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June 18, 2000 (Email)
Raining Every Day

Mom/Dad,

The weather has gotten to the point now where it's raining every day... but not very hard and not always for very long periods of time. The sun is so intense, that it's still dry and dusty most of the time, despite the rain. Although I'm not looking forward to the mud, I am hoping the rain will pick up just so things will cool off a little. It's been in the mid-30's (90's Fahrenheit) every day for weeks - about what you said the temperature has been there. 

Virginia is in the states now. Don't worry -- she (and I, too) sees it as more of an opportunity for a vacation than as a medical necessity. They just don't have qualified counselors here, and the nurses thought that her experience warranted consultation with a counselor (I agree). I'm jealous. She'll be fine. And when she comes back, she'll have a great new post. 

I know this whole situation just makes you question whether I should be posted in Janakpur or not. I'm not in any danger, and I'm not going to try to get relocated. I'll talk to you about it more the next time I call. 

I saw Babe II, Boys Don't Cry, and Mission Impossible II while I was in Kathmandu this last time (in order of decreasing quality). I wanted to see both Gladiator and Shanghai Noon, but the timing never worked out. 

I'm pretty busy at the Center (considering that it's monsoon) addressing daily issues and trying to accumulate information from the women for my pricing spreadsheets. Some of my friends should be coming in July to put together written biographies of all the women artists (about 66 people). I hope that we can compile these into a book or calendar of some sort for fund-raising purposes. Their stories really are fascinating. Claire (the American woman who founded the center) got us a $4000 grant from the Eastman foundation to do "projects." I'll see if I can connect this to the ideas that come out of Mary-Lou's planning workshop - still tentatively scheduled for July. 

Satyam and Susie (a fantastic Australian woman who also volunteers at the Center periodically) are arriving from Kathmandu any minute now, so I have to run and meet them at the bus stop. 

Happy Father's Day. 

Love,
Mark


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