Hi! Things are fine here. We have a new flat - cozy and downtown. We also have cockroaches, but the company is nice. Hope this finds you well. Iım attaching an email for my friend Pete Roffers. The email address I have for him doesn't seem to be working, so I thought Iıd send it through you. Could you zip it off to him for me? or Mike McDowwell may also have it. We miss you loads! Take care, J. P.s. please also inform him that his package of tapes and kool-aid arrived safely and is being thoroughly enjoyed by his eternally grateful international friends. Dear Pedro, 9/29 Iıve decided to drop you a line since Iıve got the time and our email is back up. Itıs time to celebrate!! The past week has been mad with preparations for a WID seminar we will hold here on Friday and Saturday. Iım a little nervous, as Iıve never done anything like this here before. In the States it was a bit of old hat, but here the rules are a little different, and none of it is in my native language. However, patting myself on the back, I just completed dinner arrangements for Saturday nights, including a feast, all on my own - no translator. Certainly, my grammar was less than perfect, but my vocabulary was right on. There were only a couple words I didnıt understand, but we found synonyms. Fantastic. I take consolation in the fact that my English was similar during my younger years. The seminar is the first of its kind to be held in this neck of the woods as far as I know. Weıre pulling in a wide variety of women from government, various ngoıs, university students, business women, established and up and coming, as well as a couple from a village not far from here. Iım sort of in charge of the whole shebang from food to translation to transportation. Itıs been interesting. Iıve had lots of help from my fellow PCVıs and the UNVıs here. What a good bunch. We plan to cover lots of different topics to see what the women are interested in, and then plan future conferences around that information. The original seed for this kind of conference was planted back in June when Mike Stewart, the advisor for WID, announced that 6,000$ were available in our budget and did we want to use them. I, of course, said yes. If we donıt use it, we may never get it again according to government logic. (Nice room for growth and change, I say.) At first we were going to have another big conference in Almaty, but it was decided there wasnıt enough time for planning and organizing. So I said (yes, Iım taking credit) why not have site conferences in order to do a grassroots kind of movement all over Kaz. I thought it might appeal to Washington, and also it would get the word out to women who canıt travel to Almaty due to financial, family, health, or work related issues. If itıs local, they have a better chance of joining on and learning whatıs happening. It was agreed, and now there are nine such conferences as mine taking place in Kazakstan this weekend. Each will have slightly different theme. My dream, of course, is that the women who meet here will tell their friends, begin to believe in themselves as being able to work for change, and begin slowly but surely to work for that positive change in their own lives and communities. Jami, fellow PCV and Co-President of WID with me, is taking more of a business slant whereas Iım more community focused. but I feel that many of the same principles apply to (to some degree) to both. I especially worry about pushing business on these people after a really interesting article I read in our latest Newsweek. It talked about the current collapse of the assorted economies in the world, and said that trying to push a market economy on cultures that didnıt have some of the qualities that provide the stable foundation necessary was part of the reason for the current collapse. For example, corruption and cronyism ranked high in countries like Indonesia and Thailand that just a short time ago were doing extremely well and looked like anything. Other news...Iıve been running like a madwoman. My regular run is up to 50 minutes, and Iım pushing for an hour. Iım hoping to run a marathon in spring, or at least the 10k portion of it. I really enjoy it, and Paul has been a great help and inspiration. Heıs a patient yet persistent coach. He only vaguely yelled at me once, and that was during intervals and I deserved it. Iım looking forward to running at home. Iım also thinking about running a race in every country we stop in on the way home. I thought it might be a good goal, and if I could entice a running mag with potential articles or photos wouldnıt that be a nice bonus? Speaking of which, could you dig up an e-mail address for running magazine or the like? if not, no worries. Well, weıve completed the first day of the infamous conference. Iım really in no condition to discuss it much, as Iım exhausted and frustrated. My objectivity is shot. It felt good once it started, but then the woman we asked to translate began to get flustered, and I could have done a better job blundering through in my Russian. Then the women in the group seemed unresponsive at times, which makes an interactive atmosphere a little difficult. Then the women seemed bored, which means that the excitement level dropped considerably. Then the conversation turned into an argument and one woman tried to sell her vitamin-selling pyramid scheme to the group. ugh. I felt the opposing culture wave hit, and then felt the undertow at my feet. Not to mention Iım way pooped and so not such a great speaker, and I find my fellow PCV somewhat exaasperating at times. perhaps Iım a bit too competitive and my frustration stems from not having full control, etc., over a situation. I donıt know. OK. Iım frustrated and it shows. The Australian couple from Kazalinsk have arrived, and Jen was talking about heading home in four months. I just about cried. All I could think of was warmth, conveniences, cleanliness, ease of language, and getting my life back in order. wah! I wonıt even go into the discussion on coffee shops that ensued shortly thereafter. Hereıs a good one for you. I asked the women today to tell me some bad things about computers. they said the radiation from the monitor was bad, could cause blindness and deformities in unborn and young children. Not to mention a womanıs breast milk will dry up. I promptly said that I was no doctor, but that thousands of women I knew, many of them my co-workers and friends, had been pregnant and practically given birth and breast fed at a computer, and all of them were perfectly fine and healthy. I wanted to say that I didnıt think they was any uranium in the computer, as opposed to that in the local water supply (I donıt know that last for sure, of course), but held off. Good grief. .. . . Well, hereıs some more news. We moved on Sunday, Itıs a nice flat - two bedrooms, sunny, and furnished. Iım happy except for the cockroaches and the lack of electricity and an electrician to fix the problem. I got so angry today that I threw something at Richard. Iım a little concerned at my show of temper, etc. I only threw a space blanket. itıs so frustrating to be without this major utility for the third day in a row, and no one seems able to solve it. R seems uninterested in solving it and unconcerned. He just wants to play basketball and laze around. Of course, I still love him and all that, but sometimes I find my husband the most irritating person on the planet. Heıs only interested in socializing, particularly now that weıve moved to the center of town and everyone is so close. He constantly wants to have people in, go to their houses, hang out, and what-not. All I want to do at this point in my life is get our electricity.. . . [transmission cut off]