Bibi sat at our meeting at the Peace Corps office in her her jeans skirt trying depserately to memorize the names of all the Volunteers so as not to miss a bit of interesting gossip. A Supervisor or Counterpart was to attend a weekend in Ashgabat to go over expectations and plans with us. While most of the Counterparts tried to schmooze with the other well-to-do Supervisor types, Bibi Isgenovna regailed the PC Volunteers with her camp song entitled "Nature Nuts". She is 24, always has a smile on her face, and is continually disciplined by her school director NOT to wear the watch with bells on it as well as to cut down on rings.
The first thing she asked about me was my name and birthday (which has yet to pass). At the mention of my family visiting from America, she gets instantly excited and asks, "May I be introduced?!"
Her classroom discipline is tough--she carries a stick--but the students all like her even though she calls them crazy. Thought not yet married, boys are often on the brain. She claims there are no good men in Turkmenistan, and so far I can't prove her wrong.
In the one week I've been here, we've attended at least 4 one-hour clubs per week, she works in school for 35 classes a week, and she has lesson plans neatly written in her spare time. On one particularly rough day for me, she told me she never shows her emotions. She smiles, listens, and lets it go. I don't know where she gets the strength, but she is more put-together than anyone I've seen.
Some Volunteers report that their Counterpart is drunk at work, and some are unwilling to accept a Volunteer. Some are too busy, and some are impatient. All that trouble--and here I have a girl who shows up at my house to take me to a wedding as an equal with all of her colleagues. I have the perfect social butterfly ("Butterfly" was her camp name at Nature Nuts English Camp--fitting!) to include me in the lives of my co-workers.
Cheers to Bibi!!
Nov 29, 2004
Nov 28, 2004
November 28 letter
Well, I'm here!
I met Wayne Wildman's Turkmen twin who just happens to work in our English department at school. What a coincidence! He speaks in a very careful and polite British accent. Today I observed one of his classes. Before class he had said, "I would like to extend to you an invitation to my class which will be taking place next hour here at School Number 15 in Room 27." Once, during a class where teachers from around the city observed, (I know . . . on my 3rd day in town!), we were teaching a lesson and mentioned that it was unexpected. He piped up with, "Ah yes . . . unexpected like a winter storm." Later he came and said, "I truly apologize, Karen, for I meant to add that it was as unexpected as a winter storm IN MAY. I swear he's Wayne Wildman's ESL counterpersonality.
So far it's been hard to figure out what's really going to work at my school. The teachers seem to think I'm here as an expert in order to critique their classes, so I've seen a lot of great students answering pre-planned questions. Teachers get "checked on" a lot, but always through a strange list of necessities for classes. Like they get yelled at for not writing the month (the newly created months) in both languages on the board every day, but not given credit for creative classes. During the open lesson I mentioned that we did a Thanksgiving class that was very full of learning and practice. We were told that it wasn't REALLY a class, but more of a seminar. No new grammar introduced.
So hopefully I'll start music soon. I'll be playing for classes and doing a short lecture on orchestral instruments to get interest up.
Oh, yeah, and our school doesn't have heat--except 6 classrooms. Why? Because whoever has those teachers has rich parents that bought heaters for their kids' classes. These are also the kids with the most experienced teachers. Go figure. :)
Love,
Kari
I met Wayne Wildman's Turkmen twin who just happens to work in our English department at school. What a coincidence! He speaks in a very careful and polite British accent. Today I observed one of his classes. Before class he had said, "I would like to extend to you an invitation to my class which will be taking place next hour here at School Number 15 in Room 27." Once, during a class where teachers from around the city observed, (I know . . . on my 3rd day in town!), we were teaching a lesson and mentioned that it was unexpected. He piped up with, "Ah yes . . . unexpected like a winter storm." Later he came and said, "I truly apologize, Karen, for I meant to add that it was as unexpected as a winter storm IN MAY. I swear he's Wayne Wildman's ESL counterpersonality.
So far it's been hard to figure out what's really going to work at my school. The teachers seem to think I'm here as an expert in order to critique their classes, so I've seen a lot of great students answering pre-planned questions. Teachers get "checked on" a lot, but always through a strange list of necessities for classes. Like they get yelled at for not writing the month (the newly created months) in both languages on the board every day, but not given credit for creative classes. During the open lesson I mentioned that we did a Thanksgiving class that was very full of learning and practice. We were told that it wasn't REALLY a class, but more of a seminar. No new grammar introduced.
So hopefully I'll start music soon. I'll be playing for classes and doing a short lecture on orchestral instruments to get interest up.
Oh, yeah, and our school doesn't have heat--except 6 classrooms. Why? Because whoever has those teachers has rich parents that bought heaters for their kids' classes. These are also the kids with the most experienced teachers. Go figure. :)
Love,
Kari
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