Anecdotes II

I was at a birthday party the other day – for my old host nephew who was turning 2. I was sitting in a room full of women, all his relatives and there was alcohol. T
he oldest woman in the room insisted on someone opening up the bottle so one of my previous host sisters (or sister in laws) opened it up and began asking who would drink. The older woman who is my counterpart’s mother – in – law and also Kervan’s Great Grandmother says, “Don’t ask, just pass it out!”. The younger woman complies and starts passing out cups and everyone is refusing. This isn’t a group of women that I normally drink with so I was surprised we were even going to attempt it. Drinks were passed out and the Great Grandmother refused to drink. She was the one who was adamantly pushing the vodka and she wouldn’t touch it. It turned out to be only a very few number of people who would drink. And after 10 minutes of constant pestering the Great Grandmother did have a shot, finally.

So, my entire mouth has broken out in canker sores and it is incredibly painful. I got back to site after seeing the PC doctor and was told by my co-workers I need to apply a paste of egg whites, narcotics and ampicillion to all of the sores. Now, I have no idea what that would do, but I already have medications so I think I’ll stick with those.

My host brother and I had a philosophical conversation last night on the differences between fruits and vegetables and animals for use as food products. My host brother is constantly making fun of me for not eating meat. Sometimes I find it annoying but usually it is entertaining. Last night he asked me why I didn’t eat meat and to the best of my ability I explained my reasons and that led to the conversation about killing items/animals to use as food. I argued that fruits and vegetables don’t have emotions and gave lots of examples. My host brother countered those arguments with things like “vegetables cry when you cut them”, “they are constantly growing”, “Their movement and the way they grow is their way of celebrating”, and “you kill the fruit or vegetable when you remove it from the tree”. I was most excited not that we were having this conversation but that I could follow it and contribute in a somewhat meaningful way.

We have guests from Ashgabat and Mary this week. Lots of children running around! One of the young boys from Ashgabat has been talking about seeing donkeys since he arrived. My host family found him a donkey (I was at work so I’m not real sure how this happened) and he was leading the donkey around on a long leash, similar to a dog. He even got yelled at when he brought the donkey into the outdoor area of our house and the donkey pooped. My host family told him to put the donkey away. He returned about 5 minutes later and they asked where he put the donkey. He wouldn’t tell them. So, then my family gets worried, they start telling this boy, “the donkey will die if it is in the sun, where did you put it? is it safe?, if it isn’t it will die”. My host brother went out to find the donkey and returned a little later saying that the donkey was safe and all was well. Those city kids…. (this is for you Grandma and Grandpa!).

The president…well anytime he visits everyone drops everything they are doing to clean up and get ready for his arrival. He isn’t even coming anywhere near us and all of my co-workers are required to assist in preparations. This means that once again, the grant progress has been halted.

My parents and sister came to Turkmenistan in March and our guide was a totally amazing, generous man. He went way beyond what I could ever have expected or anticipated. He videotaped everything and gave everyone copies of the DVD and it was really great. On my birthday he sent me a text message wishing me a happy birthday and last night he showed up at my house. He brought with him a large blow up of the picture of my host family and my family that was taken just before my family left the village. He also brought some nice snacks, a small Turkmenistan flag for me and additional copies of the DVD. He chatted with my host family, he and I discussed Turkmenistan’s history and water rights issues surrounding the Amu Daria which originates in the Aral Sea which, you may know, is rapidly disappearing. Jepar came to Lebap for a gathering of a bunch of friends and came early so he could see me, bring presents for my host family and myself. The generosity and giving nature of Turkmen will never cease to surprise me.
Yesterday was fresh bread day. Each time my host family makes fresh bread they tell me when it comes out of the oven and I eat a bunch with butter. It is soooo tasty! Yesterday I grabbed a round of bread and some butter from the refrigerator and went to start eating when my host mother saw the butter and looked at me with a disgusted face and said, “Don’t use that butter! It was made yesterday. Use the other butter, it was made today”. I love that I live in a place where butter is made fresh EVERY day.

Today, for dinner, my host father had goat meat and goat fat fried in butter then placed in a rather large teacup, topped with about two teaspoons of salt. Then top that with about a quarter of a loaf of bread and pour hot green tea over the entire concoction. It was quite interesting…