6/26/97 Dear Mom, The week is nearly done and I realize I have not sent you a word. At least, not that I recall. We are in the process of preparing for a short camping trip to the Tien Shan. There must be at least 25 or so going from our group. I am a little leery of trudging up to 10,000 feet, but it should be fine. As Richard pointed out, we have the right equipment in case anything goes wrong, i.e. snow, so we should be fine. It will be my biggest adventure yet. Last weekend took us out on Lake Kapchagai both days. Saturday, after Kazak language class and a practice run at the bazaar where I bought a great straw hat, we all piled onto a boat and headed out for an afternoon on the lake. Buses took us out to a beach where we swam briefly, and then the boat picked us up. The boat essentially grounded itself, and then the two crew members held a plank in place, from shore to prow, that we used for boarding. The boat was nothing fancy, but pleasant. We ate the famous Kapchagai fish -cockteal-grilled slowly and served with tomatoes, onions, dill and mayonnaise spread over the top. One half is big enough to feed four people. The rest of the afternoon was spent cruising around and swimming. Apparently we passed the President's dacha, a pretty large building even by our standards. Here, like in America, the money doesn't always make it down very far. On Sunday we went with Larissa, her brother Sasha, Anton, her niece Marina, and the dog Grom, out to a different beach with Sasha's boat. We packed a huge picnic lunch, and piled into the jeep and boat and headed out. Grom sat in front, of course. The beach was a long way out on the highway. We went over the dam which helped the lake to form and kept going. The most interesting thing we passed were policemen standing on both sides of the road, about 100 feet apart. It must have been well over 100F, and there they stood with no shelter. They were waiting for the president to drive by on his way from Almaty to his dacha. What happens is the highway is cleared of all other traffic, and then the vehicles affiliated with the president speed past. Interesting. Once at the beach we set up camp with a tarp over the jeep and ourselves to create a kind of shade. Then Larissa spread a blanket underneath and we were ready to swim, eat, nap and relax. I spent most of the time playing with marina, the niece. She wants to practice English, and she's been a little bit bored. So we built sand castles, played tag, cards, and swam. it was a really lovely day. Training is going fine, although the long days and the heat are beginning to wear on everyone. We only have a handful of fans and the days usually climb to 10F and more. I don't think I have ever sweat to much in my life. We have to keep drinking water just so we don't evaporate. Our language classes have switched to Russian which makes us much happier. However, Russian grammar is extraordinarily complicated; to every noun, verb, adjective you name, there is an ending that varies from situation to situation. We do feel more confident speaking with our family. I will write when we get back and fill you in on our trip to the mountains. Also, can you look in my black briefcase and find the address of my doctor in Madison The Peace Corps needs to know whether or not I had a tetanus shot from her. You have my permission to get whatever records or documents are necessary. Show them this letter if necessary. I can also write to request the information directly, if necessary, and if I have the address. And did Claudia mention the deferment forms to you? And, know that I miss you very much. I hope this finds you and Cloudy happy, healthy and safe. Write soon! Love always, Joan