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March 16, 2003.
Many folks, foreigners
all, who have lived here for a number of years have expressed their feelings that
the only thing they miss in Vallarta is the choice of entertainment they were
used to "back home". They may be right, but I've found another side
to this. I've found that what we do have here (as far as live entertainment goes)
has often introduced me to subjects that I knew nothing or nearly nothing about
prior to moving down here. I'm referring to the musical presentations I have witnessed
over the last few years. Yes, of course I had heard of Gershwin, and seen a few
Broadway hits, and I knew of Cole Porter, but nowhere near as much as I do today! We
hear songs on the radio, and we think "Isn't that beautiful?" but we
may not know who wrote them. At least I often didn't. Maybe because I didn't grow
up in a an English-speaking household. In any case, the evening I spent at Santa
Barbara's last week, listening to the lyrics written by Cole Porter, interpreted
so beautifully by my own talented friends here in town, was nothing short of delightful.
No wonder they sold out every performance! I understand that they're thinking
of bringing it back, maybe as a matinee performance, after the upcoming run of
"The Odd Couple". If they do, and if you haven't had the pleasure of
seeing the show yet, all I can say is: Don't miss it if it comes back! I'm sure
that you will love it, probably as much as I did. I guess
what I wanted to say is that when I was living up north, although I did attend
a number of live theater performances each season, there were none that I recall
that offered an entire evening of music written by one particular composer. Here
in our own little port of Vallarta, the Spotlight Players have already put on
a few of those over the years. And each time proved to be a most enlightening,
entertaining and educational experience, at least for me. Furthermore, we certainly
can't complain about the scarcity of movies playing in town. Every week has had
interesting films to choose from lately, and the schedule at L'Opera just keeps
on getting better as time goes by. Before I forget, I
want to thank all of you who have made such complimentary comments about the photo
on the front cover of last week's issue of the Tribune. Sometimes we're lucky.
We just happen to be at the right place at the right time with the right light
…and a camera! Doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it's certainly
nice. Again, thank you. Sunday, March 8th was International
Women's Day. I guess the Tribune missed out on that one in last week's issue,
but I figure that like most things, it's better to deal with something late rather
than never, so I've convinced the powers-that-be that we should publish at least
one article on the subject. On the other hand, as our
regular readers know, the Tribune (as opposed to our mother publication, the Tribuna
de la Bahía) should be very proud of its accomplishments in that department,
talking about the ratio of women to men in its employ… If my calculations
are right and if we consider the accounting department, sales, graphics, editorial,
secretaries, etc., we have about 14 ladies and no male specimens. The only representatives
of the so-called "stronger sex" we see are the handsome young men who
work in the print shop. So I guess that this could be construed as the Tribune's
homage to women, don't you think? Among the gifted ladies
with which I am lucky enough to work is Silvia Alvarez. In a recent issue of the
Tribuna de la Bahía, Silvia wrote a two-page special entitled "Gay
Entertainment Spots in Vallarta". It was one of the most objective, interesting,
fact-filled, well-written and well-researched pieces I've read in a long time
on that most controversial of topics. There are people and organizations in this
town that try to blame all the ills of the world on the gay community, turning
a blind eye to all the studies, the surveys …and the facts. A tip of the
hat and a huge bouquet to Silvia! A very old, very dear
friend of mine sent me one of those e-mails that makes you pause… it contained
a statement that read, "You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper
is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, and Germany doesn't want to go
to war." Hmmmm… To all of you who have been
wondering where you can get some honest-to-goodness peanut and chocolate ice cream,
rich and yummy, made right on the spot, I can honestly recommend that you drop
into that delightful ice cream shoppe, "Once Upon A Time…" One
girlfriend of mine complained to me that she couldn't find that flavor anywhere
and it happens to be her favorite. Well, lady, now you know where to go! And wait
till you try their guanabana sherbet! Don't be scared off by the name. The fruit
is incredibly ugly, but its flavor is just superb, especially in sherbet form. As
long as I'm recommending stuff, to all of you who still haven't purchased your
dehumidifying rods and who want to make sure that you don't find little mushrooms
and moss growing all over your stuff by the time you return in the fall, Norma
is back and she may be reached at 223-1389. (If she's not in, just leave a message.
She'll get back to you - in English.) Those rods are super. I know because I've
got one in each of my closets and now my belts and shoes and other leather stuff
aren't green anymore… Also, still for those of you
who live here all year or part thereof, don't forget to check out the discount
offers at www.ofertasvallarta.com . Besides all sorts of services offering discount
coupons to Vallartans, you'll be surprised -and pleased- at the top level restaurants
that also do so on that site. On the topic of restaurants,
the restaurant owners' association (Canirac) sent out a notice promoting an upcoming
seminar. It read: "Is my business making or losing money? Is your business
showing enough profit to enable you to continue growing? Are the prices of your
products or services adequate? Do you know what the main reasons are for your
business losing money, and how to correct them? Would you like to do a simple
and efficient test to find out the financial status of your business?" The
4-hour seminar costs $250. pesos for members and $300. for non-members. The notice
then goes on to ask, "If you think education is expensive… What is the
price of ignorance?" Now I wonder how many people will attend… Unfortunately,
the ones who should never do… And still on restaurants,
I want you all to know that the tamales at La Fonda's Festival last week (delicious!)
will be available all this week, so if you can, and if you're curious as to what
the hoopla is about with regard to this most traditional item of Mexican food,
do drop in and discover it for yourself. Something cute:
our friend Angeline was telling me that there's a little town not far from Vallarta
called San Patricio. Of course, its patron saint is Saint Patrick, so it celebrates
Saint Patrick's Day …except that one never knows exactly when the fiesta
takes place. As her friends found out, sometimes it's held on March 17th, sometimes
it's a week later. After all, this is Mexico, isn't it? And we've all heard about
"Mexican time", where mañana can mean any day in the future,
so her friends really shouldn't have been surprised at the fact that Saint Patrick's
Day could fall on any day the town chose, right? Isn't
it wonderful that they found little Elizabeth Smart? Just goes to show that miracles
do happen… I hope you all have or have had a great St-Patrick's Day by the
time you read this. To all our Jewish readers, I wish a most happy Purim, and
a warm, wonderful welcome to Spring in Vallarta to all of you! Hasta
luego. pvmomto3@hotmail.com Archives
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