Local Color and Culture

Living in a small town in Mexico or the U.S. has its pluses and minuses. We are fortunate to be able to enjoy the wonderful aspects of "rural" life compared to urban, in that we have fresh air usually, more tranquility (usually), less traffic, and the ability to make lots of friends. I thought I would suffer here for lack of culture, and need to be closer to a city but we do have an art gallery in our small town, thanks to Eddie and Roberto who built Xaltemba Restaurant and Gallery over a year ago. Regular art exhibits are held plus special entertainment such as dances and Improvisation shows, in addition to talks and slide show presentations for the community. Recently Victor gave a talk in the upstairs meeting room on Life Extension Strategies. The beautiful hand painted wedding trunk below was painted by a local expat and it is for sale. The restaurant serves up wonderful entrees, salads, soups, appetizers and fabulous desserts. My favorite is pistacho crusted Mahi Mahi (dorado) fish with fresh mango and malibu coconut rum sauce. But in the summer the owners leave for California for several months and close Xaltemba during rainy season, as so many clientele who are U.S. and Canadian citizens return to their homes to escape the hot humid summer here, which lasts into late October. Those months we will miss Xaltemba and the owners who add such a highly appreciated touch of class, color, beauty and culture to our community.
The Mexican holidays are always full of celebration and festivity, and it seems more so than holidays in the U.S.
It feels like every month there is at least one important holiday that is legal and involves much festive doings. In February there was Carnaval, the pre-lent period of partying and festivity in which daily and nightly activities take place for about 5 days. Our friend Nancy from Minneapolis was visiting then and we took her to a bull ride show and band playing music (Banda) in the bull ring. The final night of Carnaval was celebrated with lots of bands playing music. From our house on the hill we could hear a battle of the bands it seemed, for the sound carried all the way to us. Next year we want to travel north to Mazatlan and experience Carnaval with some Mexican friends who go there, for the city has one of the world's biggest Mardi Gras celebrations in the world.

Recently the holiday Dia de Bandera (Flag Day) ocurred and a parade in our town got me running down to shoot some pics. I guess I love parades because I marched in so many in high school when I played the white fiberglass tuba.

Friends and family visiting us always want to see Puerto Vallarta and a walk down the Malecon (boardwalk) by the ocean is a must do. Our recent guest Nancy from Minneapolis enjoyed the sculptures that line the entire length of the Malecon for a mile. The wonderful sculptures below are done by Guadalajara painter and sculptor Alejandro Colunga



Sculptor Alejandro Colunga

I must leave with sharing a Mariachi Utube video that I adore. It is hundreds of Mariachi band members playing a finale in Guadalajara, Mexico. I wish I had been there.