Giggling about the possibility of getting Tik Tok famous

 

That time when the ladies at the restaurant were looking over my shoulder checking out the pictures on my phone and giggling, then asked me to take a picture of them and when I did they giggled more I heard Tik Tok amidst their Turkmen words. If only I could make them Tik Tok famous.

Daily Life is Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

 

The irony of Defying Gravity coming up on my phone as I look at a group young Turkmen college aged women and ponder their totally controlled unfree lives.

Feeling New York love in Turkmenistan

When I travel I definitely like being from New York City! I love when people ask where I’m from I can just say that and don’t event need to say America/United States, especially when saying my country’s name is almost an ugly word these days. Then one night in Ashgabat when I said New York the waiter’s face lit up and he mumbled something that made me think that maybe bar had some NYC connection. Later I noticed Broadway musical wall paper and other little details like this mural. Yes, the greatest city in the world…

NYC fans in Turkmenistan

Spotted this t-shirt on a woman waiting for the bus in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, asked to take a picture, which led to a lovely conversation. She had just gotten back from 6 months visiting her daughter in NYC. Her daughter left Turkmenistan after college to teach in China. Next stop she headed to the States and now is a NYC public school principal in a primarily Chinese district and loves it there. Also the two pictures she showed me from her trip to NY were of her trip to the Statue of Liberty and when she went skydiving! Yay America! Yay immigrants!

Visiting the American Center in Turkmenistan

I went to this American Center in Ashgabat, that the Embassy must run. It’s a library and a place with full internet. I guess it builds good American feelings. Anyhow when I walked in they were doing a program for a room of mostly high school kids with the finance guy from the US Embassy. They invited me to join and sitting their listing to America the Beautiful and reading the inspiring words on the walls made me suddenly burst into tears. The Turkmen people there look to America as an alternative to their authoritarian country, and I just felt so sad that I’m not sure we really stand for that stuff right now.

A guy closer to my age wanted to talk with me after. He was so down on his fellow countryman for not caring and just wanted to talk news with people. It was pretty interesting and moving. I felt bad having nothing good to say about the US these days.

 

Got my first proposal (I think???) The guy in the back wants to come to America and needs a Green Card. As you can see, the guy in the front thought it was hilarious. It’s amazing how much can be conveyed even when you don’t speak the same language.

New Yorkers meeting each other in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Yup, this guy must have heard Rhoda and I talking, because he came up to tell us he lived in New York City. Brooklyn to be exact. He grew up here and was home visiting. NYC has a big Uzbek population and many people here have been telling us they have family there.

Third times a charm in Istanbul, Turkey

This was my third trip to Istanbul. My last one was only two years ago, so memories were still fresh, but the thing about a big, energetic, fun, exciting, spread out over two continents, city is there is always more to see and new things to discover. I walked 30k steps a day up and down the hills gathering new insights and also enjoying some favorites. 

Things I love. 

• Call to prayer ringing out all over from 3000 mosques around the city. 
• The cats who are everywhere and so affectionate because everyone feeds them, including me. 
• The incredible fashionable residents. 
• The ferries and other boats buzzing around in every direction in the rivers. 
• That just about every restaurant has outdoor seating, which makes street life feel so vibrant. 
• The hammam baths and scrubs. So luxurious and perfect for after a long flight! 
• Fresh pomagranate juice. 
• The food, where there is so much flavor, but not scary hot spices. 

My stepfather told me once when I was little that Istanbul was the most beautiful city in the world and I think he is right. I’m glad those words inspired me to go and now that I’ve been able to get to know it. Bye bye and hope to see you soon.

Click HERE to see my full set of pictures