Saying "hello"

After 8 months I have finally mastered the Turkmen greeting. There is a simple “hello,” (“Salam”), but in the situation where an American might acknowledge a passing friend with a “hey” and maybe a salute, the Turkmen have a long complex dialogue asking about your health, doings, your parents’ health, your job satisfaction, and your general well-being. In the same way that “How’s it going” in English usually doesn’t expect a response and the answer is almost always untrue (ex. Your dad just died, “how are you?” “I’m good.”), the Turkmen greeting interrogation is a matter of politeness rather than information gathering. They begin the questions once you’re within earshot and recite both the questions and the answers before you’ve had a chance to respond. So you both say each part of the conversation on top of each other and if timed correctly it will be completed at the moment you draw even in the road, at which point you either nod and smile, or make an observation about the weather. The nod means you continue on, the weather observation means you have to stop, get through a detailed discussion of the current weather, how it compares to American weather, and then ask again about their family. Once these pleasantries are complete you’re free to move on to whatever business they want to discuss. That I have finally mastered the timing of these exchanges where I can get through the whole thing without breaking stride is, I feel, a sign that I’m becoming accustomed to life here. Feeling settled in is getting easier now that summer is approaching and I can assume a little more control over my life. No longer wed to the school’s schedule’s limitations, I’m increasing my number of English clubs and accepting students from other local schools, but decreasing my work week from 6 days to 5 days: I have my weekend back!! If there was running water at home as well I’d feel positively spoiled. And the projects are underway: we’re renovating the first floor hallway (ten tons of cement and 135 new light bulbs courtesy of Peace Corps’s small project funds) and drawing a large world map mural. The amount of paperwork necessary to do this and justify the need for funds is a bit overwhelming and explains why people usually hire professional grant writers to do this kind of thing. I’m just glad I had over a decade of excellent education in making something that isn’t particularly spectacular (painting a wall, laying cement), sound a lot more interesting. An excerpt from my grant proposal: “The World Map Project will transform the existing hallway walls from passive surfaces into learning environments, and the floors will be turned from hazards into learning facilitators.” And, yes, this is what I’m thinking about these days: floors as learning facilitators. Peace Corps transforms you, all the brochures tell you, but exactly how is a little more unsuspected.