First week of co-teaching January 18, 2009

Hey all!

So this week I had my first real week of teaching and it was, well, interesting. I’m finding it a little difficult right now to actually co-teach with my counter-parts. The main problem I am facing is co-planning mainly because my counter-parts and I have different definitions on co-planning a lesson and how lesson planning should go. This week I worked with Serdar, my main counter-part, and he is a real take charge kind of guy (that’s actually kind of fitting because his name in Turkmen means “leader”) thus he came up with all of the lesson plans by himself on the first day and told me what he wanted me to do. So the first day I taught with him I just kind of followed his lead. The next day we planned a little together because I insisted on using an activity in the lesson (it took a bit of insisting, but he agreed finally) overall I felt a little better about the planning session.

The next day though (Thursday) was a bit of a disaster when it came to actually teaching. To start off, Serdar had accidently told me the wrong time to show up at the school for our lessons (I only taught 3 and they were later in the morning) so I completely missed the first lesson. That wasn’t  a big deal because Serdar was able to handle things ok without me and we talked about the misunderstanding. The next lesson was horrible though, because we had someone from the Ministry of Education show up to inspect our lesson plans and critique Serdar’s teaching. Now first off, let me say, Serdar is a wonderful teacher and a real joy to work with because he is so passionate about his work. He even uses a computer (he has his own laptop) to write out the lesson plans and will usually print them off at home and keep them in a file at school. Well, for some reason, his printer decided not to work this week and we ended up teaching the lesson off of his computer, not a big deal to us. Unfortunately, that was a huge deal to the Inspector because he came in and immediately began to yell at Serdar for being unprepared for class even after Serdar tried to explain the situation to him and showed him the lesson on the computer. Then the inspector turned to me (I had no idea who this man was until after he left by the way) and he asked me a really complicated question in Turkmen, not undertanding his question I responded in Turkmen “I’m sorry I do not understand” and asked Serdar for a translation. This further angered him and he turned to Serdar and asked him “Why doesn’t your American teacher understand Turkmen? She should know Turkmen if she is going to teach here” (all of which I understood perfectly by the way). Serdar again tried to explain the situation to him, but he didn’t really care to listen. After he finished the inspection the man chewed out Serdar for being an unprepared teacher and left in a huge huff. Thus, we didn’t even really get to teach that class. The last class that day was ok, but neither Serdar or I were on our game after the horrible meeting with the inspector. Turns out that Serdar had been labled the worst teacher at our school by the inspector when in actuality he is probably the best teacher there.   

Well, our School Director decided that Serdar should write a formal letter to the Ministry explaining the circumstances (a good idea in my opinion) and informed him of this on Friday. So during the classes we were supposed to co-teach Serdar worked with the Director to write his letter, leaving me alone to teach the lesson. Not a big deal, but I had a very difficult time trying to control the class when Serdar was gone, mainly because I do not have to language skills to control a classroom. So it was a bit of a fiasco on Friday to actually teach my lessons because none of the kids would be quite and listen while I tried to teach. So thus it was a difficult first week of actual teaching.

Fortunately, it wasn’t all negative. As I said last week I did get to also start a few clubs this week. The first one was on Thursday and that was my Student Club. I only had 4 kids show up, but that was a huge improvement from the last time I tried to do something independently with the students. I also knew all of the students and knew they were good kids who we actually interested in learning and having fun. So we started off reviewing the alphabet by singing the ABCs and playing a race game. The kids had a lot of fun and by the end were actually really good at naming all of the letters, a huge step up from where I thought they would be. My next student club is on Tuesday and I am hoping to get a few more kids to show. The major success of the week though was the teacher’s club on Friday! Yes, I did have to bribe them to come with a new book from Peace Corps, but most of them were actually genuinely interested in what I had to say. I had 12 teachers show up, with 7 from other schools and just about all of them said they would be interested in coming again the next week. Overall, that was a huge success! I can also see how my being here has already impacted some of other teachers. For example, in the classes that I do not teach with Serdar he began using a few activities that I used before the winter holiday. He noticed that the students enjoyed it and that their sentance building has improved a little because of it. Overall, that’s a point in the small victories column!

Other than a lot of teaching (which was really good I must say) the week was a little slow, but good all the same. Yesterday I actually got outside and met some new friends in Ashgabat playing soccer. My friend Tess is teaching in Ashgabat and she organized an all women’s soccer club there. She invited me to come out to the first meeting. Not having anything to do and being interested in hanging out with people I decided to go and had a blast. It was so much fun to just run around and spend time with people. It was also really fun to help teach the Turkmen girls how to play (it’s kinda against cultural norms for women to play sports here). I have to commend Tess for a great fun gender development activity. I als got to see two of the other Turkmen Teachers from our training at the soccer club, Maya and Ayna. It was great to see them and I actually found myself a new Turkmen tutor because Ayna is currently doing nothing and looking for a way to make some extra money. Now I have a weekly saturday tutoring session and soccer appointment in Ashgabat! Overall, it was a very successful and fun outing and left me exhausted when I got home. I think it was the combination of the sunshine, excercise, and cool air. Not a bad way to end a week.

Oh in other news. There is a possibility that I might have contracted my first Peace Corps illness. Without going into too much gross details I have been having a lot of stomach issues for the past 2 weeks and this week my doctor decided to do some tests for Giardia. It’s nothing major and not anything that will send me to Thailand, but a huge discomfort to me. If you don’t know what Giardia is, your probably better off, but you can look it up on google if you feel up to being grossed out. Anyways, I find out on monday if I actually have it and will be getting some meds, no worries!

I think that’s about all I got! Hope everyone has a good week!

6th January 2009 District Teacher Meetings January 7, 2009

            Hello all! Well, I am officially on winter holiday, which basically means I am spending a lot of time with fellow teachers. For the past few days I have had to go to our district teacher’s meetings with my counterparts. The district meetings are very interesting. Basically, we are all divided between subject areas and have seminars about how to be better teachers. The overall theme of the meetings thus far has been “teach using warm-up activities and activities in general.” It’s a very good concept, one that I highly believe in. I have been basically on display for the past few days as the resident English expert. During every presentation I am asked if there is anything I would like to add to the presentation and on more than one occasion I have been asked to speak. Even though I do not have anything prepared to present I made a good effort at throwing my two-cents into the conversations and presentations. I basically told them that activities are essential to learning a foreign language because they get the kids engaged and interested in learning. That is why American volunteers are so popular, because we incorporate fun into learning English and the kids actually remember what they learn. After the meetings I usually have one or two teachers try to get me to come and teach at their school, they will say, “Abby you should come to school_______________, our children need you too.” I think I have had 4 offers from other schools to kidnap me from my small village school (one offer to kidnap me from my actual home), unfortunately there just isn’t enough of me to go around and there aren’t enough volunteers for every school to have an American. I am hoping however, to start a district English teacher’s club for all those interested in furthering their English knowledge and learning new teaching techniques. Hopefully, that way they won’t need an American at their school to teach because they will be able to teach by themselves. That in my opinion is the definition of sustainability. It goes back to the old proverb: “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Thus, I have my first official Peace Corps project and I am pretty excited about it!

           

Answers to 21 Burning Questions & New Years January 2, 2009

1/2/09

Hey there all!

Happy New Year! I officially survived my first Turkmen New Year and I’ve got to say, holy crap was it cool! To start the new year’s eve my family’s cow decided to go into labour (I didn’t even know it was pregnant) and at around 7:30 we had a brand new baby cow! It is so cute (now that it is all cleaned off and what not) about the size of a lab dog and just adorable. It was really cool that it was born on new years eve because this year is the year of the cow. Pretty cool!

After we all watched the new baby calf get cleaned off by it’s mother we got dressed up all fancylike and had an amazing dinner. There was seriously so much food! I loved it. We had amazing roasted chiken and a ton of finger food all evening which included rasians, a ton of salads, peanuts, walnuts, kolbasa, cheese, tons of candy, and two cakes; one regular and one ice cream. It was glorious, the best food I have had since I came here, I seriously ate a ton (much to the delight of my host mother). I spent the evening watching a mixture of russian and turkmen tv with my mother and chatting with her and the random guests who would come and go. All the guests just stopped by to sample our food and wish us a Gutly taze Yyl (Happy New year).

Then at midnight my host mother had a bit of a surprise for me, she and my father had bought me champaign because they knew that Americans drink champaign for New Years. So that was really awesome, what’s even cooler about it though is that my mother had a glass too (much to the disgust of my host sister). It was so awesome because most turkmen women do not drink ever and the fact that

a) she cared enough to get me champaign and allowed me to drink it in her home and

b) she actually drank with me!

That was seriosuly amazing. I couldn’t believe it. Then once new year struck she gave me a hug and wished me a very gutly taze yyl before I headed off to bed (the whole talking in turkmen thing is very exhausting).

 

The next day we had another amazing meal of left overs. My father and host brother also cooked an amazing lunch for us over the turkmen version of a grill. It reminded me of steak and it was oh so delicious. I’m not really sure what kind of meat it was, but again amazingly delicious. It again reminded me of grilled steaks. Overall, the whole ordeal was just a ton of delicious food.  I am slightly sad that I won’t have that deliciousness of food in a long time, but it was good. So yeah, my New Year consisted of a new baby calf and a ton of delicious food. It was an awesome way to kick off the new year! I hope all is well back home with 2009! Happy ney year everyone!

 

12/27/08  Answers to 21 “Burning Questions”

Hello all! So I just got this little piece of mail from one Mrs. Cathy Warner and her family asking me 21 burning questions that they had. Seeing as how they were some good questions I decided it would be best to answer them here. I did my best to answer them to my knowledge, so here you go!

1) How often do you get mail?

            Well, during training we could only get mail when we saw the Peace Corps staff so that meant I had the opportunity to get mail probably every week or every other week. Whether or not I got mail was a different question, I would say during training I would receive things probably every 2 weeks. One week I would get nothing and then the next I would get tons of things: letters and packages.

            Now that I am at permanent site I don’t have to wait to see PC Staff to get my mail, I just have to go into the office during the week and pick it up (one of the perks to living so close to Ashgabat). I have been in permanent site for 2 weeks now and have gone to the office probably 4 times to work (for my school), get my mail, and shower (yes shower… the office actually has a real shower… it’s amazing… let’s not talk about how often I shower though… I smell frequently). Whether or not I have mail is a different question, but last week I was in twice and received 3 packages and 4 letters (all of the T-16s I saw there were totally jealous by the way). 

2) Do you have access to an ATM or a way for us to send you money?

            First off, you don’t need to send me money, honestly. Second, an ATM Machine… that’s really funny… Turkmenistan is a total cash economy. No ATMs and no credit cards. All of the money I have is currently locked in a safe that is locked in my suitcase (which is locked in my room), dollars and manat. The fact that it is a cash economy is really annoying actually because if you are going shopping somewhere you have to carry a huge wad of bills (which is just not safe). While there are no ATMs here I can receive money via Western Union, we have those in Ashgabat.

3) How much is a goat or a camel?

            Ok first off I want you to know that my family thought I was nuts when I asked them this question. They thought the crazy American was going to run off and buy a goat or a camel. Before they told me the kept asking me why I wanted to buy a camel and unfortunately, I don’t know the Turkmen word for “hypothetical” yet. It was a very humorous conversation.  Anyways. Apparently a camel would cost about 5 million manat, or roughly $500, and a goat would cost about 1 million manat, or $100.

4) If you wanted to go on an adventure/vacation do you have the ability to do that or will that always be in the group? Will they ever let you leave the country for a trip like that? Would you (personally) go to Iran?

            Wow, first off Cathy, that’s like at least 4 questions. Second, yes I can take vacations and adventures, I am not being held captive within Turkmenistan by the US Government. I am assuming though that you mean during training could I travel, if that is the case, then the answer is no. During training I was not allowed to leave site by myself for the first 4 weeks of training. This was because we didn’t have the language skills to go off on our own and we didn’t really know where we were going anyway. After the first 4 weeks we were allowed to travel to Ashgabat by ourselves, but only on the weekend and we couldn’t spend the night away from our host family. Now that training is over and I am at site I am allowed to go to various places on my own for the day, but I am not allowed to spend the night anywhere for the first three months. This is strictly for integration purposes as Peace Corps wants us to integrate with our communities so we can gain the trust of our community and can develop a secondary community development project. This is a worldwide policy and it’s one I totally agree with (even though there are days that I just want to get out of here) because integration is essential for effective sustainable community development. I did just learn though, that I could spend the night away from my village if my family takes me somewhere. This past weekend my family and I went to a town called Arcebil and spent the night there. That was an awesome place in the mountains that border Iran.

            After the first 3 months of service I am given 2 days of vacation per month that I am a volunteer starting from my swearing in date. These days can be saved for a long vacation in or outside of the country. Thus over the course of the 2 years I will have about 48 days of vacation. I personally know that my first vacation will be to go visit a certain “Posh Corps” volunteer from Bulgaria in Istanbul (love you, Katie).  Other than that, I hope to also go to Bulgaria to see Katie in action as a PCV (we’ll work on getting you to T-Stan, Katie), Thailand, India, and other parts of Turkmenistan; there are some really cool places to see here.

            Would I personally go to Iran? Good question. As a PCV I don’t think I am allowed to go to Iran due to the unsteady relationship we have with the Iranian government. If however, that was the clear up at all and we were suddenly on good terms with Iran (and it was deemed a safe country to visit), yes I would consider going there. I am told it is a beautiful country, much like Turkmenistan, but with bigger mountains. I would also be interested in learning about a more strict Muslim culture (as Turkmenistan isn’t a very strict Muslim culture).

5) Do you have pictures of the market?

            I am assuming by the market you mean Tarkuchka. No, but next time I go I will take some pictures for you, I know your love of bazaars.

6) Is the underground cave difficult to get to?

            No, it’s not that difficult at all. It’s probably about 45 mins outside of the town I did my training in. If you by chance come to T-stan, Cathy, I’ll be sure to take you there. It was a really sweet experience. I’m not sure how expensive it is for foreigners (it was a mandatory fun peace corps outing so they fitted the bill), but it can’t be too bad.

7) When you are mountain climbing do you ever have to worry about snakes or spiders? What about camel spiders?

            Yes. Yes. And Yes. Fortunately, the one time I went mountain climbing it was in the fall and most of those critters were hibernating so I didn’t see any. When I go in the spring and summer though, I will need to be wary of snakes, spiders, camel spiders, and scorpions.  Most of which are very poisonous (T-Stan has cobras). Don’t worry, Mom, I know how to look out for them with a big walking stick, I’ll also be wearing jeans and my hiking boots. Peace Corps also gave us a training session devoted to snakes and spiders, I’ll be ok, I promise.

8) Do you have rickshaws or auto-rickshaws in Turkmenistan? What are the main modes of transportation? Any donkey carts?

            Unfortunately, Turkmenistan has none of these transportation options. The closest thing we have to a rickshaw is a large cart used to haul heavy objects around in large bazaars. I have only seen them in Tarkuchka and they were only used to haul things like large carpets. No people were ridding them. I haven’t seen any donkey carts, but I wouldn’t doubt that we have them somewhere, again not for people.

9) Do you have a Starbucks?

            What is this “Starbucks” you speak of? Is it some new aged phenomenon? Much to the disappointment of nearly every PCV in Turkmenistan (with the exception of me because I don’t drink coffee) Starbucks is nowhere to be seen in Turkmenistan. Not even in Ashgabat. Actually, Ashgabat isn’t that hip of a city; there are a lot of cool buildings and stuff, but not a lot of swank places like starbucks (or any I should say). To my surprise there isn’t even a McDonalds here, and those things are everywhere! Anyways back to coffee, I am told by other PCVs that there isn’t any real coffee in Turkmenistan. It’s all apparently really horrible tasting. If there was a Starbucks here I am pretty sure it would only be PCVs that would keep it in business.

10) Do you have “Massage,” “Touch Therapy,” or the likes in Turkmenistan? Is it taboo for women? Do you have bathhouses like in Turkey or Hungry?

            Are you referring to Thailand like massages? If so, I don’t think so. In fact I’m not sure there are places for real massages, I’ll look into that. Prostitution is a huge problem here. Many married men here go to prostitutes on a regular basis, the women know about it, but it’s a patriarchal society so not much women can do about it. Anyways, prostitutes are usually found in the discos and the going rate is roughly 30,000 manat or probably $3. Every woman who is not Turkmen is considered a prostitute and I have been asked “How Much?” on the street before. It’s really sad.

            As for Turkish baths! Funny you should mention that, I was actually just talking about that today before I got your letter! Yes, parts of Turkmenistan do have Turkish/Hungarian/Japanese public baths. I am told you can find them only in heavy liberal Russian areas; the one region I know that has one is Lebop. As the other PCV I was talking with said, “If your down with getting naked with a bunch of people, taking a bath with them, and smelling like shit then go to Lebop. It’s all the rage there!”

11) Do they have ice cream?

            Yes they have ice cream. It’s not as good as Mr. Doozie’s, but good nonetheless.

12) What is the education system like? Is there higher ed? Are there vocational schools?

            Ah yes the education system! Glad you asked, I probably should write a blog about this. Anyways, the education system is actually 1-10^th grade. There is kindergarten, but it is not mandatory for all students (although I think that is changing).  All students are required to attend school until 10^th form, or until they are 16. After that there are a few options. They can either:

a) Start work with some sort of trade. Dressmaking or carpet making for girls and usually being a taxi driver for guys or beginning their mandatory 2-year army service. There are no trade schools for thinks like welding and carpentry (for one there’s not a lot of furniture) and people learn these skills from their parents.

b) Continue their education at a university or institute. University is 5 years and institute is just 2. I think you learn the same basic thing at Institute, but obviously more at University.

In regards to higher education technically anyone with the right amount of money can go to University or Institute regardless of your gender. All of the women friends I have met are highly educated women and the majority of them went to University. I think women attending university is a new phenomenon since the mid 90s. Mayagozel told me that she was the first girl from her village to go to University and when she went it was very taboo. Her village ostracized her for going at first, but now she has pioneered the way for other women in her village to go to University. As I said though, higher ed is extremely expensive here and people have to pay a lot of bribes just to get into a program. I’m not sure of how much, but I have a few younger friends (18-20) who desperately want to go to university, but cannot afford the bribe money and tuition. There are some “scholarships” available, but I think those again go to people with money.  So higher ed, yes it exists, yes women can attend, but it is extremely expensive.

13) For school supplies, would it be easier to get you money to go purchase things? Are there issues with accessibility to resources? Can you actually go out and purchase a textbook or are they all “too expensive” or just not available? Is it legal to teach from a non-governmental textbook?

            Glad you asked this question (or series of questions). School supplies, yes they are available here. It just depends on where you go, you can find cheap stuff in the bazaars and better stuff in this cool Turkish shopping center called Yimposh. For the most part when I need things I can go and purchase them there. In regards to sending things though, that becomes a little tricky. Not because I can’t receive them, but with the goals of Peace Corps in general. The main goal for us here is to create something that is sustainable, something that will still stand after we leave. If my school relies on me to be like their own little cash cow who gives them everything after I leave they won’t have anything. That’s not really sustainable. What I hope to do is use the limited resources that they have here to teach the teachers new methods of teaching. That way, they will be able to continue that work after I leave. Peace Corps calls that “skills transference” and “sustainability.” Also, I know an American agency that will send resources about 20 pounds of books and resources to my school every month that I am here as a PCV. My school is already excited about this program because they are really interested in having an English resource room.

            Textbooks. Well, the government issued textbooks are crap. Unfortunately for the teachers there aren’t other textbooks available. As a part of Peace Corps though, I have a ton of different textbooks that are actually usable, we have a whole library on it in our office.  We have a lot of resources and training on teaching and one goal of the TEFL program is to transfer our skills to our Turkmen Counterparts. The tricky part is using the new books in actual school lessons without the government finding out. I have heard that some schools have principals who are very liberal and will let PCVs just throw out the issued textbooks and use the PC books. Many principals and teachers though do not want to challenge the authority of the government and use only the state issued books. Making the PCVs job harder. If by chance you can convince one teacher that the state books are horrible and you have better books then in order to use the new books you have to lie about your lesson plans. All of the teachers must have their lesson plans approved by the assistant principal everyday, if you are being a rouge English teacher you would lie about what you are going to teach. Show them a state approved plan and teach something else. If, as a PCV, you have no such luck finding a rouge English teacher you can have an English club where you can teach the students from whatever book you so desire.

14) Is it ok for women to wear jewelry? What kinds of jewelry are ok? Earrings? Necklace? Are pearls ok?

            Jewelry is totally ok in Turkmen culture! Many women wear really fancy jewelry to parties and things. They have beautiful silver and gold earrings, rings, necklaces, and bracelets. As for pearls, I haven’t seen them, but I would think they would be ok to wear here.

15) Can women own things?

            I think the answer to this question is yes. At least in Ashgabat and bigger cities they can because many women own apartments there. Many foreigners and a few Turkmen women do, but I think most Turkmen women do not. I think this has to do with the high value marriage has in this culture, most women are married (either for love or arrangement) and thus their husbands own all of the property and camels.

16) What kinds of public transportation exist? Are bikes safe?

            From my travel experience, public transportation is always one of the best things about traveling; it’s always an adventure! Turkmenistan has the usual public transportation: taxis, buses, and trains. It also has this really fun form or public transportation known only to Turkmenistan called a Marshrutka (also a really fun word to say). I’ll tell you about my experiences with all of these forms of transportation (minus the train because I haven’t taken a train anywhere yet).

            Taking a taxi is always an adventure. First off the taxi is the most expensive form of transportation. For example the other day I took a taxi from one end of Ashgabat to the other end and it cost me 10,000 manat (roughly a dollar). Just about any car on the road is considered a taxi because they are not labeled at all. To hail a taxi you basically stand on the side of the road and hold your arm out next to your side. If the driver stops then he is a taxi and you must negotiate a price with him. They usually try to overcharge foreigners and it is a good idea to make a prearranged price. If you don’t then you will end up paying a ton when you reach your designation. Taxis can also be a bit intimidating and scary if you are traveling by yourself (if you are a woman at least) especially for a foreigner.  If you are traveling by yourself the taxi driver will try to talk to you and if you’re a woman hit on you, ask you “how much?” as if you’re a prostitute, and on some occasions try to feel you up (this hasn’t happened to me, but I have heard many female volunteers say they have had this happen). So I try to avoid taking taxis if I can help it and if I have to take a taxi I go with someone (older women are the best taxi buddies because they will hit the driver if he tries something).

            Public busses are like public busses in the US: cheap, overcrowded, and slow because they make a lot of stops. I only take busses in the city because it is super cheap (1,000 manat or like 10 cents).

A Marshrutka is basically a 15-passenger van and takes you from one town/city to another (usually Ashgabat). The Marshrutka is fun because the Turkmen found a way to cram 15 people into a standard sized van by having a really weird seating arrangement. There are seats that are sideways, backwards, and forward and you are literally sitting on top of the person next to you. There are also no seatbelts in Turkmenistan and the driving is insane. Seriously, I pray every time I go somewhere that I don’t die in a horrible marshrutka crash. The drivers weave in and out of the “lanes” (the lines are there, but they are just that… lines… nobody follows them). So basically, because there are no seatbelts and the drivers are insane you get thrown all over the place in a marshrutka. Just the other day I was in one and one woman was sitting in a backwards chair and she completely fell out of her seat when the driver came to a sudden stop. I laughed to myself once I found out she was ok, I couldn’t help it; it was funny (she laughed too)! Marshrutkas are also fun because a lot of times people will talk to me (being the funny looking American and all) and I get to practice my Turkmen a lot of times. Overall, my transportation method of choice is the marshrutka.

As for bikes. Yes they exist, but not many people ride them and the roads are terrible for the bikes they have (if you had a mt. bike it would be great… I wish I had mine here). Also because so few people ride them and the roads are not very safe if you’re in a car, you have to be extra careful on a bike. You might get taken out by a raging marshrutka, not a pleasant way to go.

17) Access to English language via news, magazines, ect. And internet access.

            Ah yes, the availability of English… Well, actually we can apparently get BBC news here if I was to ever watch my family’s TV and actually control the remote. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do that. As for Turkmen News, it does come in English like 2 or 3 times a day because the government would like everyone to know 3 languages (Turkmen, Russian, and English). Unfortunately, the Turkmen News is basically all about what the President did that day… “The president ate breakfast, then went to a factory opening.” Stuff like that. There aren’t any English magazines that I have seen, but I haven’t really looked. As for English books they are nonexistent here.

            The internet is monitored, I think, at the public Internet Cafés. I don’t really use those though because they cost money. Granted they only cost, like 3 cents/hour, but I would much rather use the Internet at the Peace Corps Office for free. Also if I use the PCO then the only government monitoring being done is by my own government because it’s on a US Gov network.

18) Is there a library where you are at or one at your school? Do you have access to English reading material? Is there a market for something like that?

            Our school has a very small library of Turkmen books and textbooks. There is also a Turkmen library in the neighboring town. As for English reading material, there really isn’t one available to Turkmen, but there is one in the PC Office. Every PCV usually brings some books with them to their site and most get left behind when people go home. So we have our own little English library in the PCV Lounge in the Office. There you can find all kinds of books that you can take and bring back at your leisure.

19) What is the school like? What subjects are taught? How long is the school day? Is there corporal punishment? Any art, music, gym, science experiments? Do the standards and expectations for subject/grade level seem equivalent to the US standards?

            Wow lots to cover there. First off the school is very different from US Schools, but the general idea is the same. The subjects that I have seen include English, Russian, Turkmen, math, science, and history. Seeing as how students only go to school until they are 16, the general expectation is a bit more for their grade levels. My 9^th grade sister for example is taking physics, a class that would probably be offered during senior classes However; the workload doesn’t appear to be very much. I never see my sister study and she is at the top of her class. So no I wouldn’t say they meet US standards. As for art, gym, and science experiments I am going to say they are not standard at school. There are some schools that offer gym, the school at my training site had gym, but my current school does not. Music is only taught in cities I think; I have seen school kids with duitars in Ashgabat on their way to school. As for “corporal punishment,” no there isn’t corporal punishment here. The teachers do however pull the kids ears or hit them if the kids aren’t behaving. That’s only with the younger kids though, not the older. It’s a real unfortunate technique of classroom management. 

20) When you are teaching English, how do you do it? Is it spoken, written, or both? Do you tie it to their culture? How do they train you to do it? Do you agree with their expectations for your teaching methods?

            Ah teaching! Yay! This is one area where I get to have a bit of freedom in my technique. My main goal is to get the kids to learn to speak, understand, read, and write in English. I haven’t had too many opportunities to teach just yet, but when I do I do it through a combination of speaking and writing. I will usually talk only in English to get the kids used to hearing what English sounds like and how they should say things (that and my Turkmen isn’t that great). If I am explaining a grammar topic I will use Turkmen though so they can understand. Then after I have given the lesson presentation we will play some sort of a game aimed at the goals of understanding English, reading, writing, and speaking. We will play hangman, for example, if we have new vocabulary words that the kids need practice spelling. During training we were introduced with a lot of grammar games that the kids love because they are learning things while playing at the same time.

We also incorporate team teaching into teaching methods as we have Turkmen counterparts. This week for example is English week at my school and my counterpart and I are teaching a demonstrative lesson. Together we prepared a drama, taught the children how to sing Jingle Bells, I will talk about American New Year, and we will also play a grammar game. My counterpart and I lesson planned all week and will be presenting this lesson on Wednesday.

21) Do you have an in country medical staff member? Is it a PA? If you were to get a little sick where would they send you? 

            Yes! I do have in country medical care. Peace Corps has their own MD for us here, her name is Ulker and she is this super cool and beautiful Russian woman. Ulker has her PHD, speaks fluent English, and is just an all around cool woman. She is on call for us 24/7 and will even drive out to our site if we need medical attention (she drove 5 hrs during our site visits to give medical assistance to a girl). Most of our consultations are done over the phone so you really need to be in tune with your body to tell Ulker what is going on. She has also written a guidebook for us to use when we are sick and it gives us an idea of whether or not we need to give her a call. If we need medicine at our site PC gets it to us ASAP, which would probably be that same day or the next day depending on how far away we are from the office or the nearest airport. For those volunteers far from Ashgabat they will stick the medicine on the next plane flying to that region and the volunteer will have it within a few hours. Basically Ulker rocks at life!

            We also have a PA, Kenny! Her name is Maya and she is Turkmen. She is brand new to the PA position, as of Dec 1^st, so I don’t know much about her. She seems really cool and very nice though. She will be doing a lot to help Ulker when Ulker can’t make trips out to see people in the far regions.

            If by chance I come down with something serious that cannot be taken care of here a few things could happen. 1) I would be put on temporary medical leave back to the states to get the care I need or 2) I would get shipped off to Thailand for a few weeks to get the care I need there. They only send you out T-Stan though if you are seriously ill and need like an operation. While Thailand sounds great and I will definitely go there sometime over the next 2 years I don’t intend on getting that sick.    

So there you have answers to apparently the top 21 burning questions about Turkmenistan and my work here! Mad props to Cathy and Kenny and her parents for coming up with those stellar questions. If anyone has any other questions please feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to answer them for you!