Baksheeh A form of a tip; handout — a common term across Islamic countries.

After Bill left the ICA, he worked for INDAMER – short for Indian-American. In addition to construction, they produced decorative cement bricks

Bill bought a white horse for Von. She named it Birthday. It was a white horse. She refers to it in many letters.

Peshawar A Pakistani city that Bill and Von visited on a long weekend holiday. The city is about 300Km (or 9 hour drive) from Kabul and requires traveling by car through the Khyber pass, a windy mountainous road.

Vonda uses nick name “Kaycee” to refer to Kansas City where she was trained as a radio operator for TWA.

The American Society of Kabul, or TASK, is a social organization for Americans living in the area. They organize parties and such.

Dobie, Dobey, Dhobi, Dhobois — refers to someone who handles the laundry. A profession across much of South Asia.

When Vonda referred to her honeymoon houseboat called “Doreen”, I thought it was just the name of the specific boat. But seems that “Doreen” is common term for a type of houseboat.

Jeshyn-Afghan Day is also known as Independence Day. August 19th commemorates freedom from colonial powers.

Vonda refers to “an elmira” in her letters. As this confused her parents, she explained in a subsequent letter that it was a portable clothes closet. After a bit of googling, it turns out “Almirah” is an Indian word for a free-standing cupboard or wardrobe.