To Vinca From Rebecca I

Dear Lady Vinca,

Greetings from the silk road, it has been a long adventure since we have left your beautiful casa. I hope you receive this letter as we have finally reached our destination. Letters take a long time to get here because of the distance so I do not know when you will receive it soon. I hope you and your father are well.

The games that I played with your father are sorely missed. Most of my days are used learning the language here. Chinese is so hard to learn! I am having difficulty learning it. My father told me not to worry about it; that our translator will take care of it. However, I feel that the women here will talk more to me if they did not have to talk through a man.

I am shocked to find out that our living quarters are so beautiful. Yes, it is different than your casa and our manor at home. But it is lavished greatly with pillows and silk. I have never seen this much silk around! Even the middle class and lower classes here use silk. I have ordered some wonderful lush material to make more culturally acceptable clothing. My English clothing has gotten ill looks from people as I try to learn.

My father has mentioned once again marriage and that I am not getting any younger. I sigh at him and try to explain that I would rather spend my time studying to be a better healer for my people. Eventually he will give up and know that when I decide to marry, I will. So far the men I have met have been a bore. The men here seem to be lining up to meet me. It is so hard to look at them seriously when they are shorter than I am. Personally I think I am a novelty. I hope it wears off soon as I want to study medicine and not worry about the social interactions.

Farewell for now,

Rebecca