She Said...

Another gentleman by the name of Reuben Schneider also wrote to me, in reference to the statement I made in my last article (And the snails are back, too...and naked.) He wrote, «Later, you quote a professor who says: ‘...toads eat slugs...’ Look up slugs. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a frog on a potted plant in «el centro.» This morning I saw one in a garage in Fluvial. I haven’t yet seen or heard the little rain frogs, but they are probably still around.»
I thank you both, Steve and Mr. Schneider, for reading me, and for reassuring me that there are still little froggies around …and «civilization is not doomed!» As far as my mention of the «snails without their houses» goes, of course, it was for fun…

There are also others I would like to thank at this time. People like my dentist whose hands of gold I recommend to anyone who’s ever thought of having implants, or needs them. His name is Dr. Martin Guillen, and his office is located at 311 Basilio Badillo, tel.: 223-0505.

In case you’re wondering, wonder no more. This is indeed an unabashedly blatant promotion of services I’ve experienced within the last couple of weeks, and which I consider excellent.
The next recommendation is Luis. This young man is the hair stylist at Ali’s Beauty Salon & Spa. I finally decided to dye my hair, and have it «styled» - something I haven’t done in years. After reading that letter to the editor a couple of weeks ago –which, by the way, was written by a man!- I figured I would give them a try, for my hair. I walked away absolutely delighted, with my look and with the attention I received. Now I have to make an appointment with their amazing Reiki masseuse next.

I also had the pleasure of bumping into Toody at Ali’s Salon. In case you don’t know her, this is the lady who owns the Bohemio clothing stores, including the one at Plaza Neptuno. If you want something special, a one-of-a-kind item, beautifully hand painted and sewn, drop in to one of her shops.

The other establishment I would like to commend is the River Café. In addition to the excellence of its food and its service, I need to thank the staff publicly for finding my prescription glasses …and for keeping them until the customer (yours truly) called for them. Thank you so much!

And still on good food, that was quite a birthday party for our colleague, Heather Wilson, a.k.a. one of Vallarta’s many «cat ladies». Great food, fabulous atmosphere, everyone was there to celebrate – at Encuentros at 312 Lazaro Cardenas, in the Romantic Zone on the south side of town. It opens at six and happy hour (2 for 1) is from 8 to 10! Tel.: 222-0643.
Also, I tip my hat to Ulf and Bernhard, owners of Vitea, for maintaining their cool, and the superb level of quality –food & service- despite the onslaught of food and souvenir stands all around them… This is the result of our town’s authorities’ recent decision to «clear» the main section of the Malecon, and relocate the vendors (for the Nth time) to its extension. They’ve been promising those vendors a permanent relocation ever since the parking garages were built, and still, to date … nothing.

Sometimes, it seems as if it’s all déjà vu in this little paradise of ours, don’t you think? One of the recent headlines last week read, «Authorities Back Joint Promotion» (referring to Rivera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta). Hallooo... is this a new concept or what? This is something that has been fought for –and against- ever since I can recall. There was even an agreement signed a few years ago, but it only survived for one year before the petty politicking killed it. So now, as if it were a brand new idea, they’re saying that Puerto Vallarta and its neighboring community of Bahía de Banderas on the north coast of the bay, in the state of Nayarit, across the bridge over the Ameca River, would benefit more if they joined forces… Back then, the national airlines (Mexicana and Aeromexico) went on record saying that the regional promotion should be for a single tourist destination... (Gee, what a novel idea!) At that time, the head of the Hotel Association had acknowledged that it was «necessary to think of joining forces to gain more, because in the eyes of the world, we look like two children fighting over the same toy.»

A couple of days later, PV’s municipal Director of Tourism reported that Mexicana would differentiate between Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta on its flights. The name Vallarta would apply only for Jalisco (?) He added that it had been noted that visitors were upset when they realized that they had been sold on Nuevo Vallarta instead of Puerto Vallarta. He added that in such joint ventures, we should not omit «the right of the tourist to know exactly what each destination has to offer. That is where people are fooled by the way the publicity is handled.» No kidding! Travel agents in Europe, Canada and the U.S. have only one name for all the different communities along the coastline of the Bay of Banderas and it is ...you guessed it! Puerto Vallarta! That’s where the airport that serves the entire bay area is located, at least for now. So what happens? Folks who have been lured by the blurb in the brochures or on the web that tout the «typical Mexican town» with all its related attractions purchase their tickets, unaware that they may end up way out in Bucerías or Nuevo Vallarta.

Don’t get me wrong, the entire north coast in Nayarit is very beautiful, the hotels are lovely and the beaches are bigger and wider and whiter than ours, but it’s NOT Vallarta. Many agents don’t even know this part of the world and many others who do don’t want to lose the sale by giving out «insignificant details». (I had a young lady with a delightful toddler sitting next to me on the plane last year. She was told that her hotel, the Decameron, was 15 minutes from downtown Vallarta! Maybe if she took the rapid train through the tunnel under the bay…

Which reminds me of what happened a couple of years back when the municipal authorities went to Spain to promote Vallarta. They came back proudly waving a contract signed by one of the major wholesalers there. What they didn’t know was that although the plane did indeed land at our one and only international airport, the passengers were all whisked off to the Riu in Nayarit… Topic to be continued...

About foreign places, I wonder what Beijing is going to do if their experiment to reduce the level of pollution in their city fails. They’re going to close down all construction sites and prohibit all vehicular traffic for one day to see if they can bring the level down to World Health Organization standards. If they fail, as one British TV announcer stated, the endurance events will be cancelled and the Games will "choke". And you thought we had problems here, in our beloved PV?

I’m running out of space, dear readers. So go out there, enjoy yourselves, take care of each other and consider sharing some of your good fortune with the less fortunate.

I will leave you this week with another great quote from P. J. O'Rourke: "Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." Hasta luego. pvmom04@yahoo.com