[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] That's right.

[Assistant] And essentially, it was a sense of continuing. Did he feel he was safer from the draft in the Peace Corps than at architectural school?

[User] Well, I mean, once you finished that, deferment was over. You had no choice really.

[Assistant] Yeah. So it was pretty much a done deal then in both of your minds. Do you recall applying, filling out the application?

[User] No, I don't.

[Assistant] That's all right. Among other things that often they ask if you have an area of preference and if you have any.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, I mean, once you finished that, deferment was over. You had no choice really.

[Assistant] Yeah. So it was pretty much a done deal then in both of your minds. Do you recall applying, filling out the application?

[User] No, I don't.

[Assistant] That's all right. Among other things that often they ask if you have an area of preference and if you have any.

[User] Oh, I do remember that part, because we basically said anywhere else but Latin America, because we thought that was too close.

[Assistant] And they may have also asked you to indicate whether you had any facility in the foreign language.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, I don't.

[Assistant] That's all right. Among other things that often they ask if you have an area of preference and if you have any.

[User] Oh, I do remember that part, because we basically said anywhere else but Latin America, because we thought that was too close.

[Assistant] And they may have also asked you to indicate whether you had any facility in the foreign language.

[User] And that was French at the time, you know, from college. And that wasn't, I mean, I guess I was never great in languages, so I didn't consider that an issue.

[Assistant] And your husband?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, I do remember that part, because we basically said anywhere else but Latin America, because we thought that was too close.

[Assistant] And they may have also asked you to indicate whether you had any facility in the foreign language.

[User] And that was French at the time, you know, from college. And that wasn't, I mean, I guess I was never great in languages, so I didn't consider that an issue.

[Assistant] And your husband?

[User] Neither.

[Assistant] But he did have his degree in architecture?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] And that was French at the time, you know, from college. And that wasn't, I mean, I guess I was never great in languages, so I didn't consider that an issue.

[Assistant] And your husband?

[User] Neither.

[Assistant] But he did have his degree in architecture?

[User] Right.

[Assistant] What was your family's reaction about?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Neither.

[Assistant] But he did have his degree in architecture?

[User] Right.

[Assistant] What was your family's reaction about?

[User] Oh, my family, well on the one hand, they thought we were going halfway around the world, but on the other hand, you know, it was second best to being a missionary. So it was OK.

[Assistant] And it wasn't Africa.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] What was your family's reaction about?

[User] Oh, my family, well on the one hand, they thought we were going halfway around the world, but on the other hand, you know, it was second best to being a missionary. So it was OK.

[Assistant] And it wasn't Africa.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] So you got an invitation. And what was the invitation from Peace Corps?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, my family, well on the one hand, they thought we were going halfway around the world, but on the other hand, you know, it was second best to being a missionary. So it was OK.

[Assistant] And it wasn't Africa.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] So you got an invitation. And what was the invitation from Peace Corps?

[User] It was like less than six weeks later you were to be in Washington, D.C. and ship off. So it was very quick, I mean.

[Assistant] Specifically you were being invited to Chile?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] So you got an invitation. And what was the invitation from Peace Corps?

[User] It was like less than six weeks later you were to be in Washington, D.C. and ship off. So it was very quick, I mean.

[Assistant] Specifically you were being invited to Chile?

[User] To be in the self-help housing program.

[Assistant] And was the idea that you were both going to be.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was like less than six weeks later you were to be in Washington, D.C. and ship off. So it was very quick, I mean.

[Assistant] Specifically you were being invited to Chile?

[User] To be in the self-help housing program.

[Assistant] And was the idea that you were both going to be.

[User] Well, it was a couples program. It was geared. All of us in the group were couples. The man was to do the self-help program, and the woman was to be a social worker, of which I had no training.

[Assistant] Right, right. It sounds like a 1970s program. But you had no hesitation. You accepted the invitation.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] To be in the self-help housing program.

[Assistant] And was the idea that you were both going to be.

[User] Well, it was a couples program. It was geared. All of us in the group were couples. The man was to do the self-help program, and the woman was to be a social worker, of which I had no training.

[Assistant] Right, right. It sounds like a 1970s program. But you had no hesitation. You accepted the invitation.

[User] Yeah.

[Assistant] And in those days, I think they had already begun in-country training.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, it was a couples program. It was geared. All of us in the group were couples. The man was to do the self-help program, and the woman was to be a social worker, of which I had no training.

[Assistant] Right, right. It sounds like a 1970s program. But you had no hesitation. You accepted the invitation.

[User] Yeah.

[Assistant] And in those days, I think they had already begun in-country training.

[User] Yes.

[Assistant] So where did, you staged in Washington?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah.

[Assistant] And in those days, I think they had already begun in-country training.

[User] Yes.

[Assistant] So where did, you staged in Washington?

[User] Yeah. Three days in Washington, shots, glasses, off we were to Santiago.

[Assistant] Now let's just talk briefly about Washington. They're all married couples in the group. How many total?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yes.

[Assistant] So where did, you staged in Washington?

[User] Yeah. Three days in Washington, shots, glasses, off we were to Santiago.

[Assistant] Now let's just talk briefly about Washington. They're all married couples in the group. How many total?

[User] Must have been maybe 20 couples.

[Assistant] Do you recall your impression? I mean, now it's you and your husband. Now you're in the midst of a bunch of other.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah. Three days in Washington, shots, glasses, off we were to Santiago.

[Assistant] Now let's just talk briefly about Washington. They're all married couples in the group. How many total?

[User] Must have been maybe 20 couples.

[Assistant] Do you recall your impression? I mean, now it's you and your husband. Now you're in the midst of a bunch of other.

[User] Oh, we were all very excited, and we've really quickly became friends with other couples, especially once we were in country we did that.

[Assistant] So is it comfortable setting? It wasn't like, Oh, you know, they all look different than me or?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Must have been maybe 20 couples.

[Assistant] Do you recall your impression? I mean, now it's you and your husband. Now you're in the midst of a bunch of other.

[User] Oh, we were all very excited, and we've really quickly became friends with other couples, especially once we were in country we did that.

[Assistant] So is it comfortable setting? It wasn't like, Oh, you know, they all look different than me or?

[User] Not at all.

[Assistant] OK. You flew down to Santiago. You recall your initial impression?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, we were all very excited, and we've really quickly became friends with other couples, especially once we were in country we did that.

[Assistant] So is it comfortable setting? It wasn't like, Oh, you know, they all look different than me or?

[User] Not at all.

[Assistant] OK. You flew down to Santiago. You recall your initial impression?

[User] Oh, yes, yes. The first night we arrived, some current volunteers took us out to dinner. I don't know how we got to the restaurant, but um, it was in Providencia, the fancy part of Santiago. And we thought, what in the world are we doing here if they can have this fancy part of Santiago? And they took us to a restaurant and they sort of suggested what we ordered. And I remember ordering congrio, which was very good. You know, growing up in the Midwest, I hadn't eaten a whole lot of fish, but it was one of those sort of in-house jokes about after they were done, we were done eating it and saying how great it was, they told us it was eel. So oh, OK. But you know, we thought, you know, this is ridiculous. I mean, if this life is this easy, you know, why am I here?

[Assistant] Where were you staying at that time?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Not at all.

[Assistant] OK. You flew down to Santiago. You recall your initial impression?

[User] Oh, yes, yes. The first night we arrived, some current volunteers took us out to dinner. I don't know how we got to the restaurant, but um, it was in Providencia, the fancy part of Santiago. And we thought, what in the world are we doing here if they can have this fancy part of Santiago? And they took us to a restaurant and they sort of suggested what we ordered. And I remember ordering congrio, which was very good. You know, growing up in the Midwest, I hadn't eaten a whole lot of fish, but it was one of those sort of in-house jokes about after they were done, we were done eating it and saying how great it was, they told us it was eel. So oh, OK. But you know, we thought, you know, this is ridiculous. I mean, if this life is this easy, you know, why am I here?

[Assistant] Where were you staying at that time?

[User] Well, they put us up very shortly, I don't know if that first night. Our training area was at the university extension sort of ag center, which was out of town from Santiago but had a dormitory. And that's where our intensive language training was.

[Assistant] And Peace Corps had been in Chile for a while, right?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, yes, yes. The first night we arrived, some current volunteers took us out to dinner. I don't know how we got to the restaurant, but um, it was in Providencia, the fancy part of Santiago. And we thought, what in the world are we doing here if they can have this fancy part of Santiago? And they took us to a restaurant and they sort of suggested what we ordered. And I remember ordering congrio, which was very good. You know, growing up in the Midwest, I hadn't eaten a whole lot of fish, but it was one of those sort of in-house jokes about after they were done, we were done eating it and saying how great it was, they told us it was eel. So oh, OK. But you know, we thought, you know, this is ridiculous. I mean, if this life is this easy, you know, why am I here?

[Assistant] Where were you staying at that time?

[User] Well, they put us up very shortly, I don't know if that first night. Our training area was at the university extension sort of ag center, which was out of town from Santiago but had a dormitory. And that's where our intensive language training was.

[Assistant] And Peace Corps had been in Chile for a while, right?

[User] Right. Since the beginning, actually.

[Assistant] Was it a big project?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, they put us up very shortly, I don't know if that first night. Our training area was at the university extension sort of ag center, which was out of town from Santiago but had a dormitory. And that's where our intensive language training was.

[Assistant] And Peace Corps had been in Chile for a while, right?

[User] Right. Since the beginning, actually.

[Assistant] Was it a big project?

[User] I think they probably had three hundred volunteers or something there at that time.

[Assistant] And you've been greeted by the Peace Corps staff when you arrived.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right. Since the beginning, actually.

[Assistant] Was it a big project?

[User] I think they probably had three hundred volunteers or something there at that time.

[Assistant] And you've been greeted by the Peace Corps staff when you arrived.

[User] Mm hmm.

[Assistant] So you're now out at this extension and training begins.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I think they probably had three hundred volunteers or something there at that time.

[Assistant] And you've been greeted by the Peace Corps staff when you arrived.

[User] Mm hmm.

[Assistant] So you're now out at this extension and training begins.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] Training usually has several components. I would assume the major component was language.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Mm hmm.

[Assistant] So you're now out at this extension and training begins.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] Training usually has several components. I would assume the major component was language.

[User] That's correct.

[Assistant] Can you describe how?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] Training usually has several components. I would assume the major component was language.

[User] That's correct.

[Assistant] Can you describe how?

[User] Well it was interesting in that it was, I believe, the first of its immersion type. There was a Princeton professor, I don't remember his name, who had decided that the best way to learn language is not to translate. So what they had done is he was there for a while, didn't stay for six weeks, but was to pick people who had had some, I mean, they had worked in the poblaciones where the previous volunteers had, but they knew no English. So we were basically, after breakfast and until dinnertime, not allowed to speak English.

[Assistant] From day one?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] That's correct.

[Assistant] Can you describe how?

[User] Well it was interesting in that it was, I believe, the first of its immersion type. There was a Princeton professor, I don't remember his name, who had decided that the best way to learn language is not to translate. So what they had done is he was there for a while, didn't stay for six weeks, but was to pick people who had had some, I mean, they had worked in the poblaciones where the previous volunteers had, but they knew no English. So we were basically, after breakfast and until dinnertime, not allowed to speak English.

[Assistant] From day one?

[User] From day one. And it was pretty effective. It really was quite effective.

[Assistant] Not allowed to. Were there people monitoring whether you sneak off and?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well it was interesting in that it was, I believe, the first of its immersion type. There was a Princeton professor, I don't remember his name, who had decided that the best way to learn language is not to translate. So what they had done is he was there for a while, didn't stay for six weeks, but was to pick people who had had some, I mean, they had worked in the poblaciones where the previous volunteers had, but they knew no English. So we were basically, after breakfast and until dinnertime, not allowed to speak English.

[Assistant] From day one?

[User] From day one. And it was pretty effective. It really was quite effective.

[Assistant] Not allowed to. Were there people monitoring whether you sneak off and?

[User] I mean, they couldn't prevent you, you know, but yeah, I mean, it was the intent, and we tried to stick by it, but I mean, and it was very, it was like baby talk. I mean, for the first couple of weeks, we were just pointing to things and repeating words. And I mean, it made no sense to us at all. And those of us who, you know, may not be English majors but wanted some structure of grammar and some structure of something were just pulling our hairs out with conjugating verbs. And, you know, say, you know, please tell me how this works. Don't just tell me to repeat it, but in effect, you know, my grammar's not great, but I don't translate. Once I shift gears, I don't translate. And that was precisely the point.

[Assistant] So with the instructors, I mean, if you would point and the instructor might say, agua.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] From day one. And it was pretty effective. It really was quite effective.

[Assistant] Not allowed to. Were there people monitoring whether you sneak off and?

[User] I mean, they couldn't prevent you, you know, but yeah, I mean, it was the intent, and we tried to stick by it, but I mean, and it was very, it was like baby talk. I mean, for the first couple of weeks, we were just pointing to things and repeating words. And I mean, it made no sense to us at all. And those of us who, you know, may not be English majors but wanted some structure of grammar and some structure of something were just pulling our hairs out with conjugating verbs. And, you know, say, you know, please tell me how this works. Don't just tell me to repeat it, but in effect, you know, my grammar's not great, but I don't translate. Once I shift gears, I don't translate. And that was precisely the point.

[Assistant] So with the instructors, I mean, if you would point and the instructor might say, agua.

[User] That's right. And then I'd say agua.

[Assistant] And then you'd have to figure out how to get it into a sentence, right?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I mean, they couldn't prevent you, you know, but yeah, I mean, it was the intent, and we tried to stick by it, but I mean, and it was very, it was like baby talk. I mean, for the first couple of weeks, we were just pointing to things and repeating words. And I mean, it made no sense to us at all. And those of us who, you know, may not be English majors but wanted some structure of grammar and some structure of something were just pulling our hairs out with conjugating verbs. And, you know, say, you know, please tell me how this works. Don't just tell me to repeat it, but in effect, you know, my grammar's not great, but I don't translate. Once I shift gears, I don't translate. And that was precisely the point.

[Assistant] So with the instructors, I mean, if you would point and the instructor might say, agua.

[User] That's right. And then I'd say agua.

[Assistant] And then you'd have to figure out how to get it into a sentence, right?

[User] Exactly. Yep.

[Assistant] That's incredible. So that was the core of the training.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] That's right. And then I'd say agua.

[Assistant] And then you'd have to figure out how to get it into a sentence, right?

[User] Exactly. Yep.

[Assistant] That's incredible. So that was the core of the training.

[User] That's right.

[Assistant] For how many weeks?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Exactly. Yep.

[Assistant] That's incredible. So that was the core of the training.

[User] That's right.

[Assistant] For how many weeks?

[User] Well, it got sort of divided up because I think it was supposed to be for 12 weeks or something. I don't remember exactly, but um, a Peter from New York. The fellows would play soccer out in front of the dorm at break time or whenever they did that. And El Mercurio, which no, it wasn't El Mercurio. The newspapers in Santiago. I mean, there's the middle of the road and then there's maybe a little to the right and then there's several to the left. And I think it was one of the ones to the left, not the right one, came out and photographed the guys playing soccer, which you wouldn't think was a big deal, right? But Peter was wearing fatigues and title of the newspaper the next day, CIA Training at Agricultural Dorm. We were kicked out instantaneously.

[Assistant] Oh my goodness.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] That's right.

[Assistant] For how many weeks?

[User] Well, it got sort of divided up because I think it was supposed to be for 12 weeks or something. I don't remember exactly, but um, a Peter from New York. The fellows would play soccer out in front of the dorm at break time or whenever they did that. And El Mercurio, which no, it wasn't El Mercurio. The newspapers in Santiago. I mean, there's the middle of the road and then there's maybe a little to the right and then there's several to the left. And I think it was one of the ones to the left, not the right one, came out and photographed the guys playing soccer, which you wouldn't think was a big deal, right? But Peter was wearing fatigues and title of the newspaper the next day, CIA Training at Agricultural Dorm. We were kicked out instantaneously.

[Assistant] Oh my goodness.

[User] From that facility because the university couldn't, you know, deal with bad press. And so we were put into a monastery or convent kind of building.

[Assistant] Who explained to you what was going on?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] From that facility because the university couldn't, you know, deal with bad press. And so we were put into a monastery or convent kind of building.

[Assistant] Who explained to you what was going on?

[User] Well, by then we, the teachers, I mean, there was one. Once the Princeton professor left, there was a guy that was sort of in charge of the program.

[Assistant] An American?

[User] Yeah. And I mean, he, you know, the photograph was fairly obvious and the CIA's in the title, but, you know.

[Assistant] No one from the Peace Corps office?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, by then we, the teachers, I mean, there was one. Once the Princeton professor left, there was a guy that was sort of in charge of the program.

[Assistant] An American?

[User] Yeah. And I mean, he, you know, the photograph was fairly obvious and the CIA's in the title, but, you know.

[Assistant] No one from the Peace Corps office?

[User] Well, yeah, they were connected with the Peace Corps office, yes.

[Assistant] Did they come out and try to explain?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah. And I mean, he, you know, the photograph was fairly obvious and the CIA's in the title, but, you know.

[Assistant] No one from the Peace Corps office?

[User] Well, yeah, they were connected with the Peace Corps office, yes.

[Assistant] Did they come out and try to explain?

[User] Yeah, I think so. But you know, we were, I mean, except for Peter, who was very politically savvy. Some of us were pretty politically naive as to the parties in Chile at that point. But we quickly learned and there wasn't any question of us staying. It was a done deal.

[Assistant] Did anyone from the Chilean government come to your defense or say anything?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, yeah, they were connected with the Peace Corps office, yes.

[Assistant] Did they come out and try to explain?

[User] Yeah, I think so. But you know, we were, I mean, except for Peter, who was very politically savvy. Some of us were pretty politically naive as to the parties in Chile at that point. But we quickly learned and there wasn't any question of us staying. It was a done deal.

[Assistant] Did anyone from the Chilean government come to your defense or say anything?

[User] Not that I know of. But I mean, they might have been behind the scenes with Peace Corps staff folks but.

[Assistant] Not that you were aware of.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, I think so. But you know, we were, I mean, except for Peter, who was very politically savvy. Some of us were pretty politically naive as to the parties in Chile at that point. But we quickly learned and there wasn't any question of us staying. It was a done deal.

[Assistant] Did anyone from the Chilean government come to your defense or say anything?

[User] Not that I know of. But I mean, they might have been behind the scenes with Peace Corps staff folks but.

[Assistant] Not that you were aware of.

[User] I don't remember.

[Assistant] But you were there on a program that the Chilean government had agreed to.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Not that I know of. But I mean, they might have been behind the scenes with Peace Corps staff folks but.

[Assistant] Not that you were aware of.

[User] I don't remember.

[Assistant] But you were there on a program that the Chilean government had agreed to.

[User] Oh yes.

[Assistant] So you left the university extension and went to a monastery? Same language training continues?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I don't remember.

[Assistant] But you were there on a program that the Chilean government had agreed to.

[User] Oh yes.

[Assistant] So you left the university extension and went to a monastery? Same language training continues?

[User] More or less. It sort of began to then go into training as to your, what you were actually going to be doing.

[Assistant] The technical skills.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh yes.

[Assistant] So you left the university extension and went to a monastery? Same language training continues?

[User] More or less. It sort of began to then go into training as to your, what you were actually going to be doing.

[Assistant] The technical skills.

[User] More the technical stuff. I don't somehow remember much more language after once we moved. But, you know, so it wasn't, that part I didn't find very effective. I can't even remember much what they tried to do with social workers.

[Assistant] Well, uh, when you shifted over to the monastery, you had already been in language training for what, four or five weeks?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] More or less. It sort of began to then go into training as to your, what you were actually going to be doing.

[Assistant] The technical skills.

[User] More the technical stuff. I don't somehow remember much more language after once we moved. But, you know, so it wasn't, that part I didn't find very effective. I can't even remember much what they tried to do with social workers.

[Assistant] Well, uh, when you shifted over to the monastery, you had already been in language training for what, four or five weeks?

[User] Yeah, I think so.

[Assistant] Did you have opportunities to get out of the monastery?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] More the technical stuff. I don't somehow remember much more language after once we moved. But, you know, so it wasn't, that part I didn't find very effective. I can't even remember much what they tried to do with social workers.

[Assistant] Well, uh, when you shifted over to the monastery, you had already been in language training for what, four or five weeks?

[User] Yeah, I think so.

[Assistant] Did you have opportunities to get out of the monastery?

[User] And yeah, we were on Saturdays or something, we some we were able to take public transportation into Santiago, and that was chocolate day and movie day.

[Assistant] Do you recall trying to use your Spanish now with ordinary folks?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, I think so.

[Assistant] Did you have opportunities to get out of the monastery?

[User] And yeah, we were on Saturdays or something, we some we were able to take public transportation into Santiago, and that was chocolate day and movie day.

[Assistant] Do you recall trying to use your Spanish now with ordinary folks?

[User] Then we had to negotiate our own way around Santiago. We were on our own.

[Assistant] How did it go?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Then we had to negotiate our own way around Santiago. We were on our own.

[Assistant] How did it go?

[User] It was enough to get chocolate. I remember that.

[Assistant] That's important.

[User] It wasn't very good chocolate, but it was chocolate.

[Assistant] And people seem to understand you?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was enough to get chocolate. I remember that.

[Assistant] That's important.

[User] It wasn't very good chocolate, but it was chocolate.

[Assistant] And people seem to understand you?

[User] As far as I can remember, because there wasn't, I mean, like in some of my later travels, there weren't people who spoke English. But you know, you can communicate a lot without language.

[Assistant] Right. Now in the training then did the men split off from the women and do buildings?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It wasn't very good chocolate, but it was chocolate.

[Assistant] And people seem to understand you?

[User] As far as I can remember, because there wasn't, I mean, like in some of my later travels, there weren't people who spoke English. But you know, you can communicate a lot without language.

[Assistant] Right. Now in the training then did the men split off from the women and do buildings?

[User] I think at that point we did. And I think they actually went to some construction sites where they were doing self-help housing because frankly, the program there in Chile, I mean, the Ministry of Housing was much more sophisticated than we are in the United States now as far as affordable housing. They had numerous programs. I mean, they did not need us as far as their housing program.

[Assistant] Why were you there?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] As far as I can remember, because there wasn't, I mean, like in some of my later travels, there weren't people who spoke English. But you know, you can communicate a lot without language.

[Assistant] Right. Now in the training then did the men split off from the women and do buildings?

[User] I think at that point we did. And I think they actually went to some construction sites where they were doing self-help housing because frankly, the program there in Chile, I mean, the Ministry of Housing was much more sophisticated than we are in the United States now as far as affordable housing. They had numerous programs. I mean, they did not need us as far as their housing program.

[Assistant] Why were you there?

[User] I think it was a deal. You know, we'll take your fertilizer if you take the Peace Corps volunteers or, you know, some. I don't know what the tradeoff was, but later that became a factor also.

[Assistant] Was AID involved in any way in the housing program?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I think at that point we did. And I think they actually went to some construction sites where they were doing self-help housing because frankly, the program there in Chile, I mean, the Ministry of Housing was much more sophisticated than we are in the United States now as far as affordable housing. They had numerous programs. I mean, they did not need us as far as their housing program.

[Assistant] Why were you there?

[User] I think it was a deal. You know, we'll take your fertilizer if you take the Peace Corps volunteers or, you know, some. I don't know what the tradeoff was, but later that became a factor also.

[Assistant] Was AID involved in any way in the housing program?

[User] Not that I know of at that point. I think many years earlier, they might have been involved because there was a strong cooperative element to AID at one point.

[Assistant] During the whole training period, was there any process of selection or was it assumed that you were in?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Not that I know of at that point. I think many years earlier, they might have been involved because there was a strong cooperative element to AID at one point.

[Assistant] During the whole training period, was there any process of selection or was it assumed that you were in?

[User] I don't remember ever feeling any pressure of being selected out. I do remember one couple left.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] I don't. It wasn't selection as far as I know.

[Assistant] Ok. It's a relatively small group.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I don't remember ever feeling any pressure of being selected out. I do remember one couple left.

[Assistant] Yeah.

[User] I don't. It wasn't selection as far as I know.

[Assistant] Ok. It's a relatively small group.

[User] Yes.

[Assistant] Did you have to go, were you interviewed by psychologists? Was there any psych testing at all?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yes.

[Assistant] Did you have to go, were you interviewed by psychologists? Was there any psych testing at all?

[User] It might have been, but I don't remember.

[Assistant] Peer ratings?

[User] Not that I remember.

[Assistant] During the training period other than the language, a third component is often called area studies, where you learn something of the history and culture of the area. Was that done?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It might have been, but I don't remember.

[Assistant] Peer ratings?

[User] Not that I remember.

[Assistant] During the training period other than the language, a third component is often called area studies, where you learn something of the history and culture of the area. Was that done?

[User] I think it was. I don't remember exactly how it was done, but it was sort of just part of the part of the discussions or something.

[Assistant] Right. Most of the instruction was being done by Americans or Chileans?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Not that I remember.

[Assistant] During the training period other than the language, a third component is often called area studies, where you learn something of the history and culture of the area. Was that done?

[User] I think it was. I don't remember exactly how it was done, but it was sort of just part of the part of the discussions or something.

[Assistant] Right. Most of the instruction was being done by Americans or Chileans?

[User] Chileans.

[Assistant] Other than language?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I think it was. I don't remember exactly how it was done, but it was sort of just part of the part of the discussions or something.

[Assistant] Right. Most of the instruction was being done by Americans or Chileans?

[User] Chileans.

[Assistant] Other than language?

[User] I think there might have been two or three Americans, but most of it was by Chileans.

[Assistant] And at any point during training did someone from either the Chilean government or the Peace Corps come out and say, well, the project you're going to work on is this, you know, some definition of what it was you would expect to be expected to do?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I think there might have been two or three Americans, but most of it was by Chileans.

[Assistant] And at any point during training did someone from either the Chilean government or the Peace Corps come out and say, well, the project you're going to work on is this, you know, some definition of what it was you would expect to be expected to do?

[User] Well at some point we were told what community we were going to, but we were all in the same program. So I don't think until we got to our sites, did we know that, you know, here's the camp of these people are being relocated to these houses and these are the houses you're going to be building because CORVI has an office in Ovalle, that's where you're going to be based out of.

[Assistant] Right. CORVI?

[User] CORVI was the subsection of the Ministry of Housing that we worked with.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So training comes to an end. Did you have any choice of the assignment?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well at some point we were told what community we were going to, but we were all in the same program. So I don't think until we got to our sites, did we know that, you know, here's the camp of these people are being relocated to these houses and these are the houses you're going to be building because CORVI has an office in Ovalle, that's where you're going to be based out of.

[Assistant] Right. CORVI?

[User] CORVI was the subsection of the Ministry of Housing that we worked with.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So training comes to an end. Did you have any choice of the assignment?

[User] Not that I remember.

[Assistant] You were simply told you were going and were, well, you're always bound to be assigned someplace where there are other Peace Corps volunteers.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] CORVI was the subsection of the Ministry of Housing that we worked with.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So training comes to an end. Did you have any choice of the assignment?

[User] Not that I remember.

[Assistant] You were simply told you were going and were, well, you're always bound to be assigned someplace where there are other Peace Corps volunteers.

[User] No, we were the only volunteers in that community.

[Assistant] Well, with so many in the country, where were the others?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Not that I remember.

[Assistant] You were simply told you were going and were, well, you're always bound to be assigned someplace where there are other Peace Corps volunteers.

[User] No, we were the only volunteers in that community.

[Assistant] Well, with so many in the country, where were the others?

[User] Most of them were in the south doing agricultural programs. We were in the north.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So you and your husband then get assigned to what?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, we were the only volunteers in that community.

[Assistant] Well, with so many in the country, where were the others?

[User] Most of them were in the south doing agricultural programs. We were in the north.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So you and your husband then get assigned to what?

[User] Ovalle.

[Assistant] Are you the only Peace Corps in the community?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Most of them were in the south doing agricultural programs. We were in the north.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So you and your husband then get assigned to what?

[User] Ovalle.

[Assistant] Are you the only Peace Corps in the community?

[User] Yep.

[Assistant] How large a community?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Ovalle.

[Assistant] Are you the only Peace Corps in the community?

[User] Yep.

[Assistant] How large a community?

[User] Oh, it's, on market days it feels like maybe four thousand. On non-market days, maybe two thousand.

[Assistant] Oh, well, that's all right. Before we get to the job, let's talk about living situation. And describe how you got from training to Ovalle. Did you have a chance to go out there before you moved in?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, it's, on market days it feels like maybe four thousand. On non-market days, maybe two thousand.

[Assistant] Oh, well, that's all right. Before we get to the job, let's talk about living situation. And describe how you got from training to Ovalle. Did you have a chance to go out there before you moved in?

[User] No. We got a bus ticket six hours north and I think the staff at CORVI there, there was three people at least.

[Assistant] In Ovalle?

[User] In Ovalle. I think one of them met us at the bus.

[Assistant] So you at least expected.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No. We got a bus ticket six hours north and I think the staff at CORVI there, there was three people at least.

[Assistant] In Ovalle?

[User] In Ovalle. I think one of them met us at the bus.

[Assistant] So you at least expected.

[User] Yeah, yeah. And we were taken to.

[Assistant] Did you have all your worldly possessions?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] In Ovalle. I think one of them met us at the bus.

[Assistant] So you at least expected.

[User] Yeah, yeah. And we were taken to.

[Assistant] Did you have all your worldly possessions?

[User] Well, we had our suitcase that came from the United States and we were allowed and they did a group purchase in Santiago of, I think it was a mattress and estufa, which is a little stove. A mattress and a stove. Those are the two things I remember.

[Assistant] Did you carry that on the bus?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, yeah. And we were taken to.

[Assistant] Did you have all your worldly possessions?

[User] Well, we had our suitcase that came from the United States and we were allowed and they did a group purchase in Santiago of, I think it was a mattress and estufa, which is a little stove. A mattress and a stove. Those are the two things I remember.

[Assistant] Did you carry that on the bus?

[User] No, no. That was shipped up by a truck the Peace Corps arranged that arrived weeks later.

[Assistant] Later. Ok, so now your first day, you're there, you're greeted.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, we had our suitcase that came from the United States and we were allowed and they did a group purchase in Santiago of, I think it was a mattress and estufa, which is a little stove. A mattress and a stove. Those are the two things I remember.

[Assistant] Did you carry that on the bus?

[User] No, no. That was shipped up by a truck the Peace Corps arranged that arrived weeks later.

[Assistant] Later. Ok, so now your first day, you're there, you're greeted.

[User] Yes, and we're taken to a pension, a house where several people have rooms that are just, you know, staying there. So we have our room and the meals are part of the package. So we were very pleasantly pleased with our accommodations and then basically we didn't stay there hardly I don't think more than a week, because CORVI had already built one community where the houses, we call them mediaguas because they come in two parts. It's like basically three by six meters with a pitched roof one direction, and then later they build the other three by six and the pitch goes the other way. So there was a mediagua, I don't know how it got built because it was self-help. And so who built it? I'm not sure, but maybe the instructors showing the people how to build. There was an empty mediagua available to us and we went to live in that community. And then we were going to build another community. Well, I mean, a couple of hundred houses is considered a community, a poblacione. So we very soon then had our own little house and began to add on to it.

[Assistant] And is that close to the town, I mean?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, no. That was shipped up by a truck the Peace Corps arranged that arrived weeks later.

[Assistant] Later. Ok, so now your first day, you're there, you're greeted.

[User] Yes, and we're taken to a pension, a house where several people have rooms that are just, you know, staying there. So we have our room and the meals are part of the package. So we were very pleasantly pleased with our accommodations and then basically we didn't stay there hardly I don't think more than a week, because CORVI had already built one community where the houses, we call them mediaguas because they come in two parts. It's like basically three by six meters with a pitched roof one direction, and then later they build the other three by six and the pitch goes the other way. So there was a mediagua, I don't know how it got built because it was self-help. And so who built it? I'm not sure, but maybe the instructors showing the people how to build. There was an empty mediagua available to us and we went to live in that community. And then we were going to build another community. Well, I mean, a couple of hundred houses is considered a community, a poblacione. So we very soon then had our own little house and began to add on to it.

[Assistant] And is that close to the town, I mean?

[User] Yes, we could walk to town.

[Assistant] No, it's just this is about a week after you've arrived


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yes, and we're taken to a pension, a house where several people have rooms that are just, you know, staying there. So we have our room and the meals are part of the package. So we were very pleasantly pleased with our accommodations and then basically we didn't stay there hardly I don't think more than a week, because CORVI had already built one community where the houses, we call them mediaguas because they come in two parts. It's like basically three by six meters with a pitched roof one direction, and then later they build the other three by six and the pitch goes the other way. So there was a mediagua, I don't know how it got built because it was self-help. And so who built it? I'm not sure, but maybe the instructors showing the people how to build. There was an empty mediagua available to us and we went to live in that community. And then we were going to build another community. Well, I mean, a couple of hundred houses is considered a community, a poblacione. So we very soon then had our own little house and began to add on to it.

[Assistant] And is that close to the town, I mean?

[User] Yes, we could walk to town.

[Assistant] No, it's just this is about a week after you've arrived

[User] About so, I think, yeah.

[Assistant] Have you gone to work yet or?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] About so, I think, yeah.

[Assistant] Have you gone to work yet or?

[User] My husband, Paul, yes, had already, you know, because the men basically built the houses on, if I recall, Wednesday nights and Saturdays. So he went with Louis to the new home.

[Assistant] Your counterpart?

[User] Yeah, his counterpart and, you know, just started, you know, watching them build panels and pitched in however he could. But the house designs and everything were already predetermined. The materials already arrived. The system was in place. He was just an extra hand.

[Assistant] Let me ask a naive question. Why was a Peace Corps architect needed in that situation?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] My husband, Paul, yes, had already, you know, because the men basically built the houses on, if I recall, Wednesday nights and Saturdays. So he went with Louis to the new home.

[Assistant] Your counterpart?

[User] Yeah, his counterpart and, you know, just started, you know, watching them build panels and pitched in however he could. But the house designs and everything were already predetermined. The materials already arrived. The system was in place. He was just an extra hand.

[Assistant] Let me ask a naive question. Why was a Peace Corps architect needed in that situation?

[User] He was not.

[Assistant] OK, so I assume at some point that he came to realize that.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, his counterpart and, you know, just started, you know, watching them build panels and pitched in however he could. But the house designs and everything were already predetermined. The materials already arrived. The system was in place. He was just an extra hand.

[Assistant] Let me ask a naive question. Why was a Peace Corps architect needed in that situation?

[User] He was not.

[Assistant] OK, so I assume at some point that he came to realize that.

[User] Yeah, yeah. Well, we were still enjoying the experience.

[Assistant] No, that's, yeah. So you've moved into the community or what will become the community as it's built. Do you remember your first weeks, how it went with the language?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] He was not.

[Assistant] OK, so I assume at some point that he came to realize that.

[User] Yeah, yeah. Well, we were still enjoying the experience.

[Assistant] No, that's, yeah. So you've moved into the community or what will become the community as it's built. Do you remember your first weeks, how it went with the language?

[User] It was funny because I remember one of the very first nights we were there, we were invited to a wedding in another one of these small homes. You know, we were obviously, I mean, it was sort of like, I don't even know you and I'm being invited to your daughter's wedding? Well, the reception there after, I distinctly remember the young woman and a very handsome young man. And you know, it was about the size of this dining room and there were chairs all around the outside, around the room. And I think there was some music and some maybe dancing or two couples at a time in the middle. And olives were served and you spit the pit out on the floor, which I was not used to, and wine was served and you passed the glass on to the next person, which I was not used to. But, you know, we were sort of considered honored guests, which I felt terrible about because here was the couple and they were the honored guests. We weren't. We were just gringos, you know. Why are we here? So, you know, we very quickly became, people wanted to pull us to there to show how they knew these new people. And the kids were my salvation because, you know, Senora Carlota, Senora Carlota, you know. Whenever I heard my name yelled, you know, I just ran and played with kids and, you know, whatever.

[Assistant] So have there been Peace Corps in the village at all, any time? So you were the first? Ok, let's get, uh. How about your work?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, well, see, I mean, really, the program was very sophisticated. I mean it, it created a community by building and the momentum of this process. So there was a immediately a junta de vecinos, a neighborhood association. It had a president and it had officers and there was a centro de madres, which was the mothers club. So I was assigned to the mothers club in the community where we were living, not the one that Paul was building with the other folks. And I mean, I can never remember, how embarrassing. I go to the meeting of the centro de madres, and they give me the list of the names of the people because I'm now the person who calls roll or something. I mispronounced every single name on the list.

[Assistant] You may have been the entertainment.

[User] Exactly, that's what I was. And it became very apparent very quickly that I had nothing to teach them. But they could teach me how to make baskets, you know? So it was amusing, and they quickly realized that.

[Assistant] So from the get-go, you were reporting to work.

[User] Well, I don't know if you call that work, when you go to a meeting maybe once a week, maybe twice, you know.

[Assistant] So there was no office as such where you.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Exactly, that's what I was. And it became very apparent very quickly that I had nothing to teach them. But they could teach me how to make baskets, you know? So it was amusing, and they quickly realized that.

[Assistant] So from the get-go, you were reporting to work.

[User] Well, I don't know if you call that work, when you go to a meeting maybe once a week, maybe twice, you know.

[Assistant] So there was no office as such where you.

[User] No, there was an office for CORVI for Paul. But basically, I was baggage. You know, to cook the meals and do the other things and, you know, become friends with the neighbors.

[Assistant] But that was by design of the Peace Corps and not by any need of the community.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, I don't know if you call that work, when you go to a meeting maybe once a week, maybe twice, you know.

[Assistant] So there was no office as such where you.

[User] No, there was an office for CORVI for Paul. But basically, I was baggage. You know, to cook the meals and do the other things and, you know, become friends with the neighbors.

[Assistant] But that was by design of the Peace Corps and not by any need of the community.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] I was going to ask then, somehow the assumption seem to have emerged that as the wife, you would be expected to do the shopping, the cooking, the cleaning.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, there was an office for CORVI for Paul. But basically, I was baggage. You know, to cook the meals and do the other things and, you know, become friends with the neighbors.

[Assistant] But that was by design of the Peace Corps and not by any need of the community.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] I was going to ask then, somehow the assumption seem to have emerged that as the wife, you would be expected to do the shopping, the cooking, the cleaning.

[User] Oh yeah, that was very traditional. I mean, my biggest impact was that I wore jeans and I didn't have a baby. So what was this strange woman doing here, you know?

[Assistant] And that wasn't a problem?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] I was going to ask then, somehow the assumption seem to have emerged that as the wife, you would be expected to do the shopping, the cooking, the cleaning.

[User] Oh yeah, that was very traditional. I mean, my biggest impact was that I wore jeans and I didn't have a baby. So what was this strange woman doing here, you know?

[Assistant] And that wasn't a problem?

[User] Well, it was to my liberal feminism at that point, but I also felt that I was to respect the culture and learn more about it.

[Assistant] OK, so then you were willing to set that aside because you were there on someone else's turf.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh yeah, that was very traditional. I mean, my biggest impact was that I wore jeans and I didn't have a baby. So what was this strange woman doing here, you know?

[Assistant] And that wasn't a problem?

[User] Well, it was to my liberal feminism at that point, but I also felt that I was to respect the culture and learn more about it.

[Assistant] OK, so then you were willing to set that aside because you were there on someone else's turf.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] So let's go, oh, maybe you've moved into the community that Paul's helping to build.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, it was to my liberal feminism at that point, but I also felt that I was to respect the culture and learn more about it.

[Assistant] OK, so then you were willing to set that aside because you were there on someone else's turf.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] So let's go, oh, maybe you've moved into the community that Paul's helping to build.

[User] No, we live in one that's partially done, and his is just down the road a little bit.

[Assistant] Yeah, OK. During the first few months, did you have any visitors from Peace Corps who came out to check on you?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] So let's go, oh, maybe you've moved into the community that Paul's helping to build.

[User] No, we live in one that's partially done, and his is just down the road a little bit.

[Assistant] Yeah, OK. During the first few months, did you have any visitors from Peace Corps who came out to check on you?

[User] I don't know when, who came, the regional rep. It may have been in that first six months or something, but there was one phone in, you know, two or three hundred houses and it was at the president's house. So one day we did get the call. You know, the president sent his kid up to our house to say, there's a phone call for you from Santiago. So we go back. And he says, well, I'm going to come tomorrow to visit you, and I'm like, OK, fine, you know, we're here. We're not going anywhere. So I don't even remember really other than him coming sort of walking around and seeing things and, you know, asking us if we were OK. And we got our money regularly and that was fine.

[Assistant] Was there anyone in the house of women that to whom you were accountable, if you showed up or didn't show up?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, we live in one that's partially done, and his is just down the road a little bit.

[Assistant] Yeah, OK. During the first few months, did you have any visitors from Peace Corps who came out to check on you?

[User] I don't know when, who came, the regional rep. It may have been in that first six months or something, but there was one phone in, you know, two or three hundred houses and it was at the president's house. So one day we did get the call. You know, the president sent his kid up to our house to say, there's a phone call for you from Santiago. So we go back. And he says, well, I'm going to come tomorrow to visit you, and I'm like, OK, fine, you know, we're here. We're not going anywhere. So I don't even remember really other than him coming sort of walking around and seeing things and, you know, asking us if we were OK. And we got our money regularly and that was fine.

[Assistant] Was there anyone in the house of women that to whom you were accountable, if you showed up or didn't show up?

[User] I don't remember ever being told that she's your counterpart or she's your boss or.

[Assistant] OK. And so there was no formal job that you were?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I don't know when, who came, the regional rep. It may have been in that first six months or something, but there was one phone in, you know, two or three hundred houses and it was at the president's house. So one day we did get the call. You know, the president sent his kid up to our house to say, there's a phone call for you from Santiago. So we go back. And he says, well, I'm going to come tomorrow to visit you, and I'm like, OK, fine, you know, we're here. We're not going anywhere. So I don't even remember really other than him coming sort of walking around and seeing things and, you know, asking us if we were OK. And we got our money regularly and that was fine.

[Assistant] Was there anyone in the house of women that to whom you were accountable, if you showed up or didn't show up?

[User] I don't remember ever being told that she's your counterpart or she's your boss or.

[Assistant] OK. And so there was no formal job that you were?

[User] Not very formal, I'd call it.

[Assistant] OK. And no, were you training anyone? Nor were you working?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I don't remember ever being told that she's your counterpart or she's your boss or.

[Assistant] OK. And so there was no formal job that you were?

[User] Not very formal, I'd call it.

[Assistant] OK. And no, were you training anyone? Nor were you working?

[User] No.

[Assistant] And were you able to become friends with?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Not very formal, I'd call it.

[Assistant] OK. And no, were you training anyone? Nor were you working?

[User] No.

[Assistant] And were you able to become friends with?

[User] Oh yes. Oh yes. Very quickly.

[Assistant] Well talk about that. At work or where you lived or combination?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No.

[Assistant] And were you able to become friends with?

[User] Oh yes. Oh yes. Very quickly.

[Assistant] Well talk about that. At work or where you lived or combination?

[User] Where are you live, I mean, you can't help it when you're, you know, only two meters away from the next mediagua and the kids are out. And I mean, we were on this little plaza. Well, sand, you know, so you clean your sand and you build a fence and you plant plants and you ask stupid questions. You know, what's this abalone thing and how you have to pound it to cook it and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, I quickly made friends with my immediate neighbors and there was only one store in the community that, you know, you'd go and you get your cooking. And the bread person goes by your house and yells, and you said, yes, I want two. And you know, so it's just those daily interactions.

[Assistant] And all of this is going on in Spanish.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh yes. Oh yes. Very quickly.

[Assistant] Well talk about that. At work or where you lived or combination?

[User] Where are you live, I mean, you can't help it when you're, you know, only two meters away from the next mediagua and the kids are out. And I mean, we were on this little plaza. Well, sand, you know, so you clean your sand and you build a fence and you plant plants and you ask stupid questions. You know, what's this abalone thing and how you have to pound it to cook it and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, I quickly made friends with my immediate neighbors and there was only one store in the community that, you know, you'd go and you get your cooking. And the bread person goes by your house and yells, and you said, yes, I want two. And you know, so it's just those daily interactions.

[Assistant] And all of this is going on in Spanish.

[User] Right, right.

[Assistant] And I gather that day by day, you're getting more and more comfortable.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Where are you live, I mean, you can't help it when you're, you know, only two meters away from the next mediagua and the kids are out. And I mean, we were on this little plaza. Well, sand, you know, so you clean your sand and you build a fence and you plant plants and you ask stupid questions. You know, what's this abalone thing and how you have to pound it to cook it and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, I quickly made friends with my immediate neighbors and there was only one store in the community that, you know, you'd go and you get your cooking. And the bread person goes by your house and yells, and you said, yes, I want two. And you know, so it's just those daily interactions.

[Assistant] And all of this is going on in Spanish.

[User] Right, right.

[Assistant] And I gather that day by day, you're getting more and more comfortable.

[User] Yeah, I so couldn't understand, but I could.

[Assistant] Yeah. Were you on the coast?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right, right.

[Assistant] And I gather that day by day, you're getting more and more comfortable.

[User] Yeah, I so couldn't understand, but I could.

[Assistant] Yeah. Were you on the coast?

[User] No, we were basically 60 miles in. So we couldn't, you know, we did have. There was a fellow on the coast, you know, up the coast a little ways. But we couldn't see the Andes from where we were. We were inland but not.

[Assistant] But not up?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, I so couldn't understand, but I could.

[Assistant] Yeah. Were you on the coast?

[User] No, we were basically 60 miles in. So we couldn't, you know, we did have. There was a fellow on the coast, you know, up the coast a little ways. But we couldn't see the Andes from where we were. We were inland but not.

[Assistant] But not up?

[User] Not up.

[Assistant] I don't know the geography of the country. How did people in the community make a living? Was it agriculture?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, we were basically 60 miles in. So we couldn't, you know, we did have. There was a fellow on the coast, you know, up the coast a little ways. But we couldn't see the Andes from where we were. We were inland but not.

[Assistant] But not up?

[User] Not up.

[Assistant] I don't know the geography of the country. How did people in the community make a living? Was it agriculture?

[User] It was basically agriculture, yes. And that was the hard part because I mean, to my eyes, market day was great fun. But it was in the middle of a beginning of a drought, so there wasn't any fresh milk available. You know, there were watermelons. But it was affecting the area considerably as far as the agriculture around it. For example, my immediate neighbor's husband worked in the copper mines, and so he was gone most of the time and would send money down. So there were, you know, many people who, you know, had a spouse elsewhere because of, there wasn't that much, there wasn't any industry or something in that community.

[Assistant] How often do you get out of the community? Let's take the first six months.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Not up.

[Assistant] I don't know the geography of the country. How did people in the community make a living? Was it agriculture?

[User] It was basically agriculture, yes. And that was the hard part because I mean, to my eyes, market day was great fun. But it was in the middle of a beginning of a drought, so there wasn't any fresh milk available. You know, there were watermelons. But it was affecting the area considerably as far as the agriculture around it. For example, my immediate neighbor's husband worked in the copper mines, and so he was gone most of the time and would send money down. So there were, you know, many people who, you know, had a spouse elsewhere because of, there wasn't that much, there wasn't any industry or something in that community.

[Assistant] How often do you get out of the community? Let's take the first six months.

[User] I was slightly amazed how much vacation we got in. I don't remember that it was in the first six months, but I think the first year for Christmas or whatever, we took a month off. Let's see. That year, I think, did we go to Peru and Ecuador and back?

[Assistant] Yeah. Did you travel with other couples?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was basically agriculture, yes. And that was the hard part because I mean, to my eyes, market day was great fun. But it was in the middle of a beginning of a drought, so there wasn't any fresh milk available. You know, there were watermelons. But it was affecting the area considerably as far as the agriculture around it. For example, my immediate neighbor's husband worked in the copper mines, and so he was gone most of the time and would send money down. So there were, you know, many people who, you know, had a spouse elsewhere because of, there wasn't that much, there wasn't any industry or something in that community.

[Assistant] How often do you get out of the community? Let's take the first six months.

[User] I was slightly amazed how much vacation we got in. I don't remember that it was in the first six months, but I think the first year for Christmas or whatever, we took a month off. Let's see. That year, I think, did we go to Peru and Ecuador and back?

[Assistant] Yeah. Did you travel with other couples?

[User] No.

[Assistant] Just the two of you.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I was slightly amazed how much vacation we got in. I don't remember that it was in the first six months, but I think the first year for Christmas or whatever, we took a month off. Let's see. That year, I think, did we go to Peru and Ecuador and back?

[Assistant] Yeah. Did you travel with other couples?

[User] No.

[Assistant] Just the two of you.

[User] Yeah. And then I think the next Christmas, we went to Brazil, Argentina, and back and around. So I remember we had two very long trips.

[Assistant] Plus leave pay I gather.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No.

[Assistant] Just the two of you.

[User] Yeah. And then I think the next Christmas, we went to Brazil, Argentina, and back and around. So I remember we had two very long trips.

[Assistant] Plus leave pay I gather.

[User] I don't know if we actually got leave pay, but we got 125 dollars a month and that was more than adequate. I mean, it was ten times what our neighbors got and we could save money and eat steak and anything we wanted.

[Assistant] Right. Let's take the first six eight months. At any point did Peace Corps pull you in to Santiago for a conference to meet with the others in the country?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah. And then I think the next Christmas, we went to Brazil, Argentina, and back and around. So I remember we had two very long trips.

[Assistant] Plus leave pay I gather.

[User] I don't know if we actually got leave pay, but we got 125 dollars a month and that was more than adequate. I mean, it was ten times what our neighbors got and we could save money and eat steak and anything we wanted.

[Assistant] Right. Let's take the first six eight months. At any point did Peace Corps pull you in to Santiago for a conference to meet with the others in the country?

[User] Yeah, we did have a mid-term gathering of all the couples at a very fancy resort. And I think most of us by that time realized that we weren't really needed, but we sort of liked Santiago and we liked, you know, being in Chile and so.

[Assistant] No one was willing to blow the whistle.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I don't know if we actually got leave pay, but we got 125 dollars a month and that was more than adequate. I mean, it was ten times what our neighbors got and we could save money and eat steak and anything we wanted.

[Assistant] Right. Let's take the first six eight months. At any point did Peace Corps pull you in to Santiago for a conference to meet with the others in the country?

[User] Yeah, we did have a mid-term gathering of all the couples at a very fancy resort. And I think most of us by that time realized that we weren't really needed, but we sort of liked Santiago and we liked, you know, being in Chile and so.

[Assistant] No one was willing to blow the whistle.

[User] No, no, no. I don't think so. I mean, we made it maybe known, but they weren't going to take any action on it.

[Assistant] So you knew that also.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, we did have a mid-term gathering of all the couples at a very fancy resort. And I think most of us by that time realized that we weren't really needed, but we sort of liked Santiago and we liked, you know, being in Chile and so.

[Assistant] No one was willing to blow the whistle.

[User] No, no, no. I don't think so. I mean, we made it maybe known, but they weren't going to take any action on it.

[Assistant] So you knew that also.

[User] I think so, yeah.

[Assistant] And of course, the draft was still an issue.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I think so, yeah.

[Assistant] And of course, the draft was still an issue.

[User] Right. The politics was heating up at this point too. The election, the Chilean election was coming. And that, I think, was maybe, well, I don't know how the U.S. Government does its diplomacy. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. But Allende was campaigning actually in our poblacione, which was a really incredible, you know, experience because my quote illiterate neighbors were explaining, you know, the politics of the left to me, which I, you know, wouldn't have understood in college. And Pablo Neruda came to our poblacione, read his poetry and my neighbors again explained, you know, he's referring to the incident in Iquitos. Or, you know, whatever else, like amazing.

[Assistant] Poblacione is?

[User] Poblacione is the name of a community or it's a community.

[Assistant] Yeah, I get it, OK. Had Peace Corps, given the fact that there was a certain level of political instability or uncertainty, was there any kind of emergency procedure or evacuation procedure that had been discussed?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right. The politics was heating up at this point too. The election, the Chilean election was coming. And that, I think, was maybe, well, I don't know how the U.S. Government does its diplomacy. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. But Allende was campaigning actually in our poblacione, which was a really incredible, you know, experience because my quote illiterate neighbors were explaining, you know, the politics of the left to me, which I, you know, wouldn't have understood in college. And Pablo Neruda came to our poblacione, read his poetry and my neighbors again explained, you know, he's referring to the incident in Iquitos. Or, you know, whatever else, like amazing.

[Assistant] Poblacione is?

[User] Poblacione is the name of a community or it's a community.

[Assistant] Yeah, I get it, OK. Had Peace Corps, given the fact that there was a certain level of political instability or uncertainty, was there any kind of emergency procedure or evacuation procedure that had been discussed?

[User] No. But in the long run, we were taken out because they elected the wrong guy.

[Assistant] Yeah, but we speculate. You're still in your first year. You've done a lot of travel. How did you deal with the fact that, in a sense, there was no specific job there for you?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Poblacione is the name of a community or it's a community.

[Assistant] Yeah, I get it, OK. Had Peace Corps, given the fact that there was a certain level of political instability or uncertainty, was there any kind of emergency procedure or evacuation procedure that had been discussed?

[User] No. But in the long run, we were taken out because they elected the wrong guy.

[Assistant] Yeah, but we speculate. You're still in your first year. You've done a lot of travel. How did you deal with the fact that, in a sense, there was no specific job there for you?

[User] Well, we tried to be creative. And I realized I had to work behind the scenes. And you know, it was a very macho going on. So at some point we were asked to build some models of the various programs that they have, for what purpose, where they were displayed, I don't remember. But it basically, you know, I could build models and, you know, get it to scale, even though I was converting metric to inches like crazy and they probably thought, you know, OK, what's the scale on this, three meters to one inch? But other than that little detail. So and you know, we were trying to figure out a panel system because the inside of our homes, it was.

[Assistant] Of course, you were living in one of these houses.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, we were living. It was pure studs. It just, you know, there was no inner wall. And, you know, here we're up near the desert and the wood comes from the south and they ship it before it's really dried. And so very shortly we could stick our hands through the siding because it would dry. And so we thought, oh well, you know, we really should do something about this being, you know, it didn't bother anybody else but. So they had very elaborate jigs to build panels. I mean, they're a fairly sophisticated system for hands-on. So we built a jig and using basically plaster of Paris and some fibers of some kind that we got, we thought we'll build this, you know, equivalent plaster panel and then you'll have this sandwich. Well, it was so heavy and they cracked. It was just a miserable experiment. But you know, you learn that appropriate technology isn't quite what you think it is. But I do recall that we managed, the Peace Corps did send us, I think, Time magazine and the New York book section or something. So the inside of our place was plastered with the New York Times. So if anybody ever does archeology, they'll know that somebody with the New York Times was there.

[Assistant] I gather it, was the weather, you didn't have extremes of weather?

[User] Oh no, it was dry, pleasant. Never really too hot, never really too cool. Very little rain.

[Assistant] But you at least tried to modify. And the idea being that if you came up with something, it might be of use.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] Was there a feeling of frustration or you just thought you were here like to make the best of it?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh no, it was dry, pleasant. Never really too hot, never really too cool. Very little rain.

[Assistant] But you at least tried to modify. And the idea being that if you came up with something, it might be of use.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] Was there a feeling of frustration or you just thought you were here like to make the best of it?

[User] I don't think we were frustrated because we had somehow realized that, you know, this daily living thing is really quite comfortable. I mean, yeah, you know, we weren't. It wasn't.

[Assistant] Well shame on you.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right.

[Assistant] Was there a feeling of frustration or you just thought you were here like to make the best of it?

[User] I don't think we were frustrated because we had somehow realized that, you know, this daily living thing is really quite comfortable. I mean, yeah, you know, we weren't. It wasn't.

[Assistant] Well shame on you.

[User] We were goal-oriented people, but we shifted fairly quickly that, you know, manana is OK. And you know, you don't expect to do eight hours of intense work.

[Assistant] So after the first year, you've had at least one vacation, you're going into your second year, you can see the end of your tour. Sometimes people will say, well, before I leave this community or my Peace Corps tour, I'd at least like to accomplish this. Do you recall? Don't let me put your words in your mouth though.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Chilean doctors who are required to spend a year service or two in a rural area. So they spoke English and so we would get together with them maybe once a month. You know, they had a lovely home. They invite us to dinner. We talked English. He'd been to Kentucky and the coal mines and was concerned about black lung disease. So through them, we were able to, I mean, there was the central plaza of this poblacione and then there were these little plazas. So there was nothing in the central plaza. And what was apparent to us was that the kids needed a school. Well, we didn't have the connections with the Department of Education, but we did have Department of Health through this doctor friend. So thanks to his connections and so on, so forth, we got enough money to build sort of a two room facility that was going to be a health center. Not a school, but in reality, it became a school. So that was the extra project.

[Assistant] Where did the funding come from?

[User] From their Ministry of Health.

[Assistant] OK. So it was through them that you would define the project.

[User] And the community agreed that they would work on Sundays in addition to their Saturday task. Because the poblacione we lived in, I mean, they had their half house. And they weren't quite ready yet for the second or third phase, which would have given them more house and facilities. But so the men were willing to work on Sundays in addition to help build this school. So that basically almost, I think, got completed.

[Assistant] Yeah, sometimes people have or develop a friendship with someone who becomes sort of a mentor into the culture. Because, you know, living in another culture, we're curious about celebrations births and deaths and marriages and holidays and everything. Did you have any opportunity?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh yes. Oh yes.

[Assistant] What did you tell them?

[User] Well, you know, we thought we could help, but you know, they were more amused by us than anything that we could help. I mean, I remember one woman who I met, you know, at the market and she said, you're putting the stuff in the wrong order, you know? So she told me to put the heavy stuff at the bottom of the bag. You know, you go around the market this way, you don't go around the market that way. So at some point they didn't expect me to be an expert on anything. You know, Paul was helping with the houses, and that was all.

[Assistant] Yeah. What about politics? I mean, within the community, there must have been,

[User] Oh, that was very, no, there wasn't. It was pretty far left. I mean, it was. And I mean, I think that's why, you know, both Neruda and Allende came to our poblacione. I mean, they were 99.9 percent in support of Allende.

[Assistant] Did you get to meet Neruda?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, you know, we thought we could help, but you know, they were more amused by us than anything that we could help. I mean, I remember one woman who I met, you know, at the market and she said, you're putting the stuff in the wrong order, you know? So she told me to put the heavy stuff at the bottom of the bag. You know, you go around the market this way, you don't go around the market that way. So at some point they didn't expect me to be an expert on anything. You know, Paul was helping with the houses, and that was all.

[Assistant] Yeah. What about politics? I mean, within the community, there must have been,

[User] Oh, that was very, no, there wasn't. It was pretty far left. I mean, it was. And I mean, I think that's why, you know, both Neruda and Allende came to our poblacione. I mean, they were 99.9 percent in support of Allende.

[Assistant] Did you get to meet Neruda?

[User] No, I didn't actually shake his hand, but I listen to him because I was taller than most and I could, you know, have a photograph. You know, there were big posters all around town during the election, and I have one of those and it was great fun too.

[Assistant] But how did that impact you? I mean, you and Paul must have been identified as Americans from the United States.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, that was very, no, there wasn't. It was pretty far left. I mean, it was. And I mean, I think that's why, you know, both Neruda and Allende came to our poblacione. I mean, they were 99.9 percent in support of Allende.

[Assistant] Did you get to meet Neruda?

[User] No, I didn't actually shake his hand, but I listen to him because I was taller than most and I could, you know, have a photograph. You know, there were big posters all around town during the election, and I have one of those and it was great fun too.

[Assistant] But how did that impact you? I mean, you and Paul must have been identified as Americans from the United States.

[User] Right. And at that point, we weren't evil. I mean, we were, I mean, it was quite amazing to me in, you know, this 10 year old and I remember it specifically, says, you're not the government. They clearly differentiated us as people from the U.S. government's policies. So, you know, that was fine, even though the government paid our salary.

[Assistant] Right. So you personally, you didn't feel any tension or stress.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, I didn't actually shake his hand, but I listen to him because I was taller than most and I could, you know, have a photograph. You know, there were big posters all around town during the election, and I have one of those and it was great fun too.

[Assistant] But how did that impact you? I mean, you and Paul must have been identified as Americans from the United States.

[User] Right. And at that point, we weren't evil. I mean, we were, I mean, it was quite amazing to me in, you know, this 10 year old and I remember it specifically, says, you're not the government. They clearly differentiated us as people from the U.S. government's policies. So, you know, that was fine, even though the government paid our salary.

[Assistant] Right. So you personally, you didn't feel any tension or stress.

[User] No, no.

[Assistant] Generally speaking, were there any health issues or?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Right. And at that point, we weren't evil. I mean, we were, I mean, it was quite amazing to me in, you know, this 10 year old and I remember it specifically, says, you're not the government. They clearly differentiated us as people from the U.S. government's policies. So, you know, that was fine, even though the government paid our salary.

[Assistant] Right. So you personally, you didn't feel any tension or stress.

[User] No, no.

[Assistant] Generally speaking, were there any health issues or?

[User] Well, I remember I ate a lot of beets and having an outhouse, I didn't really notice anything. But then at some point I must have used an indoor facility and thought I had blood. And so of course, the Peace Corps wants you to come. So, you know, bus ticket to Santiago. Blood tests, all that good stuff. You've been eating too many beets, go back home.

[Assistant] How far was it?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, no.

[Assistant] Generally speaking, were there any health issues or?

[User] Well, I remember I ate a lot of beets and having an outhouse, I didn't really notice anything. But then at some point I must have used an indoor facility and thought I had blood. And so of course, the Peace Corps wants you to come. So, you know, bus ticket to Santiago. Blood tests, all that good stuff. You've been eating too many beets, go back home.

[Assistant] How far was it?

[User] It was a six-hour bus ride.

[Assistant] And how often did you go down to Santiago?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Well, I remember I ate a lot of beets and having an outhouse, I didn't really notice anything. But then at some point I must have used an indoor facility and thought I had blood. And so of course, the Peace Corps wants you to come. So, you know, bus ticket to Santiago. Blood tests, all that good stuff. You've been eating too many beets, go back home.

[Assistant] How far was it?

[User] It was a six-hour bus ride.

[Assistant] And how often did you go down to Santiago?

[User] Maybe once every three months.

[Assistant] Not really that much.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It was a six-hour bus ride.

[Assistant] And how often did you go down to Santiago?

[User] Maybe once every three months.

[Assistant] Not really that much.

[User] No.

[Assistant] So you did all of your shopping and everything within the community?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Maybe once every three months.

[Assistant] Not really that much.

[User] No.

[Assistant] So you did all of your shopping and everything within the community?

[User] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Assistant] Did you have visitors? Did people come to?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No.

[Assistant] So you did all of your shopping and everything within the community?

[User] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Assistant] Did you have visitors? Did people come to?

[User] I don't remember any of the other volunteers visiting us, but we did go visit both. There were two couples in La Serena, Coquimbo, which was about two hours to the coast and north. And I think we must have had Thanksgiving with them or, you know, some sort of holiday. And we did go to the beach, I remember getting sunburned on New Year's Day, with a single volunteer. What was he doing there? I don't know. He was doing fishing stuff. And I think we did go to visit one other couple that was further north and that was great fun.

[Assistant] Was communication mostly by mail?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Assistant] Did you have visitors? Did people come to?

[User] I don't remember any of the other volunteers visiting us, but we did go visit both. There were two couples in La Serena, Coquimbo, which was about two hours to the coast and north. And I think we must have had Thanksgiving with them or, you know, some sort of holiday. And we did go to the beach, I remember getting sunburned on New Year's Day, with a single volunteer. What was he doing there? I don't know. He was doing fishing stuff. And I think we did go to visit one other couple that was further north and that was great fun.

[Assistant] Was communication mostly by mail?

[User] Yeah.

[Assistant] And you could communicate. During all this time, were you communicating back to your family?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] I don't remember any of the other volunteers visiting us, but we did go visit both. There were two couples in La Serena, Coquimbo, which was about two hours to the coast and north. And I think we must have had Thanksgiving with them or, you know, some sort of holiday. And we did go to the beach, I remember getting sunburned on New Year's Day, with a single volunteer. What was he doing there? I don't know. He was doing fishing stuff. And I think we did go to visit one other couple that was further north and that was great fun.

[Assistant] Was communication mostly by mail?

[User] Yeah.

[Assistant] And you could communicate. During all this time, were you communicating back to your family?

[User] By tape recorder. I would send them cassettes. Yeah.

[Assistant] And what were you reporting back?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah.

[Assistant] And you could communicate. During all this time, were you communicating back to your family?

[User] By tape recorder. I would send them cassettes. Yeah.

[Assistant] And what were you reporting back?

[User] Oh, I would just, you know, I would just tell them, you know, what was in the newspaper, what I ate, you know, for breakfast that morning. Or you know what an avocado was because they didn't know what an avocado was. You know, that kind of thing.

[Assistant] Was it on these cassettes?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] By tape recorder. I would send them cassettes. Yeah.

[Assistant] And what were you reporting back?

[User] Oh, I would just, you know, I would just tell them, you know, what was in the newspaper, what I ate, you know, for breakfast that morning. Or you know what an avocado was because they didn't know what an avocado was. You know, that kind of thing.

[Assistant] Was it on these cassettes?

[User] Yeah. Mm hmm. I don't know where they are.

[Assistant] You'll find them. So let's, I gather this paradise did not last forever.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Oh, I would just, you know, I would just tell them, you know, what was in the newspaper, what I ate, you know, for breakfast that morning. Or you know what an avocado was because they didn't know what an avocado was. You know, that kind of thing.

[Assistant] Was it on these cassettes?

[User] Yeah. Mm hmm. I don't know where they are.

[Assistant] You'll find them. So let's, I gather this paradise did not last forever.

[User] No, I think it was three months short of our two years and Allende was elected. And I think within a week or two, it was fairly quickly thereafter, we were notified that we would be leaving the country.

[Assistant] Now, did you have any inkling of that?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah. Mm hmm. I don't know where they are.

[Assistant] You'll find them. So let's, I gather this paradise did not last forever.

[User] No, I think it was three months short of our two years and Allende was elected. And I think within a week or two, it was fairly quickly thereafter, we were notified that we would be leaving the country.

[Assistant] Now, did you have any inkling of that?

[User] No.

[Assistant] So it came as a complete surprise.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No, I think it was three months short of our two years and Allende was elected. And I think within a week or two, it was fairly quickly thereafter, we were notified that we would be leaving the country.

[Assistant] Now, did you have any inkling of that?

[User] No.

[Assistant] So it came as a complete surprise.

[User] Yeah. And we hadn't been told before the election that anything would matter or anything would change. But what I remember is we sort of could have taken another assignment, but it would have been for such a short period of time.

[Assistant] Let's go through the steps by which you found out. I mean, was it a call, a letter?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] No.

[Assistant] So it came as a complete surprise.

[User] Yeah. And we hadn't been told before the election that anything would matter or anything would change. But what I remember is we sort of could have taken another assignment, but it would have been for such a short period of time.

[Assistant] Let's go through the steps by which you found out. I mean, was it a call, a letter?

[User] It might have been a call to the president's house. And again, we ran down to his house and they said, you know, pack up your stuff. We'll send a truck, you know, come to Santiago by this date.

[Assistant] There was no sense of urgency?


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah. And we hadn't been told before the election that anything would matter or anything would change. But what I remember is we sort of could have taken another assignment, but it would have been for such a short period of time.

[Assistant] Let's go through the steps by which you found out. I mean, was it a call, a letter?

[User] It might have been a call to the president's house. And again, we ran down to his house and they said, you know, pack up your stuff. We'll send a truck, you know, come to Santiago by this date.

[Assistant] There was no sense of urgency?

[User] Yeah, we had, I mean, we didn't have a very long time.

[Assistant] Or danger, I should say.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] It might have been a call to the president's house. And again, we ran down to his house and they said, you know, pack up your stuff. We'll send a truck, you know, come to Santiago by this date.

[Assistant] There was no sense of urgency?

[User] Yeah, we had, I mean, we didn't have a very long time.

[Assistant] Or danger, I should say.

[User] No. Oh, there was no danger. I mean, our neighbors protected our camera. I mean, that would have been a year's salary for them, and they knew we had it, you know. Our neighbors would protect us, you know. That wasn't any issue about that.

[Assistant] So it must. Well, it must have been a wrench because here, I mean.


[System] Act as an information elicitation agent for oral history.

[User] Yeah, we had, I mean, we didn't have a very long time.

[Assistant] Or danger, I should say.

[User] No. Oh, there was no danger. I mean, our neighbors protected our camera. I mean, that would have been a year's salary for them, and they knew we had it, you know. Our neighbors would protect us, you know. That wasn't any issue about that.

[Assistant] So it must. Well, it must have been a wrench because here, I mean.

[User] Oh yeah, we were ticked because we really were excited. I mean, we were there long enough to see when Allende came to the poblacione, he promised two things: plastic shoes for the kids so that they could then go to school. Because without shoes and a sort of smock, they weren't allowed to go to school. And dried milk because the kids had been without milk. And I think it was within weeks those kids had those shoes and there were packets of dry milk in that poblacione. I mean, I may be exaggerating, but you know, I remember seeing what he had actually promised. And we were so excited, you know, and to see what the government would do and so on and so forth. But then we were told that we and the fertilizer, we're being pulled out. And I thought, OK, I'm good as shit, but other than that little detail, you know. So we were given the choice. We could have taken a short assignment in Ecuador or Peru, maybe.

[Assistant] But you were then called.