Last Updated on June 3, 2023 by Ellen
Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a dreamworld and at any moment I’m in danger of waking up. I’m incredibly lucky for my good life and the love of my husband, and we are living as we want as the world appears to be falling apart around us.
People back home have gone mad. Between “alternate facts” and idiots who still defend the president’s behavior, I don’t know what I would do if we were in the U.S. Maybe I’d never get out of bed. I’m not a depressive person – I’m critical, yes, but I don’t get depressed too easily. That said, I enjoy life so much more when I don’t read too much ‘news’ from back home and I go outside to play.
Today I went on a free tour that explained the history of the sculptures along Puerto Vallarta’s malecon. The highlight of the tour for me was the first statue, The Millennium, because I loved the symbolism of humanity over time, and also because the artist was there to talk about his work.
Mathis Lidice worked through the imagery in three millennia represented in his statue. He said the woman at the top represents hope for the future. It was a moving moment for me. I saw this humble and somewhat shy artist standing before his beautiful creation, as he held the belief that women can help humanity find peace because they give the gift of hope. Meanwhile, in my mind’s eye I see pictures of the president and his henchmen hard at work – scripting out our future in a way I don’t want, but it’s what they want for their own greedy interests.
As Lidice talked, a frigatebird, also known as a Man-of-War bird by old English mariners, perched and watched the world. It took flight over the ocean once during the talk. It made a large circle then settled back down at the top of the piece, right over a lot of bird shit stains on the woman and the dove she’s sending to the sky.
The man who organizes the tour acknowledged the bird as we were about to walk to the next statue. He joked the bird was pooping on peace. I didn’t laugh. I saw the bird as the president, shitting on everything kind and good, on everything humane.
Yeah. Heavy. Man-of-War shits on peace, but I can’t control any of it, so I keep on walking. It was a beautiful day. I was in a great city on the Pacific Ocean and I am interested in art and history, so I let myself go with the flow and I enjoyed the rest of the tour.
The statue walk gave me a lot of history about the city, information about each statue, and even a cool love story that’s not about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It was a beautiful morning and it was a highly enjoyable tour. The organizer does a great job, and I’d recommend this tour to anyone who visits Puerto Vallarta (it only runs during the high season). There are plenty of other blogs and websites that describe the walk in detail if you’re interested, such as here and here.
Anyway, somehow, I have faith it will work out like it’s supposed to work out. Until then, I’ll just enjoy today because there’s only so much I can do, and enjoying the beauty of the moment is better than focusing on bird shit.
A few more walking tours around the world:
- Free walking tour in beautiful Seville, Spain
- History comes alive in 2 Sarajevo walking tours
- Walking tour in Hanoi has insight to Vietnamese culture
- Lisbon walking tour gives great overview