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For those of you who haven't heard, we met through a mutual friend, Ellen Sugrue. David was in Nepal in the Peace Corps, and Kelly was working as a VISTA volunteer in the South Bronx. Ellen was also a Peace Corps Volunteer, and a friend of Kelly's. She convinced David that becoming pen pals (via email) with Kelly would be fun -- and the romance blossomed! We thought it would be fun to share the first few email messages with everyone -- they helped us to get to know each other, so maybe they'll help you get to know us better too. So here they are! (Notice the subject line of the first email?)
From peace!dlaflam Fri, 22 Aug 1997 07:57:36 Dear Kel, How's it going? I'm on my way to the airport to fly to Pokhara in about 5 minutes but I wanted to introduce you to my pal Dave. He thinks this is a little silly but I told him I KNOW you guys would be friends! So here this is Dave.....(I'll write you soon!) Love SUGRUE Hi Kelly. Yes, I do think this might be a little silly.... but you know Ellen. And who knows, she might be right. I'm not sure what to write, though. How about emailing back and telling me what you do at HCLC? Ellen hasn't really told me much -- just that you're practically running the place now. I guess I can tell you a little about what I do here. My job assignment is as a sanitation coordinator. I work in the eastern hills of Nepal in a government drinking water supply office. With every water project that is implemented there is a health education component -- which is where I come in. The curriculum is much different from what I used to teach in the states, but it's still health education. We teach people simple things, like how to build a pit latrine or wash their hands with soap. It's surprising how much of a need there is for this. There are 6 women in my office that do the trainings, I just help out. I see my job as improving their abilities to better health, because it's the only way it can be sustainable when I leave. I also have been working on improving the monitoring and evaluation of the sanitation program, and recently completed a district sanitation profile. These last two things have been my focus during my second year more than the village level trainings. Geez, I feel like I'm in a job interview or something. This email introduction stuff is pretty new to me. You too, I imagine? Well, I guess that's it for now. If you would like to write and tell me something about yourself that would be great. Hope this message finds you well. Namaste, David Mon Aug 25 21:29:05 1997 Dear David, That Ellen Sugrue is one crazy lady. Lord knows what she has told you about me. And I appreciate your testimony about yourself. Sounds like you are doing good work there in Nepal. I work at Highbridge Community Life Center and maintain communication with
foundations, corporations, and other important stakeholders in our work of adult
education, youth programs, family counseling, economic development, etc, etc,
etc. I am also the newsletter editor. Some call it public relations and I am not a native NYer. I am from the suburbs of Philly. I graduated from LaSalle University with a degree in Communication in 1993. I taught high school in Mississippi for a year before I moved to NY. My family all live in Pennsylvania -- I am the youngest of 3, with 2 older brothers. I have known Ellen since 1994 when I started working here in the Bronx. She is a dear and treasured friend. It was really hard to deal with her being all the way over there at first and I hate it when it takes so long to share a story when I want to talk to her right away. She's told me of her many adventures in Nepal, I'm not sure which ones you've been part of, but it sounds like you guys are a great group of Americans. I have never done anything as adventurous as you guys, but I have done a week in Appalachia, a year in the Mississippi Delta, a year living in the South Bronx. I still work in the S.B., but now I live closer to where Ellen went to school. GEEZ, I don't know what else to say. But, as bizarro as I thought the idea was at first, it would be kinda cool to email back and forth. When I was little, I had pen pals all over the place, one was in Malaysia and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. It's kinda like a game of tag, the way you go back and forth and share a little more about life in your corner of the world. So, David.... Peace! Tue, 26 Aug 1997 20:36:29 Hi Kelly, Thanks for your email. Pen pals...sounds good. I never had one as a kid, but I guess it's never too late to start. Ellen wrote me a note asking about what I wrote and whether or not you responded yet. I was tempted to make up some crazy story, but I told her the truth. She's so funny. To be honest, I really don't even know Ellen that well. We have shared a dhera (apt.) in Kathmandu for almost a year, but we've never been in town at the same time until recently. We hit it off well and did a lot of talking during the few days she was in. Went to Mass together last Sunday too. It's really nice when I'm in Kathmandu and can attend. It's something I miss when I'm at post. Your background is interesting. You said you haven't done anything as adventurous as Nepal, but it sounds to me like you've had a lot of adventures. I didn't realize you were a VISTA. Will you extend to a fourth year, or are you finished. Ellen mentioned you might be moving to the Boston area, but didn't tell me what for. Well, I might have forgotten. :-) Anyway, fill me in -- I'm curious. I've spent a little time visiting Boston, but not really that much. I've been to ballgames, musicals, plays, etc... Fanueil (sp?) Hall too. Actually, last time I was there I juggled for a small crowd and raised some $ to pay for parking. It wasn't really intentional -- I was just having fun when people started giving me money. I left in a hurry when the magician (whose crowd I was cutting into) mentioned I was supposed to have a permit if I wanted to perform. Oops. Where were you for a year in the Mississippi Delta? I spent a year right before Peace Corps in New Orleans. It was a good stepping stone for Nepal. I liked NOLA, but a year was enough. It's just too flat (and hot) down there for me. I need mountains within a reasonable drive. I like to rock and ice climb, but there's virtually nothing available in that area. I think the closest rockclimbing to NOLA is about a 5 or 6 hour drive. I had sold my car before going down, so I wasn't able to climb the whole year, except for a little ice over Christmas break. I guess I can give you the brief history like you gave me. I'm from NH, where
I earned a degree in health education in 1989. After working in
corporate/community health ed for about 6 years I went down to NOLA for my MPH
at Tulane. I focused on international health communication and education. Next
was Peace Corps. I have two sisters -- one older, one younger. My family still
lives in NH. Everyone home is in the same city, so it was difficult for us when
I chose not only to go to school in NOLA, but also to come to Nepal. I haven't
been home in the 2 years I've been here. My younger sister is coming to Nepal in
November and I can't wait to see her. We'll spend about 10 days traveling in
Nepal, then another 10 days or so in Thailand. Maybe some other SE Asian
countries too. She just has 3 weeks off, so we'll separate again at the end of
that time. I got a 1 month early close-of-service date approved because I want
to travel, but still be home for Christmas with my family. After my sister
returns home, I will probably do a little rockclimbing on some beaches in
Thailand. After that I'm looking into flying to Beijing and taking the Trans Well, I hope this finds you well. Please share some more about your life in NYC. It must be a continually exciting place to live in. What do you do outside of Highbridge? Any interesting hobbies? Do you see many theatrical or musical productions? The opportunities there must be endless. And on that note.....TAG! Namaste, --David Thu Aug 28 21:41:40 1997 Hi David! When you were little did you play tag? On our block we had all kinds of tag. Some of my favorites were cartoon tag where everyone was a cartoon character and freeze tag. I suppose even Marco Polo is a weird form of tag played in water. Golly, there were so many amazing games that kept us entertained as kids, wouldn't it be great if grown-ups still played them? Did you ever play manhunt? In Levittown it was a team kind of tag or hide and seek, where everyone divided up into two teams and one team hid while the other hunted them down. It was played at night as to make the game more challenging and mysterious. I have often wanted to revisit these games, get up a group of friends here in NYC and play a little manhunt in the Bronx. It certainly would be a different experience. But I digress.... Thanks so much for your email. I really enjoyed reading about your adventures. You sound like an avid outdoorsman. I have never gone rock climbing (yet) but did do my first ropes course a few weeks ago. Being here in the city, my favorite recreation is what I call urban hiking. I love to walk and explore my surroundings. Once in a great while I get the chance to do some hiking in upstate NY. I also love nature photography. I still have a long way to go in taking good pictures, but I enjoy working on the art. I lived in Greenville, MS. It's a port town on the Miss. River about 2 hours South of Memphis and about five hours from New Orleans (if I remember correctly). It is a big sprawling suburban like town that lacks a big city or big downtown. When I was there people told me that Greenville had the highest crime rate per capita. I loved the place, fell in love with the people, the food, the country music. Unfortunately I was not a successful teacher. My roommates and I did venture to Arkansas and went hiking in the mountains. Now that is some beautiful country! As far as Boston is concerned -- I am hoping to apply to Boston University for the School of Management -- for non-profit management. They have a scholarship program for VISTA volunteers. I like the city. But part of me yearns to be in a greener space -- like New Hampshire --now that sounds like a pretty place. There is also a scholarship program at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Although Cleveland is not what I would call my first choice of places to live, the program at Case Western combines social work with management. I find it really interesting. Well, my roomie is ready to head home for the evening and I'm ready to blow this Burger Barn. It is Labor Day in NYC this weekend, I am looking forward to the extra day off. I have been on the move for the past couple of weekends going to Boston, South Jersey, my brother's house in Birdsboro, PA -- so I am looking ahead to a weekend of R & R. As far as good entertainment I've seen recently -- Garth Brooks in Central Park and Romeo and Juliet on Boston Common. I never really thought I was a G.B. fan, but the energy of over 300,000 people really made his outdoor concert the highlight of my summer. And the outdoor Shakespeare was awesome. The last Broadway I saw was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. My brother Tim takes me to the theater each year for my birthday. It's hard to dish out all that dough on a VISTA stipend. Well, I really gotta go.... Read any good books lately? TAG! Peace to you! Kelly 30 Aug 1997 10:54:41 Hi Kelly, I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. What did you end up doing? I, unfortunately, had to work all weekend on a research project that I'm writing up. The good news is that I've finished a pretty decent draft. I'll just have to proof it a bit and write the conclusion/recommendations section when I return. I'm flying out in a few minutes to go the training site for the new group of volunteers. I'll be helping with the training of the sanitation coordinators for about 2 weeks, then return to Kathmandu. Which is why this is only half a tag. I wanted to respond to your last email a little better than this, but I'm out of time now. I might have access over the weekends, in which case I'll complete the tag. Sorry for the shortness of this one! I can at least answer the book question... Have you read any of Jon
Krakauer's books? He just had a big success with "Into Thin Air" -- a
book about the Everest disaster last year. I read that a few months ago, pretty
good. A few days ago I finished another book by him called "Into The
Wild". It was a worthwhile read. It's about a kid who went up to Alaska to
live off the land after he finished college. He donated the $25,000 in his bank
account to charity and burned all the money in his wallet before setting off on
his adventure. He was found dead after a few months in the wilderness. (It says
this on the cover -- I'm not giving any secrets away!) Krakauer was somewhat
obsessed with the story, and did a lot of investigative journalism to try to
piece together the guy's story. Another good book I read recently was called Well, I've really got to run. Again, sorry for the hurriedness of this email.
Until next time.... --David Thu Sep 04 22:51:28 1997 Thanks for your message! I waited all week to write to you, so I might have some more interesting stories to tell you. Today is Thursday and tomorrow I begin my long awaited 10-day vacation! I am soooo stoked! I have not heard of the books you mentioned, but am interested in reading Jon Krakauer's stuff. I'll even suggest it to our book club. Tell me more about Peter Kreeft. Forgive me for my ignorance, what is a modern apologist? Two of my favorite VISTAs departed this week, so it was time to send them off with one last hurrah! We had fun, only now I am very melancholy. I just about an hour ago said goodbye to my buddy Pete who always makes me laugh at my work-related crises. I really need to have someone remind me that because my printer and computer have decided to stop speaking to each other that everything is going to be ok. (About 80% of my work relies on the computer eventually spitting out a document to mail to someone.) Anyway, that was Pete's job - to help me laugh at the seemingly unlaughable. SO unfortunately, as I sit to type this to you, I am not in my usual high spirits -- the high of sending email around the world! Let's see--I should brag about how excited I am to get out of the office for a week and go fishing, swimming, crabbing, relaxing at the Jersey Shore with my family. Saturday morning I head out for Long Beach Island. I haven't spent a week there since high school. I have been for long weekends, but the last time I went Sat to Sat, I was a high school senior. I am really looking forward to the idea of sleeping late and sitting by the bay listening to gulls and feeding the ducks. So have you heard about Princess Di? It is all over the news here. It is really unbelievable. I think it will for me be one of those things I will always remember where I was when I heard the news. I was standing in Times Square watching the teletype and saw that she had been injured in a car accident. Didn't seem like such a big deal. Later there was a special news report that she had died. We were stunned. It is really hard not to get swept up in the emotional turmoil that seems to be sweeping Britain. I mean it's on the TV all the time. It's been a sad week, for sure. I also like to go to inexpensive ethnic restaurants, take walks around the city's parks, browse through bookstores, take an urban hike through the city's neighborhoods --- I did get overwhelmed by the city sounds, smells, crowds this summer, but the fall and spring are so much nicer for urban hiking and seeing all that the city has to offer. I am always seeing new historic sites, beautiful churches, interesting curiosity stores, etc. One of my favorite places to go on Sundays is St. Thomas Episcopal Church. It is just up the street from St. Pat's Cathedral on 5th Avenue. I am Catholic, but evening song at St. Thomas is incredible. They have a boy's choir school and their Sunday evening song is such beautiful prayer and free entertainment. During the Christmas season, the church is lit by a double row of candles up the center aisle. It is so peaceful in contrast to the mad frenzy of city sidewalks outside the church doors. Should you ever make it to NYC, you should definitely check out St. Thomas's. I am one step closer to applying to Boston University. I looked them up on the Internet and registered to take the GMATs. In order to apply for the Master of Non-profit Mgt, I need to take the GMATs. Well, it is nearly 7 pm, I've been at work a tad too long. I hope your training went well. If you hear from Ellen, give her my I look forward to reading a long message from you when I return. TAG! Peace--
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