Luis Fernando from world renowned Mexican soap opera Maria la del Barrio is a classic example of men who have no brains, but with a lot of money. I don't know why Maria, the main character played by Thalia, could still forgive and love Luis Fernando after the man screwed her life over and over again. OK, maybe that's true love, or maybe Stockholm syndrome. I don't know.
One of the lines the audience gets to hear a lot - possibly at least once in every single episode, was Maria saying "Luis Fernando! where is my Luis Fernando?" while crying. In one episode, she did the exact same. Then the next scene came up: a totally lightened up villa in the darkness. The tall palm tree in the show revealed that the location of this villa was definitely not in the same city Maria was in - Mexico City. Underneath the screen, there were two big words:
Puerto Vallarta
That was my first time seeing that name. It gave me the impression that Puerto Vallarta must be a place where heartless men having fun while leaving their heartbroken wives at home crying. Then people told me that Canadians and Americans actually go to "Porto Vayerta" for all-inclusive vacations. Thanks to that, los gringos in the north can fly there quite easily. Yes, that probably explained why I ended up flying to Puerto Vallarta to explore the area around on my second trip to Mexico.
Like Bali, Puerto Vallarta was first discovered by backpackers and beach hippies from the 60s and 70s. Then mass tourism came, aiming to create a different version of Cancun or Los Cabos to attract vacationers who are willing to pay big bucks to relax in United States....sorry.....resorts in Mexico. International hotel brands built up the same impressive buildings people see in Vegas along the vast shore of BahÃa de Banderas.
Unlike other Mexican cities I have visited, such as Mexico City and Guanajuato, I noticed Puerto Vallarta did not have a local community to offer visitors a glimpse into everyday Mexican life. To some extent, the city of Puerto Vallarta, at least the core area, was almost like the downtown of an American city: people commute to work there during the day, and empty out at night. The only exception, was that American downtowns are normally REALLY emptied out to an extent that it might be unsafe to go there. The core area of Puerto Vallarta, however, stills sees police, hard working night shifters, and lots and lots of tourists.
I guess cities like Puerto Vallarta is redefining what "Americanization" means.
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