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Septemeber 15, 2002.
It's been a very unsettling week.
Even though it is often said that we who live here in
Puerto Vallarta live in "paradise", the events
that take place in the world around us, on the planet
we all share and for which we should care so deeply,
sometimes overshadow all the beauty that surrounds us.
The remembrance day of September
11th, the riots in my home town of Montreal caused by
pro-Palestinian students at Concordia University that
resulted in the cancellation of the speech scheduled
to be given by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, the 30th anniversary of the massacre of the
Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich
Olympic Games of 1972, all combine to remind me that
hatred still rears its ugly head wherever and whenever
it is given a chance to do so. I am a baby boomer, one
who grew up being taught that we should "Make love,
not war" so my view of world events today is a
very sobering -and sad- one.
It was a week of remembrance, sorrow,
hope, pride, and a host of emotions that are sometimes
just too hard to explain. Along with the rest of the
world, I hope we all took some time to reflect, remember
of course, and remind ourselves that although we often
find ourselves in tragic times, our world is also filled
with wonderful people, everyday heroes, and friends
that are there for us. And because of them, tomorrow
can always be a better day.
This week is one of festivities throughout
Mexico as it celebrates its independence. Let us enjoy
the celebrations, the parades and the fireworks and
do our own little bit to ensure that our love for each
other and the little blue planet we share -the only
one we have- survives and thrives despite any obstacles
it may find along the way.
On a lighter note, one of this town's
Spanish-language dailies' reporters wrote an article
where he advised a local politician that (translated
literally into English): "drivers are constantly
insulting the mothers of City Hall's civil servants.
There are potholes spreading throughout the city, but
some of them look like real lunar craters and when the
vehicles fall into those potholes, the first thing their
drivers do is to recall the mothers of the public servants
who do not repair the huge holes." Can you imagine
if something like that were published in a foreign-language
paper here? Puerto Vallarta's very own lady activist
would certainly have its editor deported…
And last week, a group representing
the "mini" buses that crisscross the town,
the ones who always have many passengers aboard, the
ones who have legitimate license plates, requested an
audience with the Mayor, but it never came to be. The
purpose of their request was to make a formal request
that City Hall forbid the 150 "blue and white"
and "green" buses without license plates (i.e.
permits) from circulating (racing?) throughout town
as they have done for many years.
There's also the never-ending story
of the convention center. I cannot keep up with the
number of times promises and commitments have been made
to resolve this matter since we moved to Puerto Vallarta
- eight years ago. At one point in time during the last
couple of weeks, the same daily newspaper carried conflicting
headlines one day after another. I don't mean that the
headlines conflicted with each other, but rather that
the statements made by important people did. One stated
that the center would "definitely" be built
in the Estuary area, the next day someone else would
"prove" that this could not be as it would
damage the ecosystem there and that the experts in ecology
had not been consulted, etc. etc. Then there was a call
for tenders to submit master plans for the development,
then all of a sudden, we read that one organization
won the bid, the blueprint is published in all the papers
but …the authorities claim they know nothing of
it. Curiouser and curiouser indeed.
About things curious, following the
big storm last Tuesday night, when the clouds finally
lifted on Wednesday at noon, and we were all able to
see how much silt had come down off the mountains into
our beautiful bay, I noticed that all the snails in
my garden had come out to enjoy themselves. These critters
are huge - obviously well fed! My question is: what
do they do with their houses when they come out naked
like that? Do they remember where they left them?
I happened across a web site that
was advertising special deals here in Vallarta during
this "low season", for example: the beautiful
5-star Fiesta Americana Hotel was promoting a 4-day,
5-night stay at its resort for 2 adults and 2 kids for
$395. USD. Sound good to me. The problem is -as always-
the airfares. While successful airlines such as Alaska
and Virgin and Ryanair are offering fabulous rates on
their routes, this destination's main feeders are flying
way below their hoped-for occupancy rates and still
charging an arm and a leg. As a matter of fact, I had
to go to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo on business and found out
that the cheapest available rate was $500. USD for a
return ticket !!! That is nothing short of ludicrous,
considering that it is equal to the price charged by
Alaska to fly nearly ten times farther.
Okay, that's enough blather for this
week. Get out there, dear readers, enjoy the multitude
of festivities scheduled to celebrate Mexico's "Fiestas
de la Patria", eat, drink, sing and dance! As Laura
Esquivel, the author of "Like Water For Chocolate"
said, "Celebrate life!" I wish you all a week
filled with joy and passion.
Hasta luego!
anna@pvmirror.com
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