This is one of the stories that Isabel told when I attended the "Evening With Isabel Allende", Isabel's words:
I told this story that had recently happened, because Paola, when we were living in Venezuela and she was studying psychology decided to specialize in human sexuality. I said, "Paola, that is not such a good idea." She said, "I’m going to do it anyhow, mother." I said, "Paola, men don’t like to be compared. If you have too much knowledge, you won’t ever get a boyfriend!" At the time I had to go to the Netherlands. I went to Amsterdam and she had given me a list of things that I had to bring. I finished my work and went to the place that she had indicated on the map, and I ended up in the red light district of Amsterdam at night, going down some stairs into the first porn shop that I had ever seen–I didn’t know those things existed. The person who was selling the stuff was a sort of ant–an elderly Dutch lady, very seriously dressed in black. She was explaining, in broken English, what these things were for and I didn’t want to listen. I said for her to just get me what was on the list and that’s it. So, I ended with a big plastic bag of all kinds of rubber devices and things that would vibrate in the bag. That was not the most embarrassing thing. The most embarrassing thing was going through Customs when they opened the luggage and they extracted these things. Everyone was showing them around and calling each other. I had t o explain that they were not for me but for my daughter. I told the story and Paola just about disappeared when I told it. She said to me, "How could you do this to me? Now how can I possibly look at my peers in this University? I will have to leave." She was desperate.
