She Said...

Sometimes, when we find out that we have to get a Christmas present for someone, and it’s someone who «has everything», and we’re running out of time, I have found that the best option is just to get a gift certificate at a store where we know they’ll find something they will enjoy.

Such was my dilemma last week, when I was invited to attend one of those very typically Mexican intercambio de regalos (a.k.a.: gift exchange after we’ve drawn someone’s name from a hat). After racking my brain as to what to get for the young man whose name I had drawn, and knowing that he loves movies, I went over to my friendly neighborhood Blockbuster with the intention of purchasing a gift certificate that would entitle him to take out a whole bunch of movies. But that was not to be. When I asked the fellow behind the counter for a gift certificate, he instantly answered, «We don’t have any.»

«What do you mean, you don’t have any?» I asked. «Are you telling me that if I give you money, you can’t give me a piece of paper saying that the bearer can rent movies up to that amount?»

«That’s right. They do that in the States, but we don’t. We don’t have gift certificates.»

(Did you notice that it doesn’t matter whether you speak the language perfectly or not, if you don’t look Mexican, you’re deemed to be American? Not North American mind you -which would include Canadians- but American from the U.S. Period.) I didn’t thank him. I didn’t wish him a Merry anything. I just walked out.

So there I was, back at square one. Between my friends and I, we finally thought of something he would appreciate, from Office Depot. All was well as all ended well, and everyone had a lovely Christmas Eve intercambio de regalos after a superfantabulous dinner at Boca Bento.

My children gifted me a massage by Betty. I can't recall the last time I had a massage as wonderful as this one. If you want to be truly pampered, I suggest you call Ali's Clinic & Spa (the ad is on this page) and ask for Betty to come to your house so that she can make you feel like a million bucks too!

Getting back to the topic of movies, I am amazed that between the three mega movie theater complexes we have in town, not one has figured out that Puerto Vallarta is a tourist town, and that those tourists and the foreign winter residents would like to go to a movie from time to time …which they can understand.

This is the first time in the more than thirteen years that I’ve lived here that I haven’t been able to take my friends to any of the movies playing in town because the «powers-that-be» at Cine Versalles, Cinemark and Cinepolis decided in their infinite wisdom not to show movies such as Beowolf, Enchanted, National Treasure, etc. in English with Spanish sub-titles - as they’ve always done before.

I can understand the logic behind showing children’s movies in Spanish. Of course. But the others? And especially now that there’s nothing much other than repeats on TV… And then they wonder why none of us «furrners» attend their movie theaters…

We received a letter from a reader who wants to know when will be the next performance by our internationally-famous Xiutla Folkloric Ballet. Funny man! We only found out about its 10th Anniversary performance the day after it occurred, when the municipal Department of Culture proudly sent us a review of the show …and pictures! As was to be expected, the audience at Los Arcos amphitheater that night was made up of the locals who listen to the radio, and the folks who happened to be passing by. Same thing goes for the events at the Cuale Cultural Center.

The Tribune finds out about those after the fact too. And that’s a real shame, ‘cause those are really good events, concerts and such, and we have no way of finding out about them in time to publish them for our readers to be informed. This has been going on for years, but what can we do? It’s the way it is, and who are we to think that we can change things? Oh, well.

I noticed that I wasn’t sent any news articles to translate for the last few issues of the Trib and now I understand why. The papers have been filled with items dealing with the number of accidents, the occupancy rates, and retrospectives dealing with our municipal government’s accomplishments ...or lack thereof.

In the Tribuna de la Bahía, our sister (daily) publication, they’re doing it two months at a time, starting with January and February 2007. Not a good thing, if one reads it carefully. Promises, promises, promises. I read an article a few weeks ago, whose title was «City Hall Concludes 19 out of 107 Projects». The text goes on to explain that out of 107 projects this administration promised to achieve during its first year in office, they only finished 19 «minor ones», representing a measly TWO PERCENT of the budget it had allocated to Public Works. Hmmmm…

My neighbors have a condo they rent out to tourists (one day, Hacienda will make sure they pay the taxes they owe on that income…). Anyways, a really nice couple arrived from Canada, hoping to spend a week in the sunny warmth of Puerto Vallarta. By the way, what happened to the warmth? I’ve been dressed as if I were up north these past few days… So once they had gone through Customs, they were accosted by some time share woman from a hotel in Nuevo Vallarta - who just wouldn’t let them go until they had promised to attend one of that establishment’s presentations. They said they just couldn’t get past her. That’s just not fair. It leaves such a bad taste with the tourists who fall for that scam. These folks were furious by the time they got to the condo. I told them they should report that woman to Adeprotur. If no one reports such behavior, it’s just going to continue, damaging this destination’s image everywhere. Adeprotur, the organism that regulates time share promoters in this town, is very good at enforcing its rules and regulations, but if it is not aware of abuses, it cannot act.

I watched a documentary where the climatologists were stating that the polar ice cap would probably disappear entirely by the year 2012. That is Not a good thing. And what will happen to the polar bears with no ice floes left? What we’ve done to our little blue planet does not bode well at all for the future. In the meantime, I sure hope the traditional, warm sunshine of Puerto Vallarta will have returned by the time you read this, folks.

Have you had the opportunity to walk along the Malecon and look at those amazing sand sculptures those gifted youngsters have created there? I will wait for some sunshine to go take some photos and, if they come out well, perhaps they'll choose one for next week's cover, what with Epiphany being nearly here, starring the Three Wise Men...

In the meantime, I wish you all a most Happy and Healthy New Year. Take care of yourselves and of each other. And do try to join us for Charity Bingo Night at the Santa Barbara Theater on Tuesday, January 8th, when we will be starting up again. It's fun, the prizes are super, everyone makes new friends, and all the proceeds go to the Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza children's shelter. And that's a good thing! Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com