Folder 2

1958 Aug 07, 3 p. w/env. Letter to Folks Describes how to wear the sheik’s headdress; maid knocked over the china closet and broke all her Japanese china; had to list all possessions for insurance purposes in case of evacuation; “My counterpart is blocking everything I set out to do. The minute it’s done she is so proud of the results” Newspaper clippings “Three R’s for Turk Soldiers” Page 19-20 from Newsweek Magazine, August 4, 1958 Part of a letter from a cousin
1958 Aug 18, 5 p. w/env. Letter to Folks “Sometimes I think I’m ‘Calamity Jane’”; when she entered the house, everything was underwater as the maid left one of the faucets on again; plumber insisted on cementing shut the floor drain as he thought the rats had come through and now she needs him to come back and chip it open; had dinner with a Brazilian UN woman and other UN members instead of staying at home and moping about her situation; talks about the corruption involved in foreign aid; discusses how Americans aren’t quite respected and feels that “Every American should spend some time in foreign service”
1958 Aug 29, 4 p. w/env. Letter to Folks The Information man is being sent home for medical aid since he refused to go to a doctor with an infected toe when Mary had first arrived, and now faces amputation of the leg; “Why do intelligent people avoid a doctor?”; Is asking for a transfer, “This foreign service is no joy ride and I’m not asking for anything better. I only want to see the world and know its problems”; this is vacation month; is at a standstill with her job and wishes she had gone to Germany
1958 Sep 02, 4 p. w/env. Letter to Folks Maid left the water on again, but Mary was able to catch it before it became a fiasco; having rat problems again; decided to look for a new maid; Turkish 4H people were trying to force Mary to changer her travel plans but she had the branch head to take care of it; is leaving for Izmir after the International Fair is over; US has a big poultry exchange
1958 Sep 05, 5 p. w/env. Letter to Brother It’s cold but the heaters won’t be turned on by the landlady until the 15th; had a cold started and Weigle’s gave her some pills; Counterpart is going to Switzerland and came in to try and have Mary write her speech; “for once it seemed my ill temper paid off, now they have at least a promise of some action and also regular monthly staff meetings; “Well it helps to have two other Extension workers here even if the one has an 8th grade I.Q.”
1958 Sep 09, 6 p. w/env. Letter to Folks horrible dust during a trip, “I just can’t take 6 to 8 hours steady eating dust”; complains about the difficulty it takes for a hot bath to be prepared; talks about the beauty of Amasia and how Turkey is one of the world’s best for sightseeing; “Don’t ever think America has the only segregation problem. We got it here worse than at home;” Terrible thing happened when an American car lost control and killed a Turkish villager, a Turkish engineer tried to interpret was also killed by an angry crowd that had gathered at the scene
1958 Sep 17, 4 p. w/env. Letter to Folks Is finally getting some action and gave a speech on planning ahead; Visited the high school and elementary school; the economic situation in Turkey is bad
1958 Sep 22, 2 p. w/env. Letter to Folks “My Heart aches for the Turkish people”, can only spend paychecks on food and rent; one of the men in her office had his car stolen; there is no gas in the cheaper renting houses and there are no electric stoves
Newspaper, 2 p. “Carnival Air in Izmir” The Stars and Stripes, September, 15, 1958
1958 Sep 29, 9 p. w/env. Letter to Folks Will be going up to the Black Sea then to Izmir to see if their new school has started; is afraid that it will make a terrible scene if she fires her maid which she hates to do since the maid is honest, the maid just can’t do anything right; while in Izmir had traveled with a “new little dumb counterpart”; the new counterpart “is like a child gay and happy but she let more ‘cats out of the bag’”; Driver had stolen the car for a joy ride; describes her new counterpart
1958 Sep 30, 5 p. w/env. Letter to Folks Pleased with her garden; Had the Fosters over and entertained; had an awful mess on the stove since a water tank on the third floor broke, “My kitchen, especially the stove looked like a cow spent the night on it, the only difference it did not smell”