Spring break begins, Turkmen style

Happy (slightly belated) Easter everyone. Spring break has arrived in Baharly, celebrated in conjunction with the “Nowruz” traditional Turkmen new years holiday. For three days all families do extensive cleaning, dragging all the carpets, blankets, and any moveable objects (in short, everything but large furniture) out into the yard to sit in the sun and bake. They/We clean every surface inside and out, sit outside, and in the evenings all the marriageable age girls and boys put on their finest and go out for a stroll along the main roads. You can almost hear Fred Astaire and Judy Garland singing about “bonnets with frills about it.” The girls stand in groups giggling at the boys and the boys drive by the girls in their cars, pick up their special friends, and the rest watch and giggle at who gets picked up by who. Although I helped with the cleaning (my carpet’s still outside and my room hasn’t looked so clean since I moved in), the hormone parade I saved for my students to enjoy. I may have spent the past 48 hours watching all the new the Masterpiece Theater Jane Austen movies in a marathon (along with other fun, romantic movies sent to me by amazingly wonderful people), but I’m not on the prowl for a Turkmen husband yet (of course, it’s still only month 6 of 27).

It’s all good fun and I’m enjoying a complete week of sleeping in, watching movies, reading bestsellers, and taking a nice long breather. Last Thursday I even went with some Turkmen friends to the one and only Turkmen amusement park, the Erteki Park, commonly called by its nickname, “Disneyland.” It’s certainly smaller than its namesake or even Six Flags, but there’s a rollercoaster, Farris wheel, bumper cars, and dozens of smaller rides for all ages, a gift to the Turkmen people from the former President. Even two short rides on the bumper cars reminded me how much I miss driving a car, but it was a great day.