After my arrests it was obvious that I could not continue as a professor without having freedom to teach.

The sister of my housemate was in favor of the coup and we contacted her to tell her about the situation that was totally unbearable.

She said that if we wanted to get a pass to go to Santiago, the capital, she would come and get us one.

So she flew to Antofagasta and in few days managed to find out at what night club the officers partied every night and went there. She did not come back until the next morning. The next day she went again to the night club and next morning she returned with 2 passes to drive from where we were to the capital.

So we packed what we could (we had sold or donated, little by little, our furnishes, kitchen stuff, main house appliances, etc.), put a handkerchief over the ears of our cat (she did not like the sound of the car), and we left for Santiago. We stayed one night in a hotel. (It was really difficult to convince my cat to poop in the shower, but she did.) We were stopped in several spots, but either the passes, the cat with the handkerchief around his head or the wonderful seductive smile of my housemate’s sister got us safe to Santiago.

My housemate continued to another city in the South and I stayed in the house of my parents. I sent my written resignation to the university where I was working. I needed to support myself and save money to try to leave the country, so I got a job as a secretary at a firm that imported buses from Brazil.

Meanwhile I kept sending letters to universities in the U.S. so I could continue my studies. I was accepted at several universities but my uncle lived in Austin, Texas, so I decided to accept their hospitality and study at UT Austin.

It took me from 1974 to 1978 and several jobs as bartender, Spanish teacher at a local YMCA, assistant professor, research assistant, etc., but finally, I got my Ph.D. in Education and Computer Science, an interdisciplinary doctorate. But the day I was waiting for the results of my doctoral oral exam, I heard a voice asking me: “Now what?”. It was a real deep voice not loud but profound that moved my insides and formed a vacuum in my life.

However, I decided just to enjoy my life and pushed that vacuum out of my mind, without reflecting on it. I went to parties and in one of those I met an exiled Chilean who had recently arrived in Austin. I was offered a job in Dallas so I moved and rented a condo. The exiled Chilean followed me, leaving his job in Austin. We finally got married by common law. We gave a party to announce our commitment to our friends. But inside me, it felt more like a funeral for my freedom. The image of those babies dying in Chile (see post entitled “U.S, Opposition to a Pro-Socialist Government in Chile”) was still in the back of my mind and I kept searching.

In Austin, I had joined a group of Chileans who met periodically to talk against the dictatorship and complain, complain, complain. One day I got up and said “You know, I refuse to continue playing the martyr and complaining. This is not getting us anywhere. I want to continue with my life as if I were born when I moved to USA.” These were quite prophetic words. Now I know the Lord was inspiring me to say those words.