November 1994



November 1, 1994
Hi Peg,
Another sloppy letter using as much paper space as possible. This letter should be more like a journal page. I almost started a journal to write this, then I figured you'd be interested anyway so...
I am writing to you (like always) by candle light. The stains on the page are cat milk and cat tracks. Outside the wind is howling so bad and it is truly frightening. I am lucky I had just taken my bucket bath outside. My "mother" came to deliver fresh water (from a closed well. I think I mentioned I drink water straight from the ground). Anyway the wind came out of no where. At first I didn't care, I just kept scooping up my water. But I looked around and all the houses where shut up tight. (All windows have corinting shutters). So I thought "Oh Man! I don't know much about the weather here, this could be serious!"
So I bring in the water inside (and see all the dust and bugs blown into it!) And scurry around untying all my shutters and doors. If I could explain the house.. it is just a tin roof. Noise is amplified so much. A drop of rain can be heard for several feet. Plus all the lizards and stuff that live in the empty apartment next door and on the roof are running around like crazy up there! Who knows what animals will take refuge in my house. I know yesterday I killed a baby scorpion in my bedroom. I'm thinking, where there's a baby... there's a mama! That's a scary thought as I sit on the bedroom floor in a fanno and flip flops!

Anyways the cats were scared and now 2 sleep on my lap (Fatou and Lamin) while Poopsy discovers fire is hot and can burn!

I am scared to look outside. Just 2 hours ago Bill and I put up my permanent wall around my kammo and bathing pad. The stuff is of chinsey material and has not had time to settle (like it can settle, there's no cement or anything!) But it's brand new. (God sounds like a tree just fell on the roof)
Today I also cleaned my house for the first time! Put my clothes line back up (or my "closet" as I like to call it:) Oh yeah, I killed a chicken! Sliced it's neck open with a knife, plucked it, cleaned it, cooked it and yes... ate it! I left a little wing in the frying pan and Poopsy is in the pan, all 4 legs, eating it! Can't wait until she tracks grease all around.

I'm having delusions of travel. I thought of visiting home next year but then thought "nah!" If I save money why not travel? So start considering a trip again. I was thinking of finding a rain forest closest to here. Then I could take a train instead of plane. My mom says she may come my last summer (ooh! lightning!) But she doesn't know politics may prevent even me from being here! Oh well, she could visit my new country :)

My dinner just came. A small piece of chicken (I bought one for me which we ate and one for them, they have given me a piece of theirs!) Plus potatoes and rice. The sauce is once again way too spicy for me. Tomorrow Bill must tell then to tone it down! I was hoping the wind would stop so I could go to Bill's and share my food. I am not hungry but this is a very good meal. (So was yesterday's, lot's of goat, 2 potatoes, and a slice of pumpkin on benechin (rice cooked in palm oil). A very fancy meal. Maybe my family is wealthy, I get better meals then most volunteers. Anyways returning any part but a little rice would be very bad!

i was kinda worried this morning, the boy who takes care of my kittens and house while I'm away had malaria. I've already known 2 child deaths from malaria. He seems better now and says he will be in school tomorrow.

(News flash: My kammo wall is still up!)
Today was such a lovely day. It is starting to cool down a tad and it gets "chilly" at night! Enough to wear a shirt and use a sheet! But the bugs are getting worse and bigger!

Well, I'm going to Bill's anyway! Even in this wind (no rain). I gotta get rid of this awesome food!
NEXT DAY
Bill was also too full to eat the food. We gave it to his family. They loved it.
Man, I got a scare in the middle of the night. My clothes line fell making lots of noise. In my sleep I thought burglars were busting in! Wow! My heart! But I lived.

I'm at school right now, headmaster is staring at me. Creepy. And Bill put up more fence this morning. The fence comes up to my chin.

I gotta go. Headmaster and Deputy Head are ranting in Mandinkan. I understand the general idea. (The government aid pulling out, rice subsidies, etc...) But I do not like them hiding what they are saying. They are doing it on purpose!

I miss you!
Wendy

Nov 2, 1994
Hey Dad,
Happy Birthday! (Probably belated by now). How are you? Clean the house yet? Ever get that roll of film and Robb's present? I am sending Robb my Christmas list.

Things are well here. I've moved into my house. I have no furniture but a bed. My family has lent me a chair and I have a clothes line I use as a "closet". I expect shelves in 3 weeks.

I am slowly developing a routine.
Mon-Wed wake 6:30, school 7:30, To Bill's for "coffee" 8:30, work on house/yard until 11:40, back to school. 12:30 back to Bill's to hang out and pick at his lunch leftovers (I only get one meal a day). Back to school 2=6 pm. Home, bathe, write. get my dinner 8:15. Take it to Bill's where we share and swap. Back home asleep by 10pm.
Plus I'm always running home to feed my kittens. I'm on the mashed potato committee for Thanksgiving with Eric, Jean, Ted, & Andy. Should be real fun. I'm doing a lot of traveling throughout The Gambia and I hope to go to Senegal by February.
yesterday I killed a chicken. Sliced it's throat open with a knife, plucked, cleaned, cooked, and ate it! I took pictures. I ate the breast with pasta for lunch and could eat nothing else all day. I am getting too used to eating very little.
Well, here comes grade 6. I hold special study classes for them Tues&Wed. So I gotta go. I've enclosed 2 pictures (obviously). Have happy holidays and think about brining Robb for a visit! I was thinking of saving to visit home next year but thought if I saved up that much money, I should go to Morocco or Egypt! But lots of volunteers go home to visit during the second summer. We will see....
Love
Wendy

Nov 2, 1994
Dear Robb,
Hey, How's it? Did you move away from your "slob" roommate! :) Even though I just wrote I must write again. As Thanksgiving and Christmas draw near I thought there might be thoughts about sending a package. So I figured I would send you my wish list, seeing as your the only one who talks to everyone! Sorry. Please note, I'm not asking for a package. But if people are gonna send me stuff, I'd like to indicate what I would enjoy.

Both Tori Amos Tapes
* D batteries
AA batteries
Madonna wall calendar
* Size 8 1/2-9 Tevas (sandals) (all my sandals died, I wear flip flops)
Nestles Quick
Blue Sticky Tac (to stick things on the wall)
Crystal Lite (not lemonade)
Less important good photo album

Anyways, I'm doing all right. I'm not rabid. But I am sweating! I'm supervising 6th grade study right now (8 kids). And like typical kids they weren't doing they're work until I said the first done would get Mente Fingo (black mints). Now they work like fiends! Bribery! Bribery and Beatings are what work here!

Like I told Mom, I killed a chicken yesterday (photos to follow.) I sliced the neck open, plucked, cleaned, cooked and ate it!

What else to say, my love life is stagnant, me and Eric are well, not. I sent Peg a Newsweek article listing Best/Worst countries. Gambia is on the bottom 9 in all categories (Life expectancy 44.0/ Adult literacy rate 27.2%/ # of Mean School Years .6) It is below Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Somalia!

I named my kittens Poopsy, Fatou, and Lamin. "Lamin" is like "john: in America only 10 times more prevalent. "Fatou" is the girl version. In any given class there are 7 Lamins. Often with the same last name. I have many Fatou Jenneh's and Lamin Jemmeh's. They go by Fatou Jemmeh "A" and "B".

I've sent some pictures to Mom, Dad, and Peg. Like my potty (kammo). Funny note: Peg wrote me "Have you learned Mandika (the language) yet?" Like I didn't know Mandinka is the language! She actually added the parenthesis! Gotta Go! Wish you were here. Or wish I was rich and there.

Love,
Wendy
P.S. I sent this to Mom's address because you might move and I figure it will get there for Christmas Break (Thanksgiving?)

Nov 8, 1994

Hey Peg!
I was about to write one of the people who have never written back but then, hah... I like writing you. You write back! I hope you get all my letters. I don't always put the rite postage and I put things in though I'm not supposed to!

Hmm, well my kittens Lamin, Fatou, and Poopsy are still alive. (I'm shocked) and Bill's are dead. (The rabies thing). Me and Eric are through. I told him about me and Jason & Me and Abhijit. I'm in a tentative relationship with Abhijit but he wants to stop sex until we are "sure" of this relationship. Why must men be so difficult?!

On the work front I am starting to develop ideas and plans for my center. I went to (Check your map) Nema, Kwinella (Both near Soma) and finally to a center in Brikama Baa (Near Georgetown). Things are going OK except I keep feeling Headmaster and Bill are disappointed in me. Which is It is the same insecurity that causes me to quit everything!

(Did you REALLY think I'd last this long?!) Did I tell you of my summer plans to fly to Casablanca from Drakkar (Senegal)? I'm trying to save money. It's not easy. Maybe ... I don't know.

So I got back from Brikama Baa this morning. (Found out Jason was with AT LEAST 2 other girls)! Anyways, Tomorrow and Thurs I check out my other schools. Plus talk to the mason about a cement bathing pad and patio. Then Thursday off to Brikama (near Sarakunda). I will spend one night with Abby (Abhijit) in Farafini then the weekend with Scott D.

I gotta go to my 6th grade tutorial now. Then bathe before the sun goes down. I get mail this weekend and rumor has it I have quite a few letters in my box. I KNOW one is from you! Thanks for being a great friend! (Speaking of great ends, I sent my brother my X-mass list. Hey, I think I already told you that!)
take care
Wendy

Nov 14, 1994
Hello my dear little best friend,
You got me on a good day! Lucky you! (even though you letter was all crabbiness!) I can't tell you how hard I laughed at "they cowed out, they told me that foreigners get kidnapped and forced into white slavery." Oh my God. I laughed my ass off! My friends all told me to write back "Actually, yes. I am writing from my cell. My captors have told me if I get you to come they'll let me go." :)

Actually, Your parents have mistaken that rumor. That rumor belongs in North Africa not West Africa. I have been warned about that when I say I want to visit Iran, etc...

The truth is that the Gambia is a place where white women come to buy claves (sex slaves that is). You see these old or ugly white chicks everywhere. They either have an escort for their vacation (the man gets fancy dinners, clothes, gifts like Walkmans, etc...) or she actually takes him back to Europe. The men clamor to the beaches and hotels hoping to be chosen. So, you have nothing to fear (in that department). However I would advise (not like you would anyway) not to visit yet. The political state here is as shaky as ever. The day I received your letter there had been a counter-coup. 9 dead. I did not even know about it and was on a bus headed to the heart of it. We were stopped so many times! They made everyone get off the bus (but me, whites are sacred here). They searched bags, etc...

Me, not knowing about the counter coup, was pissed off. I couldn't believe I was being detained for so long. So when I found out! Well, I was a tad surprised! But there are still tons of tourists! This is a totally internal conflict. No one is bothering the strangers.

So, why am I in a great mood you ask? Well, 3 REASONS.
1st is I thought I left my checkbook in my Down Country House, came all the way down here with no money and my book wasn't there. I'd lost my book. i was screwed and had visions of someone finding it and taking all my dalasi. So I went to the office and it was a fucking holiday! (It is always a holiday. The office is closed on U.S., Gambian, Christian, and Muslim holidays. So it was Veteran's Day in the USA. So I slip Sainbou the accountant a note and realize I can not go home until Tuesday because I can't get home without money for the bus. Then I got back to the office and to the house and there was the checkbook. I had overlooked it (But it is too late to leave until tomorrow!)

the 2nd, most major reason is... I got on the scale. I'm at 180! That is down 33 lbs from when I left the USA. I don't remember the last time I weighed 180! I think I weighed 173 on the NurtiSystem and I looked pretty good that year. So I am close!

3rd is my relationship with Abhijit is starting to really come together. I saw him Thurs nite/Fri morning and we had some great moments including lovey-dovey kisses goodbye! That's why I want to get out of here and return up country. I will spend the nite there before returning to Illiasa.

So things are good.

Nov 16

Hello, So I am at school rite now. We have 7 teachers (6 grades + one Arabic teacher) Plus Principal (Master) and Deputy Master.
3 teachers, & the Headmaster did not show. (One of the 3 just came late). So I am teaching grade 5 off the top of my head. Factors and Prime factors.

This teacher is not here, his oldest child, a boy, died of malaria yesterday. Also the grade 4 teacher is out with malaria. This is the 4th child death I have known about since I arrived. I think all from malaria.

On a lighter note, Abhijit & I had a great nite/day. Lot's of holding, kissing, cuddling. For hours! (Did I mention how large he is in bed. Practically painful sex. but better large than small!) He asked me out on a date Thanksgiving weekend, down country. Everyone will be there. This is his way of "telling" everyone. I am so excited. He is taking me to an "All you can eat" Thai buffet. It is 100D a person. It is the most expensive meal in the country. (Except for the tourist traps). I've told my mom he's Indian. Can't wait to hear her reaction.

He reminds me of you a lot. Keeps his place neat and organized. Always harping about crumbs, dirty hands, etc... I told him he reminded me of you. He asked for your phone #. (I hit him).

So how's Barry? Ever go to the Derb? Going to school?

And my Bill, says he thinks I have a worm on my calf. It just looks like a scabbing burn (But when did I burn my calf?) And is has been there for more than a week and it is getting bigger. I'm kinda freaked but can't go to the clinic for more than one week.

God I'm hungry. Guess I'll eat pasta for lunch. I've been moowing (eating a lot) since I weighed 180. Some kinda mental trigger?

Anyways, I gotta go. They are finishing up their assignment. Oh yeah! I'm including the stats about Gambia. Can you believe we're lower than Ethiopia, Rwanda and Somalia!?

Love
Wendy

Nov 14, 1994
Hey Mom,
Got your Thanksgiving card. Sorry about the '95 tags. I told Dad not to pay it. But I guess he just wanted to bug you.

Thanks for the sauce mixes and the students loved the stickers. Peggy sent some sauce mixes too. It became immediately handy. I am down country with no money until tomorrow. Luckily I found pasta, butter and powdered milk. So I made the alfredo. I ate the entire thing myself. I took in more calories at that one meal then I usually do in 4 days! (I'm down 33 lbs. so far).

There is a photo of my new boyfriend on this role. He is standing and his left arm is around Amy. They are standing in front of a river. His name is Abby. He was an electrical engineer for the military before Peace Corps. When he gets out he plans to get his MBA at an Ivy League School. He has a sister Robb's age.

I ended it with Eric on Halloween but we are still good friends. He is coming to see my site before Thanksgiving and we will travel Down Country together. We are on the mashed potato committee! (With Jean, her boyfriend Ted and Andy). I should be fun.

The photos of my friends standing alone are shots of them and there homes. Jason, 2 of Sharon (one inside/ one out), and Scott. I am known as the Peace Corps who is always traveling! I have visited more sites then anyone else!

Oh yeah! I heard about the 2 little boys that were car-jacked the last week in October (somewhere in the south). There was a nation wide search... whatever happened to them?

Nov 16 (Wed)


So, I'm back at site. (I was Down Country). I'm sitting in my resource center with much to do. But I can't do much without scissors. We have one pair but I don't know where they are. I must wait for my counter part to get here. I am happy that I have enough programs to last me though the year.

By the way, I sent Robb my X-mass list. I f not too late, forget the chocolate powder. And add flea collars and flea )spray? powder?) My cats are infested and my ankles have been devoured!

I don't have much to add. Mail run still didn't bring my gas. I have only been able to cook on Bill's, not at my home, because they won't bring me my gas! Today my backyard is supposed to get cemented. I will have a porch, walkway to my bathing pad and blocks to build shelves. Eric is supposed to visit in one week and I'd like things a little nicer.

Abhijit and I are better then ever. He asked me out on a dinner date, Thanksgiving weekend Down Country. Everyone will know we will become "official". He is taking me to "all you can eat" Thai food. It is 100D a plate. It is the most expensive place I've ever heard of in The Gambia. I'm very excited.

Well, the bell has rung. I found the scissors. The children are here but we are missing 2 teachers and a headmaster. The one teacher will probably not come. Yesterday, while he was teaching, they came to tell him his baby had died. (2 week old boy). It is the 4th death I have "seen". (Not actually seen but... you know). They have all been children under 12.

So I end the letter here except to say this:
I know you don't want me to date a black man but we never talked about Chinese, Indian, Mexican, etc. I assume Mexican would be bad but Abhijit has a college degree with a large bank account back home. He worked for the department of defense and plans to get his masters at on of the "Top 5" schools. He will pay for it himself. And he's Indian (from India). Is that OK? I hope it is but I'm not too worried about it. 2 years is a long time. If we last 2 years I will worry about it then.

OK, I gotta go, I'll try to fill up the back side before I mail this off
Love
Wendy

Nov 16, 1994
Dear Dad,
How's it? I'm sitting on Bill's bungo waiting for dinner. It will be rice and domada (peanut sauce) like it is every night. But Bill told me he bought goat meat off my "dad" today, which means we will both get some in our bowls. (I hope!)

Schools coming along. I have plans and projects in the works and will be very busy till school let's out.

I really want to take a trip this summer. To fly from Dakar to Casablanca. But I doubt I'll have the money by then. I plan on pricing tickets over Christmas anyway.

I hope we're still here in 2 years. The political system situation gets worse and worse. There was a counter-coup Friday. And various accounts of the # of dead. Plus cholera has broken out here. We have a meeting Sunday after Thanksgiving to advise us of the situation. I say there is a 35% chance I'll be moved to another country.

Which would bum me out! I have a boyfriend here named Abby. He was an electrical engineer for the Department of Defense before coming here. He has a sizable bank account back home and plans on getting his MBA from one of the Top 5 schools. He will pay for it himself.

So things are comfortable. He is only 30 minutes from me. If we got sent to different countries I'd be very bummed.
>
LATER...

So, I ate dinner, there was goat. I gave the stomach to the cats. 2 of them eat solid food now. There was also 1.2 an eggplant! Your letter says you hope I get the Crystal Lite before Christmas. Do you mean the 1st box or have you sent a second?

I will probably call your house the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Abby's taking me out on a date to make us "official". He is taking me to an "All you can eat" Thai restaurant. It is 100D a person. I don't know any restaurant more expensive! I will call... hmmm... when I get in. Around 8pm your time.
(Hey! You're going to get this letter around Christmas, way past Thanksgiving! Oh well.)

By the way, I gave Robb my X-mass list. If you're interested.

Today the mason worked on my backyard. I now have a bathing pad, walkway and porch. (Back porch). But, I looked at it before going to bed and I see a goat walked over my walkway! Man!

Oh well. That's how things go here! Well, I gotta go. I'm tired. Did I tell you I'm on the mashed potato committee for Thanksgiving? It should be fun!

I will talk to you then. (Did you ever get that roll of film?)

Love
Wendy
PS I got ringworm on my leg! Yuck! It's gross and it itches!

Nov 18, 1994 Fri Nite
Peg,
I write you even though I've already written you and I have not answered 5 other people yet! But I feel like I haven't "talked" to you in a wile so... here I am!

Let's see. First off I have ringworm. Got it from my cats. I am actually dealing a lot better then I would expect from myself. Tonight I am leaving the screen door open. There is a hole in the corrinting door. I'm hoping the kittens go out and nothing comes in. But it will be a restless night waiting to find out.

I was thinking of the little things that make me happy and how I get upset over little things. Then I realized this type of lie is only little things. I was in a great mood because they've cleared all the undergrowth from all the paths I use. It's just so convenient! I walk every day and night and I'm always worried about snakes & scorpions, and other things. Now! No Worries! Plus I now have cement bathing pad, patio, and walkway. (I had to totally stop for a moment! Something was pushing at the hole in the door! But it was a kitten! Yeah... tomorrow I'll make the hole bigger).
Anyways, by the end of next week I'll have curtains, a walled front porch (walled to waist/chest level), and shelves! SO things are good. (Plus Abhijit)

But ringworm bums me out, plus the kid who stays in my house to take care of my cats, went into my security chest, ran down my batteries, took all my hair ties, opened the Kool-Aid and who knows what else? So that bums me out.

Most important (I guess) is my total obsession with my weight. I'm almost willing to admit it's getting out of hand. But the more I lose, the more I want to lose. I am already panicked about returning to the states. I know I will automatically gain 10lbs. But I don't want to and I worry about gaining more. Today I had:
4 spoonfuls of porridge
(8:30 am) 1/2 cup boiled fish & 3/4 cup rice and peanut sauce (12 pm) 1 boiled eggplant and 1/4 cup fish (boiled) (8:30 pm)
and I berate myself for eating lunch!

Abhijit is totally fed up with weight talk. But I get worse every day. I love only being able to weigh 1-2 times a month. But it's all I think about. Anyways, gotta go. (God my ringworm itches!)

Oh yeah, I'm also mad the cats pissed on my shoes and mat! They go wherever they fuckin please!

Gotta go! Happy Holidays (stop by my mom's and ask her to bring the pictures up to Auburn!) You can see skinny me and my kittens!

Love,

Wendy

Nov 24, 1994 - Mailed Dec 10

Peg,

Hey! Today is Turkey Day! So happy Thanksgiving. I have come Down Country for the holidays and I got your letter you wrote on Halloween!

So, well yes & no: to your question am I afraid of snakes and other creatures. However, I am happy not that it is the dry season all the vegetation is drying up & dying. So the path I walk to Bill's has been all cleared. I am no longer afraid! I haven't really been scared inside my new house.

teaching? I am supposed to teach one girls class a week plus 2 tutoring sessions (for grade 6). But I haven't lately. I can't believe I've reached Dec. without long hard work! How long can I stretch it?!

Language? Well, it's weird but most of my conversations with people are with people I am just meeting. SO it is always the same conversation. My name, where I'm from, "Oh, you speak Mandinka!" SO I speak these conversations fine. But not much else. I probably have a 100 word vocabulary. It's just the right words. (I want, Where is, What is, I am leaving...) oh yeah (Are you laughing at me? and Don't get me upset.) :)

Like I've said before the animals & bugs are no big deal. They are not a reason not to come. Besides if you come, we'd only spend 1-2 days out in the bush. But I wouldn't have anyone come now because of the political situation. We'll see in a year. AND I told you I want to fly to Casablanca.

Are the Gambians nice? Yes. Some things get annoying. Like getting hit on by EVERY man. Not because of ME but because I am white. And kids always say "Give me, Give me one pen, one dalasi." AHhh! But in my own village they don't always do this.

But Gambians are very social and always want to sit and chat. They don't believe in alone time. What bugs me the most is my family is always asking me for shit. To buy them stuff or give them my stuff. BUT I have to remember, they ask everyone, even each other, for stuff. This is a SHARING culture. I shouldn't take it so personally.

Peace Corps people have to make friends with Gambians because MOST of us are in villages and the only tobab (white person) there. I am lucky to have Bill and I do spend most of my free time with Bill.

Sorry about your Dad's truck. I thought Concord was safe. Hope he was insured. What's he doing with that land anyway?

I can't believe Bill is student teaching. I can't see him running a class. Does he hate it? Man I haven't seen him in SO long.

And I appreciate they Reader's Digest. If Kellie gets Cosmo, just send me :The Bachelor of the Month". I keep writing them but they never reply :( :)

So, what's a bathing pad? It's just a Big slab of cement in my backyard. Every day my mother brings a big bucket of water from the pump on her head. I pour half into my drinking container and 1/2 of it into my large pail. I carry the pail out to the cement slab. I scoop water out of it with a big cup and dump it over my head! Hence, a bucket bath on a bathing pad.

Regarding chocolate making the trip. Abhijit got a bag of Hershey miniatures in a cookie tin and they were fine. (from Israel) Jason got 20 reecees peanut butter cups in a yellow envelop from the states. They melted but he didn't car. Ate all of them! Basically, if you send chocolate (reecees sounds GOOD) just incase it in Ziploc! Who cares if it melts! :) I'll eat it! :)

So, this is the 3rd letter you should have gotten today. I sent 3 out today. Since letter 2 I have lost 6 more lbs. I weigh 174. That's 39 lbs. gone. I wear 14 dress pants and I can SQUEEZE into 12 jeans. I thought If I got down this far I'd be smaller. Oh well, I'm obsessed and plan on losing lots more. Until I wear a loose 10.

Abhijit is good. Only he says I just want him for sex. He wants me to prove I care about him by sleeping in separate beds until Jan 1, 1995! Dumb! He will be down here tomorrow. I miss him. (I saw him 2 nites ago) :)

Last nite I had a dream I was here for 1 year and went home for a visit. Of course you were there! And I got to pack a huge bag of shit to bring back with me!

I also had a nitemare. Which to make a long story short, ends up with me getting raped. I knew it was happening and when I finally (in my dream) rolled toward the man (I was laying in bed) I felt pressure on my face. Like he sat on it or was smothering me. I could FEEL the pressing on my lips, nose, and eyes. My ears were ringing. And my mind screamed "NO!" like in the movies. Then I thought I'd talk my way out of it. I tried to way "Wait" but my mouth was covered and my ears were ringing. Then my mind said "Just go limp and relax. It won't hurt as bad". And I awoke.

So I guess I wouldn't fight off an attacker. I'm a little disappointed in myself. Ahh well.

SO I end it here!

I gotta go potty!

I love you too!

Turkey Day

Hey Mom!

I talked to you yesterday! But let me answer the questions from your letter. Yes, Eric likes his site. his house is a hovel but he is in the process of building a new one. he is Down Country rite now. Over at another house but he’ll have dinner here. We are making spaghetti. Larry has already been here over a year. His house is supposedly one of the best. Me? I really like my site and I'm happy to be only 1 hr bike or 35 min car ride from Abhijit.

Yes mom, people get married over here. Do you mean Gambians or Peace Corps? But yes, anyone can marry anyone!

I know I told Mr. Brown on the phone I got ring worm. Well I was just diagnosed with hook worm too!

Nov 27, 1994

Hey, it's Sunday. Yesterday was our Thanksgiving. The food was great. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, French apple pie! Yum!

Today we are having a meeting about the political & medical situation here. Then Abhijit is taking me out to eat at the Clay Oven. It is a real fancy Indian restaurant. Tomorrow I will work in the office making dittos. I am making a card catalog for the library. Kirsten is showing me how to ditto off title cards. Filling them out for 3000 books should take some time!




December 1994

October 1994

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