She Said...

July 6, 2008

I really get a kick at this time of year with all the national celebrations... first the Canadians, then the Americans, and then the French. Every year, I wonder the same thing: how is it that so many countries celebrate their great day in the spring or summertime? Are there countries that celebrate their independence in the dead of winter? There must be, I just don’t know which ones they are. Every year, I pose the question, but no one has been kind enough to give me an answer. Perhaps I should just ask the Internet god, then I would only have to go through some 200 plus countries to find out…

As the Tribune goes to press on Thursday, and Independence Day falls on Friday this year, we won’t be able to give you a report of all the fun at the PV Beach Club, El Barracuda, or Steve’s until next week. If any of you have photos of any of the events, or even better, all of them - including the golf, just send them to our editor! And if you want to add your own comments, go for it!

Our sister publication, the Spanish-language Tribuna de la Bahía, has been running an ad recently, asking readers to send in whatever they have to report, which they consider of importance to others. Similar to when CNN started asking its viewers to send in their videos… Well, the response took a few days, and now the paper is publishing some of what has been coming in. Great stuff!

In case some of you thought that the foreign community was the only one to complain about the various «irregularities» occurring around town, let me tell you: It ain’t so!

Marco Martinez Moreno wrote in: «We all agree that what has been happening to Vallarta is a real pity: from the destruction of its charm with the new high-density developments to the overwhelming violence. How are we commoners responsible? In every way: they sold us a bag of goods and we bought it; we chose our leaders and did nothing, absolutely nothing to help the town that saw us grow up. Today, amidst a sea of laments about the insecurity that has overtaken the port, I ask myself, who will be able to help us? They quickly set up operations to combat the delinquency… But why close the barn door after the horse is gone? Does all this paraphernalia on the part of the authorities help in any way? It takes one hour to get from the airport to Nuevo Vallarta! And are we any safer? The patrols only intimidate, their results are null in comparison with the disaster they are causing among civilians…» And so on…

Congratulations, Señor Martinez! I just hope someone in City Hall reads you ‘cause what has been going on there has reached the point of ridicule, way beyond the definition of kafkaesque (characterized by surreal distortion). I don’t think that Franz Kafka would believe the stuff that makes the news in our little somehow-soiled paradise.

Let me give you an example: The head of inspectors at City Hall was «removed» from his job last Tuesday …but not from the municipal government. Accused of alleged corruption, he was moved to the department in charge of acquiring the ISO 9000 certification (!!!), within the Department of Urban Planning (also rife with accusations of corruption). The gentleman considers the move to be a promotion as he will now have even more responsibilities than before… As they say in español: incredible!

In the meantime, the youngsters who work so hard for the Health Department, in the heat of the day, going from house to house to make sure that the little glass in which you’re starting a new shoot -waiting for it to sprout roots- has some of that dengue mosquito-killing pellets in it, can’t do anything about the constantly expanding mosquito nurseries thriving in the swimming pools of abandoned properties…

The crickets are back in force, but even with the rain and thunderstorms we’ve had already, there hasn’t been much relief from the heat, other than knowing that 90oF here is better than 90oF in New York City any day! Nevertheless, the mountains are already green and clean and one day last week, we could even see from one end of the bay all the way to the other at Punta Mita. Beautiful. And the snails are back too. They’re very healthy this year, big and fat ...and naked. What do they do with the houses they usually carry around on their backs? Come to think of it, I never did get an answer from Prof. Cupul about that either… One worrisome aspect: I haven’t seen or heard a single frog this year.

Ten years ago, Professor Donella Meadows wrote: «Around 1990, herpetologists began noticing an alarming drop in frog and toad populations ... in just about every part of the world… Though they have thrived on earth for millions of years, frogs are especially vulnerable to environmental disruption… incredible environmental sensors. Their decline should be a canary-in-coal-mine sort of wake-up call.

Why are they declining? Habitat destruction is the most obvious cause. The U.S. has drained or filled half of its wetlands. Watery places that remain are likely to be polluted. Spraying for insects not only poisons frogs directly, it also wipes out their food supply… What does seem clear is that when we humans spray poisons and send waste out through pipes and bulldoze land around, we push into the homes and food supplies of other creatures… I could point out how scary that is, because what poisons other creatures can also poison us. I could point out how stupid that is, because those creatures are economically valuable. Frogs eat insects, toads eat slugs in my garden, amphibians feed fish and birds and mammals, they are the source of some remarkable chemicals, including painkillers and antibiotics. But what I mainly feel is how sad that is, the thought of not having these humble, damp, jumpy animals as companions in the world. Not having bullfrogs for my dog to scare up and send plopping into the pond. Not looking forward through the long New England winter to the sound of the peepers on the first warm night of spring.»

They say that when the frogs go, so goes mankind… Sure hope they’re wrong on that one! And please, if you hear frogs near your place, let me know. It’ll make me feel better.

Meanwhile, once again I have to make plans to leave this paradise for a few days, on a business matter that comes up regularly every year around this time. Once again, I did my plane ticket and price research on line. Being an optimistic (believe it or not…) I thought that I could get a cheaper ticket, considering I was reserving two months in advance – before fares go nuts! First, I found out the same as last year: tickets to Vancouver, B.C. were going for U.S.$ 450 ± while those to Montreal cost $700. Mind you, I’m not complaining, considering that it used to cost $1,000. or so. But still… For our readers who can’t visualize the map of North America in their mind, take my word for it when I tell you that the distance between PV and Vancouver is the same as PV to Montreal... The three cities form an equilateral triangle, except that it costs way less to get to B.C. Why is that? And why has there been no detectable movement in the matter of air fares anyways? All the Mexicana and Aeromexico flights coming down here are full and the hotels are three-quarters empty, if not worse. But then, we’ve all known about that phenomenon for a long time now. It happens every year at Christmas time too.

Until next time, I also wish you all a great week, and while you’re at it, why not treat yourself to something sinfully, deliciously French this weekend... on the occasion of Bastille Day? Viva Mexico! Vive La France! A la prochaine! pvmom04@yahoo.com

posted by Anna Reisman @ 6:07 PM