SHERIDAN, Wyoming – Spanish teachers Mario and Maria Montaño, originally from Mexico, have lived between Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming for nearly 40 years.

They have been operating Mario’s Tacos, a food truck, in Sheridan, Wyoming for two decades.

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“I said, ‘We can settle somewhere in these areas,’ because only then could (Mario) learn English,” Maria said.

Mario said the experience of moving from a border town where Spanish is widely spoken to a place like Sidney, Montana, where the language is rare, was particularly frightening for him.

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The couple said Mario always considered business ventures in addition to his teaching career. Among other things, he owned a restaurant in Sidney, Montana, which they sold so he could attend Dickinson State University and become a teacher.

“I can’t sit still. I have to move,” said Mario.

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Mario grew up in Mexico, where he worked as a shoeshine boy, selling gum and selling newspapers to help his parents make ends meet. He came from a lower-middle-class family and said some of his extracurricular ventures, like the food bus, were an anxious protection from a life of poverty he wanted to leave behind.

“I think I turned that fear into ‘let’s keep working, working, working, working,'” Mario said. “You never know what’s going to happen. You never know if you’re going to have enough food for your kids or your family.”

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However, his family describes Mario and Maria as “role models” and “heroes” and says they have achieved a lot.

“My sister and I always knew there were no excuses. We had to go to college,” said Ada Mushati, one of Mario’s two daughters, both of whom have master’s degrees. “When (college) became difficult, we thought, ‘Yeah, but at least I speak English.'”

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Mario said as long as you pay your bills before you eat, anyone can do anything if they want it enough.