From Montana to Patagonia: The Douglass Family's Story of Cultural Exchange and Academic Success

Richard Douglass, Montana Chapter President

Rick Douglass is a long-time member of Partners of the Americas and has participated in numerous exchanges between the Montana and Argentina Chapters. His family’s story highlights the profound impact of cross-cultural exchanges and collaborative partnerships. Below, he shares how his family's involvement with Partners has influenced their lives over the years.

My wife, Kriss, and I joined the Patagonia, Argentina and Montana Chapter partnership in 1989. I think I was one of the first North-South exchanges (and certainly the first Natural Resource exchange) and Kriss participated in several Farmer-to-Farmer exchanges. We both acted as Montana Chapter presidents over the years. Meanwhile, we hosted many northbound exchanges. During that time, my son, Sam, who was 10 in 1989, became rather accustomed to the southern partners from Argentina staying in our house.

In 1990, we were in Italy for seven months and sent Sam off to Italian school in the fall. He learned some Italian and seemed to have fun for the first part of the school year. Later, in high school, Sam had two choices for language, German, or Spanish. He chose Spanish. When we had Argentine partners staying at home, our son would practice his Spanish and seemed to communicate fairly well.

During his senior year in high school, I was president of the Montana Chapter. I received a call from the Montana State University Honors College concerning a student trip to Patagonia. They asked if I knew anyone. Well, of course I did know many Partners and arranged several adventures for the Honors College with my friends in Patagonia (Bariloche and Junin). As part of the arrangements, they agreed to take Sam with them for a two-week trip just after Christmas.

Sam was not too excited about this trip. Dad levered him a bit to see the “Paris of the West” (Buenos Aires). He had been to Paris while we were in Europe and liked it, so he agreed to go. He spent several days climbing mountains near Bariloche and helped another southern partner in Junin with his sport fishing business. After he had been in Patagonia for about 10 days, he phoned home. He wanted to stay in Patagonia. He wasn’t having much trouble with his Spanish and was obviously having way more fun than an 18-year-old boy should have.

I asked what he would do for money. “Won’t you send me some?” he asked.

“No,” I replied. “You have to come home and finish high school.”

“Oh, come on, Dad.”  I prevailed and he came home. He didn’t say much about his trip, but he didn’t think Buenos Aires was a good comparison to Paris and he enjoyed the outdoor activities in Patagonia much more.

Sam was accepted to the Honors College at the University of Oregon and set off to college the fall after his Patagonia trip. He wasn’t sure in what to major in but, on his dad’s recommendation, he took chemistry classes and eventually physics. Meanwhile, he took an entrance exam in Spanish and tested out of two years of college Spanish. I am not sure he gave it much thought, but he enrolled in more Spanish classes. At the end of his sophomore year, he was required to declare a major. Again, I don’t think he gave it much thought, but he declared Spanish his first major, General Science a second major, and chemistry as a minor.

As he decided how to proceed, he decided to spend an academic year in Ecuador. His friends were going to Spain, but he decided Spain was too much like the US. He spent a full academic year at the University of San Francisco in Quito. His host family was phenomenally generous. The father (who had been involved with Partners) spent considerable time helping Sam write his many papers and the mother spent a lot of time feeding him wonderful food.

Kriss and I visited Sam in Quito just after Christmas. Sam’s host father greeted us at the airport. He spoke perfect English and had received his medical training in the US. I remember the look on Sam’s face. “I didn’t know you spoke English,” he announced to the father. The man had not spoken any English to Sam in four months. Sam was very successful in school, climbed mountains, and even hiked the Inca trail during break. He met some Argentine girls his age along the trail. After a couple days together, the girls were arguing over where he was from because they did not recognize his accent. They decided he was from Brazil.

When Sam returned to the University of Oregon, he volunteered in a medical clinic that serviced Mexican migrant workers. Sam said the people in the clinic knew just enough Spanish to be rude. After one week of volunteering, the clinic started paying him because everything would go so much better if Sam was there. Also, at that time, Eugene (where the university is) was in the process of closing a public school that had special programs for migrant workers. Sam volunteered a significant amount of time helping the mostly Spanish-speaking people and negotiating to keep the school open. They closed the school anyway, but I was very proud of Sam.

The honor’s college required a Senior Thesis, so Sam wrote his thesis in Spanish. It is a compilation of stories (partly fiction) based on his experiences in Ecuador. I can’t read it but when a southern partner visits, I have them read it. They claim it is very interesting and well written.

Sam graduated from college, went to work on a trail crew in the Bob Marshal Wilderness for the summer, came home, hunted for most of six weeks and then started skiing. Oh boy, I thought I was going to have seasonal trail worker/skier for a son. One day, he phoned and said, “Dad, I am going to medical school.”  I was dumbfounded and thought, but did not say, “With a degree in Spanish?”  He was very successful in medical school and is now an Emergency Medicine doctor in North Carolina.

The area where he lives and works has a large population of migrant workers. Sam uses his Spanish frequently and knows where authentic Mexican food is served.

I am convinced that our participation in Partners of the Americas significantly formed our family’s lives since 1989. I am also convinced that my son’s life would have been much different without the opportunities Partners provide our family. My life has been significantly broadened with working with Patagonian biologists and directing two Patagonian Ph.D. students. My experience would take pages and is for another time.

Recently in 2023, I asked my son if his interest in Spanish was derived from his visit to Patagonia. “No, Dad. It came from all the southern Partners staying in our house as we hosted them over the years.”

As part of my participation in Partners I ended up with two Ph.D. students and two post-doctoral students. The two post-docs now have positions in CONICET, the Argentine National Science Foundation. Part of why they were recruited by CONICET was because of their work with me in North America, and I have several major scientific publications with each of them. I would never have been able to help them in their careers if it were not for Partners of the Americas.