Modern Mexico

I started working in Mexico about 20 years ago. In one of my first visits the driver for the person I was with facilitated our visit to the Shrine of Guadalupe by paying a traffic officer a small "mordita" to allow us to park our van in the middle of the street for an hour or so - because there was no available parking in the area and we wanted to see the shrine. I was reminded of that today because I was with another friend who was trying to get us to a restaurant in Tlalplan - called Enriques - very good place. Traffic was horrible. Our driver, who is also a police officer, jumped out of the car directed the traffic so that we could move around the jam and then jumped back into the car after we had passed the jam. But the country is also very different.

I am visiting a university in Mexico City that serves middle class kids but is founded on the principles of the Christian Brothers. It has a problem - its' students are not wealthy so they do not attract those from the most wealthy families. But it also is feeling the heat from what we would call in the US the proprietaries - they offer degrees without much rigor - but their prices are the same or lower than the university I am visiting.

I met this morning with the deans and then spent an hour with the admissions staff. We talked about how they could segment the market to define their potential students more effectively. I am impressed with the deans and with the admissions staff. They have thought about their challenges but they are ready and able to take on this competition.

So what I continue to find here is a country increasingly able and willing to compete on the highest international standards.