dropping the communication ball
gosh, what's my deal? i'm slipping when it comes to keeping you fine people up to date on my crazy journey in the former ussr. and hold onto your seat, because this is a real life, adventure-packed post i've got to give you all today. if only i were better at updating. . .
adventure the first: last weekend (as opposed to this past weekend. try to keep up, people.), about ten of us volunteers went camping. i mean, real camping. we slept outside, under the stars, we cooked our dinners on a fire that we made, started and maintained ourselves. it was great. the purpose of this camping trip was to see the ruins of the old walled city of sauram. apparently, it was built sometime in the 16th century as an outpost on the silk road, but was raised, pillaged and otherwise destroyed by the mongols or the huns or somesuch group of roaving, horse-riding ass-kickers. when this city was destroyed, it stayed that way. apparently, there is an old sauramese saying that goes, "to hell with it, we're moving over there!" and true to their word, the people of old sauram built new sauram at an acceptable distance from their demolished city.
the best thing about these ruins, was that they were basically ignored for the next couple hundred years. when we walked around the city, you literally had to try to not step on old pottery shards. there were archiologists there that were excavating, so the good people of the kz are into preserving their history -- but we were allowed to camp just outside of the city gates. after we were done doing our camping thang, we drove to the city of turkistan where there is this super famous and equally holy mausolium. no joke, muslims here say that visiting this mausolium two times is equal to visiting mecca. i don't know what the official muslim word on that topic is, but i'm gonna take the kazakh's word for it on that one (which means i'm half way to salvation and paradise! hoot hoot.)
of course the trip wasn't all ancient walled cities and salvation. . . on the way to old sauram, our marshrutka broke down and we were stopped by the police four times. apparently having an out of town license plate on a marshrutka full of americans driving through the deserts of kazakhstan draws attention. . who knew?
adventure the second: on saturday (we're talking two days ago) i went with my english club and my counterpart's homeroom class to this really cool cave and we spealunked! i'm not talking like cave exploring in america where you have a guide and a safe, paved walkway with handrail and electric lights. oh no. this was real cave exploring, we had a guide and all, but we were definitely in the dark with candles, grabbing onto the walls to keep from getting lost in the caves. and we were allowed to touch everything and take shiny rocks from the cave. there was really only one downside to this adventure. after caving for a good two hours, the students decided to continue our adventure be WALKING 10 KILOMETERS HOME THROUGH THE BACK COUNTRY AND FOOTHILLS! now you know me, i don't like to complain. but i walked for a long time and my tooties were all hurt-y when i got back home.
but it was fun and super worth it. . .
oh, now onto other things, i hate to sound needy but i have another wish (gimme) list:
i still need/want videos or movies from america
any cooking spices would be great
thanksgiving paraphanilia and special food fixings (i can get most of the foods here, but spices are harder to come by)
cookie cutters shaped in holiday designs (any holiday, i'm stocking up here)
any holiday decorations
tights (like pantyhose but thicker. . . and if you can find ashli-sized tights with fun designs to send, that would be even better)
maybe some longsleeve shirts or hoody sweatshirts or sweaters. . . winter, she's a comin'
i just want to end this post by saying, i do check all of your comments and sometimes i can't respond to them or send out emails, and i'm sorry. i do think of all of you every day and i want more than anything to see you all again. please dont' think i'm blowing you off. i guess what i'm saying, is if you're ever in the kz (between now and june of 2007) you have a place to stay. mwah! love to you all (especially ryan)
adventure the first: last weekend (as opposed to this past weekend. try to keep up, people.), about ten of us volunteers went camping. i mean, real camping. we slept outside, under the stars, we cooked our dinners on a fire that we made, started and maintained ourselves. it was great. the purpose of this camping trip was to see the ruins of the old walled city of sauram. apparently, it was built sometime in the 16th century as an outpost on the silk road, but was raised, pillaged and otherwise destroyed by the mongols or the huns or somesuch group of roaving, horse-riding ass-kickers. when this city was destroyed, it stayed that way. apparently, there is an old sauramese saying that goes, "to hell with it, we're moving over there!" and true to their word, the people of old sauram built new sauram at an acceptable distance from their demolished city.
the best thing about these ruins, was that they were basically ignored for the next couple hundred years. when we walked around the city, you literally had to try to not step on old pottery shards. there were archiologists there that were excavating, so the good people of the kz are into preserving their history -- but we were allowed to camp just outside of the city gates. after we were done doing our camping thang, we drove to the city of turkistan where there is this super famous and equally holy mausolium. no joke, muslims here say that visiting this mausolium two times is equal to visiting mecca. i don't know what the official muslim word on that topic is, but i'm gonna take the kazakh's word for it on that one (which means i'm half way to salvation and paradise! hoot hoot.)
of course the trip wasn't all ancient walled cities and salvation. . . on the way to old sauram, our marshrutka broke down and we were stopped by the police four times. apparently having an out of town license plate on a marshrutka full of americans driving through the deserts of kazakhstan draws attention. . who knew?
adventure the second: on saturday (we're talking two days ago) i went with my english club and my counterpart's homeroom class to this really cool cave and we spealunked! i'm not talking like cave exploring in america where you have a guide and a safe, paved walkway with handrail and electric lights. oh no. this was real cave exploring, we had a guide and all, but we were definitely in the dark with candles, grabbing onto the walls to keep from getting lost in the caves. and we were allowed to touch everything and take shiny rocks from the cave. there was really only one downside to this adventure. after caving for a good two hours, the students decided to continue our adventure be WALKING 10 KILOMETERS HOME THROUGH THE BACK COUNTRY AND FOOTHILLS! now you know me, i don't like to complain. but i walked for a long time and my tooties were all hurt-y when i got back home.
but it was fun and super worth it. . .
oh, now onto other things, i hate to sound needy but i have another wish (gimme) list:
i still need/want videos or movies from america
any cooking spices would be great
thanksgiving paraphanilia and special food fixings (i can get most of the foods here, but spices are harder to come by)
cookie cutters shaped in holiday designs (any holiday, i'm stocking up here)
any holiday decorations
tights (like pantyhose but thicker. . . and if you can find ashli-sized tights with fun designs to send, that would be even better)
maybe some longsleeve shirts or hoody sweatshirts or sweaters. . . winter, she's a comin'
i just want to end this post by saying, i do check all of your comments and sometimes i can't respond to them or send out emails, and i'm sorry. i do think of all of you every day and i want more than anything to see you all again. please dont' think i'm blowing you off. i guess what i'm saying, is if you're ever in the kz (between now and june of 2007) you have a place to stay. mwah! love to you all (especially ryan)
posted by ashli at 5:13 AM
5 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hey All!
If any of you were states wide, I found a calling card in which to call our girl with in the derkeh-derkehstan. Here's the link: http://www.cellularld.com/ . I put $15.00 on the card and talked to her for almost 2 hours (in 2 separate phone calls...) so it's pricey but for calling the literal other side of the world, i figured not so bad.
Give it a try and let me/us know if you find something better/cheaper. I think the rate is like $0.27/minute. And remember when you call, she is 11 hours ahead of us (and no, I have not made this mistake... yet...)
MWAH!
Love you 'Shli :)
i can only expect the love you have for your evil brother. It's understood. Also, I find your schmalzt of keeping your uppercse kept, worthy.
]I, myself cannot help but push the SHIFT
ash, are the stuff getting 2 u?
Hi there, Ashli;
You can tell your students about the neo- nazis and their march on the slums of Toledo. Actually, they weren't allowed to march, but we ended up with a mini- race riot anyway (some towns will do anything to make national news).
I hope you enjoyed spelunking- just don't go into the caves while you are spelunking! You will be much safer that way ( how do you think i got to be so old).
As far as American videos, we got an e-mail from Marilyn Chambers, offering free videos, but after a brief screening, we have decided to censor those videos..... guess we'll have to come up with a better slice of Americana for you and your students to watch.
Let us know what would would be a good time to call you at your host family's home and we'll give you a call.
Be good and be safe, sweetheart.... we miss you every day and hope you're doing well.
Hugs and Kisses,
evil one
How would you like a wonderful Ohio University hoody that says Ohio? Happy Halloween from the town that celebrates it the best. I'm glad you are having a blast.
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