Week 10 in El Paso-Good Bye!

Well, it had to end sometime. My 10-week adventure to El Paso, Texas, is about to come to a close. I want to reflect on what this trip has meant to me.

Before I arrived in mid-January, I had never been to this city or area. In fact, I had only been to Texas three times before this visit: to Dallas for a video production conference about 30 years ago; to Brownsville, Texas, for a video shoot about 15 years ago and we drove across the northern panhandle returning from my brother’s wedding on the West Coast when I was a teenager.

My sole experience with El Paso before this visit was seeing scenes in commercials produced by the El Paso tourism office during broadcasts of the Sun Bowl football game.

Last fall I decided to quit teaching at the University of Akron and find someplace warmer during the worst winter months. I spent many hours on the computer trying to find a place that would provide some relief from my asthma and chronic allergy conditions. Also, I was on a budget so I couldn’t afford to spend thousands a month for an elaborate condo on the beach in Florida.

I chose El Paso because of its dry climate with about 10 inches of precipitation a year, it has about 300 sunny days each year and the average daily high temperature in January is close to 60 degrees with it steadily increasing until reaching the mid-70s by the end of March. Also, there were a number of reasonably-priced options on the AirBnb website.

I picked one that was called a casita or small house that was the size of a large studio apartment. It also had a small courtyard in front that has been an excellent place to relax with a cup of coffee or a cocktail and the laptop I am using to write this. I have really enjoyed staying in this property that also has a very nice park across the street.

The first six weeks I was here, the weather was about what I expected and it was pretty good for me. Then, around the beginning of March, the tree and grass pollen started to emerge and that kicked in my allergy symptoms. Also, March in El Paso means strong, persistent winds that occasionally stir up dust storms.

The other problem with the climate and environment here has been the altitude. El Paso is roughly 3,800 feet above sea level and that’s about 3,000 feet higher than the Akron area. When I tried to walk in the park across the street, going up some of the gradual inclines was very hard for me.

So, the hope of feeling better here was very much a split decision.

Perhaps the best decision I made about coming here was to sign up for non-credit classes at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). The classes were offered through a national program for students over 50 called the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. I took three courses, two taught by retired UTEP faculty members and the third by a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). I met some very interesting fellow students and learned a great deal, without having to worry about assignments, papers or tests.

My favorite class was Borderland History and Culture taught by Dr. Oscar Martinez. He has written several books about the history and culture of the Borderland, the name El Pasoens give to this region. His course focused on what is really unique about this area that one expert has called “Mex-America.”

I’ve seen statistics that say half or more of the residents of El Paso have some family connection with Mexico. It makes for an interesting mixture of two cultures. As I said before, you are as likely to hear people speaking Spanish as English when in the store, the coffee shop or on the UTEP campus. This city has long history of its border with Mexico being rather fluid and open. Juarez, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande River is El Paso’s sister city.

The current controversy about border security and the influx of migrants seeking asylum from unstable, dangerous countries like Honduras and Guatemala is a real problem. In recent weeks, as many as 1,000 migrants have been arriving at the border checkpoints in the El Paso region each day. The city’s social services agencies are seriously taxed and the city is constantly asking the state and federal governments for more aid.

These migrants are not single men seeking employment and opportunity like in the past. Nor are a many of them drug traffickers and criminals that some would have us believe. The vast majority of these migrants now are families or woman and their children who are seeking safety from the drug gangs and criminals that have taken control of some countries in Central and South America.

I don’t know what the ultimate solution is, but our country has a history of accepting migrants seeking safety and freedom from oppressive regimes abroad. I have come to enjoy what El Paso stands for and I fear this crisis will alter the character of this city and that would be a shame.

At a rally where former Congressman Beto O’Rourke staged an official kickoff for his candidacy for President in downtown El Paso, current El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar said, “El Paso is the new Ellis Island,” and that is true in my observation.

Soon I will be gassing up the Honda-CRV and packing up my clothes and stuff to make the three-day drive back to Ohio. I have been a bit homesick for the last couple of weeks, so I will be glad to get back to Pam and Brian and my own home. But, I also feel a tinge of sadness in leaving this unique city and the interesting people I have met.

Adios, El Paso. Hasta la vista.