Mom and Dad's visit

Mom and Dad come to visit!
Mom and Dad booked a cruise on the Holland America ship the Oosterdam. They came to Puerto Vallarta on April 20. Ahead of time, we had scoped out where the tenders docked and where the passengers came out and picked a meeting spot. We arrived a little early for our 10 o’clock meeting time and there were Mom and Dad, also early. Since the dock here can only take one large cruise ship at a time, the Oosterdam had anchored in the bay and the passengers were shuttled to the dock on the tender boats. There had been no wait to board the tenders. Sometimes you wait and wait while the ship’s tours go first but not this time.
First we headed into town where Mom and I went to Curves. After I enrolled in the Baylor Curves study and really enjoyed going to Curves Mom decided to join as well. Part of the membership is that you can visit any other Curves location and exercise there. Harold and Dad walked down by the beach and went to check on the Malecon construction.
After that, we brought Mom and Dad to see our house where we have been staying this winter. We gave them the grand tour of the house and neighborhood. Next we went to visit Luis so Dad could drop off the welding mask and gloves he brought for Luis’s welder.
For lunch we decided to try a place in the Marina. We have heard many good things about a restaurant in Ixtapa called El Coleguita but had never been there. They now have a location in the Marina. Mom and Dad split a shrimp plate, and Harold and I split one. Each person received shrimp broth, tequila shots as desired, a fried banana dessert and Kahlua and cream with their meal. The cook had nicely divided the orders so that each of us got a plate with vegetables, rice and half the shrimp. It was a nice touch that they serve the meals that way. Altogether, El Coleguita was as good as we heard.
After lunch we went to the Krystal to swim, relax and use the hot tubs. Too soon it was time for us to return Mom and Dad to the Marina. We had a very nice, fun and relaxing day. But most importantly, it was nice to see Mom and Dad!

Lucha Libre

There is a free biweekly magazine here called Bay Vallarta. It always has lots of information about new restaurants, events in town, music, etc. In the last edition, there was a contest. There was a Mexican wrestling match coming up. It is called Lucha Libre hear. The event was happening at the Demonio Blanco Arena in El Pitallal. The contest was to answer the question, “Who is Demonio Blanco and why is the Pitallal arena named after him?” I tried looking on Google but had no luck so I took a guess. My guess was that the Demonio Blanco was a Lucha Libre fighter and the Pitallal arena was named for him since he is from Pitallal. I was correct and won a free ticket to the match. Harold decided to enter, too, figuring they might not have given out all the prizes. He won, too.
On the day of the match, we picked up Luis, Melissa and Rudy. Monika decided to stay home and visit with her mom instead of going. In typical Mexican fashion the 6 o’clock start of the match was a little delayed. We waited outside with the other fans until ticket sales began, enjoying a beer from the local deposito while we hung around on the sidewalk. There was a vendor selling T-shirts, wrestling magazines and wrestling masks. Of course, the kids had to try them on and get one. We also bought one for our grandson Joshua. In Lucha Libre, all the fighters wear masks or paint their faces. Pretty soon the ticket window opened so we got the tickets and went inside to wait for the big event
The Demonio Blanco Arena is a fairly small place. We had our choice of downstairs ringside, or up in the balcony. The kids wanted to sit up in the balcony so we did. The even actually started around 7. First there was the introduction of the Demonio Blanco himself. He was there enjoying the festivities and had VIP seating.
This Lucha Libre even was sort of like farm league baseball. The first match was definitely beginners. The matches are pretty similar to WWF. The fighters knew all the moves, but they were still working on their timing. It was comical. The second match was tag team. Just like WWF, there was the good guys and the bad guys. Naturally the bad guys cheated while the refs were busy scolding the good guys for some minor infraction.
The third match was a woman’s tag team event. The crowd was getting more and more into the fights as the event went on. Could it be the guy coming around selling cold beer? The final event we watched was the more polished tag teams. The Chivas were the good guys and the crowd loved them. Their costumes were great, it must be really hot wrestling in a full faced goat mask. This match even featured bashing each other with folding chairs and fighting outside the ring. Too bad we couldn’t hang around lng enough for the final match which featured midgets.
We all had a really good time. The kids loved it even though it was less polished than the stuff on TV. If you ever have a chance to catch the Lucha Libre, go for it.
Be sure to look at our Webshots pictures of this cultural experience at http://community.webshots.com/album/328178253spLlEs

Tacos under the trees

One day we were in Bucerias at the beach with the dogs. We stopped by Casa Tranquila to say hi to Patricia and Joann. After visiting a little while we decided to go eat dinner. Harold asked them for a recommendation; Joann said we know a great place and we’ll show you where it is.
We went up one of the main dirt roads on the east side of the highway. Down one of the other dirt roads is a little place that is really more of a restaurant than a taco stand. Inside the gate of what looks like someone’s yard is a very nice little garden restaurant. We each ordered a large type of taco called a “gringa” and an agua fresca. I think for the 4 of us the bill was under 150 pesos. The waiter was so cute, too. He is learning English as he wants t go into the tourism industry. Joann has been helping him with his English. One day, he told her he wanted to learn how to take orders in English. First he asked, how do you say taco in English? Joann said taco. Then he asked, what about quesadilla? Joann said quesadilla. He managed to pick a few more words like that and they both got a big laugh out of it.
I don’t know the actual name of the place but Joann and Patricia call it Tacos Under the trees.

The food court
Yesterday we were hungry for a quick dinner. In the area on Francisco Villa Ave. where we buy chicken, there are several taco stands. We went to the Hamburguesas Gigantes stand. We each had a “chica” burger, she was out of “grande” size. The chica size, 20 pesos each, was pretty grande itself. It was actually a bacon burger with lettuce and tomato. While we waited for the burgers to be ready, we looked around the street. There were 2 or 3 taco stands, the hamburger place, the 2 chicken places across the street and another small restaurant all within a short block of each other. Around the corner there is a bakery. Bakeries are very common here, not like in Waco where almost all baked goods come from the grocery store. Harold bought some really good-looking chocolate croissants at the one on Fco. Villa. He ate one as soon as we got home and said it was more like chocolate bread, but said it was really good.
There were so many little eating places in that one area we were joking and calling it the food court. There are many taco stands, hamburger carts and small restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. You often don’t even notice them until you are walking right by.

Hot Springs revisited

After our first attempt at going to the hot springs, we really wanted to go try them out. We recruited our friends Paul and Maureen and Maureen’s mom, Hetty, to go with us. First we went to La Desembocada to eat lunch. We were all stuffed after that big, delicious meal. I wanted to show them where the river crossing was where you would begin the hike to the natural hot springs. I expected to show them a pretty and peaceful setting. Well, that didn’t happen! First we saw 20 ATVs (4-wheelers) cross the river, obviously a tour group from Dona Engracia. After the ATVs went by, a yellow Vallarta Adventures truck came across the river. Next was a group of about 20 horses, followed a few minutes later by a group of 20 – 30 hikers. When we thought we had seen every possible form of tour, a group of mountain bikers came up!
We all agreed that a hike up to the hot springs was in order for the next trip and headed out to Las Palmas. As I mentioned before, the road to the hot springs is about wide enough for one car in many spots, and is a bumpy dirt road. After riding a while on the dirt road, Paul commented that the only reason he believed there was anything down that road, much less a hot springs, was because Harold said it was there.
We paid our 30 pesos each for admission, set up “camp” and tried out the water. After sticking a toe in the hottest spring, we were sorry we didn’t bring some potatoes to boil! That spring is super hot! We did see 2 people immerse themselves in the water. They both looked like langostinos (lobsters) when they came out. Harold put his feet in the hottest water about 3 minutes and it looked like he had on red socks!
The other pools are progressively cooler. We enjoyed the next-hottest pool and a couple of the cooler ones. The water has a slight sulfur smell and seems to be very soft. It felt good to lounge in the pools.
After we spent the afternoon relaxing, we dropped our friends off in Nuevo Vallarta and headed home. You wouldn’t think all that relaxing could wear you out, but we both laid down and took a nap when we got home.

So typically Mexican!

I told Harold today that we need to take a series of pictures of things that are so typically Mexican that you just don’t see in Hewitt, Texas. Soon we will have pictures and descriptions of things that now seem normal but have caught our interest. Stay tuned!

El Asadero, and relaxing

The past week we have been taking it pretty easy. We went to Bucerias one afternoon. The plan was to stop by the house for a minute to see if Glenn and Liana were there. They were not at home, so we told their teenaged son Brandon we would come back later. Next we were going to Casa Tranquila to visit Patricia and Joann then go to the beach. We ended up sitting on the nice, shady, cool patio at Casa T and not ever getting to the beach. After leaving Casa T, we went by the house again but Glenn and Liana were not home then either.
On the way back home, we stopped at Gigante (a grocery store) to pick up a few things. Well, who did we run into at Gigante but Glenn and Liana! We are often amazed at what a small town PV can be.
We met a couple, Gil and Maria while volunteering at the RISE shelter. They are a retired couple from Calgary and have been spending the winter in PV. They began volunteering at RISE after some people were walking through their neighborhood on the way to visit the shelter but had gotten lost. Maria offered to help them find the place and they have been volunteering there almost daily since.
Since meeting Gil and Maria we have run into them twice while walking in town. Neither time was particularly close to either our house or theirs.

Sunday afternoon Harold and I were looking for a place to eat lunch. We had several places in mind wanting to go to more to an out-of-the-way place than somewhere downtown. We’ve seen some places in El Pitallal that looked interesting.
The one we picked, El Asadero, is in a large brick pavilion. It is on what has been referred to as the back road to Pitallal. It is surrounded by farm fields and is on a dusty road. (Well, they are all dusty right now!) There is the main pavilion, another area towards the back, and a playground area with more tables for families wanting to eat while the kids play.
We got there around noon and it wasn’t very busy yet. There was a menu board by the door, but we didn’t get a menu at our table. The waiter asked if we wanted the mixed plate. (70 pesos each ) We decided that sounded good so we each ordered a limonada and the mixed plate. First we got beef tacos, followed by chips and salsa. Next we got a bowl of beans and a plate with radishes, onions and a little guacamole. The main plate featured carne asada, grilled chicken, chorizo, pork and lamb. Of course there were plenty of hot, fresh corn tortillas. We could barely finish the plate of food we got but it appeared to be all-you-can-eat.
El Asadero doesn’t have a lot of ambience. It seems to be a place for local working folks to bring their families for a nice Sunday lunch. It is very clean and the service was good. At least one of the waiters speaks English.
Altogether we had a great meal for a total of about $15 US!

The fire department

Harold has been working with the PV fire department arranging a safety inspection for the kids shelter. After the kids field trip to the fire station, one of the fire fighters was asked to go to the shelter to make an inspection. His report didn’t seem to make a lot of sense as to what was needed. Harold made several visits to the station to talk to Braulio, the chief, to talk about fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, etc. Harold and Chris thought the inspection needed more detail. Harold asked Braulio to make an inspection himself. So at 7 o’clock on a Friday evening, he went over to look at the shelter. The next morning, we had a comprehensive list of requirements.
The fire department is very different than one in the US or Canada. The chief is almost always at the station and goes on most of the fire and rescue calls. He’s a very hands-on guy. The department covers a huge area from the very far south near Boca de Tomlatan all the way to Las Palmas. It is lucky most houses here are built of concrete which keeps fire damage to a minimum.
Next week a volunteer is bringing smoke detectors from the US were they are easier to find and much less expensive. Harold, Chris and Braulio are going to go buy fire extinguishers, too.

board members and shopping

Meeting board members
Saturday evening there was a benefit concert at Cuates y Cuetes for a local musician who needs back surgery. We stopped by there for a few minutes before meeting up with Dave. The three of us went next door to Langostino’s to meet Marsha (MysteryMs), Bill (Wills) and Bill’s wife Pat . We just stayed for a drink as we had planned to go to a photo exhibition by another board member, Astrid (todopoderosa). Her show was at Vacas Grill, which is one of our favorite places for a burger. We ate dinner then looked at the photos. Astrid is a whale-watching guide and has taken some fabulous pictures. We met her and her boyfriend Azael (nickname Acey). He is also a tour guide but he does canopy tours.

Lamp shopping
Our friend Deb (pvdeb) lives in Dallas. She has always wanted a pair of Talavera lamps for her living room. She had priced them, but never bought them because she had no way to carry them home. Shipping would cost almost as much as the lamps. She asked us to shop for lamps and bring them back to Texas with us. We had been to the World of Tiles store looking at lamps last month. A very nice sales clerk told us that we could order the lamps with the color scheme we wanted and they would be ready in 3 days. I emailed Deb photos and we discussed colors, designs, etc. Since Marsha had the money for the lamps, we went this week to order them. Well, lo and behold, you can get lamps made to order, but it takes over a month to get them. And, they can’t do dark red, which is a color Deb wanted. So we were back to square one. We found a pair of matching lamps as close to what Deb wanted as possible. They are now purchased, wrapped and ready to go to Texas.

taking the kids to the fire station, and concerts

Visiting the bomberos (firemen)
Harold arranged for the kids at the RISE shelter to visit the fire station. They were out of school for Easter vacation and the madres were happy to have an activity for the kids. There were 5 cars available to transport kids, volunteers and madres. The kids and madres enjoyed their tour of the station, climbing in the ambulance and sitting on the fire truck. The firemen gave the kids a lesson on fire safety. Each kid also got a cardboard cut-out fire truck to put together. At the end of the presentation the firemen planned on making popcorn for the kids. They were somewhat embarrassed when the microwave would not work. One of the guys went to a nearby store, popped the corn and brought it back for the kids. The firemen seemed to enjoy having the kids visit. As a result of the visit, the fire department scheduled a visit to RISE for a fire inspection.
After the fire station we took the kids to Burger King. Just like kids everywhere, they got kids meals with toys and wanted to ignore their food in favor of plying in the play area. I did get quite a look from the cashier when I ordered twenty kids meals. He rang it up as one kids meal, I repeated 20 kids meals. He had a questioning look on his face, I just told him I have a big family.

The concerts
We have never lived in a resort area before so we aren’t used to the number and variety of things going on. We saw an ad for a big concert on the beach so we went to check it out. I think we were 30 years or so older than their target audience. Even on a Friday afternoon there were lots of people on the beach. On stage when we arrived was a bikini contest. Next was a Mexican rap group. We saw a police officer in riot gear on the beach. When we were there everything was pretty calm. Apparently the next afternoon or evening there was a big fight that took many police officers and firemen to control it.
That same day, we went to a concert at the Los Arcos amphitheater on the Malecon. It was sponsored by WOW Records and featured artists from Vallarta. The concert was form 6 until midnight. We heard quite a few very good local groups. It was crowded but we found good seats. They were selling CDs from the participating bands. A percentage of the sales went to a scholarship fund. We bought one CD.

The hot springs

Hot Springs

We have been out to La Desembocada and Las Palmas several times. People mentioned hot springs in the area but we hadn’t gone looking for them. Last time we saw a sign just outside of Las Palmas. Today we decided to go see where it was.
There is a little metal sign alongside the highway. It looks old and rusty and beat up. By the looks of the sign you can’t tell whether the place is still there or if the sign is just old and abandoned. We drove out a dirt road about 2 miles following the arrows and signs along the way. We weren’t sure what exactly we were looking for. But lo and behold, there it was! The fee for admission to the hot springs is 30 pesos per person. Because I forgot to bring my swimsuit, we asked if we could just come in and look. The attendant said that was fine.
Don’t expect anything fancy here. The pools flow from hotter to cooler and there are about 6 or 7 pools. They are concrete pools which we were told are emptied and cleaned twice a week. The water flows up through a small spring in the hottest pool and it is very hot and somewhat sulfur smelling. There are barbecue grills for people to use, seating areas and a small snack bar. We didn’t check to see what they sold.
While looking around, we started talking to a Mexican family that was enjoying their afternoon at the hot springs. We met Salvador, Trini and Sylvestre who are brothers. Salvador and Trini both live in PV and work at the Canto del Sol hotel. Sylvestre lives in Ixtapa and works building palapas. Trini’s wife Margarita was also there and a handful of primos (cousins). All three of the men spoke English and invited us to sit with them and visit. We had a good time talking to them about their jobs, about the hot springs and also about PV in general.
I learned that Mexicans judge a restaurant by the three B’s – bueno, bonito, and barato. Translated it means – good, pretty and cheap. Sounds like a good rule of thumb.
We also learned that although all-inclusive resorts say that tips are included, the amount that is considered tips is very small and is divided among many staff people (waiters, bartenders, maids, bellmen, etc.) Unlike some resorts, Canto del Sol does not have a policy prohibiting staff from taking tips. So, if you are going to an all-inclusive and think the staff works hard, tip the ones who help you.
After enjoying a cold drink with the group, and turning down their offer of sharing their carne asada we headed back toward the Rio Mascota. We drove a little bit uprover from Guero Palancas and followed a trail along the river and across the river. We saw families out enjoying the afternoon, swimming and doing their laundry. We also saw some people on a horse riding expedition from a nearby tequila tour operation called Dona Engracia. We gave up before finding the hot springs, but were assured they are up the river a little farther. The river is very shallow and easily crossed by foot. It actually looked like it could be crossed by car in several places and we did see a truck drive across. Another day!
We followed a road that looked promising. It was paved and seemed to be in good condition. After a bit, the road had very nice high curbs but a dirt surface. We drove along and saw streetlights on dirt roads and some that seemed to be on no road at all. It still remains a mystery to us what the development was or was planned to be.
It was a very fun day exploring some of the surrounding areas. The Las Palmas area looks very different than the coast.