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December 1, 2002.
This week is
a very special one in Puerto Vallarta. Immediately following Thanksgiving and
Hanukkah (the former happening later than usual and the latter earlier than usual),
we have the start of the Annual Arts Festival that had to be postponed due to
the unsolicited visit of Hurricane Kenna five weeks ago. The first day of this
month also coincides with the first day of the pilgrimages to the Virgin of Guadalupe,
Mexico's patron saint, the most highly fêted, most colorful holiday in this
country. The humpback whales have returned to the bay and tourists have been seen
crawling under that ugly thing they slung across the Malecon while the reconstruction
work was going on - just to watch those incredible creatures frolic before their
very eyes… And to top off the week, this coming weekend will witness the
arrival of 48 of the world's top-ranked golfers who will participate in the EMC2
World Golf Cup tournament scheduled to begin on the 10th. Along with them come
all the media folk who will be broadcasting this major event around the world
- live - to over 140 countries around the world. And how is
the town gearing up for all this excitement? Well, as appears to be the norm here,
everything is coming down to the final crunch. As of this writing, nothing was
ready, but then miracles are known to happen, aren't they? Especially at this
holy time of the year… This week also marks an anniversary
of sorts for me. It has been exactly five years now since I started working with
the Tribune, and what an interesting time it's been! I, who had never even written
a letter to the editor for the first 50 years of my life, found myself immersed
in and mesmerized by this weird world they call "journalism". I admit
that this is neither the N.Y. Times nor the Montreal Gazette, but the challenges
are even greater at times. Here, the readers are a very specific segment of the
population: both residents and tourists. The residents want to know what's new
and the tourists are looking to find out about everything the residents already
know and don't want to see reprinted… And then there's
the matter of language! Most of our information and publicity is delivered to
us in Spanish. I spend most of my time translating it and checking it to ensure
that the end result is in real English. As articles are usually written on the
day of the event they covered, we also have to modify texts to suit a weekly publication.
It is very frustrating to us - as it is to our readers - to receive information
that will no longer be valid by the time we go to press. We are constantly trying
to advise those folks of our need for advance notice, but this seems to be a concept
which is difficult to grasp for some... I promise you, dear readers, we will not
give up! During these years, I've come to realize the
incredible power of the written word. We have awakened many out of their state
of tequila-induced lethargy. Our commentaries have actually helped better some
things in this town. Organizers have had better attendance at their events, otherwise
unknown establishments have developed a faithful clientele, authorities have turned
their attention to situations that they would rather have ignored, and best of
all, new friendships were born. There are very valid
reasons why I do this: As I have often written, I love Puerto Vallarta and I love
its people. I want to see it and them grow and thrive. And the Tribune "peons"
- all my hands-on colleagues - are probably the most pleasant, friendly and mutually-cooperative
and respectful group I have ever seen, anywhere! In addition, we all have a common
goal. I think that's what called "unity", something that is still sadly
lacking in local governmental and private organizations. Okay, that's enough retrospective.
I just want to thank you all for your support and your comments (even when they're
negative ones!) And I promise to do my best to improve as time goes by - like
old wine. Does this read like an Academy Award acceptance speech or what? I
received an e-mail in my business mailbox from the local Chamber of Commerce asking
its registered members to donate funds to help City Hall with the reconstruction
work. Now that was really weird to say the least. After all, every level of the
Mexican government has promised to send funds for that purpose. Even Spain was
supposed to send some $300,000.-$500,000. dollars. What happened? And why are
private businesses expected to contribute - again? Just curious. What
really got me peeved this past week? My answer should come as no surprise to all
our local readers who love Vallarta as I do. It is -again- the propaganda broadcast
by CNN around the world. This time it is not the hurricane that "absolutely
devastated Vallarta", nor the "dengue epidemic that absolutely devastated
Vallarta". This time it is the matter of the hundreds of folk who got sick
on the cruise ships. Civil actions have begun against the cruise lines in the
U.S. Now we know that this is not a new occurrence by any stretch of the imagination.
I remember reading how one particular cruise line had to take one of its Alaska
cruise ships out of circulation to disinfect it because all the passengers on
board had gotten sick. That was about a year and a half ago if my memory serves
me right. Now the spokesperson for the Disney cruise line
goes on CNN to state categorically, "it is very common for passengers to
get sick when the ships have gone to the Mexican Riviera." Not only is that
an untruth, but the man was alluding to a ship that had just returned from its
CARIBBEAN cruise… And CNN just kept on broadcasting that same news clip over
and over and over. And no one from the national Department of Tourism seems to
be doing anything about it. I find that sad. Every once
in a while, I go back to the Tribune's archives just to see what happened in the
past… This time, I came across a small news item that dealt with the construction
alongside the Sheraton Hotel. It was called the Moranda and it was badly damaged
in the earthquake of '95. In an interview, the owner of the property stated that
that hotel as well as another he owned across the road from the Krystal would
both be up and running in no time at all. That was three years ago and absolutely
nothing has changed except that the latter is now posing a danger of crashing
down on the squatters who have taken shelter there… I
also noticed a mention dated exactly one year ago that the pvmirror.com site on
the internet was attracting over 250,000 hits per month. Now we've exceeded one
million in two weeks. That is good stuff! That's it for
now. We're in the midst of one of the most fascinating seasons in Vallarta so
you and your camera should get ready for all these exciting experiences, unique
to Puerto Vallarta! Don't forget to put on plenty of sunscreen during the day,
take care of each other, share your good fortune with the less fortunate …and
have a great time! Hasta Luego! pvmomto3@hotmail.com Archives
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