Alam Zawar
32-A Sarwar Shaheed Rd, Icchra
Lahore, Punjab
Pakistan
18th April 2006
Dear Alam,
I’m sorry this letter is late! We only just got yours from December. Uncle Gulzar was taking two tourists (from Karachi) to the mountains in the North and he dropped it off on the way. The road is still blocked by the glacier and he said his car almost fell off the mountain trying to get around it! Can you imagine??
We were so excited to see your letter! We all sat together and I read it out loud before dinner. Bilal and Uncle Rehmat were there too! Everyone misses you so much! Especially Ami, she cried and cried and I had to massage her legs before she felt better.
I wish you would’ve told us more about your school! “School is fine” doesn’t mean anything! I mean, you’re going to school in Lahore! You’ll be able to do anything you want to afterwards. Are you going to become a Doctor? Or an Engineer? Or a Businessman? Or maybe you’ll be a Politician? No don’t do that, Abu says politicians are slimy. What are your Punjabi classmates like? Did you make any friends yet? It’s been so many months, you must have made a lot of friends by now!
It’s so exciting that you’re working in a rickshaw shop. What are rickshaw’s like? How fast do they go? Are they loud? Do they smell bad? There must be so many of them in Lahore!
Everyone told me to tell you something, so I should do that now. Let’s see…Abu said to thank Uncle Masood again, and to keep working hard. Ami said to take care of your health, be careful and don’t trust strangers. Nano said to keep praying (and then she started praying for you). Bilal said Lahore sucks and you should come back here (he misses you so much!). And I asked Jamal to say something, but he said you’re mad at him. How come you’re mad at him, Alam??
Anyway, I’m running out of space so take care of yourself and keep working hard!
Love,
Mina
P.S. I should be able to reply much sooner next time!
