speaks volumes to many of the problems with international public health. I also feel the need to witness things. I find it makes me a more compassionate person.
Society during the Stalin era left open no real opportunities for self-realization or self-expression except within this perverted system of the Communist Party. Lenin’s Tomb by David Remnick p 171
Lenin’s Tomb is a discussion of the fall of the Soviet Union and life in the Soviet Union and former-Soviet countries. I would never have read it before coming to Turkmenistan. A lot of cultural, social, and economic practices in Turkmenistan make a lot more sense after some of the things I’ve read in Lenin’s Tomb. Self-expression (and to some extent self-realization) is something I’ve been really working on with the students in my clubs and my kindergarten students.
“Lives of service depend on lives of support” Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder p 108
I wanted to end with this quote because I can’t express my appreciation for all of you in any adequate way. The letters, packages, prayers and thoughts have made this experience and the past 16 months a very enriching experience. Thank you so very much!