How are you?  I am doing well, but this week has been tough for me.  Sometimes I get the feeling here that I am not wanted or not liked & that can be hard to take.  The other day the pharmacist at the hospital had a baby so I went out and bought her baby a dress.  The matron saw me give a dress & told me my present was not good enough.  She said, “you are American, you should buy five dresses, you are rich”.  I was so excited about my gift & I was excited when my friend was so happy to get it that it hurt a lot when the other woman said that right in front of my friend.  There’s another lady too who is the wife of my supervisor who often says things just to hurt me like “I hate white people” “I love Bin Laden.  He did nothing wrong, Americans kill people all the time, we deserve it.  He is a true Muslim.”  These are just small examples & they seem petty when I write them down but even the small things become hard when you are faced with them several times a day.  It makes me really appreciate America & makes me realize how much we take for granted.  I just keep reminding myself to be strong, that the first year is the hardest, and that I just need to be patient.  I am making friends.  I have two or three people in my village who are really nice & always happy to see me.  I’ve been teaching school & I take a lot of pride in that.  I feel like if my students grasp the information I teach (especially the health information) their lives may be drastically improved or at least they will have the knowledge to improve the health of their families & themselves.  I also see it as an outlet for proving myself here.  The other day, one of the health workers came and watched my class.  I was excited because if he sees what I know & what I can do he will tell others & possibly people will begin telling me what other kinds of projects may be helpful for the village.  In the meantime, I look forward to teaching, enjoying getting mail, take pride in simple things (cleaning my house, pulling my water, cooking my favorite foods, seeing other Americans, & the little achievements or goods accomplished.  The biggest lesson I have learned is to take things day by day, one day can be horrible here & the next wonderful. . . “the sun always rises in the morning.”  I have accomplished a lot of firsts here. . . I own my own house, I manage my own money, I do all of my own shopping, cooking & cleaning (except my clothes.  Molians are just good at that), I have a respectable job, & I am learning to appreciate my own culture while living in another.  Finally, I speak two languages besides my native language.  Anyways, that is all for now.  I do miss you guys & think of you often.  Tell Lonnie I still run here (three times a week) & I pretend he is running with me when I do in hopes he is still running at home.  Other thoughts – Dark Angel comes on Friday nights on Fox.  Please record it. . .
I look forward to hearing from you all soon.  I expect mail from Lonnie in the near future.  Ruben said he got his present . . did you get yours.  I hope you liked it.  Did you give an ornament to the Grover’s?  What did they say?  How are the kids?  Tell Mindy Hi, give her a hug & kiss for me (& a breath mint).   OK, I gotta go.  Write soon.

Love Always,
Pattie