January 5, 1980

Dear Mom and Dad,

It's hard to say which is the greater success-the walkie-talkies or "Clementine." In any case Janet and John were thrilled beyond description. It's true "Clementine's" wardrobe was discovered before Christmas because of Janet's early birthday-the net result being that J.C. put two and two together and could scarcely contain her excitement Christmas day. She was overjoyed-wish you could have seen her face. It's easy to tell where John is these days since he buzzes and beeps wherever he goes. The battery tester is a great idea except that he takes the batteries out of everything to test them! They really had a wonderful day-in fact I've never seen the children as cute as they were this Christmas-or as involved. John memorized dozens of carols by heart and sang them for days-and he was a shepherd in his school Christmas pageant-Janet up to her neck in parties and concerts too. Janet still believes in Santa Claus-I suppose living in Muslim countries we get a little more mileage out of him!

Our tree was really cute (flown in from who knows where!). I ordered it ages ago and the Bahraini lights at least lasted through Christmas day before they went on the fritz.

Thank you so much for my blouse (wore it out to diner night before last). It fits perfectly and I love it. Peter was thrilled with his cotton sport shirts-it's chilly now but he'll soon live in them. He needed some. When the weather was hot we changed our clothes three or four times a day. I wouldn't have believed it was that necessary-but it is. Anything but cotton is unbearable-and in time you get used to looking soaked and wrinkled! Now I'm plugging in little space heaters in the evenings since only a few houses in Bahrain have heat. We've had rain too which makes an unholy muddy mess but it does clean off the plants and trees.

Peter is in Saudi now-his first trip-I imagine our little palm garden will look good to him when he gets back-it will be interesting to hear what he has to say in four days' time. He's been trying to get there for some time but with Ashura, the embassy crises and Christmas it's been difficult.

American embassy dependents are still away and it's so sad. We see Bob Pelletreau often and he plainly misses his family (Pam and children in Athens)-we were at the same New Year's Eve party. Those banks that did send people out have them all back now. Schools are opening this week after the holidays-and I know J and J are ready to go back. We'll take them out again for a little while next month when we take our first Rand R. We finally settled on India-Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. It's frustrating because it's so vast and we won't even scratch the surface. I remember we drove ourselves crazy in Turkey. To get in the mood I've decided to start "The Far Pavilions" while Pis away. I know you've read it.

Between now and then however we have Chemical people arriving which means more entertaining-specifically cooking. That's easy enough with Frieda to do all the other things but I sometimes think I'm running a small catering business. We've had a dinner party once a week ever since we've been in the house. I have 6-10 people down to a science. Of course the food shopping is staggering-that's why the people in the central market love me so much no doubt. All of these people love to talk politics over their vegetable stalls and wind up shaking their heads and saying Iran is ruined which leads me to believe they aren't going to jump on Khomeini's bandwagon overnight. In any case it's good to get out and mingle since it puts things into perspective. I met an awfully nice Iranian who has an art gallery at a party recently so I hauled all my smashed pictures over to him to be repaired today. I've been waiting to get to know somebody personally and that way, with a little good luck, they'll be done properly.

Having the children home for a prolonged period over the holidays has been fascinating. John has started a jogging regimen (sprints around the neighborhood faithfully every day), has turned out to be a sharp game player (I've taught him checkers) and has become deeply involved with religion-i.e. wants his questions answered by direct quotations from the Bible-which I do. I suppose it balances the technical side of his mind. Janet has taken up needlepoint (thanks to Frieda) and mahjong. Are you amazed? I am! She's really quite something. Sadly, the other day she saw a child hit by a truck when she was riding in a car with a friend and the friend's mother driving. She was terribly upset about the children and almost as upset because as she said, "Mommy, Charlotte (friend) just forgot about it when we got home. I just don't understand how we could be so different." J's a very grown-up eight-I mended a whole pile of doll clothes while Janet got it all off her chest. She's fine now-but currently concerned the Japanese are taking over everything. Again to quote, "Mommy, everything you see is made there."

Well, you wanted news of the children!

Miss you very much and much love, Carol

P.S. So sorry! Forgot to mention the savings bonds for the children. We're always so pleased to have them for J and J-it's wonderful of you to do it for them each Christmas and birthday!

January 5, 1980

I hope you get a happy Christmas. Thank you for the walkie-talkies. Dear Granny, I miss you very much. I have gold stars at school.

Love, John

January 5, 1980

To Granny,

I miss you very much. Thank you very much for the doll. She is pretty. I like her very much. I hope you had a very nice Christmas. I had a very nice Christmas. I got some tape for Christmas with flowers all over it and it is pink. My birthday was on the 19th of December. So I knew I was going to get a doll for Christmas.

The clothes did not fit Sweet (Tears) and Mommy said use them after Christmas. So then I knew I was going to get a doll for Christmas.

At school I had to go to a church to sing Christmas carols at the church.

Love Janet

hugs and xxxx's

February 10, 1980

Dear Mom and Dad,

We're now on our 5th day in India and it is what you might expect and totally surprising at the same time. It's really beautiful-and green-a visual feast of peacocks, parrots, monkeys, people with performing bears, snake charmers, tonga drivers and people selling flowers for offerings at Hindu temples. In the country you can see fields of yellow flowered mustard crops and cows really do have the run of the place-you even see them in the manicured parks and gardens of New Delhi. The children, of course, love it but they tired easily-not surprising when every sense is so thoroughly stimulated! The people's clothing is fascinating (or lack of it) and extremely colorful-Janet loves the saris--quite a change from Bahrain's black and white.

Indians, themselves are interesting--extremely curious-from the time we stepped off the plane in Delhi they've never stopped asking questions (or hustling for that matter!). They are also mentally regimented--everything must have a set plan (we are probably more sensitive to this coming from a Muslim country where nothing is definite-we've been saying en sha 'alla too long!). Indians are born bureaucrats I think (five-day snap decision). Anyway. none of the good old Irani--or for that matter, Bahraini flexibility. It thoroughly annoys Peter to sign a bill with five carbon copies.

We spent three days in Delhi which we thoroughly enjoyed. It's a city of red granite­ the government buildings really imposing with wide open avenues and parks (New Delhi)-it's also virtually deserted and a world apart from Old Delhi where most of the people live. There is some wonderful Islamic architecture my favorite being the Qutb Minar, an incredibly intricately carved tower 13th century. It is astounding. The carving and work everywhere is amazing.

In Agra we have been to see the Taj twice-and we'll go again today. I wondered if it would be a disappointment but it's hardly that! Most of the tourists at the Taj are Indians-they love it and even people barely covered with rags pay the admission-small as it is Your first glimpse is through a huge red granite gate-dome and exterior-it looks like the mass of white marble it is-but after you pass through and see the Taj in its entirety it seems as though it's been cut out of paper and that any moment it will waver and disappear. I've never seen anything like it in my life.

Agra has a wonderful red Fort-its palaces soar in the air. It makes me think of The Taj Pavilions with people getting pushed off the walls-I spend much of my time with one hand clamped on John. Janet is a goat.

We took the Taj express from Delhi to Agra (deluxe-reminiscent of the New Haven R.R> 50 years ago no doubt). It leaves Delhi at 7:00 AM-in time to watch I 00s of people talking their AM constitution in outlaying fields and for some reason on the track itself. Trainsmen delivered greasy omelets and tea while we watched this spectacle. The trip was fascinating as we passed through village after village-pigs (wild boar actually) happily roam around the villages and field after field full of peacocks. Nobody ever bothers the animals so even small birds and chipmunks will come and eat out of your hand-to John's delight. Village life is a pretty dusty unsanitary affair-however there is little-if any litter or garbage lying around. There is always someone to put it to use-in some way.

We drove out to Fatehpur Sikri today-a I 7th century deserted city. Although it's a Moghul Islamic city, the carvings are Hindu--extremely ornate. It's huge and it takes quite a long while to get around. In the city there is an enormous mosque where the locals sell absolutely everything and the hustling and begging is at its absolute worst. It made me pretty angry-sort of like seeing Burger King set up in a corner of the Vatican.

We have made friends with two really great tonga drivers and they pedal us everywhere.

They are so dignified and loyal that we will be sorry to say goodbye when we leave Agra for Jaipur.

Urdu has quite a bit of Persian and Arabic so it's easy to pick up bits and pieces of conversation and certainly easier to order Indian food-which is very good. At least things cooked in the tandoor oven (basically a clay pit) are excellent. The curries are hot so we avoid those. The bread (naan) is excellent as are the rice and vegetable combinations. They'll add another dimension to my cooking! As it is some of my dinner party menus are pretty strange­ but I'll stop short of a mutton grab.

I'll pick this up again when we get to Jaipur.

February 14. Happy Valentine's Day! We've now been in Jaipur (the pink city) for several days. Originally we had planned to fly but couldn't get it confirmed so we ended up going by car which was, in the end, great good luck. The countryside was fascinating-very lush and flat and strings of tiny towns which haven't changed for several hundred years. I don't have to tell you we were the objects of a great deal of curiosity! On the way we stopped in Bharatpur which has a bird sanctuary-it's dry now so there aren't quite so many varieties but still it was impressive and very beautiful. Actually the number of birds everywhere is phenomenal! They certainly fare better than any other living thing.

Eventually we reached Jaipur-the approach is very flat and arid till suddenly huge hills appear-you wonder how since they pop up out of an immense plain. In the hills lies Jaipur­ the old city a winding string of buildings with ornate (very Hindu) facades-then the city gate, lovely garden and palaces. The 500+ year-old city of Amber is high in the hills looking down on Jaipur. It's almost perfectly preserved-its palace enormous. J and J were intrigued with it as it has endless twisting corridors, stairs, rooms and the Maharajah's quarters are beautifully preserved. For hours they darted in and out of every nook and cranny. It's a feast for anyone with a lively imagination and certainly not lost on Janet! The highlight for John was the elephant ride to and from Amber-I loved it-and quite comfortable although a slow way to travel.

Today we explored more of Jaipur-the city palace-still in use and museum and gardens plus a little shopping. The shopping in India is literally an explosion of colored fabrics and trinkets of all sorts-all of which require hard haggling-even for a cold drink-which is why Peter is out of sorts at the moment. He doesn't like the Hindu personality and truthfully, India does make Iran seem like a nursery. The world's religions certainly shape a country's personality. I suppose if you have several lives to look forward to there's not much point hurrying through the present one-I think that's what drives Peter crazy-that and the constant haggling over every minute purchase. Even if you ask someone a question in the street they expect some sort of baksheesh for an answer-which makes getting to know the people difficult and tiresome. Still we have run into some very nice people. As a foreigner you feel used and manipulated which we haven't experienced before.

Tomorrow, more sights to see in Jaipur and shopping-we haven't really explored the Jaipur bazaars as yet-and they are the most colorful. This afternoon has been a lazy one and J and J really wanted to run in the garden and play on the swings and seesaw. They have actually been super to travel with-good stamina! At night they crash! After tomorrow we fly back to Delhi where we'll have one more afternoon in that city and we'll take a night flight back to Bahrain.

February 16-Today you would have thought the sky was falling! As a result of the eclipse the people were told to stay inside (with cows and other livestock) and a national holiday was declared. By midday there wasn't a car on the street in unusually throbbing Delhi! After the eclipse (the sky looked only slightly overcast) we found one diehard cab driver and we ventured out-the city looked as though it had been recently gassed and the local Delhi newspaper reporter interviewed us in depth-apparently the local people thought their animals would go berserk and that horrible rays would do them untold damage.

To add to the general merriment, yesterday was a big Hindu festival-people singing and parading in the streets. We made the most of our last day in Jaipur by taking the children to the zoo-it's really a lovely zoo with large tidy enclosures and beautiful gardens but you know you're on the other side of the world because there was a large crowd gawking at a common turkey!

In the afternoon we drove out of Jaipur in the hills to a place called the monkey temple­ and it is exactly that! Every vacant space-walls and turrets-was occupied by a monkey. The children fed them corn and at one point John looked around him and realized he was standing in the midst of a sea of these animals. Have honestly never seen such a sight in my life! Later we moved on to another temple where people were bathing in its somewhat murky holy water. venders hawking all sorts of stuff-Hindu places of worship have a distinct carnival atmosphere. After on the Sisodia Rani's palace-built in the I 8th century and still furnished and spectacular garden. Janet was thrilled with it-in face she has really loved India. I was initially worried that its grimmer aspects would upset her-she's aware of these things but she's such a romantic and most places look like something out of a fairytale. In fact it's like stepping back in time and seeing things the way they used to be. Certainly the clothing has not changed and there are very few cars.

We leave for Bahrain tonight at 12:30-in some ways we hate to leave but look forward to going home. My tours for the A.W.A. are going great guns! In fact 1 have a large group to take to the American embassy later this week. Before we left 1 took a group to an ancient Bahraini candy factory-but it was such a comedy it deserves another letter-the ladies did enjoy it however. It's been loads of fun and a wonderful way to meet the local people-who, incidentally, knock themselves out for us!

We got your arrival date just before we left and can't wait for next month. Decks are clear! Please send this along to Fred.

Lots of love, Carol

P.S. Home safely-but absolutely agonizing departure from Delhi-two hours of stamping and paperwork-another two hours sitting on runway!

February 14, 1980

Dear Jack and Nancy,

As beautiful as India is-Jack must never come here-he'd go berserk! Iran is a nursery in comparison. The streets are incredible-people, cows, goats, sheep, monkeys, camels, elephants, parrots, snake charmers etc. Fields of mustard full of peacocks are beautiful-but everyone hassles for money-you hardly dare ask a question because it'll cost you something!

Seeing the Taj Mahal was the climax-it is the most beautiful building I've ever seen­ especially at dawn-Agra too was a pleasure.

Back to Bahrain on the 17th!

Love,

Carol, Peter, J & J

February 14, 1980

Fug,

Last lap of our trip to India-there we are going up to Amber Palace (500 years old) on elephants--close going but he view from an elephant is great! John loved it. this would be a super country (beautiful!) if people weren't always hassling you for money. The panorama of life is incredible in the street are cows, goats, sheep, camels, monkeys, parrots, snack charmers-and – people.

Saw the Taj Mahal and it's even better than its reputation-stunning at dawn.

Lots of love, Carol

August 26, 1980

Dear Nancy and Jack,

It was so good to see you-and Jack-thanks for running the Nelson gauntlet one more time with the dollhouse and circus. They are so cute and I have, in fact, tucked them away for Christmas. J and J will love them-the two of you have been so dear to the children! Janet loves her address book and I'd be writing on my pretty new stationary ifl hadn't found this slightly less than wonderful card! Janet said, "Mommy, how does Nancy always find such interesting things?"-or maybe her word was "special"-both fit. Anyway my dearest wish is that we could all go away somewhere and talk nonstop for a week-or possibly longer. I am usually wound up like a spring during home leave.

Our final hours in the U.S. are of course, beyond description. With luck, Jack will have a mental blackout of his part in our farewell. Peter got back in time from D.C. but typically the U.A.E. consulate had lost his application so he never got his visa. Thank God/Allah they still had his passport. Apparently the quality of Middle East performance can be imported to the U.S. too.

It is an enormous relief to not be living out of a suitcase anymore and super to be home­ although I always arrive with some apprehension knowing that everything could not possibly be in working order-however things are in reasonably good shape. We found Peter's birthday present. .. an incredibly beautifully worked desk (much like a European lap desk) that once belonged to an Arab doctor here in Muharraq. The man we bought it from used to operate from an empty lot full of goats and chickens which I loved picking through-he has, however, moved up in the world and inside. The rest of Bahrain is deserted and very peaceful and if you can stand the heat-quite pleasant.

We thoroughly enjoyed London--except our stay was so short and we were blessed with mild weather which made walking around the city a special pleasure. So many wonderful places-and we settled on "Oliver." Janet and John loved it. And the unexpected surprise of sitting next to "Oliver's" mother and father made it even better-Janet was thrilled. The proud "Mum" was only too happy to give us backstage details. Surprisingly John enjoyed the National Gallery-or at least until we got to impressionist paintings. Huge comics in the classical sense. Paid our respects to Mary, Queen of Scots and in general covered some territory. We may have bought a carpet-a lovely and old Qashqai-P and I are waiting to see if it shows up in Bahrain. Typically Iranian, the dealer is avoiding taxes and we bargained so hard the banks were closed by the time we settled on a price (four phone calls and he made two trips to our hotel). If it does show up we will have consummated a true Persian deal (or it's nice to know we haven't lost our touch!). Anyway, it's good sport.

Bahrain. Small island... got on the plane and ran right into our next-door neighbor-and other friends. It was festive with everyone wandering around-sort of like a six-hour intermission.

The children are settling into hot weather routine which means Janet is sensibly staying inside and John looks like a candidate for heart disease every time he comes inside from riding his bike. John found some scented stationary and he's writing you a letter-which may take some time.

I'll try to be a bit better about communicating. Thanks so much for everything!

Love,

Carol

August 30, 1980

Dear Marjorie and Arne,

I'm really beginning to feel at home-in the midst of a power cut! It has been considerably less humid this year however-and windy-far more bearable than this time last year!

We truly loved seeing both of you and being at "Opeango" again which was as lovely as ever. Janet and John certainly had the time of their lives and lakes, hills and miles of trees are things they no longer take for granted-and also the opportunity of seeing family and playing with real live cousins. You had quite a houseful of people and we all loved every minute of it. Thank you so much for everything. It was wonderful to be back. Peter said he was so grateful for having the time to relax-I was glad to see him do it!

Our stay in Connecticut was lively to chaotic! Our friends, the Nelsons, had barely moved in-in fact I've never seen anyone try to paint the entire inside and outside of a house at one time, add a deck, tear out half of the inside and add on to the other half all at the same time. Peter did his fair share of painting and put in a new floor in one of the upstairs bedrooms-to keep his homeowner instincts in tune. Anne and I cooked for the vast assortment of personalities who seemed to drift in and out at all hours of the day. Add to that a new puppy and four lively children and try not to get too exhausted thinking about it! Of course the inevitable happened.

John fell and hit his head on a cinder block and we dashed off to Norwalk hospital where butterfly bandages seemed to do the trick. Bloody but not serious. The blow left him a little subdued for the rest of the day-like a nice little lobotomy. At some point during the course of events Peter flew down to Washington to get his passport which was stuck in the U.A.E. consulate during Eid. I'm amazed we ever got off to London!

London was lovely-even the weather. We strolled through the streets, did some sightseeing and browsed through carpet stores. We actually selected a carpet and with luck the dealer will send it on to Bahrain-we bargained long and hard and it will be interesting to see what finally happens. One evening we took the children to see "Oliver" which they loved (the selection of plays in London drove me crazy-could have stayed forever)-and by amazing chance we wound up sitting next to the little actor's mother and father. I don't have to tell you Janet and John were thrilled by this tum of events. We also finally saw "The Empire Strikes Back" for John's benefit-and we all enjoyed it but culturally for John it was the highlight!

On to Bahrain! Our Gulf Air flight was very enjoyable because we knew a number of people-even our next-door neighbor was onboard-a little girl in Janet's ballet class and so on.

Several hours later and our power is back on-I don't have to tell you how unbearably close and still the house and had become. How Janet and John can ride their bikes outside all day I will never know except that they consume unhuman amounts of lemonade, Tang and other assorted cold drinks. Their little faces are beet red and clothing drenched and yet they'd rather be outside with the neighborhood gang. You can see why they thought the pool was cold in Canada. At least we had our power while I was cooking for Peter's birthday party which grew in numbers daily as we discovered returning friends here and there. For the most part Bahrain is still quite deserted. The children's school is due to start in about ten days' time but even by then most people will not be back.

We have a lot of new Chemical Bank families coming out in the fall but until then Peter is pretty loaded down with work plus all the stuff that's piled up on his desk while we were gone. It's lucky things are quiet!

It's time to collect two hot little children from outside and bring them in for a scrubbing and dinner.

Again, many thanks for having us, our stay in Canada was lovely in every way.

Much love, Carol