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

[User] In journalism, yeah.

[Assistant] Other than the Peace Corps, did you have any kind of career goal?

[User] No, I was really. Yeah, my career goal was really to be a reporter, and I had actually thought I'd be a print reporter. But the internship I got when I was in college was with a television station, you know, which is basically sort of rewriting wire copy or, you know, I mean, we didn't get to do very much, but Reno was a very small town, so I don't even know if there was a second TV station at the time. It might have just been the one. And it was very, it was a lot of fun. I mean, you know, it was intriguing and it was fun and it was local. You know, local news coverage was pretty basic. You know, I don't even know if we had sound on film, it might have been just black and white. I don't know, you know, but it was interesting and it was journalism, you know, to the extent. But it wasn't right. It wasn't the kind I was going to do, which was going to be print. I was going to write for a newspaper.

[Assistant] Yeah. But in your fourth year, you took the exam and then you got the invitation to a country you didn't know to work in a language you didn't know.

[User] A language I knew nothing about. It was very upsetting, actually. You know, it never dawned on me to write him back and say, send me someplace French. I speak French a little, you know, I don't know. It never even dawned on me. I said, Sure, I'll go there.

[Assistant] Had any of your friends in college friends or others joined the Peace Corps?


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

[User] No, I was really. Yeah, my career goal was really to be a reporter, and I had actually thought I'd be a print reporter. But the internship I got when I was in college was with a television station, you know, which is basically sort of rewriting wire copy or, you know, I mean, we didn't get to do very much, but Reno was a very small town, so I don't even know if there was a second TV station at the time. It might have just been the one. And it was very, it was a lot of fun. I mean, you know, it was intriguing and it was fun and it was local. You know, local news coverage was pretty basic. You know, I don't even know if we had sound on film, it might have been just black and white. I don't know, you know, but it was interesting and it was journalism, you know, to the extent. But it wasn't right. It wasn't the kind I was going to do, which was going to be print. I was going to write for a newspaper.

[Assistant] Yeah. But in your fourth year, you took the exam and then you got the invitation to a country you didn't know to work in a language you didn't know.

[User] A language I knew nothing about. It was very upsetting, actually. You know, it never dawned on me to write him back and say, send me someplace French. I speak French a little, you know, I don't know. It never even dawned on me. I said, Sure, I'll go there.

[Assistant] Had any of your friends in college friends or others joined the Peace Corps?

[User] I hadn't known anyone before. I decided to join, but a really good friend of mine did decide to join. And he went to Bolivia, but like a half a year off from me. But he was in Bolivia. We saw each other when we were done. But that was really the only connection.

[Assistant] So you finally got the telegram, which was would you report to?


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

[User] I hadn't known anyone before. I decided to join, but a really good friend of mine did decide to join. And he went to Bolivia, but like a half a year off from me. But he was in Bolivia. We saw each other when we were done. But that was really the only connection.

[Assistant] So you finally got the telegram, which was would you report to?

[User] Notre Dame.

[Assistant] Oh, OK.

[User] Notre Dame for training June 24th.

[Assistant] And did they tell you it was for a co-op program?


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

[User] Notre Dame.

[Assistant] Oh, OK.

[User] Notre Dame for training June 24th.

[Assistant] And did they tell you it was for a co-op program?

[User] No, just they didn't. Who knows if they even knew, you know, but I suppose they did, that it was a cooperative point. I had no experience about cooperatives at all until training, that was really where they gave us all the information.

[Assistant] Did anyone try to talk you out of it at that point?


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

[User] Notre Dame for training June 24th.

[Assistant] And did they tell you it was for a co-op program?

[User] No, just they didn't. Who knows if they even knew, you know, but I suppose they did, that it was a cooperative point. I had no experience about cooperatives at all until training, that was really where they gave us all the information.

[Assistant] Did anyone try to talk you out of it at that point?

[User] No. People would say, why are you doing this and why would you want to do that and stuff like that? And I just would go, because I want to. You want to do something good. I want to go do something good. So it wasn't, you know, in most of my life, decision making has been very difficult and people could sway me. This was not swayable and I don't know why I was so sure.

[Assistant] Yeah. And this was June of '64 then.


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

[User] No, just they didn't. Who knows if they even knew, you know, but I suppose they did, that it was a cooperative point. I had no experience about cooperatives at all until training, that was really where they gave us all the information.

[Assistant] Did anyone try to talk you out of it at that point?

[User] No. People would say, why are you doing this and why would you want to do that and stuff like that? And I just would go, because I want to. You want to do something good. I want to go do something good. So it wasn't, you know, in most of my life, decision making has been very difficult and people could sway me. This was not swayable and I don't know why I was so sure.

[Assistant] Yeah. And this was June of '64 then.

[User] June of '64. Yeah.

[Assistant] You went up to Notre Dame.


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

[User] No. People would say, why are you doing this and why would you want to do that and stuff like that? And I just would go, because I want to. You want to do something good. I want to go do something good. So it wasn't, you know, in most of my life, decision making has been very difficult and people could sway me. This was not swayable and I don't know why I was so sure.

[Assistant] Yeah. And this was June of '64 then.

[User] June of '64. Yeah.

[Assistant] You went up to Notre Dame.

[User] Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. They roll up the they roll up the sidewalks at 10 o'clock. Now I'm from a 24-hour town, a gambling town where everything's open all the time. It was like, well, you know, let's go to the supermarket. All supermarkets are closed. Now what? They're closed?

[Assistant] You know, what was, how large was the group?


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

[User] Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. They roll up the they roll up the sidewalks at 10 o'clock. Now I'm from a 24-hour town, a gambling town where everything's open all the time. It was like, well, you know, let's go to the supermarket. All supermarkets are closed. Now what? They're closed?

[Assistant] You know, what was, how large was the group?

[User] And oh, let's see. Boy, you know, I'm not sure.

[Assistant] Just approximately.

[User] Yeah, approximately. There were two groups training, actually. One was training for Uruguay in community development, yeah, in community development. They weren't doing credit unions. And then our group. So probably all together, we were probably close to 40, 45 people altogether. Our group was probably 20 something and theirs was a little smaller.

[Assistant] What was your impression of your fellow trainees? I mean, now it's not just you joining the Peace Corps, there's all this crowd. Have any particular reaction you recall?


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

[User] And oh, let's see. Boy, you know, I'm not sure.

[Assistant] Just approximately.

[User] Yeah, approximately. There were two groups training, actually. One was training for Uruguay in community development, yeah, in community development. They weren't doing credit unions. And then our group. So probably all together, we were probably close to 40, 45 people altogether. Our group was probably 20 something and theirs was a little smaller.

[Assistant] What was your impression of your fellow trainees? I mean, now it's not just you joining the Peace Corps, there's all this crowd. Have any particular reaction you recall?

[User] No, I really liked them. I was fascinated by the fact that there were several really newlywed couples that were going, which was pretty amazing to me and that there were there was an interesting spread. There was one man who was older, I suppose he was in his sixties, but he didn't end up getting to go because physically he didn't do so well. But everybody was pretty, pretty monolithically the same age just came out of college, you know, hardly anyone was different in that way.

[Assistant] And that was too early for Vietnam to be a concern.


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

[User] Yeah, approximately. There were two groups training, actually. One was training for Uruguay in community development, yeah, in community development. They weren't doing credit unions. And then our group. So probably all together, we were probably close to 40, 45 people altogether. Our group was probably 20 something and theirs was a little smaller.

[Assistant] What was your impression of your fellow trainees? I mean, now it's not just you joining the Peace Corps, there's all this crowd. Have any particular reaction you recall?

[User] No, I really liked them. I was fascinated by the fact that there were several really newlywed couples that were going, which was pretty amazing to me and that there were there was an interesting spread. There was one man who was older, I suppose he was in his sixties, but he didn't end up getting to go because physically he didn't do so well. But everybody was pretty, pretty monolithically the same age just came out of college, you know, hardly anyone was different in that way.

[Assistant] And that was too early for Vietnam to be a concern.

[User] It was a concern. I think it was, yeah, I think it had become. It was '60. It was '64. So the people were, yeah. And I think the young men were quite aware of that.

[Assistant] Right. Well, then talk about the training. How was it organized?


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

[User] No, I really liked them. I was fascinated by the fact that there were several really newlywed couples that were going, which was pretty amazing to me and that there were there was an interesting spread. There was one man who was older, I suppose he was in his sixties, but he didn't end up getting to go because physically he didn't do so well. But everybody was pretty, pretty monolithically the same age just came out of college, you know, hardly anyone was different in that way.

[Assistant] And that was too early for Vietnam to be a concern.

[User] It was a concern. I think it was, yeah, I think it had become. It was '60. It was '64. So the people were, yeah. And I think the young men were quite aware of that.

[Assistant] Right. Well, then talk about the training. How was it organized?

[User] The time was, well for one thing it was at Notre Dame, which was so amazing and beautiful and it was. And the other piece about being at Notre Dame was that also Notre Dame would have summer school for priests and nuns. And so we would be going through the cafeteria with all these priests and nuns, and these nuns at that time all wore the different habits. And so it became a game with us to be able to name the different orders, you know? And then, of course, the nuns would have these, the nuns and priests would have these hootenannies down by the lake and everybody was singing, you know, we shall overcome. And it was very, it was very interesting.

[Assistant] So there was interaction with them?


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

[User] It was a concern. I think it was, yeah, I think it had become. It was '60. It was '64. So the people were, yeah. And I think the young men were quite aware of that.

[Assistant] Right. Well, then talk about the training. How was it organized?

[User] The time was, well for one thing it was at Notre Dame, which was so amazing and beautiful and it was. And the other piece about being at Notre Dame was that also Notre Dame would have summer school for priests and nuns. And so we would be going through the cafeteria with all these priests and nuns, and these nuns at that time all wore the different habits. And so it became a game with us to be able to name the different orders, you know? And then, of course, the nuns would have these, the nuns and priests would have these hootenannies down by the lake and everybody was singing, you know, we shall overcome. And it was very, it was very interesting.

[Assistant] So there was interaction with them?

[User] There was, oh yeah, a lot of interactions with them. Fascinatingly, because when we were down in South America, certainly the Maryknoll order of priests and nuns were very active. They were the activist Catholics down there, and they were very often helpful to our projects and individual ways or helpful. They helped me out with some stuff at one point. And really like a parallel Peace Corps in a certain way. They were very strongly working in development.

[Assistant] Did language training must have been a major part of it? How is it structured?


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

[User] There was, oh yeah, a lot of interactions with them. Fascinatingly, because when we were down in South America, certainly the Maryknoll order of priests and nuns were very active. They were the activist Catholics down there, and they were very often helpful to our projects and individual ways or helpful. They helped me out with some stuff at one point. And really like a parallel Peace Corps in a certain way. They were very strongly working in development.

[Assistant] Did language training must have been a major part of it? How is it structured?

[User] It seemed as if we were engaging. I know that we would go in the mornings to language training. We'd do first thing in the morning. We do at least an hour even before breakfast, if I remember right. We do an hour language training and it was usually the, that was audio training. It was all audio visual anyway. But this was audio training so that you'd repeat back and, you know, that kind of thing. And then the classes, I'm sure the first class after breakfast was Spanish also. And the classes were small, organized according to your abilities, and somehow I wasn't in the lowest class. I have no idea why. Well, they did give us this language test.

[Assistant] Aptitude test.

[User] Aptitude test, and that's how they made that decision. But you know, I was actually I should have been on the minus because the French was so messing me up, you know, the different verbs and they're so close. But the teachers, most many of whom were from Chile, I can't say most, but many of them were from Chile, and that was very helpful. So many of our trainers were from Chile and they showed us, I mean, they even showed us etiquette at the table. And it was like, I can still remember how one would actually eat a cantaloupe in Chile. Chilean was like the knife and fork and very delicate. I didn't come from that kind of a background.

[Assistant] So we were able to interact with them outside the classroom.


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

[User] It seemed as if we were engaging. I know that we would go in the mornings to language training. We'd do first thing in the morning. We do at least an hour even before breakfast, if I remember right. We do an hour language training and it was usually the, that was audio training. It was all audio visual anyway. But this was audio training so that you'd repeat back and, you know, that kind of thing. And then the classes, I'm sure the first class after breakfast was Spanish also. And the classes were small, organized according to your abilities, and somehow I wasn't in the lowest class. I have no idea why. Well, they did give us this language test.

[Assistant] Aptitude test.

[User] Aptitude test, and that's how they made that decision. But you know, I was actually I should have been on the minus because the French was so messing me up, you know, the different verbs and they're so close. But the teachers, most many of whom were from Chile, I can't say most, but many of them were from Chile, and that was very helpful. So many of our trainers were from Chile and they showed us, I mean, they even showed us etiquette at the table. And it was like, I can still remember how one would actually eat a cantaloupe in Chile. Chilean was like the knife and fork and very delicate. I didn't come from that kind of a background.

[Assistant] So we were able to interact with them outside the classroom.

[User] Yes. Yes, they took part in a lot of the, they'd come to the hootenannies and we'd, uh, they didn't, of course, go to the local bar with us, which was good. They couldn't do, you know, as teachers. But yes, there were a couple of romances and you know.

[Assistant] What was the male female mix of your group?


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

[User] Aptitude test, and that's how they made that decision. But you know, I was actually I should have been on the minus because the French was so messing me up, you know, the different verbs and they're so close. But the teachers, most many of whom were from Chile, I can't say most, but many of them were from Chile, and that was very helpful. So many of our trainers were from Chile and they showed us, I mean, they even showed us etiquette at the table. And it was like, I can still remember how one would actually eat a cantaloupe in Chile. Chilean was like the knife and fork and very delicate. I didn't come from that kind of a background.

[Assistant] So we were able to interact with them outside the classroom.

[User] Yes. Yes, they took part in a lot of the, they'd come to the hootenannies and we'd, uh, they didn't, of course, go to the local bar with us, which was good. They couldn't do, you know, as teachers. But yes, there were a couple of romances and you know.

[Assistant] What was the male female mix of your group?

[User] Of our group? Oh, that's a good question. I think about 50-50.

[Assistant] So there was a fair amount of pairing off.


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

[User] Yes. Yes, they took part in a lot of the, they'd come to the hootenannies and we'd, uh, they didn't, of course, go to the local bar with us, which was good. They couldn't do, you know, as teachers. But yes, there were a couple of romances and you know.

[Assistant] What was the male female mix of your group?

[User] Of our group? Oh, that's a good question. I think about 50-50.

[Assistant] So there was a fair amount of pairing off.

[User] Yes, there was a fair amount of pairing off.

[Assistant] Beginning of dating.


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

[User] Of our group? Oh, that's a good question. I think about 50-50.

[Assistant] So there was a fair amount of pairing off.

[User] Yes, there was a fair amount of pairing off.

[Assistant] Beginning of dating.

[User] Yeah. Plus there were the couples.

[Assistant] Yeah. Was it made clear to you that language would be a real determinant of selection, that you had to get to a certain level in order to?


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

[User] Yeah. Plus there were the couples.

[Assistant] Yeah. Was it made clear to you that language would be a real determinant of selection, that you had to get to a certain level in order to?

[User] No, although everyone felt that, I mean, we there was always the sort of grim reaper of deselection. Do you remember they used to call it the deselection?

[Assistant] Oh yeah.

[User] There was always that piece, and I, as a matter of fact, had a habit of falling asleep in class because I had always been working when I was going to college and I was always in a state of exhaustion and I'd become trained like Pavlovian. Someone would start lecturing and I just go, whew, I can remember, but I'm trying to keep me awake so I wouldn't get deselected. But the, uh, it seemed to me that it was pretty equal in gender and that the sense of wanting to accomplish whatever you need to do to stay in was very strong.

[Assistant] So there was a group feeling.


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

[User] No, although everyone felt that, I mean, we there was always the sort of grim reaper of deselection. Do you remember they used to call it the deselection?

[Assistant] Oh yeah.

[User] There was always that piece, and I, as a matter of fact, had a habit of falling asleep in class because I had always been working when I was going to college and I was always in a state of exhaustion and I'd become trained like Pavlovian. Someone would start lecturing and I just go, whew, I can remember, but I'm trying to keep me awake so I wouldn't get deselected. But the, uh, it seemed to me that it was pretty equal in gender and that the sense of wanting to accomplish whatever you need to do to stay in was very strong.

[Assistant] So there was a group feeling.

[User] Very strong group feeling about that.

[Assistant] Did you have psychiatric interviews?


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

[User] There was always that piece, and I, as a matter of fact, had a habit of falling asleep in class because I had always been working when I was going to college and I was always in a state of exhaustion and I'd become trained like Pavlovian. Someone would start lecturing and I just go, whew, I can remember, but I'm trying to keep me awake so I wouldn't get deselected. But the, uh, it seemed to me that it was pretty equal in gender and that the sense of wanting to accomplish whatever you need to do to stay in was very strong.

[Assistant] So there was a group feeling.

[User] Very strong group feeling about that.

[Assistant] Did you have psychiatric interviews?

[User] Yes. Oh yes. That's one of my favorite stories.

[Assistant] Well, tell me.


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

[User] Yes. Oh yes. That's one of my favorite stories.

[Assistant] Well, tell me.

[User] Well, they did, you know, they had the psychiatric thing, the test that you took. It was probably the MMPI.

[Assistant] Yes. Yes.

[User] And because now that I'm in the field psychology, I actually recognize, yeah, I took this before. And the one thing that I answered that must have raised flags was, it said if you had it somewhere, there must be a question said something on the order of if you had a choice, would you be a boy or girl? Would you change your gender? And I said, well, I'd rather I'd be a guy. It was clear to me the guys had it easier and had things were better for them. And I mean, that seemed obvious, right? But that raised flags about, I think about whether I was a lesbian, you know, so I had the interview with the psychiatrist. Well, how do you feel about being a girl? I said, well, I'm used to it, you know? I've been a girl for like almost twenty years. Twenty one, twenty two years now, you know, I'm OK. I mean, it was puzzling to me.

[Assistant] You must have been nervous, though.


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

[User] Well, they did, you know, they had the psychiatric thing, the test that you took. It was probably the MMPI.

[Assistant] Yes. Yes.

[User] And because now that I'm in the field psychology, I actually recognize, yeah, I took this before. And the one thing that I answered that must have raised flags was, it said if you had it somewhere, there must be a question said something on the order of if you had a choice, would you be a boy or girl? Would you change your gender? And I said, well, I'd rather I'd be a guy. It was clear to me the guys had it easier and had things were better for them. And I mean, that seemed obvious, right? But that raised flags about, I think about whether I was a lesbian, you know, so I had the interview with the psychiatrist. Well, how do you feel about being a girl? I said, well, I'm used to it, you know? I've been a girl for like almost twenty years. Twenty one, twenty two years now, you know, I'm OK. I mean, it was puzzling to me.

[Assistant] You must have been nervous, though.

[User] Well, I was. I didn't, you know, I mean, I didn't. I sort of realized that was the piece because he was asking me about that. Very heterosexual. It's not a problem. I just.

[Assistant] You have more than one interview?


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

[User] And because now that I'm in the field psychology, I actually recognize, yeah, I took this before. And the one thing that I answered that must have raised flags was, it said if you had it somewhere, there must be a question said something on the order of if you had a choice, would you be a boy or girl? Would you change your gender? And I said, well, I'd rather I'd be a guy. It was clear to me the guys had it easier and had things were better for them. And I mean, that seemed obvious, right? But that raised flags about, I think about whether I was a lesbian, you know, so I had the interview with the psychiatrist. Well, how do you feel about being a girl? I said, well, I'm used to it, you know? I've been a girl for like almost twenty years. Twenty one, twenty two years now, you know, I'm OK. I mean, it was puzzling to me.

[Assistant] You must have been nervous, though.

[User] Well, I was. I didn't, you know, I mean, I didn't. I sort of realized that was the piece because he was asking me about that. Very heterosexual. It's not a problem. I just.

[Assistant] You have more than one interview?

[User] Well, I only recall having one. Yeah, I only recall having one.

[Assistant] Well, we'll get to selection later. So a typical training day was the language and language.


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

[User] Well, I was. I didn't, you know, I mean, I didn't. I sort of realized that was the piece because he was asking me about that. Very heterosexual. It's not a problem. I just.

[Assistant] You have more than one interview?

[User] Well, I only recall having one. Yeah, I only recall having one.

[Assistant] Well, we'll get to selection later. So a typical training day was the language and language.

[User] Language and language and community development, lunch. More community development.

[Assistant] Who was doing the community development?


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

[User] Language and language and community development, lunch. More community development.

[Assistant] Who was doing the community development?

[User] People from the previous Chile group, I remember.

[Assistant] Ex-volunteers then?

[User] Yeah. Oh gosh, Mike, I can't remember his last name. He, uh, there were several of the previous Chile volunteers who were doing community development, and I have a very poor memory for this. So I'm sure other people in my group would remember all this stuff. And then there were then they seemed to bring in, they did some really good stuff with breaking us up into groups, giving us case studies and asking us what we would do about it. They also did some very good stuff about group dynamics, you know, setting us into situations and then being able to feedback to us. Ok, what role did you play in that discussion? You know, people were supposed to take.

[Assistant] All role playing or did they create situations?


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

[User] People from the previous Chile group, I remember.

[Assistant] Ex-volunteers then?

[User] Yeah. Oh gosh, Mike, I can't remember his last name. He, uh, there were several of the previous Chile volunteers who were doing community development, and I have a very poor memory for this. So I'm sure other people in my group would remember all this stuff. And then there were then they seemed to bring in, they did some really good stuff with breaking us up into groups, giving us case studies and asking us what we would do about it. They also did some very good stuff about group dynamics, you know, setting us into situations and then being able to feedback to us. Ok, what role did you play in that discussion? You know, people were supposed to take.

[Assistant] All role playing or did they create situations?

[User] No, they created situations where we were supposed to be trying to, trying to come up with some development plan and then noticing the manner in which we worked and who did what. So who kind of took over and made it go, who kind of sat back and waited until they were asked, who did what?

[Assistant] Who ran the program?


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

[User] Yeah. Oh gosh, Mike, I can't remember his last name. He, uh, there were several of the previous Chile volunteers who were doing community development, and I have a very poor memory for this. So I'm sure other people in my group would remember all this stuff. And then there were then they seemed to bring in, they did some really good stuff with breaking us up into groups, giving us case studies and asking us what we would do about it. They also did some very good stuff about group dynamics, you know, setting us into situations and then being able to feedback to us. Ok, what role did you play in that discussion? You know, people were supposed to take.

[Assistant] All role playing or did they create situations?

[User] No, they created situations where we were supposed to be trying to, trying to come up with some development plan and then noticing the manner in which we worked and who did what. So who kind of took over and made it go, who kind of sat back and waited until they were asked, who did what?

[Assistant] Who ran the program?

[User] Remember, it was Walter Langford was the person at Notre Dame who oversaw the program. Mike Curtin was the guy I was trying to think of, who did the community development part of it I think. And I don't have in my mind any of the people who are under Langford, but he was the, he was in a certain way part of the Catholic conspiracy. You know, in a certain way there was the choice of Notre Dame and there was a very strong sense of Notre Dame having a commitment to this program. And so at least I won't say the Catholic conspiracy, but a real strong urge.

[Assistant] Was it built into the program design that anyone from Notre Dame would be the company you were working with you down when you went to Chile?


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

[User] No, they created situations where we were supposed to be trying to, trying to come up with some development plan and then noticing the manner in which we worked and who did what. So who kind of took over and made it go, who kind of sat back and waited until they were asked, who did what?

[Assistant] Who ran the program?

[User] Remember, it was Walter Langford was the person at Notre Dame who oversaw the program. Mike Curtin was the guy I was trying to think of, who did the community development part of it I think. And I don't have in my mind any of the people who are under Langford, but he was the, he was in a certain way part of the Catholic conspiracy. You know, in a certain way there was the choice of Notre Dame and there was a very strong sense of Notre Dame having a commitment to this program. And so at least I won't say the Catholic conspiracy, but a real strong urge.

[Assistant] Was it built into the program design that anyone from Notre Dame would be the company you were working with you down when you went to Chile?

[User] No, I don't remember anybody from Notre Dame. I mean, I do remember the people who went down with us. One was Mel Romero as our representative. We had a couple of reps. And of course, I don't know with the Uruguay group what happened with them because they didn't even get to go to Uruguay, they ended up in Venezuela. No training for it. But we had a, I remember the reps coming and talking to us, but they weren't a standard part of our training.

[Assistant] Yeah, but it seems to me that there was, did a clear definition of a job begin to emerge that you would build expectations? When I get there, I'm going to be doing this.


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

[User] Remember, it was Walter Langford was the person at Notre Dame who oversaw the program. Mike Curtin was the guy I was trying to think of, who did the community development part of it I think. And I don't have in my mind any of the people who are under Langford, but he was the, he was in a certain way part of the Catholic conspiracy. You know, in a certain way there was the choice of Notre Dame and there was a very strong sense of Notre Dame having a commitment to this program. And so at least I won't say the Catholic conspiracy, but a real strong urge.

[Assistant] Was it built into the program design that anyone from Notre Dame would be the company you were working with you down when you went to Chile?

[User] No, I don't remember anybody from Notre Dame. I mean, I do remember the people who went down with us. One was Mel Romero as our representative. We had a couple of reps. And of course, I don't know with the Uruguay group what happened with them because they didn't even get to go to Uruguay, they ended up in Venezuela. No training for it. But we had a, I remember the reps coming and talking to us, but they weren't a standard part of our training.

[Assistant] Yeah, but it seems to me that there was, did a clear definition of a job begin to emerge that you would build expectations? When I get there, I'm going to be doing this.

[User] I think that our little group, I did have an. Our little group got split off later. Our educational group.

[Assistant] Still during the training program?


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

[User] No, I don't remember anybody from Notre Dame. I mean, I do remember the people who went down with us. One was Mel Romero as our representative. We had a couple of reps. And of course, I don't know with the Uruguay group what happened with them because they didn't even get to go to Uruguay, they ended up in Venezuela. No training for it. But we had a, I remember the reps coming and talking to us, but they weren't a standard part of our training.

[Assistant] Yeah, but it seems to me that there was, did a clear definition of a job begin to emerge that you would build expectations? When I get there, I'm going to be doing this.

[User] I think that our little group, I did have an. Our little group got split off later. Our educational group.

[Assistant] Still during the training program?

[User] I don't even think it was during the training program. I think we got to Chile and got told that we weren't going to be part of the credit union program. I don't remember us getting separate training in Notre Dame for education, for education about cooperatives. But those of us that were put into that were people who are either teachers or journalists or PR kind of people. So I know that, you know, Bill Long, who would have been, but he didn't go along. And Howard Nelson, who was from Idaho, who was also a journalism person.

[Assistant] So it wasn't just women.


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

[User] I think that our little group, I did have an. Our little group got split off later. Our educational group.

[Assistant] Still during the training program?

[User] I don't even think it was during the training program. I think we got to Chile and got told that we weren't going to be part of the credit union program. I don't remember us getting separate training in Notre Dame for education, for education about cooperatives. But those of us that were put into that were people who are either teachers or journalists or PR kind of people. So I know that, you know, Bill Long, who would have been, but he didn't go along. And Howard Nelson, who was from Idaho, who was also a journalism person.

[Assistant] So it wasn't just women.

[User] No, no. It wasn't at all.

[Assistant] Was there any sense that the real guys were going into the credit union program and then they were finding something for you?


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

[User] No, no. It wasn't at all.

[Assistant] Was there any sense that the real guys were going into the credit union program and then they were finding something for you?

[User] No, not at all. Although there was this, I did. You know, I did certainly know that I was, it was harder to place the girls out in the out, in the Campo, it just was. And we knew that. I mean, we weren't silly about that. We were aware of what a problem that was. But no, it was pretty equal. And I got so into my own particular program. I don't even actually know what the other girls did. There was a great number of people. I mean, they were only like maybe 10 of us, eight to 10 of us who went into the cooperative education. The rest were credit union people and many there were a couple of fishermen guys and they went off and did fisherman stuff. And many people, the credit unions was a ridiculous idea because the inflation rate in Chile was 300 percent a year or something. And it was, that's probably big. But I mean, it was, it did not make for credit unions being the manner in which things were going to work. However, there were other things that could be done and people tended to go off and make cooperatives around something else that worked better than credit unions or take that credit union and try to put their money someplace where it would be helpful.

[Assistant] You know, let's say with training for a minute. Did you get much in the way of either Latin American or Chilean studies, some sense of the history?

[User] Yeah, we were very steeped in that. That was very good. The history of Chile, the customs of Chile, you know? And of course, as I said, so many of our language teachers were Chilean that they were able to incorporate a lot of that. I really felt prepared culturally in a way.

[Assistant] Did you also get the anti-communism packet, you know? The American institutions and world communism.


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

[User] No, not at all. Although there was this, I did. You know, I did certainly know that I was, it was harder to place the girls out in the out, in the Campo, it just was. And we knew that. I mean, we weren't silly about that. We were aware of what a problem that was. But no, it was pretty equal. And I got so into my own particular program. I don't even actually know what the other girls did. There was a great number of people. I mean, they were only like maybe 10 of us, eight to 10 of us who went into the cooperative education. The rest were credit union people and many there were a couple of fishermen guys and they went off and did fisherman stuff. And many people, the credit unions was a ridiculous idea because the inflation rate in Chile was 300 percent a year or something. And it was, that's probably big. But I mean, it was, it did not make for credit unions being the manner in which things were going to work. However, there were other things that could be done and people tended to go off and make cooperatives around something else that worked better than credit unions or take that credit union and try to put their money someplace where it would be helpful.

[Assistant] You know, let's say with training for a minute. Did you get much in the way of either Latin American or Chilean studies, some sense of the history?

[User] Yeah, we were very steeped in that. That was very good. The history of Chile, the customs of Chile, you know? And of course, as I said, so many of our language teachers were Chilean that they were able to incorporate a lot of that. I really felt prepared culturally in a way.

[Assistant] Did you also get the anti-communism packet, you know? The American institutions and world communism.

[User] You know, I don't remember that. Maybe I slept through it.

[Assistant] Yeah, that would be.


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

[User] Yeah, we were very steeped in that. That was very good. The history of Chile, the customs of Chile, you know? And of course, as I said, so many of our language teachers were Chilean that they were able to incorporate a lot of that. I really felt prepared culturally in a way.

[Assistant] Did you also get the anti-communism packet, you know? The American institutions and world communism.

[User] You know, I don't remember that. Maybe I slept through it.

[Assistant] Yeah, that would be.

[User] One you would want to sleep through, yeah. I don't recall that.

[Assistant] Ok. How long was training altogether?


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

[User] You know, I don't remember that. Maybe I slept through it.

[Assistant] Yeah, that would be.

[User] One you would want to sleep through, yeah. I don't recall that.

[Assistant] Ok. How long was training altogether?

[User] Training was, our training was a little longer because we couldn't go until the first Allende and Frei election was held. So that was in September, and we had to stay until we knew that. Now I'm not remembering whether they decided to send us to Puerto Rico during that time or whether we stayed in training. I have the sense that we stayed in training until we found out about the election at Notre Dame, at Notre Dame. So we were there through the beginning of September, which I think was a little longer than usual.

[Assistant] Was there a mid-selection as well as a final selection?


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

[User] One you would want to sleep through, yeah. I don't recall that.

[Assistant] Ok. How long was training altogether?

[User] Training was, our training was a little longer because we couldn't go until the first Allende and Frei election was held. So that was in September, and we had to stay until we knew that. Now I'm not remembering whether they decided to send us to Puerto Rico during that time or whether we stayed in training. I have the sense that we stayed in training until we found out about the election at Notre Dame, at Notre Dame. So we were there through the beginning of September, which I think was a little longer than usual.

[Assistant] Was there a mid-selection as well as a final selection?

[User] There did seem, yeah, there was a mid-selection.

[Assistant] But don't recall, particularly.


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

[User] Training was, our training was a little longer because we couldn't go until the first Allende and Frei election was held. So that was in September, and we had to stay until we knew that. Now I'm not remembering whether they decided to send us to Puerto Rico during that time or whether we stayed in training. I have the sense that we stayed in training until we found out about the election at Notre Dame, at Notre Dame. So we were there through the beginning of September, which I think was a little longer than usual.

[Assistant] Was there a mid-selection as well as a final selection?

[User] There did seem, yeah, there was a mid-selection.

[Assistant] But don't recall, particularly.

[User] I do remember losing, that was probably when we lost, it seemed like Melvin was the name of the man who was older, and Karen, who was a very beautiful girl, and I don't know what happened there.

[Assistant] Did anyone from staff attempt to explain the process so that it wasn't so traumatic?


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

[User] There did seem, yeah, there was a mid-selection.

[Assistant] But don't recall, particularly.

[User] I do remember losing, that was probably when we lost, it seemed like Melvin was the name of the man who was older, and Karen, who was a very beautiful girl, and I don't know what happened there.

[Assistant] Did anyone from staff attempt to explain the process so that it wasn't so traumatic?

[User] I think they told us what they were looking for, and we knew and with common sense knew basically, well, you know, you're going to have to be able to fit in down there. They still made a couple of mistakes. I mean, we could have told them.

[Assistant] Did you do peer evaluations?


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

[User] I do remember losing, that was probably when we lost, it seemed like Melvin was the name of the man who was older, and Karen, who was a very beautiful girl, and I don't know what happened there.

[Assistant] Did anyone from staff attempt to explain the process so that it wasn't so traumatic?

[User] I think they told us what they were looking for, and we knew and with common sense knew basically, well, you know, you're going to have to be able to fit in down there. They still made a couple of mistakes. I mean, we could have told them.

[Assistant] Did you do peer evaluations?

[User] I think we did, but I am sure that I can't imagine that anybody would have said anything that would have sent anybody out. I think we did.

[Assistant] Sometimes they did it in terms of, would you choose the three people you'd like to be assigned with?


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

[User] I think they told us what they were looking for, and we knew and with common sense knew basically, well, you know, you're going to have to be able to fit in down there. They still made a couple of mistakes. I mean, we could have told them.

[Assistant] Did you do peer evaluations?

[User] I think we did, but I am sure that I can't imagine that anybody would have said anything that would have sent anybody out. I think we did.

[Assistant] Sometimes they did it in terms of, would you choose the three people you'd like to be assigned with?

[User] Ah yeah.

[Assistant] And out of that, they can extract something.


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

[User] I think we did, but I am sure that I can't imagine that anybody would have said anything that would have sent anybody out. I think we did.

[Assistant] Sometimes they did it in terms of, would you choose the three people you'd like to be assigned with?

[User] Ah yeah.

[Assistant] And out of that, they can extract something.

[User] Oh they might have done that. Yeah, so I don't remember it if there were any kind of peer evaluation. Everybody would have stonewalled it. You know, nobody would want to be responsible for anybody going out.

[Assistant] So you weren't you weren't concerned about being deselected.


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

[User] Ah yeah.

[Assistant] And out of that, they can extract something.

[User] Oh they might have done that. Yeah, so I don't remember it if there were any kind of peer evaluation. Everybody would have stonewalled it. You know, nobody would want to be responsible for anybody going out.

[Assistant] So you weren't you weren't concerned about being deselected.

[User] I would every once in a while worry because of my language. I would worry that I wasn't going to meet the bar in language. I couldn't roll my Rs. I mean, there was a couple of weeks there where I was totally frantic because I couldn't roll my Rs, I mean. But you know, I look back and I don't.

[Assistant] Could you get extra instruction if you wanted it? I mean, go into the language lab additional hours?


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

[User] Oh they might have done that. Yeah, so I don't remember it if there were any kind of peer evaluation. Everybody would have stonewalled it. You know, nobody would want to be responsible for anybody going out.

[Assistant] So you weren't you weren't concerned about being deselected.

[User] I would every once in a while worry because of my language. I would worry that I wasn't going to meet the bar in language. I couldn't roll my Rs. I mean, there was a couple of weeks there where I was totally frantic because I couldn't roll my Rs, I mean. But you know, I look back and I don't.

[Assistant] Could you get extra instruction if you wanted it? I mean, go into the language lab additional hours?

[User] Yeah, I think you could. But you know, you already in there so many hours. It was hard to imagine going in there anymore. It was almost, I won't say, punitive, but it was a lot of language instruction and a lot. And I thought the audiovisual method was great. I mean, at work, that was the best way to teach, and I don't know if they were leaders in that field and just making it. I don't know if I ever saw it written.

[Assistant] Yeah. And you must have had time for socializing. It wasn't that intense?


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

[User] I would every once in a while worry because of my language. I would worry that I wasn't going to meet the bar in language. I couldn't roll my Rs. I mean, there was a couple of weeks there where I was totally frantic because I couldn't roll my Rs, I mean. But you know, I look back and I don't.

[Assistant] Could you get extra instruction if you wanted it? I mean, go into the language lab additional hours?

[User] Yeah, I think you could. But you know, you already in there so many hours. It was hard to imagine going in there anymore. It was almost, I won't say, punitive, but it was a lot of language instruction and a lot. And I thought the audiovisual method was great. I mean, at work, that was the best way to teach, and I don't know if they were leaders in that field and just making it. I don't know if I ever saw it written.

[Assistant] Yeah. And you must have had time for socializing. It wasn't that intense?

[User] No, no, no. Not at all. There was quite a bit of time for socializing and.

[Assistant] I assume you all went to church on Sunday.


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

[User] Yeah, I think you could. But you know, you already in there so many hours. It was hard to imagine going in there anymore. It was almost, I won't say, punitive, but it was a lot of language instruction and a lot. And I thought the audiovisual method was great. I mean, at work, that was the best way to teach, and I don't know if they were leaders in that field and just making it. I don't know if I ever saw it written.

[Assistant] Yeah. And you must have had time for socializing. It wasn't that intense?

[User] No, no, no. Not at all. There was quite a bit of time for socializing and.

[Assistant] I assume you all went to church on Sunday.

[User] Yes, of course, because we were. I don't know if anybody went to church on Sunday, actually. There was a little some kind of snack bar at Notre Dame that people would go and play the jukebox and dance, sometimes even at lunchtime, just for fun. And uh, and we could go off to movies and stuff like that every once in a while. But there wasn't a lot of free time, but there was so much when you weren't when there wasn't free time. You know, within the dorms, there was just so much getting to know each other and spending time with each other. And yeah, and I really liked the people. I really had a great group. I can't imagine anybody saying they didn't have a great group in a certain way, but we had a great group. We really liked each other. We really I thought there were people of great experience. Well, not so much experience, but possibility, you know?

[Assistant] So the training was extended at least through the election?


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

[User] No, no, no. Not at all. There was quite a bit of time for socializing and.

[Assistant] I assume you all went to church on Sunday.

[User] Yes, of course, because we were. I don't know if anybody went to church on Sunday, actually. There was a little some kind of snack bar at Notre Dame that people would go and play the jukebox and dance, sometimes even at lunchtime, just for fun. And uh, and we could go off to movies and stuff like that every once in a while. But there wasn't a lot of free time, but there was so much when you weren't when there wasn't free time. You know, within the dorms, there was just so much getting to know each other and spending time with each other. And yeah, and I really liked the people. I really had a great group. I can't imagine anybody saying they didn't have a great group in a certain way, but we had a great group. We really liked each other. We really I thought there were people of great experience. Well, not so much experience, but possibility, you know?

[Assistant] So the training was extended at least through the election?

[User] At least through the election. So I think it was a couple of extra weeks.

[Assistant] And so they just kept training you?


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

[User] Yes, of course, because we were. I don't know if anybody went to church on Sunday, actually. There was a little some kind of snack bar at Notre Dame that people would go and play the jukebox and dance, sometimes even at lunchtime, just for fun. And uh, and we could go off to movies and stuff like that every once in a while. But there wasn't a lot of free time, but there was so much when you weren't when there wasn't free time. You know, within the dorms, there was just so much getting to know each other and spending time with each other. And yeah, and I really liked the people. I really had a great group. I can't imagine anybody saying they didn't have a great group in a certain way, but we had a great group. We really liked each other. We really I thought there were people of great experience. Well, not so much experience, but possibility, you know?

[Assistant] So the training was extended at least through the election?

[User] At least through the election. So I think it was a couple of extra weeks.

[Assistant] And so they just kept training you?

[User] Yeah, they just kept training us. We just kept getting language and we kept getting.

[Assistant] Was there any suggestion you might get home leave before you went?


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

[User] At least through the election. So I think it was a couple of extra weeks.

[Assistant] And so they just kept training you?

[User] Yeah, they just kept training us. We just kept getting language and we kept getting.

[Assistant] Was there any suggestion you might get home leave before you went?

[User] Oh yeah, it was organized so that we'd go to Puerto Rico for a certain time and then get a week to 10 days, I think, at home to get organized.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So final selections held at Notre Dame.


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

[User] Yeah, they just kept training us. We just kept getting language and we kept getting.

[Assistant] Was there any suggestion you might get home leave before you went?

[User] Oh yeah, it was organized so that we'd go to Puerto Rico for a certain time and then get a week to 10 days, I think, at home to get organized.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So final selections held at Notre Dame.

[User] Mm hmm. Yeah. Because I don't know if anybody, because they swore us in in Puerto Rico, but I'm sure final selections were made at Notre Dame. And then, you know, they weren't going to select anybody from what happened in Puerto Rico, although they should have.

[Assistant] What do you base that comment on, later performance by some people?


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

[User] Oh yeah, it was organized so that we'd go to Puerto Rico for a certain time and then get a week to 10 days, I think, at home to get organized.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So final selections held at Notre Dame.

[User] Mm hmm. Yeah. Because I don't know if anybody, because they swore us in in Puerto Rico, but I'm sure final selections were made at Notre Dame. And then, you know, they weren't going to select anybody from what happened in Puerto Rico, although they should have.

[Assistant] What do you base that comment on, later performance by some people?

[User] Oh, no, just that we were incredibly rowdy in Puerto Rico. And they were very kind not to deselect.

[Assistant] But you had a sense when you finished at Notre Dame, that you were in, that you weren't under that selection time.


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

[User] Mm hmm. Yeah. Because I don't know if anybody, because they swore us in in Puerto Rico, but I'm sure final selections were made at Notre Dame. And then, you know, they weren't going to select anybody from what happened in Puerto Rico, although they should have.

[Assistant] What do you base that comment on, later performance by some people?

[User] Oh, no, just that we were incredibly rowdy in Puerto Rico. And they were very kind not to deselect.

[Assistant] But you had a sense when you finished at Notre Dame, that you were in, that you weren't under that selection time.

[User] I didn't feel like I was under the selection case anymore.

[Assistant] How did you get to Puerto Rico? I mean, you went from South Bend.


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

[User] Oh, no, just that we were incredibly rowdy in Puerto Rico. And they were very kind not to deselect.

[Assistant] But you had a sense when you finished at Notre Dame, that you were in, that you weren't under that selection time.

[User] I didn't feel like I was under the selection case anymore.

[Assistant] How did you get to Puerto Rico? I mean, you went from South Bend.

[User] We went from South Bend to New York and then flew down to Puerto Rico.

[Assistant] As a group?


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

[User] I didn't feel like I was under the selection case anymore.

[Assistant] How did you get to Puerto Rico? I mean, you went from South Bend.

[User] We went from South Bend to New York and then flew down to Puerto Rico.

[Assistant] As a group?

[User] As a group.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. Yeah. Tell me about Puerto Rico because I haven't talked to many people about it.


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

[User] We went from South Bend to New York and then flew down to Puerto Rico.

[Assistant] As a group?

[User] As a group.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. Yeah. Tell me about Puerto Rico because I haven't talked to many people about it.

[User] Yeah, it was really an experience that was where I had culture shock because I had, you know, I've never been anywhere. So I had never been in a Caribbean, a Caribbean kind of a culture. A really Hispanic culture in a different kind of way than Chile. Chile is a very cosmopolitan, European oriented. It's not Puerto Rican Americans. Puerto Rica is really Puerto Rican. It was like going into a jungle and meeting the natives. It was so amazing to me to be there. It was hot. Hot and muggy and just so foreign. So foreign in the way it looked, so foreign in the way it felt. The Spanish the Puerto Ricans speak, you know, is at about double the speed of most Spanish that's spoken anywhere in the continental Latin America.

[Assistant] Take me through that. You arrived. Someone met you.


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

[User] As a group.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. Yeah. Tell me about Puerto Rico because I haven't talked to many people about it.

[User] Yeah, it was really an experience that was where I had culture shock because I had, you know, I've never been anywhere. So I had never been in a Caribbean, a Caribbean kind of a culture. A really Hispanic culture in a different kind of way than Chile. Chile is a very cosmopolitan, European oriented. It's not Puerto Rican Americans. Puerto Rica is really Puerto Rican. It was like going into a jungle and meeting the natives. It was so amazing to me to be there. It was hot. Hot and muggy and just so foreign. So foreign in the way it looked, so foreign in the way it felt. The Spanish the Puerto Ricans speak, you know, is at about double the speed of most Spanish that's spoken anywhere in the continental Latin America.

[Assistant] Take me through that. You arrived. Someone met you.

[User] We arrived. We stayed at, uh. We arrived. We stayed at a couple of hotels, you know, certainly not high-class hotels initially. And we had a couple of meetings and then they divided us up into pairs or three or four, groups of two or three or four. And they sent us. They had organized for us to go out to different little towns and to either work with someone who was working in community development in that little town or had some kind of project going that we could be helpful with or at least see how they had organized it. The idea was to see how they were working in community development there. It was in cooperatives, but it was community development.

[Assistant] And it was all Puerto Ricans you were assigned, there weren't other American counterparts.


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

[User] Yeah, it was really an experience that was where I had culture shock because I had, you know, I've never been anywhere. So I had never been in a Caribbean, a Caribbean kind of a culture. A really Hispanic culture in a different kind of way than Chile. Chile is a very cosmopolitan, European oriented. It's not Puerto Rican Americans. Puerto Rica is really Puerto Rican. It was like going into a jungle and meeting the natives. It was so amazing to me to be there. It was hot. Hot and muggy and just so foreign. So foreign in the way it looked, so foreign in the way it felt. The Spanish the Puerto Ricans speak, you know, is at about double the speed of most Spanish that's spoken anywhere in the continental Latin America.

[Assistant] Take me through that. You arrived. Someone met you.

[User] We arrived. We stayed at, uh. We arrived. We stayed at a couple of hotels, you know, certainly not high-class hotels initially. And we had a couple of meetings and then they divided us up into pairs or three or four, groups of two or three or four. And they sent us. They had organized for us to go out to different little towns and to either work with someone who was working in community development in that little town or had some kind of project going that we could be helpful with or at least see how they had organized it. The idea was to see how they were working in community development there. It was in cooperatives, but it was community development.

[Assistant] And it was all Puerto Ricans you were assigned, there weren't other American counterparts.

[User] Well, in my particular situation there wasn't. It's hard for me to know what the rest.

[Assistant] Did you go out alone or with someone?


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

[User] We arrived. We stayed at, uh. We arrived. We stayed at a couple of hotels, you know, certainly not high-class hotels initially. And we had a couple of meetings and then they divided us up into pairs or three or four, groups of two or three or four. And they sent us. They had organized for us to go out to different little towns and to either work with someone who was working in community development in that little town or had some kind of project going that we could be helpful with or at least see how they had organized it. The idea was to see how they were working in community development there. It was in cooperatives, but it was community development.

[Assistant] And it was all Puerto Ricans you were assigned, there weren't other American counterparts.

[User] Well, in my particular situation there wasn't. It's hard for me to know what the rest.

[Assistant] Did you go out alone or with someone?

[User] I went out with another person who was going to be in the cooperative group, which was Howard Nelson. He and I were sent to this little town called Naguabo, Puerto Rico.

[Assistant] Did you have to go into the town, find your own place to live, or was that arranged?


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

[User] Well, in my particular situation there wasn't. It's hard for me to know what the rest.

[Assistant] Did you go out alone or with someone?

[User] I went out with another person who was going to be in the cooperative group, which was Howard Nelson. He and I were sent to this little town called Naguabo, Puerto Rico.

[Assistant] Did you have to go into the town, find your own place to live, or was that arranged?

[User] I think they had arranged a place for us to stay a house to stay in, you know, with a with a lady that rented out rooms kind of a place like that. He was in the same place. We might have even been in a separate.

[Assistant] How long were you there?


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

[User] I went out with another person who was going to be in the cooperative group, which was Howard Nelson. He and I were sent to this little town called Naguabo, Puerto Rico.

[Assistant] Did you have to go into the town, find your own place to live, or was that arranged?

[User] I think they had arranged a place for us to stay a house to stay in, you know, with a with a lady that rented out rooms kind of a place like that. He was in the same place. We might have even been in a separate.

[Assistant] How long were you there?

[User] Three weeks.

[Assistant] And do you have any sense of what they expected you to get out of the experience?


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

[User] I think they had arranged a place for us to stay a house to stay in, you know, with a with a lady that rented out rooms kind of a place like that. He was in the same place. We might have even been in a separate.

[Assistant] How long were you there?

[User] Three weeks.

[Assistant] And do you have any sense of what they expected you to get out of the experience?

[User] They wanted us to have an intensive Spanish experience. They wanted us to be, you know, even though that we were with near another Peace Corps volunteer. They wanted us to be thrown into the Spanish part, and I think they wanted us. I certainly had the experience and this may be what they wanted, was of being in a, you know, a small town, a rural town, which is where most of us would have been expected to be going. And what that's like.

[Assistant] A series of little culture shocks.


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

[User] Three weeks.

[Assistant] And do you have any sense of what they expected you to get out of the experience?

[User] They wanted us to have an intensive Spanish experience. They wanted us to be, you know, even though that we were with near another Peace Corps volunteer. They wanted us to be thrown into the Spanish part, and I think they wanted us. I certainly had the experience and this may be what they wanted, was of being in a, you know, a small town, a rural town, which is where most of us would have been expected to be going. And what that's like.

[Assistant] A series of little culture shocks.

[User] Oh yeah, lots of culture shocks. You know, the cold shower, the size of the water bugs, which are like giant cockroaches. You can't tell me that's not a cockroach, it was giant however. And being the only blond person in town. Having people go la rubia, la rubia, [kissing noises], everywhere you went. It was really, that was hard. That was really hard. I just felt like, yeah, like on edge all the time, you know? No one ever touched me or made any kind of, you know, untoward approach. It was it just like I just felt like an Exhibit A at the fair or something. People just couldn't help but look at me, you know, I look different.

[Assistant] Do you recall the family you stayed with? Were they supportive?


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

[User] Beans and rice and beans and rice. And once in a while a little chicken. But yeah, not a lot of chicken.

[Assistant] So you were there for the three weeks.

[User] I was there for the three weeks. It was a very difficult three weeks for me because I just felt so out of place and so just shocked. I was just in culture shock. I didn't do a very good job.

[Assistant] Exposed.

[User] People were, yeah, I didn't do a very good job of getting to know people. My counterpart, Howard, was just like he just sunk right into it, had this little dictionary with him all the time, como se dice, whatever. He was amazing. He ended up marrying a Chilean woman, and it's just really he just sunk himself right into the culture. It was quite amazing.

[Assistant] Did it get to the point when you were that you were a little concerned about going to Chile? I mean, if you weren't making it in Puerto Rico?


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

[User] I was there for the three weeks. It was a very difficult three weeks for me because I just felt so out of place and so just shocked. I was just in culture shock. I didn't do a very good job.

[Assistant] Exposed.

[User] People were, yeah, I didn't do a very good job of getting to know people. My counterpart, Howard, was just like he just sunk right into it, had this little dictionary with him all the time, como se dice, whatever. He was amazing. He ended up marrying a Chilean woman, and it's just really he just sunk himself right into the culture. It was quite amazing.

[Assistant] Did it get to the point when you were that you were a little concerned about going to Chile? I mean, if you weren't making it in Puerto Rico?

[User] So that's interesting. I don't remember being worried about going to Chile, I just wanted to get out of Puerto Rico. I just did not like it and the other piece was our group. For whatever reason, we're the only ones in Puerto Rico who weren't getting the Outward Bound training, which I really wanted to get, the Outward Bound training. I thought that was I really liked the idea of getting that training, even though at that point I didn't understand it as much. But I think it would have been quite helpful to me as a human being at the time. I just kind of hungered for that, and we were just out in this little town sort of.

[Assistant] Oh, I thought you would go in. Yeah. And you knew what kind of training it was.


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

[User] People were, yeah, I didn't do a very good job of getting to know people. My counterpart, Howard, was just like he just sunk right into it, had this little dictionary with him all the time, como se dice, whatever. He was amazing. He ended up marrying a Chilean woman, and it's just really he just sunk himself right into the culture. It was quite amazing.

[Assistant] Did it get to the point when you were that you were a little concerned about going to Chile? I mean, if you weren't making it in Puerto Rico?

[User] So that's interesting. I don't remember being worried about going to Chile, I just wanted to get out of Puerto Rico. I just did not like it and the other piece was our group. For whatever reason, we're the only ones in Puerto Rico who weren't getting the Outward Bound training, which I really wanted to get, the Outward Bound training. I thought that was I really liked the idea of getting that training, even though at that point I didn't understand it as much. But I think it would have been quite helpful to me as a human being at the time. I just kind of hungered for that, and we were just out in this little town sort of.

[Assistant] Oh, I thought you would go in. Yeah. And you knew what kind of training it was.

[User] Yeah, although, of course, were like the stories were overblown about rappelling down cliffs and stuff like that. But we all wanted to do it. We thought it was a part of the whole training.

[Assistant] Camp Crozier or Radley?


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

[User] So that's interesting. I don't remember being worried about going to Chile, I just wanted to get out of Puerto Rico. I just did not like it and the other piece was our group. For whatever reason, we're the only ones in Puerto Rico who weren't getting the Outward Bound training, which I really wanted to get, the Outward Bound training. I thought that was I really liked the idea of getting that training, even though at that point I didn't understand it as much. But I think it would have been quite helpful to me as a human being at the time. I just kind of hungered for that, and we were just out in this little town sort of.

[Assistant] Oh, I thought you would go in. Yeah. And you knew what kind of training it was.

[User] Yeah, although, of course, were like the stories were overblown about rappelling down cliffs and stuff like that. But we all wanted to do it. We thought it was a part of the whole training.

[Assistant] Camp Crozier or Radley?

[User] That sounds really familiar. Yeah. I think it must have been that, it's very familiar.

[Assistant] Those were the first two volunteers who died. They died in a plane crash. And I think they may have been in Colombia.


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

[User] Yeah, although, of course, were like the stories were overblown about rappelling down cliffs and stuff like that. But we all wanted to do it. We thought it was a part of the whole training.

[Assistant] Camp Crozier or Radley?

[User] That sounds really familiar. Yeah. I think it must have been that, it's very familiar.

[Assistant] Those were the first two volunteers who died. They died in a plane crash. And I think they may have been in Colombia.

[User] Uh-huh. And they named the training for them? Oh, that's great. Now, I didn't remember that specifically.

[Assistant] So excruciatingly, the three weeks came to an end.


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

[User] Uh-huh. And they named the training for them? Oh, that's great. Now, I didn't remember that specifically.

[Assistant] So excruciatingly, the three weeks came to an end.

[User] Yes, finally. Came to an end and we ended up in, all of us, uh, going back to, uh, what's the main city in Puerto Rico?

[Assistant] San Juan.

[User] San Juan, going back to San Juan and somebody I have no idea how this happened. Most of us were still housed in the Normandy or some other little tacky hotels, but somebody had managed to get a bunch of rooms that, they had talked the, I think it was the Hilton or San Juan Sheraton. Somehow, someone and gone and went, we are poor volunteers, it's our last chance to have a life. Please let us in. And they let us in, a bunch of us, not me. I don't remember, I don't actually remember where I was staying, but they had the best surf in town and I body surfed and I used to sprain my back so that's one of the things I remember that I was in excruciating pain when we did the swearing in ceremony, which was held at the Sheraton I think. And I was very moved by it, but I don't think I was as inebriated as many people were.

[Assistant] That was the rowdy time I gather.


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

[User] Yes, finally. Came to an end and we ended up in, all of us, uh, going back to, uh, what's the main city in Puerto Rico?

[Assistant] San Juan.

[User] San Juan, going back to San Juan and somebody I have no idea how this happened. Most of us were still housed in the Normandy or some other little tacky hotels, but somebody had managed to get a bunch of rooms that, they had talked the, I think it was the Hilton or San Juan Sheraton. Somehow, someone and gone and went, we are poor volunteers, it's our last chance to have a life. Please let us in. And they let us in, a bunch of us, not me. I don't remember, I don't actually remember where I was staying, but they had the best surf in town and I body surfed and I used to sprain my back so that's one of the things I remember that I was in excruciating pain when we did the swearing in ceremony, which was held at the Sheraton I think. And I was very moved by it, but I don't think I was as inebriated as many people were.

[Assistant] That was the rowdy time I gather.

[User] That was really a rowdy time.

[Assistant] After everyone came back from the village experience.


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

[User] San Juan, going back to San Juan and somebody I have no idea how this happened. Most of us were still housed in the Normandy or some other little tacky hotels, but somebody had managed to get a bunch of rooms that, they had talked the, I think it was the Hilton or San Juan Sheraton. Somehow, someone and gone and went, we are poor volunteers, it's our last chance to have a life. Please let us in. And they let us in, a bunch of us, not me. I don't remember, I don't actually remember where I was staying, but they had the best surf in town and I body surfed and I used to sprain my back so that's one of the things I remember that I was in excruciating pain when we did the swearing in ceremony, which was held at the Sheraton I think. And I was very moved by it, but I don't think I was as inebriated as many people were.

[Assistant] That was the rowdy time I gather.

[User] That was really a rowdy time.

[Assistant] After everyone came back from the village experience.

[User] Yes, this was a very rowdy time and it was a very rowdy time.

[Assistant] How long, a couple of days?


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

[User] That was really a rowdy time.

[Assistant] After everyone came back from the village experience.

[User] Yes, this was a very rowdy time and it was a very rowdy time.

[Assistant] How long, a couple of days?

[User] A couple of days, yeah, but even probably just. Yeah, probably is two nights like the day we all got in one night and then the next night was the swearing in ceremony.

[Assistant] Do you recall trying to pump others about their experience if yours had been so difficult?


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

[User] Yes, this was a very rowdy time and it was a very rowdy time.

[Assistant] How long, a couple of days?

[User] A couple of days, yeah, but even probably just. Yeah, probably is two nights like the day we all got in one night and then the next night was the swearing in ceremony.

[Assistant] Do you recall trying to pump others about their experience if yours had been so difficult?

[User] Oh yeah. I mean, I was hearing everybody was talking about what they had done, and yeah, it was quite different. I mean, I think that Howard and I got sent off to quite a small, much smaller town, without quite the whoever was our connecting person. It wasn't a very, uh, didn't do a very good job I don't think. Or I don't remember us really getting to do much in the way of learning about how they ran whatever program there. It was more of an experience of being in the culture and getting through the three weeks. But other people seem to have had more structured kinds of experiences that were in which they felt more like they'd seen some community development projects.

[Assistant] Yeah. Had the elections been held in Chile by then?


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

[User] A couple of days, yeah, but even probably just. Yeah, probably is two nights like the day we all got in one night and then the next night was the swearing in ceremony.

[Assistant] Do you recall trying to pump others about their experience if yours had been so difficult?

[User] Oh yeah. I mean, I was hearing everybody was talking about what they had done, and yeah, it was quite different. I mean, I think that Howard and I got sent off to quite a small, much smaller town, without quite the whoever was our connecting person. It wasn't a very, uh, didn't do a very good job I don't think. Or I don't remember us really getting to do much in the way of learning about how they ran whatever program there. It was more of an experience of being in the culture and getting through the three weeks. But other people seem to have had more structured kinds of experiences that were in which they felt more like they'd seen some community development projects.

[Assistant] Yeah. Had the elections been held in Chile by then?

[User] Yes. Yes, they had. So we knew that we were going.

[Assistant] And what was the impact of the elections on whether you went or not?


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

[User] Oh yeah. I mean, I was hearing everybody was talking about what they had done, and yeah, it was quite different. I mean, I think that Howard and I got sent off to quite a small, much smaller town, without quite the whoever was our connecting person. It wasn't a very, uh, didn't do a very good job I don't think. Or I don't remember us really getting to do much in the way of learning about how they ran whatever program there. It was more of an experience of being in the culture and getting through the three weeks. But other people seem to have had more structured kinds of experiences that were in which they felt more like they'd seen some community development projects.

[Assistant] Yeah. Had the elections been held in Chile by then?

[User] Yes. Yes, they had. So we knew that we were going.

[Assistant] And what was the impact of the elections on whether you went or not?

[User] Oh, Frei was the Christian Democrat. And if we went down, of course he would send us. He would accept us. But if Allende was elected, he was backed by a coalition, including communists and socialists, and they would not have invited us down.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So you were aware of that.


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

[User] Yes. Yes, they had. So we knew that we were going.

[Assistant] And what was the impact of the elections on whether you went or not?

[User] Oh, Frei was the Christian Democrat. And if we went down, of course he would send us. He would accept us. But if Allende was elected, he was backed by a coalition, including communists and socialists, and they would not have invited us down.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So you were aware of that.

[User] We were aware that they did not want us if they, the coalition could not in good conscience invite the Peace Corps down. So we knew that if Frei won, we were in. And if he lost, we were out.

[Assistant] So you sobered up.


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

[User] Oh, Frei was the Christian Democrat. And if we went down, of course he would send us. He would accept us. But if Allende was elected, he was backed by a coalition, including communists and socialists, and they would not have invited us down.

[Assistant] Oh, OK. So you were aware of that.

[User] We were aware that they did not want us if they, the coalition could not in good conscience invite the Peace Corps down. So we knew that if Frei won, we were in. And if he lost, we were out.

[Assistant] So you sobered up.

[User] Yeah, we sobered up, we went home, got ourselves home.

[Assistant] How long were you home?


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

[User] We were aware that they did not want us if they, the coalition could not in good conscience invite the Peace Corps down. So we knew that if Frei won, we were in. And if he lost, we were out.

[Assistant] So you sobered up.

[User] Yeah, we sobered up, we went home, got ourselves home.

[Assistant] How long were you home?

[User] I'm pretty sure it was a week might have been 10 days. I don't know exactly. I do remember, I just remember that I had a lot to get together and uh, you know, we had to get our trunks ready to go and we had ordered sleeping bags, like as a group gotten together and ordered sleeping bags, and they were sent to our houses. So our sleeping bags that arrived. And it was, you know, I had never traveled. I mean, I realized later in my life, I didn't know then how green I was. You just don't know, you know, you don't even know what you don't know. And so I don't know. I just went home and put my clothes in the trunk and packed a little suitcase and went off. I had no sense. They'd done a good job of giving me a list of what you got to take with you. Take extra tampons and all that kind of stuff. Because who knows how long before you figure out how to do that, you know? But um, I just remember being very, very excited and couldn't wait to go get down there. You know, I didn't have the sense to be scared, I guess.

[Assistant] Yeah. Well, a lot of enthusiasm in what you were doing. Were you hosted and wined and dined for the week you were home? I mean, the local paper, the friends of the family?


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

[User] Yeah, we sobered up, we went home, got ourselves home.

[Assistant] How long were you home?

[User] I'm pretty sure it was a week might have been 10 days. I don't know exactly. I do remember, I just remember that I had a lot to get together and uh, you know, we had to get our trunks ready to go and we had ordered sleeping bags, like as a group gotten together and ordered sleeping bags, and they were sent to our houses. So our sleeping bags that arrived. And it was, you know, I had never traveled. I mean, I realized later in my life, I didn't know then how green I was. You just don't know, you know, you don't even know what you don't know. And so I don't know. I just went home and put my clothes in the trunk and packed a little suitcase and went off. I had no sense. They'd done a good job of giving me a list of what you got to take with you. Take extra tampons and all that kind of stuff. Because who knows how long before you figure out how to do that, you know? But um, I just remember being very, very excited and couldn't wait to go get down there. You know, I didn't have the sense to be scared, I guess.

[Assistant] Yeah. Well, a lot of enthusiasm in what you were doing. Were you hosted and wined and dined for the week you were home? I mean, the local paper, the friends of the family?

[User] Well, all of my friends, I certainly visited all of my friends who were, you know, still hadn't gone someplace from gone to graduate school somewhere or something?

[Assistant] What was the town in Nevada?


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

[User] Well, all of my friends, I certainly visited all of my friends who were, you know, still hadn't gone someplace from gone to graduate school somewhere or something?

[Assistant] What was the town in Nevada?

[User] Reno. Yeah, all my friends, I went out with everybody in and we had a great time and we'd go down to the clubs, you know, because down there you go down to the clubs and watch different entertainment stuff. We weren't much for gambling. And if you live there, you're probably not much for gambling. And really, it was a wonderful time. I had a great time in that period of time. I think what was missing was any sense of organization around the packing, but my family did finally get that trunk off to me. So I did get it somewhere around Christmas and we left around the middle of October.

[Assistant] What did you do meet in New York?

[User] We once again met in New York and then flew down.

[Assistant] By charter was it or just how big was the group at this point? It was the credit union plus future co-op ed people.


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

[User] We once again met in New York and then flew down.

[Assistant] By charter was it or just how big was the group at this point? It was the credit union plus future co-op ed people.

[User]
Right, so it was all the whole group. I really should know this. It's probably in the range of about 30 something.

I don't remember anybody else on the plane, but that could be just selective memory. I remember us, but it seemed to me it was just a regular airline. We just had booked most of it.

[Assistant] To Chile?

[User] To Chile, stopped in Panama. It was one of those times when, you know, people jumped off the plane said, oh, we're going to go change our money to escudos, we'll get a much better deal here. I had no clue. Plus, I had no money. So it was like, what was I going to change? I had no, you know, I was going to get a salary down there. I was so green.

[Assistant] Arrived in Santiago?


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

[User]
Right, so it was all the whole group. I really should know this. It's probably in the range of about 30 something.

I don't remember anybody else on the plane, but that could be just selective memory. I remember us, but it seemed to me it was just a regular airline. We just had booked most of it.

[Assistant] To Chile?

[User] To Chile, stopped in Panama. It was one of those times when, you know, people jumped off the plane said, oh, we're going to go change our money to escudos, we'll get a much better deal here. I had no clue. Plus, I had no money. So it was like, what was I going to change? I had no, you know, I was going to get a salary down there. I was so green.

[Assistant] Arrived in Santiago?

[User] Arrived in Santiago, LAN Chile Airlines.

[Assistant] Was there any kind of official government reception or I mean, it seems to me it was a little touch and go for a while?


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

[User] To Chile, stopped in Panama. It was one of those times when, you know, people jumped off the plane said, oh, we're going to go change our money to escudos, we'll get a much better deal here. I had no clue. Plus, I had no money. So it was like, what was I going to change? I had no, you know, I was going to get a salary down there. I was so green.

[Assistant] Arrived in Santiago?

[User] Arrived in Santiago, LAN Chile Airlines.

[Assistant] Was there any kind of official government reception or I mean, it seems to me it was a little touch and go for a while?

[User] Well, no, they were fine. I mean, then it was, you know, I think it was had been a Christian democratic government before, and it was just, you know, Frei. It just went on. So it wasn't as if that other somebody who was adverse to us was in. And of course, the Peace Corps was pretty well organized. If we were like the eighth group in, they were very well organized. I remember some meetings at a hotel during which they told us where we were going to be stationed and introducing us to the Peace Corps staff, one of whom ironically I had. When I was home on my little break, I saw a friend of mine who was going out with a young man who was from Chile. And he said, oh, my cousin Sergio works for the Peace Corps down there. You must say hello to him. So of course I found Sergio. I said hello. And then I was just enveloped in this huge whole family because I had, you know, spent half an hour talking to the son of this family who was studying in the United States. It was just, of course, the thing about South America is that incredible hospitality. I mean, it's yeah, it was just the most amazing force of energy that the welcoming in.

[Assistant] And this is when you were still in Santiago?


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

[User] Yeah, my initial weekend there, I'm off to this Chilean family. They just took me in. They were so sweet.

[Assistant] I assume many of them were bilingual.

[User] No, Sergio was the one who spoke English. People did know some English. I mean, we could make ourselves, which was good because my Spanish was pretty poor, it was pretty freaked. You know how your brain isn't working at first. But yeah, they spoke a little English, not that much. Nobody was really fluent.

[Assistant] So now you were faced with using Spanish.

[User] Yeah, really faced with it. I was really listening and really paying attention to how I don't know just all of how people say things, you know.

[Assistant] Right. And while you were in Santiago, you then got the word that you and several others were going?


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

[User] No, Sergio was the one who spoke English. People did know some English. I mean, we could make ourselves, which was good because my Spanish was pretty poor, it was pretty freaked. You know how your brain isn't working at first. But yeah, they spoke a little English, not that much. Nobody was really fluent.

[Assistant] So now you were faced with using Spanish.

[User] Yeah, really faced with it. I was really listening and really paying attention to how I don't know just all of how people say things, you know.

[Assistant] Right. And while you were in Santiago, you then got the word that you and several others were going?

[User] To be stationed in Santiago doing cooperative education, which was with a specific Chilean organization that did cooperative education. So we were to work with that, ICEIT, I think it was. And we were to work with them. And that was pretty distressing for the guys especially, because they really wanted to go out into the Campo. That was where the most of the credit union people, certainly the fishing people. The fishing guys went up to Antofagasta and Iquique or something in the northern part where there were some fishing co-ops or where they organized them, one or the other. But most of the group, some of that group was in Santiago, where there were a lot of credit co-ops. So some of that group stayed and then others were sent down to different credit union co-ops throughout the country. And that was more the adventure that we had been prepared for that community development slash credit union. That was our vision of what it was going to be.

[Assistant] Whose decision was it that you go into this credit, the co-op ed?


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

[User] Yeah, really faced with it. I was really listening and really paying attention to how I don't know just all of how people say things, you know.

[Assistant] Right. And while you were in Santiago, you then got the word that you and several others were going?

[User] To be stationed in Santiago doing cooperative education, which was with a specific Chilean organization that did cooperative education. So we were to work with that, ICEIT, I think it was. And we were to work with them. And that was pretty distressing for the guys especially, because they really wanted to go out into the Campo. That was where the most of the credit union people, certainly the fishing people. The fishing guys went up to Antofagasta and Iquique or something in the northern part where there were some fishing co-ops or where they organized them, one or the other. But most of the group, some of that group was in Santiago, where there were a lot of credit co-ops. So some of that group stayed and then others were sent down to different credit union co-ops throughout the country. And that was more the adventure that we had been prepared for that community development slash credit union. That was our vision of what it was going to be.

[Assistant] Whose decision was it that you go into this credit, the co-op ed?

[User] That Peace Corps, whoever they are. Yeah, I mean, I would imagine that the reps in the country had tried to decide how to place people, and they had a couple of sponsoring organizations. One was the credit union cooperatives and then the other was this education group.

[Assistant] Had other volunteers done this co-op ed, or were you the first to branch off?


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

[User] To be stationed in Santiago doing cooperative education, which was with a specific Chilean organization that did cooperative education. So we were to work with that, ICEIT, I think it was. And we were to work with them. And that was pretty distressing for the guys especially, because they really wanted to go out into the Campo. That was where the most of the credit union people, certainly the fishing people. The fishing guys went up to Antofagasta and Iquique or something in the northern part where there were some fishing co-ops or where they organized them, one or the other. But most of the group, some of that group was in Santiago, where there were a lot of credit co-ops. So some of that group stayed and then others were sent down to different credit union co-ops throughout the country. And that was more the adventure that we had been prepared for that community development slash credit union. That was our vision of what it was going to be.

[Assistant] Whose decision was it that you go into this credit, the co-op ed?

[User] That Peace Corps, whoever they are. Yeah, I mean, I would imagine that the reps in the country had tried to decide how to place people, and they had a couple of sponsoring organizations. One was the credit union cooperatives and then the other was this education group.

[Assistant] Had other volunteers done this co-op ed, or were you the first to branch off?

[User] I think we were the first to be doing that. I don't think there, because I don't, I'm sure there were no other co-op. There were no other Peace Corps volunteers there showing us how to do this or working with that agency.

[Assistant] So what was the arrangement then, as far as living, your living allowance and so forth?