family friend came to this country from peru and met her husband in washington, an immigrant from el salvador. the struggle to save money comiig to get legal, to start a family. at the peak of the housing boom in the d.c. area, they bought a house in the distant virginia suburb because of affordability and because of the reputation of the schools. like so many minority families to fear that if they did not buy right now, the boom was just going to continue off into the future and pass them by, making it impossible for them to buy a house, they instead squeezed through the front door of this house, spending every penny they say. they have adjustable rate mortgage, home values are plunging in their areas and each of them is working fewer hours today than they were a year ago. so far, and they had just managed to hold on. as much as they're worried, frightened, under pressure, there is a part of rebecca story that leaves us sounding more bewildered than anything else. she has done what the voice is large and small in the culture have been saying to do since she came to the country as a teenager.