Commentary:
I recently received a visit from two businessmen from Poland to discuss a project on the U.S.-Mexico border. After our meeting, I provided these gentlemen with a tour of the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, border region. It felt like I was taking a couple of eager school kids who were missing classes on a field trip. The businessmen were fascinated and overjoyed with what seemed every aspect of the desert. I took them to see the border wall dividing the U.S. and Mexico, after which I took them to have authentic Mexican food prepared in front of our eyes at the diner located in the Union Ganadera livestock crossing offices in Santa Teresa.
While we were eating, they told me that there are Taco Bells in Poland, and they surprisingly have an affinity for spicy foods. Both Poles had Mexican Tacos al Pastor, and looked like they were starving as they dug into their food seasoned with salsas that are hot for me. Upon finishing the meal, both of them seemed glossy-eyed and completely satiated. They told me that it was the best Mexican food that they had ever eaten. When they return, they said that they will budget more time to see even more things on the border.
A few days later, I led a delegation from the border region to Santa Fe, New Mexico, for events with legislators and executive branch staff. I grew up in Espanola, about 20 minutes north of Santa Fe, and Santa Fe was our big town. As I was growing up, I loved my surroundings, but found that I didn't appreciate the place as much until after I moved away.
When I still lived in Espanola, we were in Santa Fe at least once per week, buying groceries, going to the doctor, accompanying my mother to get her hair done, buying my Cub Scout uniforms, or going to the Sizzler for a celebratory dinner. Every year when I go back with a delegation from the border, my chest swells with pride to take people unfamiliar with Santa Fe to the San Miguel Church, the nation’s oldest church, in which an ancestor of mine contributed to the art inside. I also like to amaze the newcomers to Santa Fe with the miraculous staircase in Loretto Chapel, the Native Americans selling hand-crafted jewelry on the plaza underneath the portal of the Palace of the Governors, the world-class restaurants, public art, and the wonderful museums that seem to be everywhere in the downtown region.
Members of my delegation who were unfamiliar with Santa Fe, some Mexican citizens, were entranced by Santa Fe. They shopped, went to see the sites, tasted the local cuisine, and stooped to touch the newly fallen snow. A couple joked with me that they had spent all of their money on jewelry and gifts. As one was leaving to return to Juarez, she told me that she “hated to leave,” but wanted to come back again soon.
I always say that the U.S.’s biggest export is not weapons, automobiles, industrial goods, or agricultural products. The biggest export that the U.S. sends to the world is its culture. People from other countries have seen our region portrayed in art, magazines, music videos, and movies. How many of them have not seen a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood western movie or the series Breaking Bad in which our region is portrayed?
I would venture a bet that many people like me who live in the American Southwest have grown so accustomed to its history and beauty that we often have to be reminded that we live in a magical place. I know that Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the U.S., and has the oldest church, house, and public building in the country. However, when you grow up there, as a resident and not a tourist, these incredible things become a part of normal life. It takes people who have not seen these treasures personally to remind you of their value.
I imagine that when I first traveled to places in Mexico such as Mexico City, Guanajuato, or San Miguel de Allende, that I had the same reaction and joy as friends from Poland or Mexico. I’ll bet that I looked like a starry-eyed kid with a look of awe on his face entering the Disneyland gates for the first time when I saw the Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, or the Tower of London. It is human nature to want to see things we have never seen before. In the modern world, we often see things on television, in movies, or on social media before we see them in person. When we finally do see them in person, a sort of endorphin rush occurs.
We have a gem in the American Southwest to attract foreign visitors and their money. Each one of us can be an ambassador to show off our region, and to generate some capital for our economy in the process.
Jerry Pacheco is president of the Border Industrial Association. Jerry Pacheco's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU.