| ¿Donde esta el baño? ¿Como esta | | | | During the past decade, there have been |
| usted? That pretty well sums up two years of | | | | thousands of new houses and tens of thousands |
| high school Spanish taken as a college prep course | | | | of new condos, new hospitals, a new University |
| almost 50 years ago! Of course, why would | | | | of Guadalajara campus, new airport, new |
| anyone ever need to know Spanish having never | | | | maritime terminal, etc. built in Vallarta. As tourism |
| met a Mexican, let alone thought about going to | | | | increased, so did the requirement for speaking |
| Mexico? My, how times have changed! | | | | English by the locals. If they could understand and |
| After living in Houston for 25 years, we | | | | speak English, they could obtain the higher paying |
| discovered that Mexico was only two hours away | | | | jobs where interaction with tourists is a routine |
| and that it had some very intriguing qualities to | | | | occurrence. Jobs such as waiting tables, caddying, |
| offer. In 1984 we bought a condo in Mismaloya, | | | | taxi driving, police department, clerking at front |
| south of Puerto Vallarta, and made semi-annual | | | | desks in hotels, offices, hospitals, airport, etc. and |
| visits to Vallarta for 13 years before buying a villa | | | | management positions in stores and other |
| in the foothills of the Sierra Madres, overlooking | | | | businesses could pay three times as much as |
| Banderas Bay and El Centro, the downtown area | | | | construction work, daily labor, cleaning, etc. where |
| of PV. | | | | there is no requirement for English speaking skills. |
| When we moved to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, | | | | The difference in wages was so obvious and |
| known as PV or Vallarta by the locals, ten years | | | | substantial that during the past ten years, most all |
| ago, our Spanish vocabulary consisted of about | | | | of the younger generation of people in Vallarta |
| five words. Fortunately, a few taxi drivers, most | | | | are taking English classes in school and understand |
| restaurant waiters, and some caddies spoke, or | | | | and speak basic English. Even those that haven't |
| at least understood, a little English. In order to | | | | had a day of classroom English have a good |
| survive here, it was imperative to understand and | | | | understanding of "Espanglish" and we therefore |
| speak some degree of Spanish. During our first | | | | have absolutely no problem communicating with |
| month in Vallarta, we purchased text books, | | | | anyone in Vallarta. |
| manuals, dictionaries, and hired a tutor to come to | | | | Virtually all educated Mexicans in PV such as |
| our villa twice a week. | | | | doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, bankers, |
| We worked diligently for almost six months, | | | | nurses, teachers, etc. are fluent in English. In fact, |
| learning Spanish words, paraphrases, tenses, etc. | | | | the majority of these people seem to prefer |
| so that we would have a chance of | | | | speaking English with Americans and Canadians. |
| communicating with the locals. To assist our | | | | Typical music in restaurants, bars, hotels, and |
| learning process, we watched our Mexican TV | | | | even dental offices are the popular American |
| which had about five channels; CNN, Mexican | | | | songs. American magazines, newspapers, and |
| shows aimed at sixth graders, and American | | | | books are available throughout the city, whereas |
| movies with Spanish subtitles. We would then turn | | | | ten years ago they were virtually non-existent. |
| off the volume and try to understand the movies | | | | In summarizing, having knowledge of Spanish is no |
| by reading the subtitles. Not much fun, but the | | | | longer a prerequisite for visiting or retiring in |
| price you had to pay in order to live in Paradise | | | | Vallarta. The majority of the retirees that live in |
| where the average daily temperature during the | | | | PV have little Spanish speaking ability and get |
| "high season" of November through May is | | | | along just fine. Most all tourists by plane or cruise |
| 73°F with virtually no chance of rain! | | | | ship have no knowledge of Spanish and they too |
| We spent that first summer back in the States | | | | have no communication problems. |
| and upon returning to PV, we got lazy and | | | | Obviously, Vallarta is not typical of Mexico, |
| discontinued our studies. Satellite TV became | | | | however, those considering a trip to or retirement |
| available in Vallarta and we no longer had the five | | | | in Vallarta with no Spanish speaking ability, should |
| Mexican channels, but instead had 350 channels | | | | not be concerned about a language barrier here. |
| from the US. Fortunately for us, the tourism | | | | At the rate things are changing in PV, who |
| boom in Vallarta was just beginning to occur ten | | | | knows, English could become its primary language |
| years ago. | | | | in another generation! |