She Said...

August 26, 2007

There are those among us who believe in angels, in that they are pure spirits, free of form, and immortal by nature. They are often mentioned in the Bible, always protecting, advising, acting as messengers of the great Supreme Being.

Puerto Vallarta has many angels, of the less ethereal type of course, painted on canvas, or made of bronze or stone, not to mention all the wooden cherubs we find in all the handicraft markets. (Some of them have really scary faces!) There are angels holding up the famous crown of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and then there was the stone angel that used to stand near the arches at Los Arcos amphitheater, across the street from the main square. It looked more like a warrior to tell the truth, but an angel it was. Our friend Luis Martinez took a photo of it when it was still there.

And then came Hurricane Kenna and her powerful tail which she used to bring down the arches …and the angel. We never did find out what happened to it, I don't know if it was found by anyone or simply washed out to sea like so many furnishings from the shops and restaurants along the Malecon that did not believe the hurricane warnings broadcast for three days straight prior to Kenna's passage.

This past week, another angel appeared to replace the old one, a beautiful, full height figure with outstretched wings. I can't wait to see it, but for the time being, I will share with you the photo of it that appeared in the City's web site. Javier also took a photo of it which was published in the Tribuna de la Bahía. His caption read in part: "…its most important functions are to be the liaison between man and God, to protect human beings and watch for their salvation." I thought to myself, "Ojala that it may be so."

Unfortunately, this new protector was unable to save the people who perished in accidents on the Libramiento last week. You might recall that I shared my experience on that road recently, and mentioned how dangerous I found it to be, with all that loose gravel flying all over the place. "VADR" wrote in the Siempre Libres daily newspaper: "There are no road signs, no police patrol cars, and with the loose gravel sprinkled indiscriminately all along the road by the Public Works Department, it has become the most dangerous road in town… Three dead in two accidents within less than 24 hours… and all because of the bad decisions made by the municipal authorities to improve the traffic on this important thoroughfare."

Nor could it protect us from Dean, the category 5 hurricane that was reduced to a tropical depression by the time it came hovering over us on Wednesday evening. The rains it brought came down so hard and fast that one house came down, one person perished, and the rest of us just had to deal with the raging rivers where streets used to be …and the floods in our homes.

For the very first time in 13 years, I had my own little mud-filled river in the house. It rushed in as if it owned the place and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Now, as I write, I'm thinking about how we're going to clean up all this dried up mud… But the sun is trying to peek through and eventually, everything will return to normal. It always does; after all, this is paradise.

Although I've been attending the Charity Thursday Bingo Nights at Langostinos -to have fun and help the kids at the R.I.S.E. children's shelter- it gave me great pleasure to see that others are focusing their good deeds on the other end of the spectrum: the underprivileged senior citizens of this town. Ali Hernandez will be offering the services of her employees and herself one day per month to pamper the nice folks at the Asilo, and now the Zapopan Rotarians are bringing in the San Florian Children's Choir to raise funds for the construction of Puerto Vallarta's new Senior Citizen Day Care Center. Congratulations and kudos to all the philanthropists out there! You will surely be rewarded multifold for your kindness and generosity.

posted by Anna Reisman @ 5:19 PM