Chai Budesh? Anyone for Tea?: A Peace Corps Memoir of Turkmenistan


Book Description

She was a sixty-two-year-old California grandmother, retired program director and college professor when she joined the Peace Corps. Within months, Joan Heron found herself in Turkmenistan, a small, impoverished country born out of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Using meager resources, a beginner’s grasp of the Russian language, tremendous trust in friendship and a can-do will, Ms. Heron embarks on a two-year adventure in an alien, male chauvinist, often obstructionist environment. Her compelling true story, told with humor and immense compassion for the people and their plight, reaches across borders, cultures and politics to illuminate the strength and riches of the human spirit.




I Was Never Alone or Oporniki


Book Description

I Was Never Alone or Oporniki presents an original ethnographic stage play, based on fieldwork conducted in Russia with adults with disabilities. The core of the work is the script of the play itself, which is accompanied by a description of the script development process, from the research in the field to rehearsals for public performances. In a supporting essay, the author argues that both ethnography and theatre can be understood as designs for being together in unusual ways, and that both practices can be deepened by recognizing the vibrant social impact of interdependency animated by vulnerability, as identified by disability theorists and activists.




Chai Budesh? Anyone for Tea?


Book Description

A perfect fit for a TV drama series: "She was a sixty-two-year-old California grandmother, retired program director and college professor when she joined the Peace Corps. Within months, Joan Heron found herself in Turkmenistan, a small, impoverished country born out of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Using meager resources, a beginner's grasp of the Russian language, tremendous trust in friendship and a can-do will, Ms. Heron embarks on a two-year adventure in an alien, male chauvinist, often obstructionist environment. Her compelling true story, told with humor and immense compassion for the people and their plight, reaches across borders, cultures and politics to illuminate the strength and riches of the human spirit." -Ken Luber, author of Match to the Heart and Razzmatazz




Chai Budesh? Anyone for Tea?: A Peace Corps Memoir of Turkmenistan: (Large Print Edition)


Book Description

"She was a sixty-two-year-old California grandmother, retired program director and college professor when she joined the Peace Corps. Within months, Joan Heron found herself in Turkmenistan, a small, impoverished country born out of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Using meager resources, a beginner's grasp of the Russian language, tremendous trust in friendship and a can-do will, Ms. Heron embarks on a two-year adventure in an alien, male chauvinist, often obstructionist environment. Her compelling true story, told with humor and immense compassion for the people and their plight, reaches across borders, cultures and politics to illuminate the strength and riches of the human spirit." -Ken Luber, author of Match to the Heart and Razzmatazz --------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Chai Budesh? Anyone for Tea?


Book Description

"She was a sixty-two-year-old California grandmother, retired program director and college professor when she joined the Peace Corps. Within months, Joan Heron found herself in Turkmenistan, a small, impoverished country born out of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Using meager resources, a beginner's grasp of the Russian language, tremendous trust in friendship and a can-do will, Ms. Heron embarks on a two-year adventure in an alien, male chauvinist, often obstructionist environment. Her compelling true story, told with humor and immense compassion for the people and their plight, reaches across borders, cultures and politics to illuminate the strength and riches of the human spirit." -Ken Luber, author of Match to the Heart and Razzmatazz




The Lost Heart of Asia


Book Description

Discover Colin Thubron's journey through central asia in the wake of the fall of the iron curtain. Thubron travelled throughout Central Asia in the wake of the break-up of the Soviet Union and documented the widespread social upheaval in a region reeling from political change. Thubron is an inspirational writer, intrepid traveller and insightful observer and his The Lost Heart of Asia is an outstanding guide to the history, people and culture of a vast region resonating with history and politics. 'Thubron's journey takes him through a spectacular, talismanic geography of desert and mountain... and he weaves its mysteries with modern images into a dazzling embroidery' The Times




Desertification Combat and Food Safety


Book Description

In these papers from workshops that united desert and camel scientists from western Europe, the Mediterranean and Central Asia, contributors address how to maintain animal productivity to satisfy human requirements in the desert in both quantity and quality. Papers from plenary sessions include a survey of new trends in camel sciences and the place.




Postmodern Picturebooks


Book Description

Over the past 15 years, there has been a pronounced trend toward a particular type of picturebook that many would label "postmodern." Postmodern picturebooks have stretched our conventional notion of what constitutes a picturebook, as well as what it means to be an engaged reader of these texts. The international researchers and scholars included in this compelling collection of work critically examine and discuss postmodern picturebooks, and reflect upon their unique contributions to both the field of children’s literature and to the development of new literacies for child, adolescent, and adult readers.




The Shadow Walker


Book Description

Set in a country struggling to come to terms with the legacy of its past and the promise of its future, The Shadow Walker is a gripping thriller that introduces Inspector Nergui of the Mongolian Serious Crime squad. As winter's first snow falls on Ulan Baatar, the mutilated body of a British geologist is found in the city's most expensive hotel, apparently the fourth victim of a serial killer. With political pressure to solve the crimes mounting, Negrui, ex-head of the Serious Crime Squad, is ordered back to his former role, building an uneasy working relationship with his successor and protege, Doripalam, and with Drew McLeish, a senior British CID officer sent out to support the investigation. But the murders continue--leading the officers through the disused factories of the decaying city, out on to the steppes among nomadic herdsmen and illegal gold prospectors, and down into the barren landscapes of the Gobi. And then McLeish himself is kidnapped. With political tensions mounting and time draining away, Nergui and Doripalam piece together a case that encompasses both personal tragedy and shadowy commercial interests in Mongolia's vast mineral and energy reserves. And, finally, in a long-abandoned warehouse amongst the decaying Soviet-era factories of Ulan Baatar, Nergui comes face to face with the only figure who can bring the story to its shattering conclusion.




Unknown Sands


Book Description