El Paso is as much Mexican as it is Anglo. When we were there, it seems that the border was more a figment of the imagination than an actual entity. People from Juarez (and other nearby villages) commuted to El Paso on a regular basis. El Pasoans trekked to Juarez for food, entertainment, relatives and friends. Spanish and English were pretty much interchangeable.
Children from Juarez went to school in El Paso.
The weather is pretty much what you would expect in the desert. Mostly dry and sunny. Even the winters, though they could get cold, were mostly sunny. The summers were almost unbearable. Once acclimated, people do survive. Obviously.
There are many historic sites and homes in El Paso. The Spanish colonized the area in their northward trek to El Dorado. Originally it was called El Paso del Norte (The Pass to the North). What used to be called Texas Western College (now University of Texas at El Paso) has archives of Spanish documents. For more information on the area, search el paso, texas geography.
I'll leave you with this little teaser and continue tomorrow on our life in El Paso/Fort Bliss.
Shalom.