Letters from an Adventurous Life

1958 December 2 Kabul, Afghanistan Letter from Vonda to her parents What is available locally and what is not is a common theme in many letters. Vonda is often asking her parents to help get her items she needs. Here she requests an ironing board and spices but don't bother sending a radio.  Many letters lament the lack of availability of postage stamps.  In a later letter she remarks that they are only available on black market (??).  

1958 November 29 Kabul, Afghanistan Letter from Vonda to her parents Piccadilly Circus, London 1958 Piccadilly Circus, London 1958 Athens, Greece seen from the Acropolis, 1958 Columns Olympian, Athens 1958 Parthenon, Greece - inside view 1958 Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey, 1958 Vonda recounts her trip from USA to Afghanistan with stops in London, Athens, and Turkey. Her trip started with fancy "berth" flight from Idlewild to London. I had to look up Idlewild (predecessor to JFK airport) and Gander (Newfoundland). The l...

1958 November or December Kabul, Afghanistan Letter from Vonda to her parents Luckily for those of us who have a hard time reading handwritten letters, my mother preferred to type. In one future letter she laments how her hands cramp just writing a check. So we only have a handful of these letters. This is an undated letter that was written shortly after Vonda arrived in Kabul. She was there long enough to go skiing (no lifts!) and receive a letter from her parents. So likely this letter posted in December 1958. Note:  Photo is from my mom's 1950s photo collection but not a meal at the staff house.  Vonda is wearing glasses in this photo. 

1958 November 19 U.S.A. Letter from Vonda to her parents Vonda is about to embark on her trip to Kabul where she has an administrative position with the ICA. She will stopover in London, Athens, and Istanbul on her way to Kabul. ICA stands for International Cooperation Administration. Established by Eisenhower in 1955. Was predecessor to USAID.  

1958 Summer Las Vegas Letter from Vonda to her parents The first letter in this 1958 series actually originates from Las Vegas, Nevada. Before Vonda Adorno took an administrative position with the ICA in Afghanistan, she worked 6 years in the airline industry. She had a shift job working radio communications with TWA pilots. The job took her to many places in the USA -- Albuquerque, Boston, San Francisco, Kansas City, and Las Vegas. Here Vonda describes going to The Valley of Fire state park in her trusty Plymouth but without sufficient way to stay hydrated. These are photos of her outing that day in the summer of 1958. "Spony" is Vonda's nickname -- short for "Sponseller". In Vonda's letter she mentions that being...