Bright Shiny New Zih

You can certainly tell there's been some sprucing up going on around town, except for the pier which will be coming down soon to make way for a new one. While the sketches I saw of the design from earlier this year didn't exactly jiggle my Jell-O, the abandon and disrepair of our poor old pier is a sad and painful thing to watch, and the overpowering smell of urine at the point of the pier that has gone unchecked for too many years will hopefully not be allowed to recur on the new one if the design is right. Apparently after the small room of weather and mareographic instruments was built at the point of the pier, a mentally impaired man has been urinating there and sleeping in it, and no matter how many times we report the problem it continues. Why the fishermen who work there daily can't police their pier is beyond me, and the Sector Naval has only been in charge of it for less than a year, but their seemingly random patrols apparently keep missing the guy even though we've shown them photos of the guy. Oh well- Imagine how different things might be if Fonatur had been allowed to replace and maintain the pier. For the year they were in charge of it it was ver well managed indeed, I must admit. A damn shame misguided interests ran them off.

It looks like work on the walkway to La Madera is on hold until after the vacation period. It still has a long way to go, but it is taking shape and the work looks nice even though there are some details my wife and I dislike, such as covering more beach area with concrete, even if it's only several centimeters. Every millimeter matters!

If you haven't been here during a holiday vacation season before, hold on to your hat because things are about to get crazy for a couple of weeks. Expect cajeras automáticas to run out of money. Expect taxi drivers to overcharge. Expect a lot of restaurants to be crowded (except our favorite hideaway La Jaiba Feliz because the tourists apparently don't even see it, come join us), and expect a lot of people from other places to share their "ambiance" with everyone around them at all hours of the day and night.

For anyone who speaks our language and is able to appreciate our local culture, an exceptionally talented young woman named Mara García, daughter of a local fisherman and an artistic mother, has written a marvelous book of poetry titled "Escritos de sal" that she will be presenting tomorrow, Saturday December 22 at the Casa de Cultura located on the corner of Cinco de Mayo and Ejido streets in downtown Zihuatanejo at 5:00 PM. Many of the passages paint incredibly powerful pictures of local life, especially as it relates to our ocean, our families, our dreams, our pains and our concerns. Come buy your copy and one or two for gifts! Hope to see you there!

A favorite daily scene of ours. Fishermen arriving with their catch.

The newly rebuilt Escuela Primaria "Vicente Guerrero" is almost ready!

A mostly finished section of the rebuilt Paseo del Pescador at Playa Lerdo de Tejada.