INSTITUTE OF INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS COLLECTION Betty Brooks Bell, wife of William Bell, discusses life in Mexico with her husband beginning in 1949 as members of an IIAA field party working to improve water supplies to towns. She discusses living conditions, language difficulties, raising her two children, hired help, companionship with the other wives, experience with volcanoes, shopping at local markets, trips around Mexico, and items they were able to purchase. She also discusses the family's relocation to Costa Rica, and compares the customs, life styles, and governments of Mexico and Costa Rica.

27 pp. Interview by James and Elvera L. Williams, 1985 Donated by the Oral History Research Office, Columbia University, New York. RESTRICTED: May be read but not quoted, cited or reproduced without written permission from the Oral History Research Office, Columbia University, New York.