Puerto Vallarta’s Hospital Regional spokespersons are demanding an expansion in order to accommodate at least 40 additional beds. They claim that what this town needs desperately is a maternity hospital, because 80% of their beds are occupied by women who have given birth, while other patients are left waiting in the admissions or waiting rooms, or in the hallways.
I mention this because, though it is true, this is not the only place where such occurrences happen. Last week, Reuters published an article entitled “U.S. Hospitals Try to Pick Up the ER Pace” that read as follows: «It’s the sort of promotion you might expect from a pizza delivery chain, not a U.S. hospital system. Like the pizzeria that picks up the bill for taking too long … For those who do endure long waits, hospitals offer meal vouchers, baseball and movie passes and written apologies… In a 2006 report, the Institute said backlogs cause ambulances to be turned away from emergency departments once a minute on average and patients wait sometimes hours or even days for a bed. Last month a 43-year-old woman died in the waiting room of a Los Angeles-area hospital emergency department after a perforated bowel was not treated swiftly. “I’d say one quarter of the nation’s emergency rooms are doing this now,” said American Hospital Association spokesman Rick Wade. “Over the next five years you’ll see this pretty much everywhere except in the smallest hospitals.”
And this is no different from Canada, where health care is free, and the situation may be even worse. So I guess we who live here in “paradise” shouldn’t complain, when we consider the excellent care available at institutions such as AmeriMed, the Cornerstone, Medasist, the CMQ and San Javier. Now if the Red Cross could only get some $$$ to put all of their ambulances back on the road, we’d be truly blessed. Right now, they only have one or two in working order.
And talking about resources, I have to confess that I was never a «bingo person», but because of the people involved in the first even Celebrity Bingo night here, I figured I would attend.
Besides, raising funds for the R.I.S.E. children’s shelter is always a good thing. I had such a great time that I think I’m going to mark every Thursday throughout the summer as bingo night in my little agenda book. Except for Ida Slapter’s shows, I don’t remember having laughed so much at any event… Read JOY!’s review in this issue and think seriously about joining us on Thursday.
Among the attendee-players was Mr. Jim McCarthy. Now some of you who live here may remember that this gentleman is the founder of the Eagle's Wings Foundation here in PV. It all began 7 years ago, with his proposal to add a voluntary $6.50 US charge to the maintenance fee bills sent out to time share owners at Villa del Palmar and Villa del Mar. His idea was so well received that they raised somewhere around $100,000. US in voluntary contributions the very first year. Since then, other time share complexes have joined the Foundation and the moneys (around $1 Million US or more so far) are donated to a whole lot of non-profit organizations around town - including the Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza (R.I.S.E.) children's shelter.
Another local "celebrity", Tom Colvin, PV’s own music guru, was there too. Tom seldom writes about restaurants, but when he does, you can be sure that it’s a place that truly impressed him. A few months ago, he sent in a review on a new place called Encuentros – a pizza bar lounge. I heard a lot of good things about the place since then, but for one reason or another, I never got to sample it myself – until last week. What an absolutely delightful place! Soft lights, soft colors, loads of strategically-placed candles, soft, cool jazz-type music, and absolutely fabulous pizza! Now I understand why Tom didn’t want to tell us too much about the pizza… it’s truly unusual, and deeelicious. As it happened, after never having gone there, I ended up having dinner there twice in one week, just ‘cause that is where my son wanted to go for Father’s Day. I can’t blame him. Some thirty different types of original martinis, another thirty or so different, unusual cocktails, about ten different pizzas (one is plenty for one person), some truly tasty appetizers and two decadent desserts. As a matter of fact, on my second visit, I just ordered two appetizers for dinner. Drop in and see for yourself, owner Ari Tanur will take good care of you. Encuentros is at 312 Lazaro Cardenas, between Insurgentes and Constitucion, in the Romantic Zone on the south side of town. It opens at six and happy hour (2 for 1) is from 8 to 10!
I also had a delightful brunch with Jay Ailworth and his lovely wife, Laurie, at Eric Lenoir’s Paris Café on Pino Suarez corner of Aquiles Serdan (near the now-defunct Molino de Agua property). If the name sounds familiar, that’s because many of the photos gracing the Tribune’s covers lately were taken by Jay. We’d been meaning to get together for months but things being the way they are here, and the fact that the Ailworths live on the North Shore, it just hadn’t happened. Needless to say, I left with a bag full of Eric’s delightful croissants and pastries, after having enjoyed one of his always-perfect quiches.
Getting back to Father’s Day… If you found yourself in an especially good mood that weekend, it may have been due where you were in relation to the prevailing winds. The PGR (federal authorities) burned two tons of that special grass (you know the kind I mean, Mary Jane) that weekend, stuff they had confiscated from the various drug dealers in town.
While I’m on sweet-smelling substances, our friend Pat Henry (who’s tangoing to her heart’s content in San Francisco as you read this) tells us that «There is a lady selling Avon from her house on the north side of Francisco Madero (between Aguacate and Jacarandas, 1-½ blocks east of Insurgentes). She is usually sitting just inside her door during the day, waiting for customers. There is a small sign on the door, but you may not notice it if you are walking east. I don’t have the street number. That is where I buy my Skin So Soft (as mosquito repellent), and it works!»
An observation I’ve been meaning to share with you for the last couple of weeks: After not having received our Telecable guide at all last month, we did get the June edition soon after the beginning of the month. I wanted to check out the channels, just to see what other changes they may have made, other that eliminating «my» SciFi channel… Well, guess what? There is no such list. Nowhere in the 96-page, glossy paper magazine! So if you’re a newcomer to Vallarta’s Telecable service, and you want to know what channel a particular station might be on … forget it!
Canada Day will be celebrated on its eve this year, that’s Saturday night, June 30th, at the No Name Café, as it has been for the last few years. That way, those who like to hoist a few or more will be able to sleep in the next day… It’s always loads of fun, plenty of good food, good music, and great raffle prizes! So if you’re a Canuck like me, or just friends of ours, please do join us! Lyne Benoit, our tireless Honorary Consul, always makes sure we have a great time.
Until then, don't forget Bingo night atthe Lazy Lizard on Thursday ...and maybe brunch at the Botanical Gardens on Sunday, after the Canada Day bash... Sounds like a good idea.
Whatever you do, I wish you all a wonderful week, and a most Happy Birthday, Canada! Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
Saturday, September 1, 2007
June 17, 2007
Rather than bore you with the non-events in my life over the past week, I thought I might give you a little insight into the reasons why we haven’t been publishing much "local news" per se over the last little while.
We usually leaf through the local Spanish language dailies for news that may interest locals and visitors to Ourtown. At times, like during election periods, there really isn’t much that falls into that category - a little like CNN has been recently, devoting hours and hours of coverage to that ditzy blonde heiress, as if nothing else happened or mattered in this world. But I digress. The point I wanted to make is that the local news lately has been so depressing that we haven’t found anything to share with our readers …apart from all the good deeds accomplished by Puerto Vallarta’s FOREIGN community - things we can all be very proud of indeed! New parks for the kiddies, funds for the NGOs helping street animals, underprivileged kids, and AIDS victims (please see Len’s account of the incredible Reveille concert elsewhere in this issue), among others.
Anyway, what I thought I would do is translate some of the headlines published in the aforementioned papers over the last couple of weeks. This should give you a good idea of what’s really going on -or not- in this little paradise of ours. Here goes:
"Jetties Exacerbate Beach Erosion Around the Bay", "Vallarta Victim of Investors' Corruption and Voracity", "Mayor Gets New $470,000. Peso Van", "80% of City Vehicles from Last Administration Not Roadworthy", "Snorkeling and Scuba Diving Tour Boats and Passengers Destroyed Coral Reefs", "Anarchy Due to Loopholes in Urban Develpment Plan", "Britney Spears Vacationing in Punta Mita", "Residents of Marina Vallarta Petition to Stop Nima Bay 11-Story Towers", "Repairs and Maintenance of Tunnel Completed", "City Gets 34 New Pick-up Trucks", "Legal Loopholes Prevent Protection of the Mountain", "Finally, Four Garbage Trucks to Be Purchased", "Federal Dep't of Nat'l Resources Blamed for Baby Orca Death", "Illegal Construction Around Guadalupe Church"... and so on. Got the idea?
Well, the rainy season has officially begun, about two weeks earlier than the traditional June 24th. Within a couple more days, a few more rains, probably by the time you read this, the little bit of vegetation that has survived the uncontrolled ravaging of the mountain sides, and the multiple caused by the too-much, too-late spraying against the dengue-carrying mosquitoes by the municipal authorities, using the wrong product, …will turn vivid green. (How’s that for a long, rambling sentence? I’m talking about the vegetation here, folks.) Maybe, just maybe, the new growth will hide some of the many scars we see on the hillsides…
Saturday, June 9th, was the night of the very first rain in the Romantic Zone on the south side of town. It had rained in Conchas Chinas a couple of days earlier. Within a half-hour or so of the first drops, around 8 p.m., the transformer at the bottom of our hill exploded. Our whole neighborhood was without power for 18 hours. I’ve always been told that food will keep for 24 hours in a refrigerator if it stays closed, so I didn’t open mine at all. I also disconnected all my electronic gadgets. Trying to get through to the CFE (our electricity provider) was an exercise in futility - until Sunday afternoon. I asked the young lady who finally did answer when she thought power would be reinstated in our part of town. Her answer was rather succinct: "When it is." Oh, OK. I guess I shouldn’t have asked. I really should know better after so many years.
Actually, to be honest, it was an unexpected event. When we first moved here, thirteen years ago, power failures and exploding transformers were regular occurrences from June to September. Over the years, the situation improved so much that I cannot recall any power failure at all over the past year or more.
There are lots of things happening this week, so do take advantage of them, dear readers. An unexpected and most welcomed Art Walk on Wednesday -the official start of summer-, a fun-filled Bingo night on Thursday (see Joy’s article), a Walk for Women’s Health on Sunday, and all those yummy restaurants offering us special prices! We should also have news for you regarding our annual celebration of Canada Day in next week’s issue…
Enjoy yourselves, enjoy the rain and the thunder and the lightning bolts dancing across the sky, but don’t forget your sunblock during the day! Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
June 10, 2007
So much has been going on lately that I don’t know where to begin. As I write this, I have just returned from a meeting called by Sr. Abel Villa. This gentleman is a Vallartan, owner of the Buenaventura, Premier and Hacienda Buenaventura hotels in this town. He has been very active in PV’s cultural aspect, the preservation of the downtown area, and a most vociferous opponent of the mega towers being built at the mouth of the river, the Peninsula and the Gran Venetian. Now he’s taken on the Amapas - Conchas Chinas situation. It is everyone’s hope that the new administration will listen…
The meeting was attended by a couple of dozen Amapas residents, and a dog (who appeared just as interested in what Sr. Villa was saying as the rest of us). This gentleman who speaks for a group called the Business Council of Puerto Vallarta, in conjunction with the Coastal University Center (CUC) of the University of Guadalajara, intends to confront the Mayor with the urgency of the situation at a meeting set for next week, and politely present him with an ultimatum of sorts: either he attends to the matter immediately, or it will be made public to the national and international media. Sr. Villa also intends to garner the support of all the organizations in town, i.e.: the Hotel Association, Chamber of Commerce, restauranteurs, ecological groups, urban planning folks, etc. He is most passionate about this, unlike the “apathetic and sometimes scared” townspeople whom his group is attempting to rouse through radio and press announcements. I for one wish him success.
The meeting was attended by a couple of dozen Amapas residents, and a dog (who appeared just as interested in what Sr. Villa was saying as the rest of us). This gentleman who speaks for a group called the Business Council of Puerto Vallarta, in conjunction with the Coastal University Center (CUC) of the University of Guadalajara, intends to confront the Mayor with the urgency of the situation at a meeting set for next week, and politely present him with an ultimatum of sorts: either he attends to the matter immediately, or it will be made public to the national and international media. Sr. Villa also intends to garner the support of all the organizations in town, i.e.: the Hotel Association, Chamber of Commerce, restauranteurs, ecological groups, urban planning folks, etc. He is most passionate about this, unlike the “apathetic and sometimes scared” townspeople whom his group is attempting to rouse through radio and press announcements. I for one wish him success.
On that topic, Amapas resident Bill Holtz sent us an email that says it all:
Susan (Wiseman) and Anna,
I'm sure I speak for every present and future homeowner in the Amapas area when I say "thank you" for the work you're doing to try to rein in the chaos that is occurring in our area.
The time has come to form an organization to deal with the issues of our area and you have my full support.
Like most condo owners in the area, I'm only in P.V. a few months out of the year, my Spanish is limited, and I don't know who to turn to to express my concerns.
The developers are there only to make their quick money and they don't care about anything else.
First of all, the roads were not built to support the heavy trucks that are using Hortencias, Pulpito, Gardenias, and El Callejon de la Igualdad. They've turned the cobblestones into sand and crashes are occuring on a daily basis it seems. On a recent cab ride up Hortencias, the driver had to take me up in reverse, because there was no traction. These roads should have been prepared years ago before the first development started.
Secondly, with the increase in traffic along the highway, it's become much more dangerous to cross the highway and a pedestrian path is needed between Callejon de la Igualdad and Pulpito.
Thirdly and most importantly, a moratorium on future building needs to be put into place and inspections need to be increased on the ones that are going up now. Those who are putting workers’ and residents’ safety at stake must be penalized.
As for the damage to the environment, don't even get me started.
The destruction to the building that Colinas caused a few months back was outrageous and should never have happened!
As Gomer Pyle used to say: “Shame! Shame! Shame!”
And on the matter of condos, an article was published in the Tribuna de la Bahía today, Wednesday, June 6th, stating that there were no permits whatsoever in the records at City Hall for the construction of yet another condominium complex where the Posada Rio Cuale sits. Hmmm… so then, why so many rumors?
I had a business partner here for a while, who did not speak or read Spanish. Every day, when I would pick up the daily papers, he would ask me, “So what’s in the funny papers today?” In retrospect, he was right. As our friend Barry once said, “Puerto Vallarta? You either laugh or you leave.” Truer words were never spoken - until the events of the past year or so. When our safety and that of our residences are questioned, physically speaking, it is no longer a laughing matter.
But getting back to the laughable… Tuesday, June 5th, was celebrated as the Day of the Environment. There were conferences and seminars and cocktail parties and the whole shebang, organized for the authorities and the renowned speakers they invited. Turns out that our Mayor addressed the audience to express his intention to acquire Puerto Vallarta’s accreditation as a “Green Destination” - as defined by the Federal Department of Natural Resources (Semarnat). He added that the goal was a difficult one to attain… 15 Mexican towns have applied for it, and only Aguascalientes has acquired it. I read that and wondered… with the thousands of trees cut down over the last couple of years to make way for parking garages, widened streets (in Nuevo Vallarta) and high towers, plus the public transportation problem that hasn’t been solved to date, the one causing the noise and air pollution, etc., etc… Who is he kidding?
Here’s an important date for you to mark down in your agenda, friends: Sunday, June 24th. At 8:30 a.m. on that day, everyone is invited to Take A Walk. The $50. Peso inscription fee will go towards setting up a shelter for battered women in Vallarta – something that is missing and direly needed here. For that donation, you will receive a beautiful T-Shirt and other little goodies, and you’ll feel a whole lot better at the end of The Walk. We will give you more information in next week’s issue of the Tribune, but if you can’t wait, you can get it by calling 293-5348 or 222-8621.
On that positive note, I will leave you, and wish you all a most enjoyable week. Do take care of yourselves, and of your less fortunate neighbor. Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
June 3, 2007
There have been all sorts of whisperings in the grapevine of Puerto Vallarta this week. I’d like to share some of them with you.
The first deals with the closing of the Posada Rio Cuale Hotel. The coffee and ice cream shop on the corner is closed and has moved. The old building will be torn down within the next few weeks and a new condo building will take its place. Five stories, 22 condos, shops on the ground floor, pool, underground parking, etc.
Our friend T. J.’s reaction: “What is amazing is that half of the condos are already sold.”
It is also rumored that José Luis, the owner of the beloved Le Gourmet Restaurant that used to be there, with its beautiful flowering trees and little swimming pool, might have his son open a gourmet place in the new building to be erected on that site. His son is currently studying in a culinary college, so that bodes well.
Also murmuring in the grapevine: seems that Sr. Frog’s is moving from its South Side location to where Planet Hollywood, and then The Rex, were located. Loads of workmen doing lots of work over there. I just hope that place isn’t “jinxed” like so many others in this town. Mind you, with all the bucks backing the Sr. Frog’s folks, they could probably overcome whatever hex Arnold Schwartzenegger and his partners may have left on the place.
At the risk of turning this issue of the Tribune into an ode to Jenny McGill, I do want to tell you that I finally had the honor of meeting this grand lady, and get a copy of her book, of course.
Now I should mention that since I started working with the Tribune, soon to be ten years, I’ve been reading very little. In what I like to call my “other life”, I was an avid reader. That is no more. By the end of the day, I just want to sit in front of the idiot box and watch my favorite CSI and Law & Order programs.
That changed this week. I figured I would just glance through Jenny’s book while having lunch the other day. Well, that intention went out the window really quickly. It is what critics like to call a “page turner”, at least for me. I found myself laughing out loud. And I didn’t watched TV for days as I only had a couple of hours free, and just had to allot them to reading. If you have lived here for years, or if you want to know a little about how Vallarta used to be, and you haven’t picked up a copy of this absolutely delightful read yet, don’t delay. Just drop in to either of the two Book Store locations. Tom carries it, and I guarantee it: You’re sure to love it.
Did you notice how the hugs and kisses have proliferated all over town lately? I’m referring to those ubiquitous OXXO stores of course (my girlfriend is the one who thought the letters stood for hugs and kisses…) They’ve popped up like mushrooms everywhere. Reminds me of when the dépanneurs appeared in Montreal and, like the Seven Elevens in the U.S., multiplied overnight like those metal wire hangers used to do in our cupboards, until there seemed to be one on every street corner. Uggh!
I’m going to end here for this week. I’ve been invited to “cover” the Full Moon Feast at our stupendous Botanical Gardens. Can’t wait! And I still have a couple of restaurants to visit - while I can afford the special “Restaurant Week” prices. By the way, if you haven’t been to Bruce’s Back Alley yet, you’re in for a treat! He’s had so much success with his $145.- and $245.-Peso specials that he’s decided to continue offering these menus throughout the summer, changing them every couple of weeks. I understand that the Tribune will publish his menus every week. Way to go, Bruce!
I wish you all a most enjoyable week, and I hope to see you all at the Tucson Gay Men’s Concert on Wednesday. I hope they also perform some numbers a cappella (sp?)… I just love that type of singing. Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
May 27, 2007
I want to thank all the young (and older) gentlemen whose comments have been tickling the cockles of this grandmother’s heart over the last couple of months. Ever since I started doing a mid-week paper distribution route for the Tribune, a number of these fine folks have pointed to me, telling their companions: “That’s the sexiest paper boy in town,” watching me dump a pile of papers on the table closest to the curb. Bless you all! I think I’m starting to enjoy this paper route business…
So the other day, while doing my “paper route” (no, I don’t do it on a bicycle), I noticed something that made me laugh out loud although I was alone in the car. The vehicle in front of me had obviously been repainted, and the painters must have taken off the letters to do their job… except that when they put them back, the car was now a “Twon and Country”. Sweet. And then there’s all those Jalisco license plates that start with “JEW”. I know that those will make me smile for years to come.
Exactly four years ago, Sr. Alcaraz, then General Manager of El Rosita and El Pescador hotels (he may still be today…), stated that it was “indispensable that Vallarta undergo a total re-engineering in order to salvage the main attraction that gave birth to this tourist destination.” He stressed that “we have not managed to instill this awareness of the fact that the visual image of the central zone of Puerto Vallarta is worth a great deal; that the tourist comes to this town not only to enjoy the facilities of his hotel… We have neglected our “house”, business interests have prevailed and the deterioration of its visual image is something that must be stopped immediately.” Here we are, four years later, and the same statements are still being made because nothing has changed in the interim. Even the state department of Jalisco is losing patience. In a statement made last week, it warned our municipal authorities that if they don’t settle the dump question right away, the state will withdraw its financial support.
Getting back to visual images, how is it that every time the good folks at Toys for Tots and/or the Navy League or some other non-profit, fund-raising organization composed of foreigners, do something wonderful for the community (in this case, I’m referring to the two children’s playgrounds they donated recently to some low income neighborhoods), the event is reported in the local Spanish dailies with headlines like “DIF donates playground to children in the XYZ neighborhood”? Hallooo? With the respect due to it for what it DOES accomplish, what did the DIF do in these particular cases - other than send a representative to pose for photos?
A company called Livtopia is sponsoring a seminar entitled “Insiders' Property Secrets Weekend” in mid-June. Participants will be lodged -free- for 3 nights at the beautiful Fiesta American Hotel. Among the topics the various expert speakers will be dealing with are:
“- Buy and move into a beach front property that would cost millions in the US or Canada. Say goodbye to winter once and for all.
- Learn about mountain properties, desert oases, and perfect city condos in addition to those on the world's most pristine beaches.
- Escape almost all of your tax burden—we'll show you how—while putting your retirement income toward solid returns” (You can check it out at http://www.livtopia.com/seminars/insider_property_secrets.html)
- Escape almost all of your tax burden—we'll show you how—while putting your retirement income toward solid returns” (You can check it out at http://www.livtopia.com/seminars/insider_property_secrets.html)
Now what I’m wondering is … Will the expert hired to speak about beach front and mountain properties tell the audience THE TRUTH? Hmmm…
In the meantime, one of the omnipresent news in the local papers lately has been the snafu caused by the “too little too late” land and air fumigation undertaken by the city to eradicate the dreaded dengue-carrying mosquito. It appears that the flora, i.e.: all the trees, shrubs, flowers, etc., around the entire bay is now plagued by no less than seven different types of fungi that are slowly destroying it. The remedy is simple: spray everything with dishwater-soapy water, every 5 days. That’s all. But many folks don’t read and don’t listen to the radio, so they’re just pruning their trees to the trunk, or cutting them down entirely. Geez! On the positive side, there are still some primavera trees laden with their stupendous bright yellow blossoms, right at the northern entrance to the downtown area. What beauty!
Back in October, 1999, the U.S. issued an advisory to Americans to be careful when traveling to Cancun due to the high incidence of crime in that Caribbean resort. They are calling Cancun "dangerous and insecure", comparing it to Libya and Afghanistan, and adding: "besides being a tourist paradise, it has turned into a drug paradise". Internet sites aimed at "Spring Breakers" advertise: "Go to Cancun, because it is the only place in the world where everything is permitted... If you want to get high, just take a taxi and the driver will supply you with whatever you want, from grass to heroin." (Apro) Sound familiar? Thank goodness, both Canadians and Americans are intelligent enough to discern the difference between Mexico and Afghanistan - aside from the climate of course.
In case any of you locals are as upset as my friends and I are with the cable company’s decision to eliminate the KTLA and SciFi channels from its line-up - with no prior notice, the number to call to complain is 226-7799. They have now re-instated KTLA, but if you call anyways, you may want to ask them why they replaced the SciFi channel with a TBS which is not only redundant as it already exists, but this one has no sound …
My friends and I have gotten to some of the restaurants participating in Restaurant Week 2007, Vista Grill being the most recent - excellent, if I may say so myself… and with a great Brazilian duo providing the music too! Maybe not Astrid Gilberto, but just as good to my ears.
This is your once-a-year chance to dine in those special restaurants whose usual prices didn’t quite fit into your budget… Get to as many as you can - they’re all great! For more information and menus, please visit www.virtualvallarta.com/restaurantweek I just hope I can find time to visit a few more before the “Week” ends …and to go see some of the good movies in town before they’re taken away - like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Last King of Scotland.
As you may know, May 31st is Puerto Vallarta’s double anniversary (see the “Special Frame” in this issue). One of the nice events included in the celebrations is the ceremony held at Los Arcos Amphitheater where seven individuals or organizations are awarded the Vallarta Prize gold medal. In the past, our friend Ron Walker of the PV Ecological Group received such an award.
This year, among the recipients, we noted “New Life Mexico” which will receive the medal for Social Assistance, and artist Pedro Tello whose photographs have graced our covers on a number of occasions. You can all get to meet this talented young man and see his work under the bridge, on the island, right near The River Café. Congratulations to all the recipients!
And here is some interesting news that we received too late to publish in the news section -or “Local Pages”- of this week’s issue: the President of Mexico is going to be here to celebrate El Día de la Marina (Navy Day). He will be inaugurating the new pier and attending the re-inaugurating the Naval Museum. The local Port Authorities will be holding an Expo-Mar, an exhibit open to the public from now until Monday, June 4th, with an exhibit of all types of military vehicles including helicopters, amphibians, tanks, etc. that we are all invited to visit - free. The entrance to the site is located across the street from Sam’s Club / WalMart.
And here is some interesting news that we received too late to publish in the news section -or “Local Pages”- of this week’s issue: the President of Mexico is going to be here to celebrate El Día de la Marina (Navy Day). He will be inaugurating the new pier and attending the re-inaugurating the Naval Museum. The local Port Authorities will be holding an Expo-Mar, an exhibit open to the public from now until Monday, June 4th, with an exhibit of all types of military vehicles including helicopters, amphibians, tanks, etc. that we are all invited to visit - free. The entrance to the site is located across the street from Sam’s Club / WalMart.
That’s all the space I have for now, so I’ll just close by wishing you a truly enjoyable week. Make the most of it - there’s so much to see and do! Just don’t forget your UVA-UVB sun block, it’s getting fierce out there. Take care of yourself and of each other, dear readers. Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
May 20, 2007
The phone call came on Tuesday afternoon, one of the two worst (i.e.: most rushed, harried, etc.) days of the week for me, Wednesday being the other. It was from Susan Wiseman, owner of Casa Los Arcos, a stupendous guest house in the now (in)famous Amapas area. You may recall that that is where entire sections of a few villas came sliding down the hill a few weeks ago due to some not quite kosher excavation work being done on an adjacent development. She asked me to attend a meeting with the Mayor and the City Council the next morning - yes, Wednesday - at 10:30 a.m. A whole bunch of people concerned about their well-being and the future of their homes would be there.
I accepted, for various reasons, but mostly because, as some of you may recall, I have been personally affected by the lack of follow-up on the part of the previous administration with regard to illegal constructions that were shut down (clausuradas) and ordered to be demolished. Needless to say, they are all still there, years later, now causing financial losses to other neighbors of mine.
Back to City Hall, there were about 24 of us. We waited for over an hour because the Council session was taking longer than originally foreseen. Finally, we were invited to go in and extra chairs were quickly set up for all the «foreigners». I don’t know when the last time was that such a large group was allowed to sit in on a City Council meeting. For my part, I had never stepped foot in the Council Chamber, and let me tell you: it’s quite impressive. Very large, well-planned, with a U-shaped table in the middle at the head of which sits the Mayor, and an extra row of tables along one side of the U, for the press. Laptop computers and tape recorders all around. The Mayor introduced the topic, expressed the Council’s concern with it, and then invited the head of one particular department (can’t recall which) to make his audio-visual presentation.
The young man showed a slide show of 15 separate cases of construction violations up in the Amapas area (see separate article in this issue), complete with photos showing some truly scary places. Again and again, he warned of the potential damage that can occur once the rains start.
Afterwards, PAN Councilman Preciado (of the party in opposition to the ruling PRI) was invited to read his proposals, among which was a request that there be a State audit of all the construction permits granted by the former mayor. When he finished, a PRI councilman expressed his disaccord, softly, as if trying to assuage the entire affair. He couldn’t see why such matters had to be handled outside of the city’s legal jurisdiction… after all, Vallarta is an independent, autonomous city… why wash our dirty laundry in public?... an objective investigative committee could be set up right here to conduct the audit… etc. etc. Makes us think, doesn’t it? What did surprise me somewhat was the Mayor’s behavior during the speeches. He appeared more interested in chatting with the gentlemen seated on either side of him, smiling, even chuckling at times. Like everybody else living here, or contemplating moving down here to this constantly shrinking "paradise", I certainly hope the pleasant young man with the dazzling, dimpled smile doesn’t approach this situation lightly. After all, his predecessor is now going to face serious legal proceedings now that the State has accepted to go ahead with the lawsuit brought against him by Vallarta’s Hotel and Motel Association, for illegal changes in the zoning laws, corruption, abuse of power, etc.
Whoa! I’m sorry if my contribution this week is more serious than usual, but these are facts that everyone should be aware of. The local papers, on both sides of the party line, are replete with articles warning against the potential "Acapulco-nization" of our town. Let’s hope that we never reach that point. It destroyed what used to be THE vacation spot in Mexico. I wouldn’t want it to happen in Vallarta.
While we were waiting outside the Council Chamber, I noticed Mr. David Izazaga. He used to be our Director at the Tribune many years ago. Today, he’s the head of the municipal Department of Culture. I went over to greet him, and I reprimanded him (gently of course) for the fact that we had not received a single notice from his department about the events it’s been organizing. So guess what? We now have a real, up-to-date calendar of events! You see, some good came out of the seemingly interminable wait…
And on a lighter note, we received a lovely email from Mary Ellis in which she wrote: "I must say, the photos on the front of the Tribune lately are incredible! It is worth getting the paper just to look at the cover."
On behalf of all the incredible photographers who have submitted their work for publication on our covers, I thank you!
I am also leaving some space here for a beautiful photo of the Tibetan monks, this one sent to us by JOY!
Until next time, have a wonderful week and long Memorial Day weekend, don’t forget your UVA-UVB sunscreen, and take good care of yourselves. Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
May 13, 2007
Driving around this town has become quite an adventure lately. True, the “low season” may have begun, but I must say I haven’t noticed any reduction whatsoever in the number of folks walking around …nor in the number of buses and taxis clogging our streets. As I was returning to the south side after our weekly meeting at the Tribune’s “new” facilities -out where civilization stops and the Sierra Madre begins- the cars going northwest along the Libramiento by-pass road were backed up all the way to the next traffic light by the gas station. I can’t recall ever having seen that, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing it more and more often once all those condos are purchased and folks move in, each with a car or two.
And there are the giant cranes, construction sites, and vacant, razed, flattened lots waiting to be built upon - all over the place. There is construction noise everywhere you go. And the local papers are filled with truly unsettling articles with regard to the future of our little paradise… the wanton destruction of the hillsides, dire warnings about potentially fatal landslides once the rains begin, the alleged wrongdoings of the previous city administration, lawsuits being instituted against a number of its higher ups, etc., etc.
I blame that destruction of the local natural habitat for the uninvited visitor who came to my house a couple of nights ago. I should explain: like so many in Vallarta, my place is wide open, all around. I am used to seeing birds, iguanas, cute little field mice, frogs, geckoes and tiny snakes. As a matter of fact, when I had guests staying with us in March, they were a little taken aback to find an iguana comfortably snuggled on a jacket they had left on the dresser in the guest room… But, I must admit, as much as I respect most living creatures, tlacuaches are definitely among my least liked local wildlife.
According to the research I did after first seeing one of these creatures, many years ago, as it was walking around in my bedroom in the middle of the night, «the tlacuache (from the Náhuatl word tlacualzin) is Mexico’s only marsupial (an opossum) … one of the few animals that have remained unchanged since they first appeared on the planet approximately 60 million years ago (when mammals first began to settle the earth). Tlacuaches have somehow managed to survive human encroachment... They have been almost as successful as rats and mice in adapting to life near man since they are omnivorous animals that feed on anything, including fruits, insects, man’s garbage, small reptiles, amphibians, eggs, and normal-sized chickens. They are frequently seen in cities, inside garbage cans, on fences, in sewers, etc. They can also live in houses, cupboards, closets, under beds, etc.»
Well, this particular visitor wasn’t sitting on any fence. It was perched on my kitchen counter, very content, eating my cats’ food, while these latter were looking up at it from the floor, wondering what on earth it was. Looking at it, I thought, where were these creatures when good looks were being given out at the dawn of creation?
After taking its picture to share with you, I tried to shoo it away –and out- with a broom. Not very successfully. Finally, I remembered something from my dog training days, something about asserting one’s alpha status. So I roared at it. It bared its teeth at me, but it did scurry off the counter. On the floor, it was cornered by Alex, my old dog, so it played dead –as opossums are known to do- in the middle of my dining room. But I knew that trick, so I just swept it out. The broom finally did what it what designed to do. On one hand, I miss my Rottie. Had she been around, the tlacuache would never have made it into the house. On the other, I’m glad it wasn’t …exterminated. Before I forget: I want to sincerely thank all of you who sent me such beautiful messages of condolence on my 100-lb. «puppy»’s untimely passing.
Getting back to cars and driving, I received an email from an American friend of mine who must have me on her list of general contacts. It read as follows:
«Don’t pump gas on May 15th. In April 1997, there was a «gas out» conducted nationwide in protest of gas prices. Gasoline prices dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight. On May 15th, 2007, all internet users are to not go to a gas station in protest of high gas prices… This would take $2,292,000,000. (that’s almost 3 BILLION) out of the oil company’s pockets - in just one day. So please, do not go to the gas station on May 15th and let’s try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry for at least one day.» The boycott has been advertised all over the American networks, so I’m sure that lots of folks are aware of it, and I know that if I were American living in the States, I would definitely follow the suggestion. I wonder if enough folks will do it for it to have an effect. It could work.
Meanwhile, the Canadian networks are pressuring that country's Foreign Affairs Department to issue a warning against vacationing in "Mexico"! Because of 3 separate incidents that occurred over the last year and a half, in Cancun and Acapulco, the entire country should be castigated... Have they learned that trick from CNN? Has no one even looked at a map of Mexico to realize that those two resorts do not an entire country make? If we attributed the slight decrease in tourism over this last «high season» to the new passport regulations in effect in the U.S., well we ain't seen nothin' yet! The next day, there was a news item about a little girl who had been kidnapped in Portugal. My heart goes out to her parents, but should people stop going there for their holidays too?
I also saw a special on the decrease in the number of hummingbirds along the west coast of North America. It seems that the survival of those amazing little flyers is as important as that of bees and frogs. A decrease in their numbers augurs very badly for man, the planet’s worst predator. And all because of wanton destruction of these creatures’ habitat, with total disregard and impunity towards our environment.
The Dalai Lama bemoans what we’re doing. If you’re interested, I highly recommend you attend the “Environmental Purification” ceremony his Tibetan Monks will perform on Tuesday on the Isla Cuale. I have seen these monks’ performances the last couple of times they visited PV. Impressive to say the least!
In the weeks to come, I might be able to tell you all about my visit to Los Arbolitos, Dolcetto, Ztai, Azul 96, and Cilantro’s (a most pleasant surprise). Restaurant Week should be great! In the meantime, I’m just going to enjoy the Krispy Kreme donuts my cousin brought down for me…The days are getting hot, but the nights are still cool, perfect for sleeping. So have a wonderful time, enjoy yourselves, and keep well. Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
May 6, 2007 - Mother's Day
There’s an advantage to being a “foreigner mom” here for Mother’s Day: you get to be fêted twice! There will be loving phone calls, and emails, and hugs and kisses on Thursday, the 10th, and then again on Sunday the 13th, when Americans and Canadians –like me- celebrate their moms. My cousin (who’s back down here, visiting again) and I decided to celebrate the day - without children! I think that’s a grand idea. Yeay, moms! And then, the folks at the Tribune might organize a dinner for the moms (and grandmas…) of all the kiddies featured on the cover of last week’s issue of the paper. They did that in past years, so who knows?
Living here, in the land of mañana, one must learn patience, lots of patience. Nothing gets done in a rush, and even the governments are in on the game – not like the telephone company that will cut off your service if you’re one day late in paying your bills... The municipal real estate tax department is a good example. Every year, they try to entice folks to pay their back taxes (that were never collected) by offering them 50-75% discounts on the accrued interests. I guess they’re not convincing enough though, ‘cause they haven’t been too successful thus far… A couple of years ago, I read about the city of Rajahmundry in southern India, where tax defaulters were forced to face the music (literally) in a most innovative fashion: “The municipal authorities that were owed more than $1.2 million dollars in outstanding taxes sent teams of drummers out with tax officials on a door-to-door collection drive. Drummers pounded outside the offenders’ homes, refusing to stop until the harried residents settled their bills. In less than a month, the city drummed up 74% of the money it was owed, and tax collection has hit an all-time high of 95%”! Can you imagine if Puerto Vallarta’s City Hall adopted something of the kind? They could probably collect a whole bunch of $$$ for the city’s coffers. I know for a fact that some of my neighbors have NEVER paid taxes on their properties, and for some of them, it’s been some 30+ years - tax free. But at the same time, Hacienda (Mexico’s equivalent of the IRS or Revenue Canada) says it would like condo and time-share owners to register, so that they may be taxed on the revenue they derive from leasing or renting their beautiful homes and condos. We’ll just have to wait and see who pays up first. Their job will become even more difficult when all those hundreds of condos in the towers being built around the bay are sold, and the owners who don’t live here year ‘round rent them out…
Although the powers-that-be have finally agreed to change the name of this section to “Living in Vallarta” instead of “Opinion”, and I’m very grateful for it, I do have something that may be considered an opinion this week… Regarding this whole “parks vs. parking lots” situation, in my opinion, I never saw Hidalgo Park as a park per se. All I ever saw was a whole bunch of stands, selling all sorts of souvenirs and trinkets, and of course …delicious crêpes in the evening. Benito Juarez Park? Shameful, abandoned, uncared for, dirty, filled with mud during the rainy period. So I wasn’t really upset when they said they would build a parking garage there. But Lazaro Cardenas Park was something else altogether, again, in my opinion. Although it may not have been Central Park, or Mount Royal Park in Montreal, it was really a park, with grass and beautiful old trees and a lovely little gazebo. Now that it looks somewhat like a park again, I still wonder what the politicking was all about with regard to the lot right next to it, which is still an eyesore, and a breeding ground for those godawful dengue-carrying mosquitoes. Why didn’t they use that space instead, like so many had proposed, for the parking garage? I don’t know.
April 28th marked the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of Expo 67 in Montreal, Québec, my former “home town”. Wow, how time flies! Decades… gone. I was supposed to work there, at the Dow pavilion, but I blew it ‘cause I didn’t like the company’s president as much as he liked me… But I did get to enjoy those six wonderful, surreal months. Except for the ’76 Olympic games (for whose stadium we paid for years and years), I don’t think I ever saw that city so united, French and English setting their differences aside for the duration, so much joy, optimism. Hair was long, skirts were short, and the future looked oh, so bright. It was ...the best of times. Of course, we were younger then. But everything was perfect then, and anything seemed possible.
I wonder a lot, and my wooden Don Quixote hasn’t helped me with any input, he’s been wondering too, pondering, for nearly two years now. We both wonder about the situation in Amapas and Conchas Chinas, with all those towers built on slopes way steeper than the 15o set as a limit by the city regulations, and all those other towers being built right at the mouth of the river, about the back-and-forth double-talk whenever all those government bigwigs are interviewed about that and the city dump which was declared obsolete over six years ago, about the long-awaited convention center whose construction –all prefabbed in Guadalajara- appears to have stalled once again (see why we need patience?), about the hundreds of millions invested in the airport expansion to service all those people going to Nuevo Vallarta and other points along the north shore of the Bay, thinking that they’re going to spend their holidays in PUERTO VALLARTA, ‘cause that’s what their travel agent told them, about the promises made to reduce the number of buses downtown …among many other “wonderings”. And why didn’t I notice that there would be a quadruple (!!) arrival of cruise ships at the end of April? Never did get to see that “Regal Princess”…
There are some six veterinarians listed in the Puerto Vallarta telephone directory as living in the city proper. Most of their ads show an emergency phone number to call in such cases. Just so you’ll know, not one of them responded, and one of the automatic messages even stated: “you cannot leave a message for this person as his message box is full”! I couldn’t reach anyone, and my dog died. I will never know if a veterinarian could have saved her. I’m just sharing this with you because if you have a pet you love, it might be a wise move to ask your vet for a real emergency number, one that will be answered – just in case.
When I spoke to my friend Angela early the next morning, this wonderful lady who has taken in so many street dogs and cats over the years said to me, “you know, at first, when one of them would die, I would cry and cry. But then, after thinking about it a lot, I decided that my job here was just to offer these little creatures a loving home, and a good life, for however long I had them. I’ve been able to handle it better now, now that I look at it that way.” How wise!
If you are one of those people who give credence to astrology, this month of May is seen as particularly special because there will be two full moons instead of one - an event that occurs approximately every 2.7 years! That means that this month should be ideal for doing things you'd only dare to do “once in a blue Moon”, which is what the second full moon is called.I wish all the moms a most Happy Mother’s Day, filled with hugs and kisses and lots of loving. And I hope you gentlemen enjoy it too. Show your wife, mom, grandma, how much you love them – tell them! And not just on Sunday, but often! Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
April 29, 2007
At this time of year, I find it a good thing to address our faithful readers - the year round residents in this town - who are sometimes miffed at the fact that we reprint articles. (This is a reminder I touch upon more or less regularly.)
Although we realize that these folks are the backbone of Vallarta's foreign community, the ones who support the local economy all year round including during the "low" seasons, the Vallarta Tribune was conceived as - and continues to be - a publication whose primary market is made up of foreign tourists. By this I mean those visitors who come to our town for one or two weeks of fun and relaxation. Many of them want to find out all they can about Puerto Vallarta while they're here, what we can offer them in terms of entertainment, food, culture, etc., what we (foreign residents) are like, how we function here, and so on. That's probably why the "Letters to the Editor" section is so popular. And although we foreigners, expatriates, whatever you choose to call us, who live here think we already know all there is to know about PV, these tourists don't and that is why we reprint articles dealing with topics of general interest. Like what? Well, like those dealing with national and sometimes international holidays, those that deal with the multitude of topics particular and specific to the Bay of Banderas area and those that deal with typically Mexican subjects, like chocolate... for example.
Consequently, dear resident readers, please bear with us. We'll try our best to offer you as much "fresh" reading material as possible every week. But do remember our visitors, they are the reason why Puerto Vallarta has grown so much over the last decade, and, if we look at all those high-rise condo buildings whose units are being bought up like hot cakes, it looks as if many of those visitors are going to end up like you and me: permanent residents.
Okay, I'd like to get back to more mundane things that we know all about - but tourists don't. I'd like to explain something about the telephone system here, for those who don't understand why there may be a whole list of telephone numbers appearing in ads, on people's business cards, on billboards, etc. - all for the same person or establishment. The reason is very simple: Telefonos de Mexico (a.k.a.: TelMex - my all time favorite company…) has not implemented, at least not for mere mortals living and trying to do business in Puerto Vallarta, a system whereby one could have a single phone number, with an endless amount of additional lines on a "trip" system like those that exist in other countries. Example: If a company in Canada or the States has one main number and numerous additional lines with which to service their clients, when the first X lines are busy, the next incoming call is automatically transferred ("tripped") to their next available line. Some local hotels do have this system, but that requires a great deal of money here, plus additional installations with special telephone systems. The average restaurant or individual wouldn't even consider such expenses. Just getting a single telephone line here is a most arduous and time-consuming affair, an exercise in saintly patience. One of our readers in Las Juntas had to wait one year to get her line installed. Another large enterprise in town, hoping to shame the ruling telecommunications company into doing something, resorted to publishing a huge ad in the local papers asking TelMex why they were still waiting for a line X months after making their request! Yes, eventually they both got "connected". A landlord/landlady wanting to rent out an apartment with a telephone line can expect to receive a higher rent for it than if it did not have one. Telephone lines are sold here, from one person to another. And they are also rented out, i.e.: if a tenant managed to have a telephone line installed in his apartment during his rental period, and then vacates the apartment at the end of the lease without "taking" the phone line with him, the landlord will often have the line brought in to another unit whose tenant has expressed the wish to "rent" it. All this is also the main reason why you may be surprised at the number of people walking around with cellular phones. They're not trying to impress anyone, most of them are on TelMex' "waiting list", waiting for a regular phone...
Well, believe it or not, I finally made it to Louise and Luc Mullins’ now famous breakfasts (brunch in my case) at Mama Dolores’ Diner. Our friend Gary Beck’s review of the place is somewhere else in this issue. True, he’s been in the restaurant business for years and knows all about the industry, but from a regular customer’s point of view, let me tell you: those folks deserve the great reputation they’ve earned! Despite the fact that nothing on the menu is over $58. pesos, our little group of seven ended up waddling out of there, satiated to the proverbial gills! The chocolates we picked up at Xocodiva went home with us to be savored at a later time…
It was the week for Mama Dolores. I was invited to “her” birthday party on the 20th, at Bench and Bar (formerly known as The Palm). It was to be Canadian-born Kim ‘s last performance this season, and all of Grant’s friends were there, including Len (of the famous blu by Len beauty salon) who got up on stage not only to fix Kim’s hair when she appeared dressed as Mama’s “cousin”, but also to dance! Boy, can he move! To summarize: the place was full, the entertainment was super, and everyone had a fabulous evening.
By the way, I’ve heard that June will be the last month for Ida Slapter in Vallarta. If you’ve never caught “her” show this past season, do make sure you see it before “she” leaves us to pursue her career in San Francisco. You will laugh yourself silly. She performs at the Bench and Bar, just a couple of doors down from Mama’s place.That’s all for now, folks. Have a super week, share your good fortune with the less fortunate …and don’t forget to slather on that sun block! Hasta Luego! pvmom04@yahoo.com
April 22, 2007
Just when we think we’ve seen it all, inevitably something happens to remind us that we have not. A friend repaid me for a loan with an American Express Travelers’ check a while back. Now, we all remember their ads… «Don’t leave home without it!» Those checks are supposed to be just like cash, right? Wrong. At least not at the Santander-Serfin banks in this town.
I had a little bit of free time, and I wanted to find out why I had not been able to use my S-S ATM card for a couple of weeks. Every time I tried, the machine would tell me that I had already withdrawn my authorized maximum for the day - even though I hadn’t made any withdrawals in weeks. So I parked in the Benito Juarez parking garage, and walked over to the Santander branch next door, the one I’ve always dealt with. I explained my dilemma to Esther, my friendly bank manageress, and the both of us walked out to the ATM to test it. Of course, my card worked. I told her she must have scared the machine into obeying. We both got a good laugh.
Oh, and by the way, could she cash this AmEx Travelers’ check for me while I was there? Oh, no. Why not? Because the only person who could cash it was the one who signed it. Huh? But it was made out to MY name, and I had my passport with me to prove who I was, just in case… No. No way. Bank regulations. As I walked out of the bank, rather incredulous and very much dejected, I wondered: How do all the local shops and restaurants do it? They get paid with Travelers’ Checks often. Where do THEY cash them in? So I decided to call American Express to find out, but first I had to get home. That didn’t turn out to be as easy as it sounds.
Something was wrong -again- with the «automatic» arm at the garage, the one that’s supposed to go up when you insert your paid ticket into the machine. The line of cars wound its way all the way up to the top floor of the building (that was the only place I could find a spot, the garage was full…) What was supposed to be a five-minute affair turned out to be exactly ten times longer. It took a full 50 minutes for us to be able to leave the place. Well, at least we didn’t have to pay extra for that time as we had already paid for our parking - with the attendant at the wicket ‘cause the «automatic» payment machine wasn’t working either… I did try to call the «Customer Service» number indicated on the ticket, but that number is out of service. Gee. Why are we not surprised? They must have been inundated with cell phone calls from angry customers, so they probably just stopped paying their bills and had the number cancelled. (My theory.)
When I finally did get back home, I attempted to find a telephone number for American Express. No luck there. I tried to call TelMex’ information number -040- no luck there either. They must still be recuperating from their Easter holidays. Or perhaps Mr. Slim gave them the day off when he found out he had become the second richest man in the whole wide world …but I doubt it.
So I called our friend Bill at Barcelona Tapas. I know his fabulous restaurant accepts the AmEx card (and only that card), so I figured he might have a local number for them. No, but he suggested I look it up on the Internet. Oh, what a smart young man! Did that, got the number, dialed it, only to find that all its employees (both Spanish and English-speaking) somehow happened to be away from their desks too… But, they all gave me the opportunity to leave a message.
No one returned my messages. However, the next day, I called again and this time I got to speak with a real human being, a very nice one at that. I told him my story and he said, yes, Mexican banks did have some very strange regulations indeed. Although I should have been able to deposit the funds into my account (WITHOUT cashing the check), he suggested I visit the American Express office downtown, with my passport, and they would cash the check - no problem. Guess I'll have to go downtown...
Getting back to Bill and good food in general, I was lucky enough to be invited out to dinner by some new friends I made last winter. They asked for suggestions and I recommended Coco Tropical - just because I hadn't dined there in a while. They agreed, and as expected, everyone was delighted with the fare, though a little frustrated by the fact that they didn't have enough room left for anything more than sharing a fabulous chocolate crème brûlée for dessert. I think they would have liked to sample more from the mouth-watering list...
Although my fellow Canadian Heather (Wilson) is a good friend of mine, and I do truly empathize with her current plight, I must confess that one particular item in her Pet Tails column this week made me laugh, the part where she mentions the different kind of cats, «kneaders» and «talkers». The three kittens I adopted three months ago do both - knead and talk - at the same time. It was fine while they were little, but now that they’ve grown, they still think they can all sleep on my lap while I work at the computer. Problem is that they don’t fit anymore. And when they start kneading, and «talking» to me to let me know that they’re not particularly impressed with the arrangement, it becomes very funny. Eventually, one or more end up rolling off onto the floor. Not happy. So he or she will jump back up, landing on top of the remaining cat(s). And so it goes. It’s also becoming increasingly difficult to find space for myself in my own bed since the older cat, the one-year old «matriarch», has finally authorized these unsolicited newcomers to share the bed space with her. (My opinion doesn’t count.)
Can you believe the way they sleep?I found out that it drizzled in the early morning of Monday, April 16th, in the Colonia 5 de Diciembre, and in Versalles too. Not a drop down our way in the Old Town, a.k.a. the South Side, a.k.a. the Romantic Zone. Hmmm… a little early for that. As much as I love the rainy season here, I sure hope it doesn’t augur another change in our microclimate.
And talking about rain… Our friend who lives up on the hill above us, on Hortensia, called me to ask if I could send some of the Tribuna de la Bahía’s (our mother publication, the daily Spanish paper) photographers and reporters to take photos of the Colina II building that had just lost part of itself. Why do I have this uncomfortable feeling that it won’t be the last to come tumbling down? We’ve already seen the foundation of another development come sliding down during last year’s rainy season. All those big buildings erected on iffy sites up there, with iffy permits, worry me. And those big mega towers built at the mouth of the rivers do too. I just hope I’m wrong, and that my worries are unfounded (no pun intended).
ICON Vallarta is one of those new developments projected for our town. It envisages three towers with some 300+ condos, to be built out by the Krystal Hotel. The big promotional sign that wraps around the wall at Christine’s disco has a line that reads something like «For information and sugerency about this site, please call…» Sugerency? I’m nearly sure they meant suggestions, but you would think that if they’re selling condos to folks with the purchasing power of the rich and famous, they would have sprung a few dollars to hire someone who knows English to write the text on their humungous signs…
That's all I'm going to bother you with this week. I wish you all an excellent one. Keep well, keep smiling and do share your good fortune with the less fortunate. Hasta luego! pvmom04@yahoo.com
April 15, 2007
"And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance." - Khalil Gibran
The phone call came first thing on Monday morning, definitely not the kind one wants to get at any time. My friend had died in a motorcycle accident the day before. I was honored to be able to call Patrick Denoun my friend. It’s one thing when we know that someone is very ill, and that the end is near. It allows us to prepare for their departure, at least a little. But when death happens suddenly, unexpectedly, as was the case with Patrick, it is devastating.
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance." - Khalil Gibran
The phone call came first thing on Monday morning, definitely not the kind one wants to get at any time. My friend had died in a motorcycle accident the day before. I was honored to be able to call Patrick Denoun my friend. It’s one thing when we know that someone is very ill, and that the end is near. It allows us to prepare for their departure, at least a little. But when death happens suddenly, unexpectedly, as was the case with Patrick, it is devastating.
The friend who called me kept on apologizing for being the messenger of such bad tidings. Obviously, it wasn’t his fault. I hung up, dumbfounded. How could it be? Why? Here was a man in the prime of his life - and an international career. He had found the love of his life when he had given up hope of ever doing so. He and his beautiful wife Kathy were blessed even more with the arrival of a set of twins. Patrick was overwhelmed, and he remained in that state of euphoria.
When I first moved to Vallarta, I was invited by friends of ours to celebrate my birthday at Café des Artistes. That is where I first saw one of Patrick’s paintings, one that has remained in my mind ever since. It is the huge one, the one with a Bedouin on a camel, seen from the ground, with a deep, clear blue sky behind him, his face veiled with a pure white kaffia. It made me think of Lawrence of Arabia and all the Bedouins I saw while traveling through the Sinai Peninsula so many years ago. It is a most powerful, impressive painting.
I first met Patrick by chance a number of years ago, at Eric Lenoir’s Pastel du Village (now closed). Puerto Vallarta’s little «francophone» community used to gather there for breakfast, brunch, lunch, hours and hours of just chatting, about everything and about nothing. Patrick was sitting by himself. It took all my courage to go up to him, introduce myself, and tell him what an honor it was for me to finally meet him in person, how much I admired his work, etc. etc. He invited me to sit down at his table and we started talking. We didn’t stop for about four hours. A friendship was born.
Over the years, I had the pleasure of visiting his home-retreat up in El Nogalito a number of times. A haven within paradise. He showed me unfinished works, and even complimented me by asking for my opinion on certain photographic / computer points… It made me feel so special. Patrick did that to people. That special, famous man was one of the most humble and unassuming people I have ever met.
You who are reading this in its printed form can admire the photos he sent me recently, of his beloved twins - just because he was so proud of them, so much in love with them and their mother, so much in love with life itself.
Perhaps that is why he so enjoyed his motorcycle, the one on which he died. I hate motorcycles. Riding them has hurt so many friends of mine who love them. The fact that the driver of the vehicle with which Patrick collided tried to flee, but the police caught him. He was released after paying a $21,000. US Dollar fine. It makes me sick.
Rest in peace, our dear, dear friend. All of us who admire your work thank you for the beauty you shared with us through your talent. And we who knew you, loved you and admired you for who you were, will miss you very, very much.
Once again, I am reminded of that saying, the one that says something like «live every moment of every day as if it were your last, but make plans as if you will live forever.» I think Patrick did that.
Among the notes I made for this writing last week, prior to Sunday, April 8th:
Back in 1970, futurist American writer Alvin Toffler and his wife Heidi wrote a book entitled Future Shock in which he pointed out the acceleration in the rate of change occurring in the world, stating that change itself «is non-linear and can go backwards, forwards and sideways.»
I have found myself thinking of him -and the ideas he expressed in that book- more and more often over the last three years or so. I did so again the other day as I was driving past the corner of Insurgentes and Basilio Badillo on the south side of town. The huge corner lot was once home to a bus terminal. Now, from one day to the next, everything was razed. No one is sure as to what will be built there. It appears that everyone is into building condos, perhaps that is what will go there too. Across the street from there, a six-story «hotel» has gone up over the last year or so. Rumors have it that the owner of that particular lot only had a permit to «renovate» one floor… In his book, if my memory serves me right, Toffler gave the example of woman asking her son to go get something at the corner store, but when the child got there, it was gone. Yes indeed.
And on an even more mundane level, a reader by the name of Casper (could be the friendly ghost… he didn’t add his family name) sent me an email that read as follows: «Waste paper in toilets is a subject that needs to be addressed. The public toilets in this town are downright shabby looking and smell bad because of the overfilled wastepaper baskets with soiled paper. I find this very offensive in this day and age to see dirty paper put into bins next to the toilet we are sitting on. The soiled paper is not collected often enough to stop bad odors. The Walmart store, Sam’s and several of the grocery stores have this problem as well as public bathrooms all over town. PLEASE people, do not put the paper in bins, this is 2007 for god’s sake! Are we back in the stone age?»
It appears to me that Casper is unaware of the sewage system in this town. I cannot give you exact percentages, but I do know that outside of the hotels, the plumbing in a great number of the buildings in town -if not the majority- cannot handle waste paper in the toilets. It also appears to me that our friendly ghost hasn’t traveled much around the world, because if he had, he would know that patrons in many countries, all of which are in the year 2007 just like Mexico, are asked to please deposit their waste paper, sanitary napkins, etc. in the waste baskets. I agree that the baskets should be emptied frequently, but that is something Casper should mention to the supervisors at establishments he mentions in his email. That’s all I have to say on the topic.
Actually, that's all I have to say this week. Please forgive me for the lack of levity. Just have a wonderful week, dear reader. Live life! Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
April 8, 2007
This is one of those times of year when locals, folks who live here most of the year, or year ‘round, go into the tropical equivalent of what is sometimes called cocooning up in the Great White North. We try to stock up on supplies, and we try to venture outside our own homes as little as possible - until the madness subsides.
Unfortunately, I did run out of some very important stuff (dog and kitty food!) and had to go out. I was very glad that our neighborhood market on the south side - Gutierrez Rizo - stays open until 11 p.m. At ten o’clock in the evening there was no traffic and no lines at the cash. So once that was done, I felt better knowing that at least my little mini-zoo had enough to last a couple of weeks. Mind you, it didn’t help my situation with my favorite company, Telefonos de Mexico, affectionately called TelMex. You see, I did not receive my telephone bill this month. (I guess the messenger service fellow in charge of delivering them decided to take his holidays early…) I tried -again- to log on to their web site in order to pay it on line - unsuccessfully. The screen told me I would get a password sent to my account within 10 minutes. Never happened. So now I have to find the time to go to their office to pay it. What a system! I confess that I long for the time when such conveniences become available, along with being able to make deposits in an ATM instead of having to enter a bank and wait in line for hours with the other folks who wish they could use the ATM for such simple transactions…
I also ventured out on another occasion, to attend the Passover Seder at Café Bohemio. Now that was really worth it! Not only was the restaurant full (they even had to turn away a number of people…), but Chef-owner Sol truly outdid himself. In a one-man tour de force, he replaced traditional Ashkenazi dishes with Sephardic ones that were not only new to us, but also super delicious! As was to be expected, the reading of the Haggadah, led by Broadway star Sol himself, was touched by this man’s renowned stage presence - and humor. It was a most enjoyable evening, with participants from all over, Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
The Jewish celebration of Passover ends on Monday evening, but Semana Santa will be going full strength all week throughout Mexico, including all the municipalities around the Bay of Banderas. And then… the long awaited calm. Snowbirds will have flown back to their northern homes and only we full-time residents will remain. Don’t get me wrong. I love reading positive statistics, tourist numbers, income, flights, etc. as they help our ever-growing "little paradise" survive and thrive, but I also enjoy the calmer times. Here, around our beautiful bay, they occur twice during the year: once from mid-April to the end of June, and then again from mid-August to the beginning of November, after the summer holidays, when the kids have to go back to school.
I’m also looking forward to the rains because I want to believe that all those palm trees they planted in the three parks-turned-into-parking-lots …will survive, somehow, ‘cause right now they look like they’re in the throes of death. On a positive note: the authorities must have figured that Mexican tourists don’t have as good eyesight as we local Vallartans and furrners do… they replaced most of the burned out lights in the tunnel! Now we who have gotten used to driving through that tunnel over the last year or so, in near total darkness, are truly "blinded by the light"! Yeay!
Please drive carefully, dear readers. The roads are full of visitors unfamiliar with the town, some in pick-up trucks with three or four generations in the back. When I see those, I always find myself praying that those drivers never ever have to apply their brakes suddenly.I wish you all a wonderful holiday, and don’t forget your sunblock! The sun’s gotten quite a bit stronger these last few days. Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
April 1st, 2007
As I was going out to the airport (again) on one of my recently frequent pick-ups, I noticed something new between the port and WalMart / Sam’s: a traffic light showing a little green person running for its life, a traffic light for pedestrians! Congratulations to whichever municipal department is responsible for its installation! What a super idea. Now pedestrians stand a half a chance of making it to the other side unscathed. I have to tell you, that little running person is really funny…
On Monday of the long weekend, my out-of-town guests wanted to see if perchance the controversial Explo fair was still there in the main square (neighboring shop owners complained that it had no right to be, that it was unfair competition for their businesses, etc. etc.) The fair was gone, but as we approached, we realized that the entire northbound street, Juarez, was closed to traffic. No signs, no traffic cops, no warnings whatsoever. I don’t know exactly what it was they were doing, digging up every intersection along that main thoroughfare, but it was all finished within a couple of days.
Nevertheless, as they wrote in our sister publication, the Tribuna de la Bahía daily, in its issue of March 19th, about a similar situation that occurred when they installed the traffic lights I mentioned above: «…with dozens of vehicles trying to enter and leave Puerto Vallarta, in the heat of the midday sun, such traffic! The reason? Well, our authorities decided to change the traffic lights to «intelligent» traffic lights, but they are still more intelligent because they decide to do it during mid-morning hours, closing off the central lanes of those all-too-few city streets.
The question is: did no one think that it might be better doing that work at night, or early in the morning, so as not to affect circulation? No, definitely not, that would imply asking them to think of others - something that is always asking too much.»
There’s one thing that always baffles me at this time of year: whatever administration is in office, it always undertakes major clean-up campaigns just prior to the two weeks of Easter, the Mexicans’ big vacation time. River banks, beaches, streets, store fronts… I’m not criticizing it by any means, on the contrary, but I just don’t understand why they don’t do the same for foreign visitors.
Oh, before I forget… As you may know, the very popular and tasty outdoor coffee shop and lite restaurant adjacent to the former Lazaro Cardenas Park (which is now an underground parking garage) was practically put out of business by the construction. I guess the noise and dirt was not a good accompaniment to coffee… Anyway, now that the job is done, the Café de la Plaza located at 155 in the Plaza Mar condo building just north of the park is eager to welcome us back. Check it out, it’s a super little hang-out!I'm running out of space - again. So let me close for this week by wishing everyone a most Happy Easter, or Passover, as the case may be, filled with myriad good feelings, lots of loving and lots of sharing! Hag Sameach and hasta luego! pvmom04@yahoo.com
March 25, 2007
Spring was near. The primavera trees finally began to bloom in town, although they had done so a month earlier out in Pitillal. Everything was pointing to another beautiful Saturday. The day before, I had picked up my friend and her daughter at the airport. I hadn’t seen her since her last visit to PV, back in November. We were going to have such a great time! The last time her daughter had accompanied her, she fell upon the one and only week of cloudy, rainy days in the month of January 2004. This time would be different, I just knew it… and then came the phone call. It was Jan, to tell me that Mary Sue had passed away. A few weeks earlier, I had heard that she was in remission, that she was feeling much better, but now she was gone.
Mary Sue was my friend. It is an honor that she bestowed on me, one that will stay with me for as long as I am given life. Mary Sue didn’t befriend just anybody. And not everyone was ready for her manner, her integrity and her elegant, but at the same time in-your-face honesty and straight forwardness. Her physical appearance was deceiving. That petite body garbed in loose blouses or safari suits betrayed a ball of energy, a tireless voyageuse, flitting around the world in search of new, undiscovered talent in the most remote corners of the world, or attending international jewelry trade shows - a visionary. And she loved Puerto Vallarta. She openly bemoaned the lack of vision –and caring- on the part of the past municipal administration. She wanted to see the lush south shore of the bay developed, with boutique hotels and expensive villas. I think she saw a future Puerto Vallarta as a Monte Carlo of Mexico. What beautiful dreams she had!
So many have sent in their thoughts and feelings and remembrances about Mary Sue that there was only room to print a part of them in this week’s issue of this publication. But all agreed on one point: We have lost an icon. Rest in peace, dear friend.
I spoke to Jan a couple of times during the week. During one of our conversation, it suddenly occurred to me, what an ironic coincidence, what ludicrous timing, that such a beloved and respected lady should be eulogized in an issue of the Tribune dedicated to April Fools’ Day. I expressed my concern to Jan. There was a moment of silence, then she broke out in laughter. She said, “You know what? Mary Sue must be laughing her cowboy boots off up there! It’s perfect!” Knowing Mary Sue’s sense of humor, she’s probably right. So let us all remember all the joy she brought us –whenever she wasn’t traveling- and celebrate this great little lady’s life.
Mary Sue has been on my mind all the time since last Saturday. And as I went about my daily routine, looking around me, I became more aware of those little things that she and I used to laugh about on our all-too-rare outings. As I was driving on the Libramiento, on the way to the airport to pick up my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, (who had finally managed to get away from the 30 below weather of the Great White North) I marveled at the brightness of the colors that surrounded me, and then I saw the palm trees. I had never really noticed them before. There are nine of them, Royal Palms all, planted in a row, along the side of the road just east of the corner of Francisco Villa Blvd… directly beneath the telephone and power lines! Hallooo! I figure they’ve got another year or so before they uproot the telephone posts, wires and all. Mary Sue would have burst into that infectious laughter of hers…
I also noticed the cruise ships anchored in the port, the immense Oosterdam, right next to the Carnival Pride, the former twice the size of the latter. What amazing technology enables these floating cities to …float!
Back to more earthly matters, I promised you a photo of the street on which the Tribune’s new facilities are located, so here it is. The end of civilization as we know it. The very foot of the Sierra Madre… It’s the end of the road, friends, can’t go much further, other than up. Gee, sounds like an epitaph…
Inevitably, spring did arrive, on Wednesday, March 21st. There were floats and pick-up trucks filled with costumed children and brightly-colored balloons throughout the city, and in the evening, beneath the nearly-new moon shining its thin Cheshire cat grin down upon the big fiesta on the beach at Cuates y Cuetes, the Jazz Fest. It attracted a huge crowd this year, and everyone had a fabulous time, listening to the various bands and watching the dancers in ancient Aztec dress performing their traditional ceremony to welcome this season of renaissance.
Celebrate life, my friends. It is all too short for us to risk missing a moment.
I wish you all good health, and do share it, and your good fortune, with the less fortunate around us. You will feel so great! Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
March 18, 2007
So they tell me that this issue of the Tribune will be read by all the travel agents and wholesalers from around the world who will be in attendance at Mexico’s biggest Tourism Trade Fair held - each year in Acapulco. I understand it’s quite the event. They asked me to go, a few years back, when our sales director couldn’t make it for some reason. I refused. I confess to being really biased. I love Vallarta and I’m not particularly fond of that town.
But I digress… Did you notice that this page is no longer called "Opinion" in the printed version of the Tribune? I’m glad someone finally realized that all I’ve been writing about here for the last nine years and some …has been my life.
But I digress… Did you notice that this page is no longer called "Opinion" in the printed version of the Tribune? I’m glad someone finally realized that all I’ve been writing about here for the last nine years and some …has been my life.
Sure, I express my opinion of things, but when one reads "Opinion", one usually thinks of something wise, written by a wizened older gentleman –or lady- like a political analyst or the like. As I am none of that, I’m glad to have been demoted, so to speak.
Our webmaster forwarded an email to me, sent by one of our readers –too late to be inserted among the letters to the editor published in the Readers’ Pages. I guess she did that because the author was condemning me for my audacity in criticizing the buses in our town considering my confession that I had never ridden on one (until I went out to the Botanical Gardens’ big to-do).
Our webmaster forwarded an email to me, sent by one of our readers –too late to be inserted among the letters to the editor published in the Readers’ Pages. I guess she did that because the author was condemning me for my audacity in criticizing the buses in our town considering my confession that I had never ridden on one (until I went out to the Botanical Gardens’ big to-do).
I don’t get it. Never have I criticized anything other than what I see or hear, i.e.: their "contribution" to the noise pollution in the downtown area of town, the shmutz that comes out of their tailpipes, "contributing" to the air pollution all around the bay, and the crazy Indianapolis-style races they sometimes hold among and against each other. I believe -and maintain- that I can do that without actually riding on them. So there.
This past week has been very exciting in my sometimes very routine-like life in paradise. I had friends and relative in town, plus I went to all sorts of movies, restaurants, and a show!
Once I had handed in my column for last week’s issue, I went down to ViteA to meet my relatives. That was Wednesday. It always gives me great pleasure to see how folks who have never eaten at a particular restaurant enjoy their meals. And at ViteA, they always do.
The next evening, when some of them had already left to return to the apparently never-ending rains of Vancouver, my friend and I decided that we would go to Daiquiri Dick’s for dinner before driving out to the Cinepolis theater complex to see "The Departed" before it departed.
Dinner was, well, superb …like it always is at DD’s. As we didn’t want to be late for the movie, we figured we’d have something for dessert once we’d bought our movie tickets at the theater. I had told her about the crêpes they sell there, so we had them on our mind all the way out there. But it was not to be. They were all out of the various crêpe fillings… So we went to the cake window. All the cakes in the showcase were facing the wall, instead of the customers. So I asked one of them why they didn’t turn them around so that we, the buying public, may see what was inside them. (They all looked delicious, but they weren’t identified…) At first, she ignored me. When I repeated my question, and she realized that I was serious, she told me that it was too difficult to remove a slice when the cake was turned "outwards", and it was too much trouble to turn the tray every time someone wanted a slice. OK. That settled that.
The movie deserves its Oscars.
The movie deserves its Oscars.
Friday, I had promised to take my remaining relatives (those who were still in PV) to the Botanical Gardens. They were very impressed by Arden’s article and all the photos… So back we went – by car this time. They loved the Calzones they ordered for lunch, and all the beauty that surrounded us no matter which direction we took on those expansive grounds. A great day, followed by a great evening. We had scheduled dinner at Mike’s Hacienda Alemana Frankfurt, then to the Ciné Bahía. Now even though I’ve enjoyed Mike and Irma’s friendship for years, the atmosphere and setting in their restaurant, the Wiener schnitzel, the breast of duck … and the spaetzle, I had never noticed the Chocolate Fondue on their list of desserts. I don’t know if it’s a new item on the menu, but oh, boy! Were we ever happy campers by the time we reached the theater!
I haven’t seen "The Last King of Scotland", but if Forrest Whittaker hadn’t won his Oscar for it, I’m sure that Will Smith would have, for his performance in "Pursuit of Happyness". And that child of his! Wow.
Saturday turned out to be yet another highlight. I had promised myself to accomplish one more "first" in my life in paradise, so I actually got up early (a near impossible feat for this night owl), and went to wander through the huge market (also called tianguis, by the way) alongside the Libramiento. What fun! From furniture to food, cars to clothes, pirated CDs to pirated DVDs, brooms to shoes, you name it, you can find it at the tianguis on Saturday mornings.
The evening was reserved for dinner and a show, the former at Santa Barbara’s upstairs restaurant (good food at a great price) and the latter downstairs, at the Theater. It was Sol’s long-awaited interactive one-man show, Siempre Sol. What can I say? The man is incredible. If you want to take a trip through Sol’s entire professional career, spanning close to 40 years of famous songs from the world of Broadway musicals, don’t miss this show. An hour and a half of hits, performed by the man who replaced the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. and Anthony Newley (?) on some of the world’s most famous stages. Double wow!
And don’t forget last week’s Gran Ballet of Saint Petersburg, whose show at the Coastal University Center’s Auditorium sold out so fast that they had to schedule a second late show, just to satisfy the demand… Some people think that Puerto Vallarta is just another little Mexican beach resort with great landscapes, great weather, great hotels, great galleries and great food… Ha! Silly folks. They should only know what fun can be had here, if one has the time…
And how are you doing with the change in time in the rest of the continent? I hope no one has gotten into trouble because of it. Do you realize that this Wednesday marks the vernal (spring) equinox? We can already feel a difference in the nighttime air, not quite so cool and pleasant any more…I guess I’ve run out of space again, so until next week, which will probably be this paper’s April Fools issue, I wish you all a wonderful time, lots of lovin’ and don’t forget to share your good fortune with the less fortunate. Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com
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