She Said...

Getting back to on international matters, I was reading about the devastation in Myanmar, with over 22,000 dead and some 40,000 missing due to the hurricane that hit that isolationist country, and the other tens of thousands needing water and shelter. Their «junta» government hesitated for days before finally allowing any foreign aid (i.e. foreigners) to enter the country. It reminds me of when Thailand would not allow the Israelis to get off the planes with which they had brought all sorts of medicine and stuff to help those people following the tsunami that devastated their country. What is wrong with those people? Why let politics get in the way of humanitarian help in times of desperate need? I just don’t understand.

Still on foreign countries, if you want to «understand» China a little better, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of the May issue of National Geographic. In honor of the upcoming Olympics, they’ve devoted the entire issue to this «giant» whose economy and subsequent power will probably soon take over the entire world.

The last time I was in that great country was exactly 19 years ago, just prior to the Tiananmen massacre. I felt it was the best time in their history, so much hope, so much positivity, and then it was all smitten, stopped dead in its tracks. And yet, even then, I got a glimpse of the power that lay dormant beneath all its beautiful mountains, deserts, and rice fields. It has come to pass. Check out that magazine. The statistics you’ll find in it will surely blow you away.

My colleague Keith May (who tells us all about the humpback whales during the winter) recently told us about a «new little jewel of a restaurant» that he and his friends had discovered, so I figured it was time to try it out. It’s a tiny place (seats a maximum of 10) called La Lorraine, located downtown at 140 Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, between the Malecon & Morelos (tel.: 222-9574). Keith said, «…the service and quality of the food are huge! I can definitely say that this was as good as any meal that I’ve had in ANY restaurant in Vallarta and better than most of the expensive places that we’ve dined in.»

Like Keith, I highly recommend that you visit La Lorraine, but I would also definitely recommend that you reserve ahead of time! The prices are very reasonable with most appetizers in the $7 range and entrées between $10 - $19. I ordered the steak au poivre and my girlfriend had the lamb special. Both were excellent. They’re also open for lunch, but hurry up as Laurent will be closing for the summer season at the end of the month.
Still on the topic of restaurants, I was kindly invited by an old, old friend of mine whom I hadn’t seen in months, to dine at Trio. What a delight that place is – always. You can never go wrong there.

And what’s the story with the Hooters place next to Los Arcos Amphitheater? If they’re closed for good (which I think is the case), then why doesn’t someone at City Hall have them paint over their huge ugly sign that appears in all the photos that tourists take of the Arches? Maybe we should ask Stan’s «graffiti eradication» team to go to it… As far as I’m concerned, I have always felt that that sign was not only an eyesore, but shameful for a tourist town such as ours. With the new signage regulations in effect for the last four years or so, it would never have been permitted.

Enough crabbing. I’m going to get ready for a lovely Mother’s Day weekend with my family. I just wish they were all here, but, as Mick Jagger would say, we «can’t always get what we waa-aant…»

On Thursday, May 1st, my friend Brenda Martin finally did get what she has wanted for so long, two years and three months to be exact: Thanks to the efforts of her childhood friend Debra Tieleman, who spearheaded the campaign to get her case more public attention, and to the Mexican ambassador to Canada, Emilio Goicoechea Luna, who risked his position to take up her cause, she was whisked out of that squalid, godforsaken prison in Guadalajara, and transferred to the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario, in what has been described as «the fastest prisoner transfer in Canadian history». Finally. I guess the highest echelons of both governments had enough of all the media hype –and ensuing shame- that her situation had caused them lately. We should all have friends like Debra.

Until next time, I wish you a lovely week. Take care of yourselves and of each other. Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com