Letter to Karen, dated August 29th [letter opens with illustrated discussion of toilets in Kazakstan. Trust me, it's bad! ed.] I have your letter of July 15th, and I think that there is another one, but I can't find it right now. Since you will read the Mondo letters that Mom gets (e-mail or websites - aren't we geeks?), I'm not going to write much that I already have(?) You'd love the fashions here: sort of an ethnic, Goodwill clash of colors and fabrics. Some of the older Kazak men and women are beautifully dressed: head scarves, little round skull caps, pointy toed boots. However, the younger generations are all dressed in fake Adidas sweatpants and these DUMB newspaper and magazine cover print shirts. Unfortunately Western "fashion" and consumer products are becoming more popular, are more than likely to bring them to our standards -- shudder... Again it's that tough position of me wanting them to keep their culture and traditions intact and them wanting the luxuries and ease of life. I suppose that I can feel this way because I already have it. Their economy is shit right now, so who can blame them for wanting more? Paul, our temporary room mate, had a telling comment as we were taking the trash out to the dumpster. We were looking at the general state of disrepair of buildings, roads, utilities, etc., and he said, "We were scared of this? This is the country that we hid from under our desks?" Being here really shows that it was an artificially maintained country -- they forced it to work at great costs that are now being paid. Also they spent most of their money on defense while asking people to sacrifice for the motherland. It's very hard here in Kazakstan, and there are no easy answers. People want easy answers and to be told what to do (good old Soviet mentality). It is rare to find someone who will think on their feet or "just do it!" - I love Nike... Well enough boring news! Good job on the play; I'd like to see it. Kick Fitz's ass for me -- we miss him SO much -- any stray cat makes us babble and drool. Keep writing us -- it's nice to hear from home. Love, Rich