First quarter.
It is now nearing the end of August, and we have been here six months now (September 1st will be the start of month 7). A lot has happened between my last post and now.
All of our stuff is here, and we are for the most part completely settled in. So settled, that we have had dinner parties (shocking!). We still have way more consumables than we should have purchased, but that's ok. We have purchased small 220 appliances (a toaster and a food processor 'kitchen robot'). We have had some of our U.S. appliances die horrible, horrible deaths (a blender and food processor).
I can read a good deal of Russian, order my food in Russian, have simple conversations in Russian, etc. etc. I know this doesn't sound like much, (and sometimes it feels like very little progress) but it is a BIG THING when everyone speaks Russian (or Turkmen), and most of the goods you can buy (and the signage) are written in Cyrillic.
I am now, once again, gainfully employed (and have been since July) as the post Community Liaison Office Coordinator (or CLO). I'm in charge of the post's media collection (DVDs, books, tapes), I arrange events at post for the community, and point people toward the resources that they need (or people that can provide those resources). Sound familiar?
I was medevaced from post to London for medical treatments not available at post. Which is pretty much ALMOST EVERY MEDICAL CONDITION YOU COULD HAVE. In my case, it's because i'm pregnant and the NT scans/ tests I need are not available here. The medical care available here is a post all its own. FYI- two things about London:
London is very dirty. As in, if you wash your t-shirts in the tub so that you can dry them and wear them again, the water will turn black from soot.
You will see drunk old people ride the tubes. Coming home from work. Or a night on the town. Which is kind of funny and sad (and potentially annoying).
Also: going back to the first world then having to go back to a place like Turkmenistan is pretty rough, especially if you have been at post for awhile. It was nice to have salad, damnit! We did manage to bring back celery in our suitcases, along with some other goodies.
So that's about where we are, six months into our two-year tour. 18 months to go!
All of our stuff is here, and we are for the most part completely settled in. So settled, that we have had dinner parties (shocking!). We still have way more consumables than we should have purchased, but that's ok. We have purchased small 220 appliances (a toaster and a food processor 'kitchen robot'). We have had some of our U.S. appliances die horrible, horrible deaths (a blender and food processor).
I can read a good deal of Russian, order my food in Russian, have simple conversations in Russian, etc. etc. I know this doesn't sound like much, (and sometimes it feels like very little progress) but it is a BIG THING when everyone speaks Russian (or Turkmen), and most of the goods you can buy (and the signage) are written in Cyrillic.
I am now, once again, gainfully employed (and have been since July) as the post Community Liaison Office Coordinator (or CLO). I'm in charge of the post's media collection (DVDs, books, tapes), I arrange events at post for the community, and point people toward the resources that they need (or people that can provide those resources). Sound familiar?
I was medevaced from post to London for medical treatments not available at post. Which is pretty much ALMOST EVERY MEDICAL CONDITION YOU COULD HAVE. In my case, it's because i'm pregnant and the NT scans/ tests I need are not available here. The medical care available here is a post all its own. FYI- two things about London:
London is very dirty. As in, if you wash your t-shirts in the tub so that you can dry them and wear them again, the water will turn black from soot.
You will see drunk old people ride the tubes. Coming home from work. Or a night on the town. Which is kind of funny and sad (and potentially annoying).
Also: going back to the first world then having to go back to a place like Turkmenistan is pretty rough, especially if you have been at post for awhile. It was nice to have salad, damnit! We did manage to bring back celery in our suitcases, along with some other goodies.
So that's about where we are, six months into our two-year tour. 18 months to go!
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