They Wanted A Change; They’ll Get It In Pakistan

Dr. Barry Gould is just recovering from one big move, and soon it will be time for another.

Gould, a Northwood resident, is a partner in Endocrine Associates, a medical practice that recently moved into new offices near Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Now, he and his wife Barbara, a former art teacher at West Valley High School, are moving - not to a new Valley home, but to the American embassy in Pakistan.

The Goulds leave next week for Washington, D.C., for three weeks of culture training before Barry becomes a regional medical officer with the the U.S. Foreign Service.

“After having done this for many years, I thought I’d really like to do something different,” said Barry, 54. “I’d like a change of pace.”

That’s definitely what he’ll get. Gould has been a Spokane endocrinologist for 22 years. In Pakistan, he’ll be doing general practice work for embassy employees as well as lecturing and courtesy medical work at medical schools and hospitals there.

He moved to the Valley six years ago when he married Barbara. She has lived in the Valley all her life, graduating from West Valley High School and later teaching there during the 1993-94 school year. Most of Barbara’s working life, though, was spent as a nurse. That’s how she and her husband met.

Her daughter, Jessica Wright, is a 1993 WV graduate, and was that year’s Lilac Princess.

Does Barbara see leaving her Valley roots as a sacrifice? No way. She can barely contain herself.

“I’m excited, I can’t wait,” she said. “The excitement and romance blend in with my personality. For (Barry), it’s a little harder leaving these patients he has had for years.”

The Goulds are making a pretty clean break. They sold or gave away pretty much everything they had.

“I found out there are so many things you can live without,” Barbara said. “You can narrow what you need down to just a few boxes.”

This won’t be Barry’s first time abroad - in the late 1960s, he worked as a physician at the American embassy in Bonn, Germany. The Foreign Service borrowed him from the Army.

Any Westerner can get by in Germany without too much adjustment, Barry said. Not so in Pakistan.

The county’s relationship with nearby India is tense, and the fact it’s an Islamic country means the Goulds will have to learn the religion’s dos and don’ts.

But, Barry isn’t too worried. “Islamabad (the capital) is pretty safe,” he said. “Nothing has happened there in 17 years, since they stormed the embassy.”

One pleasant surprise was the area’s topography. Barry said the capital is near the Himalayas, and the weather isn’t that different from Spokane’s. A ski buff, he said he’s not sure if there is such a thing as Himalayan skiing - but he’s willing to find out.

He’ll have two years to do it. His stint with the Foreign Service is indefinite, but his stay in Pakistan will be over in 1997. Then, he’ll be sent elsewhere.

It’ll be moving time again.

“I always wanted to do more and see other cultures,” Barry said. “This won’t be just going there for a week. You’re living there, and you get a chance to really see what’s going on.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: Saturday’s People is a column featuring remarkable Valley people. To suggest subjects for future columns, please write The Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216, or call editor Mike Schmeltzer at 927-2170.