Home September 21, 2009

Hey everyone! Once again I am slacking on updating this thing, but seeing as how it has been a whirlwind few weeks I am sure you all will forgive me. I am actually writing you all this email from my home here in Montrose, MI. Now before any flags go up in your heads just to let you know, no I have not left Peace Corps, I wasn’t kicked out, I’m not sick, and yes I am returning there. Last Sunday morning I got a call from my dad saying that my Grandmother had passed away. Knowing how important family was to Grandma P I knew I had to try to come home for the funeral. So Dad and I worked together to get me home all day on Sunday and I ended up boarding a plane that night to Istanbul. From Istanbul I flew to Amsterdam and eventually Detroit, I landed on Monday afternoon. Tim and Jess picked me up and we went off to Traverse City for the funeral.

Tuesday was visitation at the funeral home and the rosary prayer service then the funeral was on Wednesday. Grandma looked so peaceful and perfect, while I will miss her dearly I know she is at peace with her husband and her wonderful creator and she is in no more pain. The services  were  such a testament to just how loved Grandma was in her family and her community. Not only was I able to come home from Turkmenistan, but my cousin Zach was able to fly in from Chili and my step-cousin Ryan and his family came in from Texas to be there. All 15 kids and their spouses were there as were all 32 grandkids and 10 of the 12 great-grandkids (2 did not attend because they were too little) were there for the funeral. On top of my family the whole old country church that my mom’s family grew up in was filled to the brim for both the rosary service and the funeral service. I don’t think I have ever seen that church so full! I hugged a lot of people I didn’t know, but that’s ok, it was just a testament to how much Grandma loved her community and how much her community loved her.

The rest of the trip home has been spent spending time with Mom and Dad and just talking about Turkmenistan. I went to Dad’s school on Thursday and chatted with some of the teachers about T-stan. Then on Friday I visited my good ole McGeezers at the local McDonalds and chatted with them a bit. Saturday was CMU Day and I went up to Mt. P for the CMU home opener where I got to see Maryellen and Rachel from my old lifegroup and had a delicious dinner with Cathy and Kenny at the Cabin… man have I missed the Cabin’s “Big Blue…” Overall, a great CMU day! Then yesterday I had another nice day! I went to church with Mom and Dad and talked to tons of people from the church who have been praying for me. Then that afternoon Molly and Jason and my Aunt Kay and Uncle Steve came up to have a nice dinner at our place. It was so good to see all of them again and honestly it’s felt like I never left.

The rest of the home trip is going to be pretty relaxing I think. Seeing as how I am still and active PCV I am not able to drive anywhere (PC Policy). So I am pretty much stuck at home relaxing. I am open to visitors if anyone is in the Montrose area and has some free time, I’ld love to hang out with you! Thursday should be fun as I am going to go back to Dad’s school and give a few talks to some classrooms about Peace Corps and Turkmenistan. I’ve gotta fill that goal #3 while I have the opportunity! Then I will fly back to Turkmenistan on Saturday night and hopefully be back to work on Tuesday.

Now for a few thoughts on America after being away for a year (almost to the day which is kind of freaky). It honestly hasn’t felt like I have been gone for a year. Not too much has changed, yet a lot has changed at the same time. My friends and family are still here though most are in different parts of the country, but that’s to be expected when you graduate from college. I guess the weirdest thing is to see a lot of empty auto dealerships, which is probably one of the biggest differences I have noticed. I guess that to me is a true testament to the economic struggles our country is going through, especially the state of Michigan. It’s funny because when everyone hears about Turkmen life and just how different it is to life here in America everyone seems so shocked about little things like the food, the water, the toilet and bathing situations, but for me those aren’t the things that I miss most about American culture. For me I think I have really taken for granted the overall freedom we have here in America. In my mind there is no doubt that we live in the best country in the world. No it’s not a perfect country, we have our problems, but the freedom that we have is such a blessing. We truly take that for granted. Everything else in this country you can live without, but the freedom, that is precious.

First 2 weeks of School Goodness! September 12, 2009

Hey All! So school has officially started and in full swing and I must be honest it’s really great. I feel really good about this school year and the work that I am doing at my site. 2 weeks ago was the kick off to the school year and I have noticed that with all new things with Turkmen people they had a big community celebration for the 1st grade and 10th grade students. It was kinda special for me because my host sister, Merjen, just started the 10th grade this year and she was actually selected to participate in the ceremony as a flag holder. Basically, the ceremony consisted of the playing of the national anthem, speeches from various prominent community members (including one given by yours truly in English… I would have done it in Turkmen, but my Director didn’t give me any prior warning), the passing of the “school key” from the 10th grade to the 1st grade classes, and the ringing of the first school bell and the procession into the school. It was a nice and neatly run ceremony, all of the kids seemed excited to be back at school.

This year I have decided to teach a few of the younger levels. I teach now in the afternoons for the 4-7th graders, who are so much better than my 8-10th graders (not only behaviorally, but just in overall general interest). My counterparts are also more receptive this year and generally seem excited to work with me, which is a huge change. I’m a little apprehensive as to whether this is just a beginning of the year excitement thing or if they are just genuinely interested, but always the optimist I am going to say they are genuinely interested. I’ve also decided to take more of the control in the curriculum that we are teaching at my school. Instead of teaching from the textbooks provided we are going to do our own curriculum and see how that goes. Right now it’s kind of slow, but I think once the kids start to get the hang of it we’re going to go a lot faster. At least again that is my hope.

I’m also easing myself into the clubs one week at a time this year so as not to overload myself too quickly. This week I had my first lesson with my older student conversation club. I had 4 girls show up on the first night, which was perfect. Two of the girls were from my village and actively sought me out to teach them and the other two are my photo developers. Now that I have a camera again I get to take a lot of pictures at functions again, which is what it is, I’ve accepted it. Anyways, I was telling the two girls there about myself and they asked me if I could teach them English, which turns out I was just about to start this club! All of the girls are really great and between 19-22, and are unmarried just interested in learning English to learn about American culture. I’m really excited to work with them more because it gives me a chance to have Host Country National friends who are in my village, around my age, and unmarried. That totally rocks! I love that when I give them a homework assignment to write a conversation with anyone in the world they ask me if it’s ok that they write a conversation between them and Justin Timberlake. It’s stuff like that that makes it fun!

This week I am starting my student clubs and I think I have a good amount of kids interested in learning/playing games with me. We shall see. Next week I am officially opening my volleyball club with the equipment that we purchased and again I feel confident about students coming! Overall with everything I am feeling really good about service right now. I’ve got things happening and I am the busiest I have ever been at site, while still being able to watch reruns of my Law & Order SVU every morning before trekking off to my 8-hour school day! Exciting things to look forward to in the near future: getting my SPA funding to start buying English Resources for my school, starting my English Music Club, and of course the new T-18s coming in about 2 weeks! It’s hard to believe that my 1-year anniversary as a PCV is coming soon, but it is. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long already, but it has. I can definitely say that I have had my struggles as a volunteer, but I think I am now reaping the rewards of my perseverance with all the exciting changes happening at my site. It’s going to be a good 15 months!