Persona Non Grata
Now I’ve been kicked out a bar before, but never out of a country! January 4th, I was supposed to return to Turkmenistan but the Migratsionnaya Sluzhba (Migration Services) who issue letters of invitation rejected me. Do they ever tell you why? No, that is one of the greatest mysteries of the Turkmen government. According to a friend of mine in Ashgabat, they are rejecting most people who want to come in to Turkmenistan, most likely because of the upcoming presidential elections and they are terrified of an Arab Spring scenario where their benevolent form of government and their exalted president are toppled. As if that’s what I plan to do while I’m there? I don’t think so.
My college prep program that I’ve spent much time working on to come to fruition will still go on. Today marks the first day of classes and I’m not there. It’s OK, I have an excellent staff, Lale and Gulshat, who are more than capable of running the show, and 4 excellent teachers who are trained and ready to go. Most likely I will not be going back to Turkmenistan until sometime in March, but I will go back for sure. We’ll see what happens. This is not the first time I’ve been in these situations of limbo, waiting for a higher power (like a governemental department) to make a decision so I can continue my work. I sort of like it because I have no power over the situation and one needs to just let it go and see what happens. It’s an attitude I’ve adopted over the years of working in Afghanistan. No need to worry about something that you can’t control. Meanwhile I have Plans B, C and D swirling around in my head, waiting to implement if need be.
So what does a boy do when he can’t get back into Turkmenistan? Well for this past week, he has been enjoying time at home with his cat Lulu and doing various projects on the long list of home projects to do. Since the weather has been warm the past few days, I’ve been taking advantage of it to do some garden work like making raised planter beds and putting together some benches from slats of wood from old planter boxes and composte bin. Come summer, my garden will be an idyllic place to sit. There’s more indoor projects to be done and when the weather starts acting like winter, I’ll stay inside to do them.
Another idea that popped in my head is some travel to Europe. The world is my oyster and why do I need to stay in one place all this time? It’s been a while since I’ve seen my peeps in France so I may just pop over to see them as well as friends in Brussels. Plus I’ve never been to Versailles and have an itch to go over and see it while I have the time. So why not? The next blog entry may just be from Gay Paree!
My college prep program that I’ve spent much time working on to come to fruition will still go on. Today marks the first day of classes and I’m not there. It’s OK, I have an excellent staff, Lale and Gulshat, who are more than capable of running the show, and 4 excellent teachers who are trained and ready to go. Most likely I will not be going back to Turkmenistan until sometime in March, but I will go back for sure. We’ll see what happens. This is not the first time I’ve been in these situations of limbo, waiting for a higher power (like a governemental department) to make a decision so I can continue my work. I sort of like it because I have no power over the situation and one needs to just let it go and see what happens. It’s an attitude I’ve adopted over the years of working in Afghanistan. No need to worry about something that you can’t control. Meanwhile I have Plans B, C and D swirling around in my head, waiting to implement if need be.
So what does a boy do when he can’t get back into Turkmenistan? Well for this past week, he has been enjoying time at home with his cat Lulu and doing various projects on the long list of home projects to do. Since the weather has been warm the past few days, I’ve been taking advantage of it to do some garden work like making raised planter beds and putting together some benches from slats of wood from old planter boxes and composte bin. Come summer, my garden will be an idyllic place to sit. There’s more indoor projects to be done and when the weather starts acting like winter, I’ll stay inside to do them.
Another idea that popped in my head is some travel to Europe. The world is my oyster and why do I need to stay in one place all this time? It’s been a while since I’ve seen my peeps in France so I may just pop over to see them as well as friends in Brussels. Plus I’ve never been to Versailles and have an itch to go over and see it while I have the time. So why not? The next blog entry may just be from Gay Paree!
posted by Tom T at 3:44 AM
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