She’s Back!
It’s almost the weekend. That is an important statement everywhere in the world, except in Vallarta and a few other beach destinations, where every day is a holiday and every night is Saturday. The thousands of us expatriates who live here were all tourists once and, if we all dig hard enough, can come up with a number of kindnesses that sprang from a waiter, or a concierge, or a tour guide way back when, who reached out a personal hand in welcome. And then, those tourists – us – who decided to try living in this paradise had to support themselves, so they became realtors, art gallery owners, restaurateurs, entrepreneurs, and more. The biggest benefit of this is eye contact!
It’s true! People who live here communicate constantly with their eyes. How lovely it is to pass a family on the street and have all eyes turn to you to say hello, and usually followed by smiles. That never happened to me in Europe.
I terrified an entire continent! I was conscious about making eye contact for the first week or so as my sister Patrice and I trudged through ancient cities and streets to no avail. Smiling at a perfect stranger was right up there with assault and battery and/or dognapping! I got a couple of nervous eyelash flutters that accompanied a change in walking speed to get the hell away from the crazy, strangely-dressed woman who was clearly not from there. The point is, I made the effort, such as it was, and hope that I at least came up in some office conversation…”Did I tell you about the strange woman on the street this morning, who smiled at me as she passed by?!” It made me happy in a harmless, kinda perverse way, to stir things up a bit! Once a s**t disturber, right?
I got to Scrabble yesterday at Qulture to find Sharon Gerber Scherer all set up and ready to go with our favorite board. She brought me some freshly baked sourdough bread and her famous, huge chocolate chip cookies as a welcome-back gift.
She went even further, trying to make me feel loved and noting how much she missed me by losing the first game. That was insufficient proof, so she threw the second one as well. Then, citing the fact she had not played for all the weeks I was gone, she asked for a third try and lost it as well!
I was – and still am – overwhelmed by her thoughtfulness. The proof, of course, will be next Wednesday when we play our monthly Scrabble Tournament. If she gives me back the Scrabble crown, then I will know for sure how sincerely happy she is to see me!
If you are traveling soon and wondering what to do with your pets, consider contacting Bonnie Cretzman on Facebook. She came every day to feed Bogie, check my house, and send me photographs. It was wonderful to see pics of my furry guy every single day I was away. I am grateful