Like so many library books I finally returned (damaged), a reinvention of myself is long overdue. Billy, version 2.006: new and improved exterior and packaging, updated with a second language for ease of use outside the states, although the adaptation time varies according to climate, altitude and location of Jupiter and its moons Io, Europa and Gannymede.

As I have mentioned to a few people, I have a job interview in mexico city with Tecnologia de Monterrey. Or tec de monterrey. Or tec. Depending on which circles you run in and, obviously, their familiarity with Mexican schools. Tec, and its 33 campuses in the country, is a self-styled bastion of higher learning; they also carry the self-proclaimed title of “the MIT of Mexico.” Ok. Basically, they are the most well-known and most expensive school system in Mexico. Their reputation extends well beyond mexi-land, but you would have to run in the technology circle probably. As I run in the “let’s read a book, talk about it, then write a critical analysis of it and make it relate to current events/culture/(insert noun here)” I had never heard of the place before I came to this land of mariachis, mole, and fried grasshoppers (legend has it that once you eat a chapuline-grasshopper- you will never leave oaxaca (my state). Of course I ate them. along with varying types of iguana, sea critters, and of course, the infamous cow head. Well, barring some unforeseen catastrophe, this cracker is buying a one-way out of this hole in less than 4 days, so I doubt the veracity of this particular mexican legend). Either way, this school, tec, is highly respected, and criticized, in Mexico.

The criticism comes mostly from haters. People who feel that their rep is undeserved. These people call the students fresa (literally-strawberry, but, this word means snob, arrogant, a la mode, condescending). Fresas are everywhere in this world, and some are obnoxious, while others are rather normal and good people. Some prof friends and my students claim that tec is horrible bc the kids think they are better than everyone else. They show up to school (it has a high school and university (-ncluding master and phd programs) in extremely expensive cars and wave bye to mami and papi when the driver opens the door for them. from an early age, these kiddies are told they are the best. The most intelligent, heirs to all that is good and will be good. Cream of the crop, you dig? Thus, the trikes run around like they own the place, and, ok, they probably do. This rubs many people the wrong way. Many believe that the school produces brats rather than elite engineers and business persons. Nonetheless these kids go on to the best schools in the states and Europe. Tec students have been learning English since they were 2 or 3 yrs old. Thus, English teachers teach ESL, which is taught in usa schools, rather than EFL which is what I teach now. In other words, these kids need help with their academic English skills- writing, argument, pronunciation, etc. take a tour through most public institutions in the usa and you will find the same skills being taught-albeit with varying degrees of success. The students also learn german and French as the former is an important language to know for engineers and tec peeps in general (I have heard at least), and anyone with a serious affinity for “ the hoff” (this of course is how david hasselhoff referred to himself last week as he was escorted out of wimbeldon for being a little too sauced for the conservative all-england club) and the latter is important for understanding fashion, snootiness and joie de vive in general (I cant spell joie de vive, but I think you get my point). Of course I made the last part up, but I am sure there is a good reason for French. 20^th and 19^th century theorists? Brie? Bordeaux? I imagine sis ames or possibly, jameson sanderthols IV, currently of seattle, previously of the greater phoenix metro area, could help us (yes, that is the royal “we” I am using) out with that.

Anyway, after all that rambling, let me come back to the point- I have an interview with what many people deem either the best education mexi pesos can buy, or the biggest cash drain in the country. If you were able to follow the above ramblings at all, you might have noticed something very important in my description of the type of students and families that patronize the tec. They are wealthy, exceedingly so, and all that the school offers its student as far as facilities, supplies, etc. are, without discussion, the finest quality. Depending on where you went to high school and to some extent uni, this may sound familiar (especially if your high school was not called a high school, but, oh, I don’t know, perhaps a boarding school, and your uni was, for example, in the northeast and has a vanish collective nickname). Lucky for me, I went to boarding school with a lot of, um, confident people. We also were told we were the best. Arrogant? At times. Condescending? Once or twice maybe. This does not make us bad people, but it does make slightly difficult to get along with at times. I have run into many people in life who have issue with my boarding school background. They bitch that the school are overrated and the privileged kids do not deserve the given privileges. Bollocks (and this british term is important for many reasons here.) Am I defending the snooty? Not really. Do I have a little more patience with this type of person than the average? Possibly.

So let’s get down to brass tacks. My job in puebla pays about 12500 per month. I work 23 contact hours with students and am at school from roughly 8am to 2pm daily. Plus there are the occasional open house, weekend shindig with parents, yada yada yada. Good money for the hours? Fo sho. I am not questioning the position or denigrating it in any way. I can take graduate classes in puebla and the school will pay for it. A sweet deal? Of course.

But then there is tec. I doubt there is an employer in mexico who values a university higher than tec. Their reputation in the professional ranks is unparalleled. Perhaps their students get a little carried away at times and try to buy their way into or out of things, as the case may be. I am not condoning it, but I do recognize it for what it is and do not grudge them their advantages. The mexi system is real fucked up. Lets not kids ourselves about that, however, let us also realize that a few spoiled brats do not mean all of the students are that way.

The pay at tec is, surprisingly at first, low. 10000 pesos a month. Then you look at the hours per week, 15, and realize that is killer salary for someone part time(full time is over 20000, and I could get full time in the next six months or one year). I could easily give 8 hours of private lessons a week (I hope) and charge 150 pesos an hour. That rate would put me well over the 12500ish I would make in puebla. Plus, tec gives you access to their classes, they offer m.a. degrees and a phd as well (but not in literature which is a problem), they give you a laptop, have wireless in all classrooms as well as the most advanced tech teaching aids available (don’t forget, my students in oaxaca cannot afford books or dictionaries and 90% receive a scholarship that pays up to 100% of their tuition) and they allow you access to their facilities, including a gym, which would be quite nice. On the other hand, tec does not pay you when you are not working, the month of December for example, but they do give health benefits and a xmas bonus. The money is less, but I would be able to live in d.f., which is 200 times more exciting (and dangerous, dirty, etc) than puebla. Museums, concerts, cinema, used book stores, parks, ruins, the city is truly incredible. I would be able to take serious advantage of my free time. Also, in case you have not guessed, I am no longer going to central America. I will wait until December and see how much money I have.

Rent, however is a pain. Probably 3000 pesos a month is a minimum, depending on where I live, and I am not going to put myself in some shady neighborhood (1000 people move to d.f. every day of the year, so crime, lack of safety in certain areas is ridiculous) to save some cash. But, food is cheaper, public transport is readily available and the number of things that I could do for free is quite high (any museum is free for professors for example).

Reinvention. I mentioned bc 1 year I cut all of my hair off. Amazingly, startlingly, I have not started growing it back. The beauty of this is that is if I take the job at tec, I will have to change the way I dress. Shirt and tie daily, possibly even suits (I am hoping not to have to wear those though as they are expensive and I just don’t like them. did I mention I have never owned a suit either? Right, I should have said that, too). it is arguable that I should be dressing better anyway (I blame temperatures that stay in the 100’s for 5-6 months a year). The country boy moves to the city and finds all his clothes, (insert noun/stereotype here) inadequate. In so many ways this is an apt metaphor.

Billy, version 2.006. anybody buying this?