Then I met Andy and Lindsay at the bazaar and we headed off to lunch. After lunch, Andy and I were going to meet with the methodologist so she could take us to migration to register. She wasn’t in, though and we were told she would be back at 3pm. So, we headed to the internet café where we whiled away the time until we walked back to her office, arriving around 4. She was there but said it was too late for us to go to migration, so we arranged to meet her the next day at 9am.
When I arrived at 8:30, she told me we each needed to have three pictures taken to bring to migration, so when Andy showed up, we went down the street to get them taken then needed to kill half an hour while we waited for them to process. Then, the methodologist took us to make copies of our passports and then we went to migration. At migration there was some sort of problem and Andy and I tried to call several people at Peace Corps before we were finally able to get a hold of the right guy who could explain in Turkmen to our methodologist what needed to be done. Turns out, she needs to do some more paperwork and come back to migration with our actual passports (which she now has). So, she let us go and will call us when she’s done with our passports (she doesn’t need us to go with her when she returns to migration).
To Russia, With Love
I’ve only been in Turkmenistan a few months and I already have an affinity for the Russians. Yes, it’s frustrating when people assume I’m Russian and speak Russian to me, sometimes refusing to speak Turkmen when I tell them that’s what I speak (well, I do, compared to Russian). And it’s definitely annoying to be in a restaurant and try to order when the waitress only speaks Russian. But, I’m willing to learn the language not only because it’s obviously useful, but because of what the Russians have done for me. They are the civilizing influence on this country. It is because of the Russians that women can wear pants or shorter skirts in the cities, like B-bat. It is the Russians who brought a Santa-like character to the New Year celebration, making Christmastime more like home. It is because of the Russians that there are churches of any kind here. It is the Russians who own and go to restaurants with any sort of cuisine. If a person wanted to read a book in this country that isn’t the Ruhnama or similar propaganda, they would have to buy it in Russian. If you want to watch anything interesting on television, you’d better be pulling in satellite TV from Russia (or Turkey). So, congratulations, Russia, the Cold War is over and I love you.
Communication Breakdown
There are two cell phone plan providers in Turkmenistan. One of them is the Russian MTC, which is what all the volunteers have. Or, rather, had. MTC got shut down two nights ago. So, all of us are without cell phone coverage until we can get Altyn Asar SIM cards and plans. However, you have to have a Turkmen passport to get them, so we need to have a Turkmen pal go with us. For the last two days, it’s been impossible to get into a TMCell store to get one because the lines (or rather clusterf***s) are so big. Lindsay went with her friend yesterday and the waiting list was 104 people long, so they went back home. TMCell obviously did not have the foresight to anticipate what MTC’s shut down would mean in terms of customer traffic. Also, the internet was totally shut down yesterday as well. Until this thing gets sorted, we have to kick it old school with our communication methods.