The Name
The Cosmopolitan Texan name came about during a trip to Guatemala in 2005. At the language school I was attending, I became friends with a guy who had gone to Tufts University in Boston. Not that he held anything against Texans, but I think his idea of people from the Lone Star State was that they were not exactly worldly folks. Somewhat surprised that I seemed to able to have intelligent conversations about important issues and that my knowledge extended beyond cattle and rodeos, one night he remarked, "man, you're just a cosmopolitan Texan." I told my Dad about this, and he, being an employee of the Texas prison system, commissioned inmates to make me a key ring with the state of Texas encircled by the words "Cosmopolitan Texan". Thus the Cosmopolitan Texan moniker was born, and I continue to use the key-chain to this day.
The Man
I was born and raised in Huntsville, Texas, about 70 miles north of Houston. I graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas just north of Austin, with degrees in Economics, Spanish, and German. After having worked a corporate job for about a year a half that I did not find particularly satisfying, I decided I wanted to see more of the world and do something more fulfilling with my life. For that reason, I joined the Peace Corps, heading off to South Africa for 2 years.
