"You could probably rent a downtown two-bedroom for around $600 a month." Too expensive for me but probably not for some retiree getting $1,000 per month from Social Security. "Plus you don't need a car. The bus system is good. Utilities run about $10 to $20 a month." Really? "And food is really cheap." And good. At the cafe we had hand-made guacamole.
Then I brought up the subject of Wal-Mart. Which led to a discussion on NAFTA. Do NOT get this man started on NAFTA unless you have all afternoon. Which we did.
"NAFTA is the worst thing that ever happened to Mexico. It totally ruined the poor family farmers here. They couldn't compete with the subsidized agro-business imports from the United States and lost all their farms. But back when the treaty was actually signed, it was supposed to be beneficial to Mexico, giving it access to American businesses in exchange. Well. THAT never happened. Mexican products were supposed to be trucked to the States. What, eight years ago? But the teamsters never let the trucks come through because the big American corporations wanted the trucks stopped. And in the meantime, these same corporations are having parts made and goods assembled in Mexico, and then they are shipped to the US and then shipped back to Mexico again TO BE SOLD AT THE PUERTO VALLARTA WAL-MART."
Then another friend came into the cafe and offered to put me up for the week. He was a former Berkeley type. None of us former Berkeley types can afford to live in Berkeley any more. So we reminisced about the old days. He used to work for the Berkeley Barb. "I used to be on the front cover!" And then he moved up to Mendocino. "Hey, I did that too!" Now he has a business here selling exotic plants. Want to buy some exotic plants? Just go to http://www.xplanta.com and ask for Rick. Then we happily went off to get me settled at his house. And we got there by bus.
Stay tuned for Episode Two of Survivor Puerto Vallarta. I don't have a clue what that will be about. Do you?
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