pot pourri of potentially useless tidbits:

suddenly, a significant number of bands are putting mexico on their list of tour dates; bloc party, the strokes, pretty girls make graves and franz ferdinand have already made their rounds in the past month or so, and the new pornographers and the yeah yeah yeahs will be arriving soon. they're all playing the big cities, like the df, guadalajara and monterrey, and i've considered making the trek to catch one of the shows, but so far, i've let them pass on through. it'd be nice to see any of these bands, not really just because i'd enjoy the novelty of attending a concert in mexico, but because i've never seen any of these acts before. i guess i haven't been totallly gung-ho about going for certain though, since i'm not really obsessively into any of 'em--i just wouldn't mind seeing 'em live.
i'm realizing that what i'd really prefer to do is catch a show by a kickass mexican indie band. last year, i caught one show here in pv by a supposedly popular mexican rock band called qbo (at least i think that's their name) that was incredibly mediocre. i also went to a free show by another mexican band (live electronica--kind of like that french band rinocerose) called telefunka that was a bit more impressive (they performed outdoors for a music festival by the arches downtown). tj and i also "discovered" a band in san miguel de allende during our spring break trip that we may try to bring to vallarta; they're called pilaseca (banal piece of trivia: the keyboardist kind of hit on me) and they put on a pretty satisfying set. they have a popular enough sound to draw a good crowd.
anyway, i haven't witnessed a really mindblowing gig here yet, and i get the feeling i won't be witnessing it in pv anytime soon, so i'm willing to travel out to the cities to have that experience. i think i'm gonna place my bets on a band called chikita violenta (they seem to be big broken social scene fans), who are playing w/ the new pornographers in the df this thursday. unfortunately, i have school. it's also mexican independence day on friday and i have an evening boat cruise to attend.
some other time, i hope. dave and i are thinking of just going to azteca airlines and finding out which weekend has the cheapest return flights to the cities and plan a small trip based on that. (i also want to attend a professionalfutbol match.)

holy crap, that sure was a lot of blabber about music.

not much is happening on my end lately. all there is to do here is eat (or go to the beach, but mainly, i think it's eat). have i said that before? i spend the majority of my money on food. eating occupies such a big chunk of my life here, and as proof of this, i will actually admit that i keep up lists of restaurants and cafes that i have yet to try in addition to lists of favourite places that i've patroned. i'm currently on v.3 of the "restaurants to try" list (three establishments have been crossed off so far, with about 10 more to go--vallarta really is a culinary hub--there are literally hundreds of eateries here, not to mention taco stands!) and i'm pretty proud of my "top 10 places to dine" list so far. perhaps i will elaborate on these lists in a future post. right now, i'm feeling much too tired and lazy (i've been taking a nap every day after school lately, just like an old geezer).

so yeah, besides the good eats, i'm pretty bored w/ the pv right now. the nightlife here is unbelievably pathetic and frustrating; we frequent the same places every weekend, and this would be acceptable if the places were actually decent hangouts, but they're not--they're actually kinda slimy and touristy or pricey and slightly pretentious. there isn't a sneaky dee's or a red/green room, ya know? nor a cinematheque, nor a bubble tea house (okay, so the bubble tea i can live without).

i've figured that my honeymoon period w/ this town is now over. i still like the school and the kids that i work with and the ppl i've met, but they're all that make staying in this place bearable. the place itself has no real connection with me. yes, it can be extremely beautiful, but at its heart, i think this town is pretty shallow. or maybe hollow? or both. it takes some time staying here to realize this. i think the folks who've been living here for 20+ years see a different vallarta; maybe their perceptions of this place aren't the same b/c they knew this town before it changed--which it definitely has, even in the past few years. but even some of these ppl are realizing the current vallarta is not what they want, and a few of them have long-term plans to leave.

i'd love to see more of this country, b/c i know it has more to offer than just its resort towns. i caught a glimpse of that "more" during spring break, and i want to see as much as possible before i head somewhere else. i just need to figure out how i'm going to jam in all the travel this year!