About this site
This
website, sometimes also known as "The Unofficial Peace Corps Turkmenistan
Internet Camel Stop and Chaihana," is affiliated with the Friends of
Turkmenistan group of Returned United States Peace Corps volunteers. The
Chaihana is intended to provide resources and useful links to those seeking information
about Turkmenistan on the Internet. The associated mailing list, TURKM,
serves the same purpose.
The word chaihana means "tea house" in Turkmen and other Central Asian languages. Drinking tea is central to any gathering in Turkmenistan, so chaihana.com is as good a name as any to describe an online community devoted to Turkmenistan.
The Chaihana website was first created in 1997 and was originally the pet project of Greg and Carol Lastowka, who were volunteers in Turkmenistan from 1994-96. Carol and Greg lived and taught English in the town of Bairamali, which is a wonderful little village with a rich history and many very nice people. They hope to return there frequently. If you have suggestions on ways to improve the site, organize it better, or make it more useful, please send email to "greglas[at]aya[dot]yale[dot]edu".
