|
March 30, 2003.
It all started when I was working
as proof-reader at the Tribune, just a short time after
it began publication. I came into the office one day,
white with anger at an incident I had just witnessed.
My editor at the time calmed me down, asked me what
had happened and said, “Why don’t you write
about it?” And that’s where it all began.
“She” has been saying what’s on her
mind ever since then.
When Cynthia reminded me that this
issue would mark the Tribune’s 6th Anniversary,
I began to think about everything that’s happened
over these years ... well, maybe not quite everything.
As our editor said, much has changed. I thought about
the changes I experienced in my own personal life. I
saw my next door neighbor’s family grow from seven
to seventeen, including five grandchildren (not counting
this week’s most recent addition: a rooster that
has no idea what time of day it is.) I saw my teenage
mechanic get married and become a father. I watched
the town grow, slowly crawling up the mountainsides.
I read how its population grew from less than 100,000
to 250,000 or more. I saw a street where two cars used
to park somehow accommodate eleven today. I discovered
the joys of the Internet.
I also thought about all the things
that have not changed, the things that made me fall
in love with Puerto Vallarta over nine years ago and
that still cause me to smile every day and every night,
even after all this time. I’m referring to the
myriads of beautiful children playing and laughing in
the street in front of my house, the incredible colors
and the bird songs that greet me each morning, the flowers,
the mountains, the deep blue ocean, the sounds of the
roosters crowing in my (other) neighbors’ yards,
the man who comes by every afternoon selling his “Pan
y bolillos!” or the donkey braying in the vacant
lot nearby. And I have never grown tired of watching
the nightly fireworks launched by that beautiful, impressive
galleon, the “Marigalante”.
Another good thing that occurred
during these years was the decision my partner and I
took to start up the www.pvmirror.com
web site. I spoke to the folks whose articles I translate
for the Tribune to ask for their authorization to put
their work online, Jesus de Avila would take care of
all the rest. In the two years since its début,
pvmirror.com has expanded by leaps and bounds, hitting
the 1 Million hits mark right after the passage of Hurricane
Kenna. So far this year, it is averaging over 650,000
hits per month. Jesus and I are very proud of this -
with all due modesty.
I celebrated my very first New Year’s
day in Vallarta at a friend’s house in the Versalles
neighborhood (known as “colonias” in Mexico).
He had organized a brunch party for a few friends. There
were some cactus growing in his courtyard and I was
just starting my collection of different plants for
my home so I asked him for a cutting from his spiny
beauty, which he gave me most graciously …after
putting on some very heavy gloves. I planted it in a
wide shallow pot on my terrace. It never did anything,
then after a while its green color turned gray and it
looked as if it had died, petrified like the plants
in the Petrified Forest. And so it was throughout the
years - until this month. A couple of weeks ago, it
presented me with a whole bunch of babies. Go figure.
After nine years. Isn’t Mother Nature fantastic?
And talking about things fantastic,
many have discovered that Vallarta and the things that
happen here can often be described as surrealistic.
That may be so, but what I have found surrealistic lately
were CNN’s computer simulations, especially those
they used at the beginning of the war. Watching those
tanks skimming across the surface of the Iraqi desert
sands at full speed, raising little clouds of dust behind
them, made me think that I was watching a video game
of some sort. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m
not going to enter the debate pro or con, but I’m
a baby boomer (the oldest there is, born in January
of the year they started counting) and as such, I just
want peace, not war. I wish it and I pray that it comes
quickly, for all of us.
Nevertheless, and despite the war,
the universe continues to unfold as it should, Mother
Nature continues to fight the best she can against all
the damage we are inflicting upon her, and life goes
on. Thank goodness.
Mexico continues to celebrate Benito
Juarez’ birthday every spring (this would have
been his 197th) and the long holiday weekend of March
21st in Vallarta was proof of it. I don’t remember
the last time I saw such long lines in front of all
the fun establishments in town, both along the Malecon
and on the south side. By the time midnight rolled around
on Saturday night, my girlfriend and I had trouble driving
home from the delightful play we had just seen at L’Opera,
“Trouble in Paradise”. The lines of people
extended all the way into the roadways and traffic was
a mess. Everyone was having a great time and no one
seemed to care. I love to see that. That’s the
way Puerto Vallarta should always be.
By the way, summer’s coming fast and so is the
rainy season, so if you haven’t gotten your de-humidifying
rods yet, now would be a good time. You can reach Norma
at 223-1389. And while I’m pushing stuff here,
I should also share something else with our local readers.
One of you wrote in a little while back asking for information
regarding the availability of Tupperware in PV. Well,
it turns out that our own Betty Galleja at the Tribune
is an authorized distributor of those never-say-die
wonders so if you’re fed up with the 20-year-old
Tupperware containers you brought down with you (like
I did) you could call her and see all the new stuff
they’ve got going nowadays.
I was reading that letter to the
editor sent in by Mr. Richards and it reminded me of
when I first tried to find a copy of that super video.
What a joke. Wherever I went, the salesgirl would tell
me, “Lo siento. Se acabaron.” (I’m
sorry. We’re all sold out.) Why they don’t
call the distributor to get more is beyond me. In case
you folks are looking for one, and you get the same
response, just tell the young lady (or young man) to
call the distributor to get more. It seems to work …most
of the time. But not at Sam’s. That’s a
different story altogether. I’d better not get
into that as it would take another page for me to expound
on my feelings about their merchandising techniques
or should I say, lack thereof.
Tuesday is April Fool’s Day,
dear readers. Don’t let yourself be taken in like
you were on El Día de los Inocentes” (Mexico’s
equivalent in December). If you read some really weird
headlines in one of our local publications, take it
with a grain of salt, even though it may be true…
after all, this is a most surreal place where the strangest
things can happen at times.
Smile. Be happy. Take care
of each other and if I may suggest, pray for peace to
come quickly.
Hasta luego.
pvmomto3@hotmail.com Archives
by date |
Current
Weather Report
