We're half way through Lent but the weather is summery in Ashgabat. Last week Mehri was off. I devoted myself to playing with Ruth Anne and Neil. It was wonderful. The house was a mess. The thesis languished. Joe had to rescue dinner every evening. Ruth Anne had a completely dry day and got to wear "pretty undies" at long last. Neil took to rice cereal at breakfast. I think because he sees everyone else chowing down on oatmeal at that time.
On Friday we learned that after thirteen years of trying the Vatican Embassy, were we celebrate mass in a small chapel each Sunday, successfully registered the Roman Catholic Church with the Turkmen government. The organization is now permitted to work here. They can rebuild the Church of the Transfiguration which was converted into a theater in Soviet times and Turkmen can practice Catholicism.
Every time I try to articulate what this means, it grows in significance. We'd hoped for this but I never really thought we'd be here to see the day. Yesterday we went to the Russian language mass in the morning to celebrate with Turkmen community. We dipped into a big pot of plov with everyone and made a friend by giving away the meat. My new friend wanted to know why I didn't eat meat and I explained in Russian my mom and dad didn't. He understood that I come from a family of Buddhists. Close enough.
Even from the secular angle, this is probably the biggest gain for democracy we've seen since our arrival. It makes me hopeful for other religious organizations, for other non-profit organizations, for businesses. I don't want foreign incursions to displace local culture any more than anyone else but if people have no exposure to other cultures and do not have freedom to choose then they cannot really create identity in the first place.
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