I was told that they have a new priest from Mexico City. Maybe he is the one who got it started. I am also told the the priest (and this church) are the most conservative in Puerto Vallarta. This may account for all the pregnant teen age girls in town (NO condoms allowed !) Anyway, it started with the repainting of the exterior of the church. I could not believe how artistic it looked or how much a paint job improved the looks. Who ever designed it knew what they were doing for the added borders of white paint emphasize the architectural details. I now love the tower which rises above the wall on my roof top terrace (please note my new palm tree).. I still cannot believe the way the painters raised and lower themselves five stories into the air with just a hand cranked pulley. Before the painting was finished, they added a stained glass window the the front. The first morning when I went out to my balcony for coffee and noticed a huge hole in the wall, I thought the cannon must have gone off and blew a hole through the front wall. Then I noticed a man on scaffolding chiseling away on the hole from the inside. Bits of concrete and lots of dust fell to the side walk below and any unsuspecting passers by. Once the hole was big enough a stone circle was added. I watched as they put this is place. It is put up with what looked like willhold glue. The bottom piece was temporarily supported by a wood stick, then all the other pieces were added on top and the wood stick was taken away. No bolts, no screws, nothing but glue. I will never walk under it. The sign when you enter Mexico says "Bienvienitos" which I translate to "Enter at your own risk".
After the painting was done they started ripping out the inside (why after it was freshly painted ? Well because it is Mexico. There were several niches in the wall where they displayed their plaster saints. They ripped through the wall and created tiny little rooms off the main hall. Who know why? In order to do this they apparently needed lots of concrete. For months concrete was mixed in the street and hauled inside. Yes, they just dump the cement, and sand in the street, add water and mix right on top of the cobble stones. Once they are satisfied with mixture, it is scooped up into a wheel barrel and taken inside. Why not just mix it in the wheel barrel (thus sparing the mess in the street)? Well, because it is ......! At first I could not tell why they added two more columns in the front. I thought maybe they added them for the extra weight of the stone edged window. But when they were finished, banners were hung between the posts. A much better idea than posting them on the sides of the building.
Semana Santa just ended a week ago and already, they are beginning the celebration for Santa Cruz. During Semana Santa, thousands of Mexican Nationals descend upon Vallarta in pick up trucks (carrying table chairs and coolers in the truck bed along with a dozen Mexicans. Some will just sleep in the trucks. Some will rent a cheap room and put a dozen people in it. Mostly they go to beach and then get very drunk. I took a photo of the beach one day and it was not even the week end. Mexicans with their colorful umbrellas as far as the eye could see. I really do not mind all the extra traffic, or people at the beach, it is the loud music blasting out of the cars all day and night that drives me crazy.
The festival of Santa Cruz goes on for a week before and several days after May 3rd. At first I thought that it must be the birth or death of a saint. No, it is not a saint at all, but means "Holy Cross" How they came up with the date of May 3rd, no one seems to know. The remodel must have been planned to conform with this date. Once again my street is closed to traffic (the good news) but along with the many booths and kiddy rides comes the largest speakers I have ever seen They blast away from dusk to about midnight. There is no way I can sleep before. I do love watching the little kids on all the rides below. At first a large carousel was placed below my bedroom. Then it was moved aside and one of those rides with little cars that go round and round. What I did not know is that it comes with an ear piercing alarm. It sounds like a car alarm on steroids. The little kids ridding probably have no idea what it is, but the young kid who runs the ride seems to love it. Of course bells ring all week, but it is the cannons that you would not believe. I have gotten used to the bells, but every time the cannon goes off I jump (sometimes spilling my drink).
I invited my friend Filipe and his kid and wife (well really just the mother of his child) for a few drinks before letting little Ian loose on the rides. Last year he was just eighteen months old and most of the rides scared him. One scares me. People are strapped into a circle of seats and then turned upside down. There are no safety checks here so you won't catch me hanging upside down. To my surprise, he still would not get on any of the rides. All he wanted to do was to play a little marble gambling game. He had a good time anyway.
There are sermons all week long and every night the loud speakers blast, bells ring, cannons go off, and the rides run until midnight. On the second block are all the stands selling food and trinkets. But the culmination comes on May 3rd (Santa Cruz Day) That is when the bonfire like fireworks stand is installed in the cross street. At the start of any event at the church a bunch of Indians in colorful feathers will dance. Of course this means that a two block square is completely blocked to traffic. No one seems to mind. Everyone crowds around this tower of fire as fireworks scatter burning bits into the crowd. Last year it set off a fire on the dry weeds growing on the restaurant across the street. This year I watched them assemble the structure in the street. It turned out to be at least one story higher than before and was much more spectacular. For the finale, the top blew off into the sky and fireworks displays fell back onto us for several minutes. It did not start any fires, for the restaurant across the street had carefully removed all the dead leaves from their roof. I had my friends, Richard and Hector over again and this time served dinner. After dinner we walked the three blocks of rides, and booths. Unfortunately it did not end that night. No ! the racket (minus the cannon blasts) is still going on. Last year it was one week, now they are talking about keeping it open until Mother's Day. It is impossible to sleep until after midnight.
It may sound like a living Hell to you, but you should see the people. When I go down stairs and mingle among them, I am impressed by the happy, laughing faces (knowing that most of them live with several generations in a few squalid rooms) They have barely enough to buy tortillas and beans to feed their families, but here they are enjoying (and drinking) during carnival. Whole families are here to watch their kids take turns on the stupid little carnival rides set up below me. They will spend their precious few pesos to let their kids have fun. The children are so beautiful here with their large dark eyes (especially when they are looking at the carnival)
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