1st Christmas in Turkmenistan December 28, 2008

So I have officially survived my first Turkmen Christmas. I’ll be honest it was difficult to be away from home, the holidays are my favorite time of year because I literally get to see everyone; family, friends, everyone. It’s the only time of year that ever really happens. My Christmas wasn’t that bad though. I started to celebrate as I would at home, on Christmas Eve. That day the class I had been working with preformed the drama we had been practicing all week (it was for English Week at our school) for the administration staff and English department. I was so proud of them, they worked really hard and everything turned out great, especially the grand finale when the whole class sang Jingle Bells. It was great. Then that night after spending some time with the family for a bit I read the Nativity story and watched the Nativity movie. I was humbled to see the faith of the characters and how the Lord provided to reaffirm their faith with Jesus. It was very encouraging.

On Thursday I went to work again with the kids. Heard Jingle Bells like 15 times, but some of the teachers remembered that it was Christmas and wished me a Merry Christmas, that was very nice of them to think of me. Later that night my folks called from the US, it was great to talk to them. My host mother here also recognized that I was a bit sad and gave me a huge hug and said “Oh Abbyjan (if you love someone you throw a ‘jan’ at the end of their name)… it’s ok…” it was nice to feel empathy from her, apparently it’s rare to get empathy from a Turkmen (or so the other volunteers say, I might disagree with that). My host family also made my favorite Turkmen dish that night which was very nice of them.

Today (Saturday) a ton of volunteers from my region came into Ashgabat for a Christmas party. I got there a little late so didn’t really help with the cooking, but the others made some delicious breakfast burritos, hashbrowns, and pudding. We also had a random assortment of things that included girl scout cookies (thin mints… they were so good) and caviar (yeah we’re high class here in the Ahal region). After we gorged ourselves with the food we played “Yankee Swap Christmas” (we all are a little obsessed with the show The Office) some people would know it by it’s more popular name “White Elephant.” We all brought gifts that were 20,000 manat or less and duked it out for the good presents, I ended up with a sweet rubix cube and some sparklers. It was good times. It was really nice to see people that I don’t usually see. Some of the folks came in from 4 hours away. It was great to talk to them about their sites and what has been happening for the last month. We all pretty much agree it’s been a slow transition. Overall, it was a nice Christmas.

I also want to take the time to wish you all a very merry Christmas. I realize it’s late, but its still the Christmas season. I am still sad I could not be home to be with you all for Christmas, but in a lot of ways I felt as though I was at home. I am so loved and blessed to have two sets of amazing friends and families: American and Turkmen. God has truly blessed me and I pray He would bless all of you this holiday season.