July 27, 2009
Josh Freed, whose humorous articles we get to enjoy from time to time in the Tribune (thanks to his personal friendship with our editor) produced and starred in a one-hour TV special entitled «My Messy Life». It is funny and enlightening, tackling a subject I –for one- find fascinating: messiness. The program contains interviews with international VIPs, legislators, famous authors, as well as psychologists specializing in the matter.
Now my place is nowhere as messy as Mr. Freed’s, there are no piles of books and papers on the floor, but every other horizontal surface in my office, the living room and the dining room, is filled with mountains of magazines and newspaper clippings, dating back some 14 years.
Over that period of time, I have cut out –and kept- every article I considered «important to keep» or «potentially interesting to our readers», as well as every local English-language magazine and paper published in Vallarta …and in some other Mexican tourist destinations. I admit it openly: I have always been, and still am …a pack rat. And those items I just mentioned amount to a lot of stuff, believe me.
Anyway, I couldn’t tell you what came over me, maybe it was some unconscious fear that my life and my surroundings would turn into something similar to Freed’s «Messy Life», or maybe it was the hot, steamy, cloudy weather last weekend, but I decided to tackle at least one area of my mountain chain of papers, the one in my office. I managed to get through four foot-high piles, paper by paper. (I still have five or six more to do, in other parts of the house…) The reason for which I’m sharing all this with you is because, in my careful triage, I came across some clippings whose headlines might amuse any of you who live here and / or are familiar with local happenings. Most are cases of oft-read, repetitive, surreal déjà vu, or to be more exact, déjà lu. Here goes:
November, 1999:
- Vallarta’s 970 taxis to get more stands in exchange for taking training courses & wearing uniforms as of
- City Council to approve Urban Development Plan which would green light the Fluvial Vallarta development project, maintain current city limits, and preserve the mountain, among others.
January, 2000 – Former PV Mayor and Federal Deputy Fernando Gonzalez Corona officially leaves the world of politics.
April, 2000:
- USS Valley Forge visits
- Telmex to spend $111 Million pesos on 8,000 new lines around the bay
May, 2000 – Only 2.2% of car owners in Jalisco have car insurance, despite the fact that it has been compulsory for 3 months.
June, 2000:
- Illegal clear cutting in Cabo Corrientes devastating the region.
- Municipal police officers to learn English. Those who already speak it will go on to learn French.
April, 2001:
- PV and Bahia de Banderas municipalities’ hotel associations agree on joint promotion.
- Youngster arrested for graffiti.
- Five years after the site was purchased and 15 months after its «official» inauguration, the
July, 2003 – 4 out of 10 restaurants close within one year. – CANIRAC
August, 2003:
- Taxis must use meters, according to the law. – State Sec’y of Transport, Jalisco
- Bahia de Banderas municipality to seek international government funds to build sewage treatment plant.
- IMSS drowning in Corruption. – President of PV Hotel & Motel Association.
- Turnstiles installed in city buses.
September, 2003 – Turnstiles removed from city buses.
March, 2008:
- Bus fare raised to $5.50 pesos (was $3 pesos in 1998). In exchange, drivers commit themselves to dress appropriately, be polite with passengers and take drug tests every four months. They will receive fixed salaries, thus eliminating the need to race for passengers. The vehicles must be in impeccable condition mirrors placed so as to eliminate «blind spots», with special seating for handicapped, pregnant and older passengers, etc.
- Mandatory separation of solid waste material to begin
Another thing that I find a little surreal, though this time it’s not a Mexican thing, it’s an American one: First the US’ Food & Drug Administration folks assumed that the outbreaks of salmonella were caused by Mexican tomatoes. That assumption was proven to be wrong. Then they went after cilantro, forgetting that cilantro is used to help KILL the salmonella bacteria. Now they’re going after the avocadoes and the jalapeño chili peppers (of which they found ONE bad one in
And here’s another example of how Mexico is viewed by its northern neighbor: In an Associated Press article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times regarding the first weekend take of the new Batman movie (a record-breaking $158 Million in the U.S.), the reporter wrote, «Overseas, The Dark Knight raked in $40 Million (USD) in 20 countries where it began opening Wednesday, including Australia, Mexico and Brazil.» Think about it. If we’re deemed to be «overseas», it’s no wonder that no Canadian or US-based toll-free 800 numbers function in
In the meantime, as this year’s number of reported cases of dengue rises, the Health authorities have decided to fumigate taxis and buses in order to combat the dengue-carrying mosquitoes. In 2006, they used an insecticide that didn’t do what it was intended to do, so they had to resort to aerial fumigation. However… the stagnant water harboring zillions of those little insects in the pool of the abandoned condo construction site near my place just continues to thrive. It’s been two years now, and no one seems to care… Everyone in the neighborhood is complaining about the increase in flies and mosquitoes…
For my part, I’m a happy camper. For the first time -since the month I spent in the Amazon, over twenty years ago- I spray myself with repellent before going to bed, and then I can watch the amazing sound and light show Mother Nature has been presenting us with during her quasi nightly thunderstorms. Awesome!
I wish you all a fabulous week, keep cool …and well hydrated! And don’t forget your sun block! Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com My blog: www.shesaid-7.blogspot.com
posted by Anna Reisman @ 5:20 PM
1 Comments:
The red and green stop lights are still in place at the airport. The change in procedure is that your bags are x-rayed first. You still get to press the button after handing your declaration form to the agent following their emergence from the x-ray machines!
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