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SHE SAID…
June 15, 2003
 There
are many, many taco stands around town, some say too
many. Municipal authorities call them “semi-fijos”
(semi-stationary) and a large percentage of them aren’t
duly registered and therefore do not pay the taxes they
should, consequently restaurant owners complain that
they represent unfair competition. That may be so, but
truth be told, I have always enjoyed the fare at street
stands all over the world, everywhere I’ve been
lucky enough to have traveled. And I must have had a
very special angel watching over me and my traveling
companions all these years because we’ve never
gotten ill from the meals we’ve eaten at those
“dining establishments”.
Here in Vallarta, year-round residents
and even the “snow birds” who only come
down in the winter time to get away from the ice and
the snow and the hail up north all have their favorite
spots. Personally, I’ve developed a preference
for the burritos served up by the big white-haired fellow
and his soft-spoken wife who operate the stand at the
corner of Pino Juarez and Venustiano Carranza, next
to Lazaro Cardenas Park near the corner of Basilio Badillo
and Olas Altas. They have the most amazing, rich, delicious
“burras” filled with marlin or shrimp or
octopus or any combination thereof. The filling also
includes cheese and shredded lettuce, and it comes with
a cold pasta salad or one made with jicama. Yummm!
My original favorite taco stand is
Memo’s, the one at the corner of Basilio Badillo
and Aguacate. (I think that came about because of its
proximity to the Tribune offices.) Over the years, I
have recommended it to anyone and everyone who wanted
to sample “street food” and yet still be
assured of not arousing Moctezuma’s ire and therefore
not his “revenge” either. The other day,
my friend and I stopped in at Memo’s for a few
“quesadillas con carne asada” after leaving
the Tribune and were surprised to note the brand new
BARBED WIRE fence that someone had put up around the
empty lot located at that southwest corner. Yes, dear
readers, you read right. BARBED WIRE!
I always thought those things were
illegal in places that were not called Guantanamo, San
Quentin or Dannemora or something like that. We asked
Memo what it was all about. He and his wife explained
to us that the lady owner of the lot had put it up.
As the lot used to be for the “exclusive”
use of visitors to the CMQ Hospital and drugstore, I
figure the lady’s contract with them must have
expired and the barbed wire must have been her way of
ensuring that no one would park there ever again. To
what end? I couldn’t tell you. All I know is that
it is terribly dangerous, especially to children who
are wont to running without always looking first, and
anyone walking around there at night. And there are
lots of people at that corner all the time, not only
because of Memo’s wonderful tacos, but also because
it is a bus stop. That stuff can tear you to pieces,
folks, so watch out for it if you go by there!
 We
decided we’d go check out that new gallery that
everyone’s talking about, Gradiva. Well, even
though we’d been told that it was open every night
until 11 o’clock, and it was only nine, it wasn’t
open when we got there. (See photo.) Maybe next time.
We also visited another place recently
-one that was open when we got there- that we’d
heard a lot of good stuff about but never had a chance
to check out. It’s the one and only East Indian
restaurant in town, called Dasan’s, at 288 Lazaro
Cardenas. It’s called Dasan’s because it
belongs to Dasan, the amiable young Sri Lankan who greets
you with the most dazzling smile I’ve seen this
side of my TV screen. I’m not going to tell you
all about the place right here, but let me tell you
that if you like East Indian (or Sri Lankan) food and
“nan” bread as much as my friend and I do,
you’ll love this little (5-table) restaurant.
It’s open from 10 to 10 every day.
If you haven’t taken a ride
out to one of the little villages south of Vallarta
like Las Animas, Quimixto or Yelapa yet, I highly recommend
that you do so. Now that the rains have finally started,
the waterfalls at the latter two are a sight to behold!
I’ll tell you all about our latest little excursion
to Quimixto next time.
Did you enjoy our first rainfall
of the season on Monday, June 9th? I was ecstatic. I
just walked around my little terrace, feeling the warm
rain fall, smelling the rich earthy scents rising from
the ground, admiring the lightning -even though it was
quite scattered- and relishing the powerful thunderclaps
reverberating around the mountainsides. Coincidentally
or not, that storm happened exactly one year to the
day after last year’s first rainfall. Strange,
considering that tradition has it that the first rains
aren’t supposed to fall on Vallarta before June
24th. By Wednesday of last week, the mountains that
surround our little paradise had already changed. We
could see all the vibrant shades of green hidden under
the layers of dust that had accumulated over the last
few months. By the time you read this, I’m sure
that all the trees barren until now will be covered
with leaves already. They may even hide the damage done
by all those fires we had a couple of weeks ago…
You may want to read my friend Nacho’s “Musings”
in this issue. He expresses feelings that most of us
feel, but he does it better than anyone I know. In any
case, all of us who live here are grateful in the knowledge
that we’ll have a little less dust to clean off
our computer keyboards and furniture for the next five
months or so.
And talking of things wet or damp,
remember that if you haven’t gotten your de-humidifier
rods yet and you want some, you can always get a hold
of Norma at 223-1389. She’ll set you up so that
all the nice leather stuff in your cupboards won’t
grow green fuzz in the weeks to come.
I hope you all celebrated Father’s
Day with love and happiness and joy. The Summer Solstice
marking the “official” beginning of Summer
is this weekend, so welcome to Summer in Vallarta!
Hasta luego.
pvmomto3@hotmail.com
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