CHAPTER six: 1978 - 2000
Washington, D.C.
The move to Washington was very liberating for Elizabeth. She found many soul mates with whom she could freely discuss issues such as the status of women or politics, in a way that was difficult for a woman of our age-group to do in Latin America at the time we were living there. She was also respected as a professional and not just a mother. A much wider range of work and professional opportunities were available to her, and she experienced many different jobs.
For translators, unless they spoke Russian, Chinese, or Japanese, it was hard to find employment, so finally in her forties she took a deep breath and went back to school to obtain first her Masters and then her Doctorate in Sociology. For several years along the way she worked with a non-profit conducting drug and alcohol related surveys with parent-led prevention groups and schools.
Arriving in DC
In July 1978 we arrived in Washington, D.C., and
one year later we were able to buy a small Cape Cod house in Bethesda, North of DC. It was a very friendly neighborhood and we developed lasting friendships with several neighbors, including Chet and Rebecca. Chet was the only African American in the neighborhood, and we learned a lot about the challenges facing African Americans, even in the Nation’s capital. We remained friends for life and they later visited us several times in Oregon. Their son Nathan was a few years younger than Matthew and Martin, who often baby-sat for him - and, from our house we could see Nathan jumping up and down on the table or being swung upside down while in Martin’s care.
Our other close neighbors were “big” Joe and “little” Joe Raincrow Neil - members of a band of the Shawnee tribe. “Big” Joe was the medicine man and tribal leader, and also Director of International Studies at American University. Our two mothers got on very well with “big” Joe, and would spend hours chatting with him. He also wore his tribal regalia for them, with the incredibly beautiful silver and turquoise adorning necklaces and belts.
Enjoying D.C
It was during our time in Bethesda that Elizabeth began to seriously build a garden and among other things helped to found the Bethesda garden club.
One of the things she enjoyed after moving to the States was that she found “soul-mates” in whom she could confide and discuss anything. In Latin America she was not able to have these kinds of open discussions with our Venezuelan friends.
One of the benefits of working with the World Bank was that after a certain number of days of work travel, the Bank paid for the spouse to accompany their partner on a business class trip to anywhere the staff member was working. Elizabeth loved any opportunity to travel and over the 20 years that Mike worked with the Bank, she visited over 50 countries in Europe, Africa , Latin America and Asia. On one memorable, but exhausting trip, she accompanied Mike to Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Senegal, Uganda, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Visitors From Over the Pond
The two mothers came to visit and had a great time. They were very adventuresome but had no sense of how to navigate a new city. One day Elizabeth was coming home when she heard shrieks of laughter - the two mothers had got on the commuter bus to Bethesda but they had no idea how to get back. They asked the driver to take them to “where the houses were”. Fortunately Elizabeth recognized their laughter and was able to retrieve them.
DC was a popular destination for the English side of the family, and sisters and brothers in law, cousins and nephews all came to stay. At that time, sneakers and sportswear cost half as much in the US as they did in England, so everyone went home loaded with stuff from the Nike store. The testimonials at the end of the book includes several memories of these visits to D.C.
Back to School and Work
Washington had a very lively cultural life and we were frequent visitors to all of the Smithsonian museums and to the socially progressive local theaters. Through the World Bank we also had a wide circle of friends from every part of the world. It was a tradition to invite groups to your house to share national foods, so this was also very exciting.
Elizabeth enrolled at the University of Maryland, where she gained a Masters and later a Doctorate in Sociology. She was able to combine World Bank research data with her on-the-ground experience in Latin America to focus her doctoral research on challenges facing female-headed households in El Salvador. She also taught several classes in the Sociology Department.
Over the years she had various jobs in social research, including an assignment that took her to ten different states all over the country for a study on parent-led anti-drug groups, and study in D.C. and nearby states on the effects of tobacco advertising on young children.
Later she worked as a consultant in the World Bank Latin American and Carribean gender program, where she was able to apply her language skills and extensive experiences from Latin America.
Moving to Portland
As Matthew and Martin had both moved to the West Coast, when Mike retired in 2000 we decided to move West. In late 2000 we made several trips to Seattle and Portland, and we found a house which we both liked in Portland and we moved in early 2001.
As we had already purchased the house, we decided to host Thanksgiving for the family in our new house. At this point the house was completely empty. We just had one mattress on the floor in the bedroom, and we had to rent tables, chairs and eating utensils for 15 people. The grandkids were delighted to have an empty house to run around and everyone seemed to have a good time.
We chose Oregon as we preferred the smaller city and slower life-style, and because Martin and Susan lived nearby with Josh and Noah, but we regularly made the 3 hour drive to Seattle to keep in touch with Matthew’s side of the family. The whole family got together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For many years Matt’s sons Marcus and Alex came to stay, and all the family got together every summer (and occasionally winter) for vacations at SunRiver in southern Oregon, and for Thanksgiving in Portland. Later we spent a number of happy vacations together in Nescowin on the southern Oregon coast.
