By Eduardo Rincón-Gallardo

'Malabar' has a great sound, it must have an arabic mystical origin, Malabar, a place of dreams.

Well I was dreaming of raising awareness for the health of the Bay and our Sierra, with images of whales, mountain macaws flying in pairs and a baby jaguar that has me in a trance.

Malabar got me out of that trance, when in the middle of Plaza Península I bumped into these two guys juggling with whatever came their way, this looked like some fun! so I asked Antonio (one of them) if he could give a little instruction to a man with two left hands (me).

To my surprise he gladly did, starting with an easy to understand principle, a principle for juggling! He says you can start mastering it in a day! In a while!

To me it looks as something that can really help you offset stress, help your coordination, what do you know? Maybe liven up a party...

If I am caught dreaming too often and get kicked out of the paper, who knows? Here's another possible source of income!

Antonio showed me all kinds of gadgets in his store you can juggle with, and he is so willing to give you a free lesson.

Another guy who was at the shop before I entered thought I was part of the business, no I told him, I thought YOU were an employee.

Who was that? Antonio asked me.

Beats me, Antonio.

One thing I can tell you though "hacer malabares" means "to juggle" in spanish.

IFC Cleft Lip & Palate Program Offers Free Care
By Patricia Mendez and Joann
Quickstad

For the past 17 seasons here, the International Friendship Club (IFC) has financed and organized the Cleft Palate Surgery program. The comprehensive program includes surgery, sppech therapy, dental and orthodontic care, and empotional counseling.

As you can see with the photos accompanying this article, the surgery program starts at 3-6 months with the first repair to the cleft lip and continues with the careful work of the orthodontist who forms the first of many *placas de obturcacíon.* The placas artificially cover the cleft in the palate so that the child can begin to eat, breathe, drink, and move his tongue to make sounds with a closed palate long before the surgeon can close it surgically.

The orthodontist works closely with the surgeon over the years to guide the shape of the growing bones and later the arranement of the teeth.

The surgical team which comes from Guadalajara four times a year to Puerto Vallarta consists of surgeons Dr. Ezequiel Fuentes and Dr. Rodolfo Becerra, their instrumentistas, Emma Gonzalez and Mari Alvarado, and anesthesiologist Dr. Emgidio de la Cruz Liontop.

We are fortunate in Puerto Vallarta to have the ongoing assistance of dedicated professionals that form the support services for this extensive program. Speech therapists Ma. De Socorro Galvan Canales and Olga Elvira Quintero, work with the kids to improve the formation of sounds as the children learn to talk.

Orthodontists Dra. Cecilia Hernandez, Dra. Luz Meda, and Dr. Marcelino Torres donate their dental and orthodontic work wit the patients of the program.

This last week, for the May program, the meals for the medical team were donated by Las Palomas Restaurant for breakfast on Friday, and Daiquiri Dick's for dinner on Wednesday night.

Peggy of Cyber Air personally cooked, delivered, and served lunch for the whole crew on Thursday, surgery day. Honorable mention goes to the staff and social workers of hte Regional Hospital who host this 3-day program every three months and have done so for the last 17 years.

We truly appreciate the immense effort on the part of everyone who helps to bring this altruistic endeavor for the children of Puerto Vallarta.

THE INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP CLUB OF PUERTO VALLARTA (IFC) is a non-profit volunteer organization founded in 1987. Our purpose is to solicit and distribute funds and materials in response to the humanitarian needs of our community and to promote friendship through social and cultural activities. The Mexican Government has granted the IFC Registered Charitable Status. www.ifcvallarta.com or www.childrenandfamiliesinneed.com or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PV, Mating Hub of the World.

9 Felines Born at Local Zoo Recently

by Eduardo Rincón-Gallardo

No doubt Vallarta has seen many different species come to mate in the bay area.

Just 30 days ago Güera (spanish for blonde), a female white bengal tiger, and Adam, a yellowish bengal tiger (zookeeper calls the subspecies Bengala Tamizado), gave birth to a litter of three baby bengal tigers, Brizza, K-in and Heydi; two tamizados and one white.

Both white and tamizado are bengal tigers. Tamizados, which stands for filtered or sieved, seem to have stripes only on the forward part of their bodies. White bengal tigers are also a subspecies of bengal tigers and they have blue eyes, whereas albino tigers have red eyes. Other tigers such as Sumatran, Indochina, South China and Siberian are different subspecies and show different stripe patterns, size, and colors.

82 days ago Tigre Toño and Toña bengal tigers gave birth to another litter of three, Boss, Sasha and Mudo.

84 days ago Pancho Lion and Hillary Lioness gave birth to two cubs, Bizcocho and Pingüino (Biscuit and Penguin).

But, most spectacular of all, 75 days ago a baby female Jaguar was born!

Her name is Lucy and she is a hurricane of a pussycat. The zookeeper Martín Castañeda and the Vet Xóchitl Nicté Há (flower and Mayan Princess, in náhuatl and mayan) say she is a very loving creature. What I saw of her is that she was quite hard to handle and has left lots of painful lovemarks on both of them. What do I know? Love has its ways.

When left alone, the bengal cubs were all over Lucy Jaguar, and she just let them lick and kiss and caress her - they seemed to just adore her!

It was quite a scene to watch species from such distant geographical origins get along so well; the jaguar is a local cat that inhabits the Sierra del Cuale, south of Puerto Vallarta; and the Sierra de Vallejo, north of Nuevo Vallarta. Both mountain ranges frame the Bay and the Valley of Banderas and it comes natural to celebrate the birth and survival of each and everyone of this species. Being at the very top of the food chain, every individual living in the wild speaks volumes of the health of our surrounding environment.

To get to the zoo take the road south of Vallarta, when you reach Mismaloya Beach (about 10 miles from Vallarta) make a left turn on the dirt road towards the mountain, cross the town of Mismaloya and continue for five minutes in the direction of Eden. The zoo opens at 10 a.m., for more information visit www.zoologicodevallarta.com or dial 228 0501, 228 0955 or 228 0957.

Picture, the baby jaguar at the zoo.

ALMA airlines increases its frequencies to PV

*Líneas Aéreas Mesoamericanas* (Alma de México) is reorganizing its operations starting this month, a reorganization that will benefit Vallarta.

The airline informed through its webpage of its increase of frequencies between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, plus a new daily flight from Puebla (Puebla is the capital city of the state with the same name and it is located about 50 miles from Mexico City).

According to the airline's official site ALMA will fly to Guadalajara at 8:35 a.m. from Monday to Saturday; daily at 12:35 p.m.; Sunday to Friday at 6:15 p.m.; every Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and will operate also one direct flight to Puebla at 12:35 p.m.

The Puerto Vallarta airport's administration mentioned that ALMA is not the only airline increasing its frequencies to Guadalajara, as Aerolitoral (Aeroméxico's subsidiary), will operate six daily flights to the "Pearl of the West," as many refer to Gudalajara.

José Gómez Díaz, Director General of the PV international airport mentioned that an interesting phenomenon is taking place, when the destination benefits from low-cost airlines bringing domestic tourism during periods of lower hotel occupancy.

From the tip of Cabo Corrientes to the south to the Punta de Mita peninsula on the north shore of the bay, there are a host of great spots – including Vallarta Adventures' Las Caletas, pictured here, for your pleasure.

By Eduardo Rincón-Gallardo
On Tuesday, April 10th, the people of San Blas reported a baby whale entangled in fishing nets.

Locals and ecologists came to help the small cetacean which lay motionless on the sand and placed her in a tank by a beach restaurant called "Ramada Alicia" to try to keep her alive. There, more specialists arrived to team for solutions for the condition of the baby orca (also known in English as killer whale). It was decided to transport "Pascuala" (locals baptized her as such for her Easter arrival or Pascua) to the facilities of Vallarta Adventures in Nuevo Vallarta, where there are large pools and specialists in the care of sea mammals.

Vallarta Adventures had already notified Sea World of San Diego (there is no other place with more experience on handling orcas on earth) of the baby orca situation, so they would be prepared to participate in saving Pascuala, though Semarnat (the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources) officials would have to authorize her transportation to San Diego, if needed. Semarnat has not authorized its transportation until it has more elements to decide on the course of action to be taken. Although Pascuala has gained weight with the care and formula feeding from the specialists, her overall health condition has not improved and her possibilities of survival are scarce with or without the most advanced care and facilities.

Meanwhile, the poor communication from those involved has fueled rumors and publications that go from asking the Federal Government for Nayarit to be custodian of the orca, to inferring that transporting Pascuala would make a lot of money to those involved. ¡Pobre Pascualita!

I greatly admire the intelligence of marine mammals and especially Pascualita, taking all the human love and care around her and not paying attention to the complicated nonsense and fuss we manage to entangle ourselves with.

The US Consulate: Let Uncle Sam Pay Your Parking Fee or Take the Water Taxi
By Barbara Sands

It may have surprised a number of winter arrivals to discover the US Consulate was no longer on the Plaza in El Centro, but had been moved to Paradise Village. The building that housed the consulate for so many years has been under renovation for some time, so both the US and Canadian consulates were forced to relocate. Canada moved to Plaza Las Glorias early on, but the decision for the new US location was made some time later by a contingent of State Department officials from Mexico City and Guadalajara who spent several days exploring site possibilities and—it should be noted—with a very critical eye on security considerations.

Consular Agent Kelly Trainor explained, with relief, that the move to the current very cramped quarters was but a temporary expedient. The permanent, more commodious facility will be located within Paradise Plaza, the focal shopping center of the Village. The rapidly growing population to the north has also been expanding demands on the once small office, so along with additional personnel, technologically upgraded is expected.

The new plan for travel documents issued on 22 November, 2006 by the US Department of State is headlined "Passports Required for Air Travel to United States as of January 23, 2007." The announcement states that "The Departments of State and homeland Security announced . . . [that] the requirement for citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda to present a passport to enter the United States when arriving by air from any part of the Western Hemisphere will begin on January 23, 2007." It continues saying that the first phase of the plan will require that such citizens "have a passport or other accepted document that establishes the bearer's identity and nationality to enter or re-enter the United States." Land and sea travel regulations will be published later.

The estimated time for a passport to be issued through the consular office is estimated to be between six and eight weeks, Trainor said, but in view of the new regulation, it is anticipated that applications for passports for those who have been using other forms of document will increase both here and throughout the US. Forewarned may be forearmed. In FY 2006, the Department issued a record 12.1 million passports to US citizens and anticipates issuing 16 million in FY 2007. Information on applying for a passport can be found at travel.state.gov online. The consular office has all required forms, but they can also be filled out and printed on a computer by typing in DS11 in Google or other search engine.

The office is located by the entrance to the yacht club near the water behind the shopping center and is marked with a US Seal and two American flags. Hours at present are 8:30 to 12:30, but a call (222-0069) would be in order. From Vallarta by bus, take a city bus to the bus stop by Sam's Club, then board an ATM bus for Nuevo Vallarta/Plaza Paradise at the stop by VIPs. The Paradise Plaza bus will drop you right at the Plaza which you can then go around or through to the parking lots at the rear where you can ask attendants to point out the building (look left). It has #16 above the door. Driving instructions are the same; just follow directions to Paradise Plaza. Parking is a bit dicey outside, but the office will stamp your parking ticket if you park in the Plaza's facility.

A more daring and fun approach would be to take a water taxi from the pier at Los Muertos which is usually not only a quicker trip (about a half-hour), but drops you practically at the door of the consulate. The round-trip fare from Los Muertos is $18 USD or $10 one-way with taxi or bus in one direction. Jorge Medina, owner and operator of the water taxi (and other tours) says it's always best to reserve and to check on times. There are some trips from Opequimar in front of Westin Regina, but the schedule is not yet firm. The number to call is 221-1863.

Bon Voyage!

More Gifts...
Peter and Buri Gray welcomed Lucille Shipley and a group of her art students to the Art Museum at the *Centro Universitario de la Costa* this past week.

Lucille, who well-known here as a fine artist and art teacher in her own right, was there to hand over three pieces of art to add to the permanent art collection housed at the university. The love and support shown by the friends who accompanied her made for a very moving occasion. The first gift is an early oil painting by Tellosa, whose work is well known here. It will complement the five meter wide mobile that he created specifically for the exterior of the museum in 2006.

The second is an oil painting by Russel Davis, who was born in West Virginia, studied art in China for six years and came to live and work in Puerto Vallarta in 1938. He is still fondly remembered by long-time residents still living here.

The third addition to the museum consists of a group of six of Manuel Lepe's original designs for post-cards. They feature several of his iconic subjects that led to his great success as the creator of a native "Puerto Vallarta" style that became well-known around the world. The museum already possesses a large oil painting of Lepe's, gifted by Laura Quiroz and her children. The addition of these card designs adds to the importance of Lepe's representation in the museum.

Lucille Shipley and her friends spent some time enjoying the seventy or so exhibits that make up the whole collection. After which Lucille declared that she was very happy to see that her gifts would be so well presented. She appreciates the longterm cultural and spiritual value of exposing art on a daily basis to the five thousand students who attend the university.

Two other donations have recently been added. Peter and Buri Gray gifted a second work by Rodolfo Nieto who was a rising star in the Mexican and international art world and a protégé of Rufino Tamayo's. Sadly, he died young.

Jose Guerrero has also donated one of his paintings. He has had over forty exhibitions and was the Professor of Fine Art at the Academy of Fine Art in Monterrey between 1987–1991. He is represented in Puerto Vallarta by the Galeria Arte Latinamericano.

Thanks to the generosity of donors like Lucille Shipley and Jose Guerrero the Peter Gray Museum continues to develop as an important cultural addition to the university and the city.

Alley Cat Rescue, in Mount Rainier, Maryland, has gone to the dogs. A group of four veterinarians, Drs. Bill Preace, Perviaz Manzoor, Ajaz Alvi, and Javaid Manzoor, two vet technicians, Emily Lemus-Mansilla and Denise Hilton, and two administrative professionals, Louise Holton and Kylie Luik, left the cold and snow of the north to visit sunny Puerto Vallarta and hold a spay and neuter clinic. This event greatly improves the lives of some area cats and dogs.
The scene of a high-volume spay/neuter clinic is something to behold for the very first time. There are stations within the clinic and lots of activity besides the surgery.

A volunteer can be seen cuddling a patient in the recovery room after recent surgery. There can be as many as 12 dogs or cats recovering from surgery at the same time.

There is an estimated 45-thousand stray dogs and close to 100-thousand feral cats roaming the area. Over 90-percent of them are capable of producing offspring.

"There has long been conjecture inside the veterinary community, particularly in the U.S., as to whether or not spay and neuter is the answer to pet overpopulation and, of course, it is the answer to pet overpopulation," says Dr. Bill Pearce, "It is a simple procedure that is tremendously, in my opinion, overpriced in all parts of the world that I visit but particularly in third world countries, you look at the condition of these animals, it makes you want to kill somebody."

The clinic took place March 2nd and 3rd. Alley Cat Rescue and a group of Puerto Vallarta animal lovers, including area vets and their assistants, organized it.

"We were contacted by an American working in Mexico, who has a passion for animals, and she asked if we could send some help to curb the overpopulation problem," says Louise Holton, President, Alley Cat Rescue, "We jumped at the opportunity to come down with some vets and our expertise with working with stray animals in the U.S."

It is the first clinic of this size in Puerto Vallarta. It included six vets, four vet technicians and over 30 volunteers. The amount of supplies was daunting, but many items were donated, everything from food to surgical equipment. And the experience was a good lesson for everyone involved.

Kylie Luik of Alley Cat Rescue says, "It was a lot of work because we had never done a clinic and we talked to other groups who had previously done clinics but most weren't particularly helpful, but now that we've done it we can really come up with our own list of supplies that really has the essentials on it."

Nearly 100 animals were spayed or neutered at no cost to the pet owners. This saves almost 1.5 million unwanted little ones from being born over the next six years.

Alley Cat Rescue is already thinking about when they can return. For more information about Alley Cat Rescue, visit www.saveacat.org

To check out the video for this event go to www.banderasnews.com, local news, Alley Cat Rescue's Snip & Clip Clinic.

Items needed for future clinics in Puerto Vallarta: used comforters, sheets, pillow cases, towels, collars in all sizes, leashes, tables, grooming brushes, clippers and blades, and large plastic storage containers. If you care to donate an item, become a volunteer, or a pet foster parent please contact Laura Gelezunas at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 044 322 107 0144.

"Always, Patsy Cline" has been wowing sold-out audiences since the first curtain went up but the production is coming to the end of its time here in P.V.
This is the funny/tragic/musical story of the life of one of the most lauded country-western/pop female singers in history. The story is told by Patsy's close friend and greatest fan, Louise Seger (hysterically played by Mikki Prost) and covers the time from the first time Louise heard Patsy on the Arthur Godfrey show until many years after Patsy's tragic death in a plane crash. During Louise's narrative, Patsy (flawlessly portrayed by Sandi Lee) drifts on and off the stage, interacting with Louise and riveting the audience with 25 of Patsy's best known songs. Do your soul a favor and come see this production before it is too late.

If you are one of those people who have been telling yourselves "yup, I gotta get down there and see that there play" --- Well, you've just about missed the boat so saddle up and get down to the Santa Barbara theater and get your tickets before there aren't any left and you end up as one of those poor souls who cannot hold up their end of the conversation when the rest of the world is talking about this fabulous show. You can also call the theater and reserve seats but do it soon. There are a few seats left for the evening of the 13 th. The 20th and 27th are already selling out and then, in the words of the beloved Porky Pig - "tha, tha, tha, that's all folks".

You can find the Santa Barbara Theater at 351 Olas Altas Street in the Romantic Zone or you can call them at 223 2048. Tickets are 220 pesos without and 350 pesos with dinner. The show starts at 8:00 pm. One wee word of caution. All of the shows sell out and there is always a waiting list. People actually line up at the door waiting for "no-show" seats, so get there nice and early. If you are not in your seat 10 minutes before curtain time – they'll sell your seats to the

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Thursday afternoon, this 6-foot-long (approx. 2 meters) crocodile was discovered on the *Colegio Americano* (American School) campus football field near the marina. High school students there called the Protección Civil (Civil Protection) department, who dispatched officers to the scene. They quickly captured the croc and bound it up; the students then had a chance to admire it close up.

The young croc was then removed to the Reptile Center at the CUC Campus of the University of Guadalajara, in Ixtapa, Jal., north of Puerto Vallarta. Photo courtesy of Elena Garza