Shannon, a fellow PCT, and I went to the bazaar the other day to get a children’s magazine a T-17 recommended for learning the language. We couldn’t find any written material for sale. No magazines, no books, no newspapers. We commented to each other how totally out of the loop we are over here. He mentioned that Turkmen are like Americans in the sense that they never watch the news, they just watch music videos and soaps. They’re more American than we are. It’s true. The TV is on at my house all the time, even during dinner and it’s always on Turkmen music videos, which are a riot because they’re so lame, or Turkish soap operas. Maybe an American movie or TV show that’s dubbed into Russian. But never the news. We are so under-informed right now with world events.
At the same time, we’re getting our heads absolutely crammed full of Turkmen language and culture and technical training. It’s exhausting and I just want to go to bed when I get home.
Sick Again
So, Wednesday and Thursday I had diarrhea. Friday I felt better. But Friday night I started vomiting. I think I had food poisoning from Friday’s dinner. Today (Saturday Oct.16), I went to class, but felt rotten. At lunch (which is at another PCT’s home), I just laid on the sofa and then went home to sleep. I’m feeling a little better now. Weak, though. They have Sprite here, which is a God send. The medical officer told me to take the rehydration salts which are really nasty. I have to follow each sip with a chaser of plain water or Sprite. If they make powdered Pedialyte, please send me some! As a result, I missed the trip to the national history museum and Turkmen Disneyland. However, Shannon was sick with a fever and Andrea also missed it as a way of showing her support of us, so the three of us will go a different time.
In the midst of this, I was struggling to keep a positive attitude. Being sick at home is bad enough, but being sick here makes you realize how incredibly vulnerable you are. Still, here are some positives: my fellow PCT’s here are really nice. They went to the bazaar to get me Sprite and crackers and mixed up my rehydration salts for me. They walked me to my home and wished me well. My LCF and host mom are concerned about me and want me well again. I’m also thankful that my room is right next to the indoor (though not flushing) toilet. Puking in a pit toilet is more adventure than I could take right now.
Also, on Friday before I got sick, when I was walking home, a little girl gave me a flower. It was so sweet and it totally made my day.
Self-Reliance
I am, if you didn’t already know, very independent. Some might even say fiercely independent. At least I was, back in the States. Here, we are all children. We know so little of the language, we are uber dependent on our LCF’s and host families. This is why I’m ambivalent toward doing laundry here. It’s awful in terms of taking forever and making my back hurt from the work. But it’s one time I can be totally in control of something and self-reliant. I bet Emerson never washed his clothes by hand. It’s also why I like going to the bazaar. Even with my rudimentary Turkmen, I can manage to buy what I need, even if my needs so far have been limited to drinks and laundry detergent.
Futbol
I consider myself a poor soccer player. But that’s because I’m so much better at basketball and baseball and American football and ultimate Frisbee. You know, things that require the use of arms. (I always scored high in eye-hand coordination in school). Plus I didn’t learn soccer until later in life. (I still don’t know all the rules) But today my friend Andrea asked me to join her host family and friends for soccer. Finally, I could play a sport here and feel welcome! There were three of us ladies and four guys. Andrea and I were the only Americans. It was great to get out and do something physical and I scored a goal! I’ve never liked soccer so much in my life. Andrea’s host dad said I’m good at soccer (just because I did a chest bump) and that I’m very sportive. I’m guessing that’s his English word for athletic. He speaks pretty good English. Maybe my being good at sports can help open some minds here after all.
Andrea
So, maybe I should write about her a bit. She and I are the only girls in our little training group. There are three guys. They’re younger than Andrea and I are. Actually all the T-18b’s are younger than Andrea and I. Andrea is a little older than I am, but definitely young at heart. I’m so thankful she’s in my training group. So far, two of the others have demonstrated a certain amount of immaturity that Andrea and I find exasperating at times. It’s nice to have someone validate your concerns about an individual’s readiness for this program or the inappropriateness of someone’s comments. Seriously, it’s like I’m training with frat boys sometimes. They make anti-Turkmenistan comments in front of our LCF and slack off on their work, arguing with her. I should point out that the third guy is fine. It’s not a male bashing thing. And there are other male PCT’s in different training sites that seem great from what I can tell at hub day. (Hub day is when all the PCT’s meet in Ashgabat each week) In fact there are a few I would really like to have in my vicinity when we get our permanent site placements. I think they’d be fun to hang out with. And I’m hoping to ally myself with one or two guys I think would be good traveling buddies for safety. But back to Andrea, she’s so excited to be here and to start doing stuff, it’s nice to have the positive energy around to neutralize the negativity of some others.
Abbreviations/Acronyms
It occurred to me that perhaps I haven’t explained what all the acronyms and abbreviations I’m using mean. Here’s a brief list.
PCT- Peace Corps Trainee (what I am right now)
PCV- Peace Corps Volunteer (what I will be for two years after training)
T-17- the group of PCV’s that came in October of 2008 and will be leaving this December
T-18a- the group of PCV’s that came in the spring of this year
T-18b- my group that came just a couple weeks ago and will finish service in December of 2012
LCF- language and culture facilitator (a native Turkmen who teaches us language and culture)
PCMO- Peace Corps Medical Officer
ECA- extracurricular activity; not a camp! (I will explain in another blog)
Our welcome manual has three pages of acronyms and their explanations. PC’s really into that.