From Here, July 13, Monday
The biggest gift of summer in Vallarta is time. The really frantic pace this city runs on all season long belies our 'sleepy beach town' moniker. In season, restaurants are packed with food festivals, long waits to be seated, and constant live entertainment in every establishment, it seems. There is a quick one-hour dinner before the show, or a nightcap somewhere before heading home. Always with a racket surrounding - conversations, often loud, live and/or canned music, street noise, and more.
This week I was invited into two private homes for food and conversation.
I walked through pouring rain a few blocks from my house to Rob Burton and Jan Dorland's condo. Cocktails unfolded, the kitchen unleashing delicious smells of home cooking, and our mutual friend and fellow Canadian, Derek Carkner, joined us for chit-chat, wine, and food.
The four of us have known one another for at least a decade here in Vallarta. We have all enjoyed Derek in his various roles as an entertainer extraordinaire, both in front of and behind pianos, and as the leader of the Gay Men's Chorus, the first in North America, founded by another dear and old friend, Bob Bruneau. From Act2, Derek went to Incanto, where he was a weekly force in the theatre and the Piano Bar. Now Derek works at Ryan Donner and Associates as a very successful realtor. It was so fun sitting next to him at Rob and Jan's, while he regaled us with tales spun by Selma Hayak - he does a hell of a good impression of her.
Theater stories originating here and back in Canada abounded over the fabulous baked beans, roasted (and charred!) whole white onions, fresh tomatoes, bread, and an unnecessary but decadent dessert, keeping us together at the dining room table for hours.
Touching conversations about major life changes unfolding could not have and should not have taken place amid the clamor of a restaurant. We are lucky to be such dear friends. To give our hearts and love away and have it bound back even stronger makes our friends become chosen family.
Teena Clipston is a Montreal-born publisher (and superb editor) based in British Columbia, whose latest missive will launch at Oscar's Restaurant on Isla Cuale at a big Gala on October 25.
'Expats: Living the Dream' is a compilation of stories, written by women (including me) who have left their country of origin for another. The whys, hows, and what happened next are going to be an interesting, good read and might give sufficient incentive to someone out there struggling to make a life-changing move.
So, on Teena's invitation, I climbed up the hill here in Centro and eventually she walked me to her door - another of those weirdly curious addresses in Vallarta that make perfect sense when you know exactly where they are!
Teena had invited a few co-authors to her lovely space so that we could get to know her and one another. (Cassandra Shaw! You were sorely missed, honey!)
Jessy Ruiz, from Asphalt Radio, joined us late. She will emcee the Gala in October. Two other chapter writers were Valerie Branch, whom I knew from her stand-up comedy routines at Sanctuary PV, and Maria Ammerman, maker of the enormous and wonderful salad. By the end of the evening, we were all fast friends, easy with one another, Mexican, American, and Canadian in French, English, and Spanish, none of us in our home countries; rather, in our chosen Mexico. ¡Viva!
Every Tuesday from noon to 4 pm, you may drop by Hyden Furniture and pick up scrap hardwoods that owner, Sacha Cantor, cannot make use of. Artists may find wood for stretchers or sculpting projects. If you own a pizza oven or a fire pit, the wood is there, free, begging not to go to the landfill!
My herbalist, Ricardo Mazcal, has Milk Thistle Tonic on sale this week for 20% off. Find him at his year-round market every Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm, on the Isla Cuale.
Stay cool, my friends, wherever you are in the world at this moment, and know you are loved, From Here.
