Why Are You Living THERE???

Here's a question I ask myself on a regular basis.  Not because I doubt my decision; rather, because I find myself answering this question to other people on a regular basis.

Let me give you a few examples:

• My boss told me that he specifically doesn't bring people to campus before they agree to work at South Texas College. That's because he has lost people once they arrive and look around.
• My wife (who doesn't bother to read this blog) is hesitating to move "her" family here.
• At an American Outlaws meeting, I told people I moved here from the Austin area. One young woman looked at me and said, "You realize that for most people, it's the other way around."
• One friend, in particular, cannot stop slamming the Rio Grande Valley as a place to live.

I haven't been forthcoming in my reasons, and I spend a LOT of web space "enjoying" my time at #Nolana21. Thus, the questioning is understood down here. Keep in mind that my current living situation is based on the fact that I have a mortgage to pay already, and any SECOND household is as expensive as a college student's expenses to a family. Glad we don't have to deal with that threat...

Moving to the real reason. Let me tell you a little bit about this place:

I live in the Galilee of the 21st century. In this one, singular county, I experience the First World, the Third World, and the convergence of the two worlds. While Mexico's middle class is growing, America's middle class is shrinking. Middle class is relative, but it becomes obvious that things are melding.

Mexico is changing. Oil, gas, cellular phones, electricity, and economic policy are becoming more and more open. [NOTE: Investment Opportunity!] While the United States cannot get 56 bills through Congress, Mexico is fighting HUGE battles in a fight for modernization. They see our mistakes, and they are making adjustments. A new highway offers a true alternative to the Panama Canal for shipping...and all those shipments will arrive at or near Hidalgo County. Starr County is just a bonus for another post.

Two cultures are merging, whether it's wanted in West Virginia or not. The one thing that both cultures need is a group of future leaders--who speak English AND Spanish--to move this relationship forward. The "university" of this area is morphing, navel-gazing, and self-important. Ask anyone north of San Antonio what a degree from UTPA is worth, and you'll realize how open the game is right now.

I walk to endless meetings in semi-tropical temperatures surrounded by palm trees. These meetings decide the future of South Texas College.  They do more than that, though. They determine the future of this Valley, and by doing that, they determine the future of America...and the entire planet.

People in Pennsylvania and Oregon and South Carolina depend on what happens right here. If we get it right, the lives of people in those states (in 30 years) will be better. They won't realize it, but it's the task at hand.

This is the front line of the War for America's Future. I feel like a bird colonel.

"...the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."

What would you give for that? 

• Would you deal with cockroaches? 
• Would you learn Spanish, as best you could? 
• Would you put everything on the line? 
• Would you face your fears of "crime" and "cartels?"
• Would you volunteer to become an outsider in a new world?
• Would you face constant loneliness for at least a year...maybe forever?
• Would you [try to] suck your family into a world they don't understand?

My answer is "Yes."

y tu?