She Said...

My friends and I completed our dining binge before they left, Barry wasn’t going to leave Vallarta without sampling Carmen’s famous Chile en Nogada at El Arrayan, followed by an Italian feast at Espresso, and concluding with a total pig-out at Hacienda Alemana Frankfurt’s buffet of German delights on Saturday. I don’t think I need to eat for the next month or so.

The readers of this column are a very interesting, mixed lot indeed. Among the locals, there are those who voted it as the number 2 item (with the «Letters from Readers» section voted No. 1) they read in the Tribune, in a survey conducted by the folks at Tribuna de la Bahía a while back, and then there are those who read it solely to find something to criticize.

There are folks in this town -they know who they are- who claim that their decision to move to Vallarta was taken as a consequence of getting «hooked» on my weekly blather.

There are those eagle-eyed readers who catch every mistake I make –and immediately point them out to me-, such as my screw-up of the punch line to my story about our new puppy last week, which obviously should have read «He’s a she!» instead of the opposite.

And then there are those who completely and totally misinterpret what I write. One such reader sent me an email this past week in which he asked, «Would you please stop your whining about vallarta (sic) and mexico (sic)? Face (sic) it, if they were at the same socioeconomic (sic) level as canaduh (sic), you wouldn’t be here.» Does this person know what «socioeconomic» level I belonged to in «canaduh»? Hasn’t he noticed that I’ve never «whined» about either Vallarta or Mexico? Oh, yes, I’ve bitched about Telmex’ policies, and Santander’s methods of granting unsolicited credit cards – among many others – but never about this town …or Mexico as a country. What kind of masochist does this person take me for? Why would I work so hard at acquiring a Mexican citizenship if I didn’t love this country and my life here?

Unlike a number of others who are fleeing from the consequences of some sort of illegal behavior in their country of origin, my record and the credit ratings I’ve established over the last 40-odd years are spotless. And now that I am one year older, and hopefully wiser, I’m proud of that.

Eight and a half years ago, our local activist-par-excellence, Maria Nicolasa Garcia Reynoso, tried to have me deported by accusing me of supporting the local Animal Protection Association (whose founders she also tried to have deported), not paying my taxes, not having a proper working visa, writing about the potholes in town, fomenting a revolution against Telefonos de Mexico, and insulting the entire nation by asking my readers to donate to the Feed the Children organization. Even though she took over the main square for over a week and staged a sit-in at the Immigration Bureau in her attempt, she failed. I was publicly exonerated as there was no truth to any of her allegations. She was a little luckier with her next crusade: the infamous Thomas White, accused of pedophilia, a crusade in which I backed her all the way.

Getting back to our new little puppy, she’s made herself completely at home as a full-fledged member of our menagerie, and the Rottweiler has adopted her as her own baby. Their interaction is a study in how the world really should be: full of love.

Unfortunately, real life is far from that. The Tribune received a letter from a lady, which arrived too late to insert in the appropriate section, but as it is of utmost importance to all animal lovers, I am inserting it here: «Dear Editor, Two dogs have died in one week as a result of eating something in the bushes in the vicinity of Victor’s Restaurant, in Marina Vallarta. The restaurant is located in front of Las Palmas condominiums. In both cases, it was a very painful death which indicates arsenic or something of that nature. Be very careful when walking your dog in that area. We are trying to find out who is doing this and will pass it along when we get an answer. As you may imagine, the dog’s owners are devastated.»

This is not the first time that such horror has taken place in the Marina. The same happened before, a few years ago. There is someone there who obviously hates dogs, so please, dear readers, do keep a close eye on your pooch when you’re out walking him or her, and please, no matter where you are, keep your pet on a leash at all times! My neighbor’s little Yorkie was attacked by a Rottweiler trained to guard, whose thoughtless owner let it out of its yard and into the street - without a leash.That's it for me for now. Remember that you can check out the entire paper online at www.vallartatribune.com Until next time, keep well and take care of each other! pvmom04@yahoo.com