Tuesday started out much like Monday did, waking to the quiet apartment, with the familiar noise coming from just outside. The kids were once again at school, and Karina was already gone also, running her errands and making sure things at Archi’s were running smoothly. I remember taking my shower and putting on jeans and running shoes, I was ready for the day. The last day.
Iliana and I where going to be busy ourselves that day. She wanted to show me a couple more places in Vallarta and drop off something at her old school. Also we were going to stop by my cousin Jaime’s little restaurant, because he wanted to show me the place and have me try one of his shrimp burgers. Jaime was Joel’s younger brother, but still was 4 or 5 years older then me. He too had a little restaurant, but it hadn’t been open as long as Archi’s and wasn’t close to the Malecon, so it didn’t get all the tourist traffic. I was excited to see his place though, and to try “his” shrimp burgers, to see if they were as good as Joel’s. I think he was surprised when I agreed to eat a “shrimp” burger, because in the past he said I would never eat shrimp. “Insects of the Sea” he said I would call them, when we lived in Phoenix, and worked at my uncle, his dad’s restaurant. I remember he would just laugh and laugh at the thought, and told me I was missing out on great food. But times hand changed since Phoenix, and now shrimp had become one of my favorite foods to eat. He was married with children, so yes, times certainly had changed.
As Iliana and I walked down the street we made our way over to Jaime’s place, we decided to take the bus again, because his place was closer to the Marina and we were too lazy to walk. We arrived in the general area of his place and walked back a few streets off of the main avenue. We found his place, “Jimmy’s” was it’s name, but there was so sign of Jaime anywhere. We decided to stall a bit, so we walked back over to the main avenue and stopped in for a paleta. For those who don’t know, it’s pretty much a popsicle. We sat there and talked, and I remember Iliana and Me having a debate about people who were left handed vs people who were right handed. I had said that most people say that left handed people were smarter and tended to be more intelligent. She agreed, because Iliana is left handed. I being right handed disagreed. I questioned that study altogether, saying that it could have been a study put together by right handed people. So if right handed people make the guidelines for the study in the first place, wouldn’t they be the smarter ones? I remember we debated for a while, letting 30 minutes go by without noticing. We decided to walk back and give Jaime another try, but as we arrived again, we noticed he was no where to be found. We asked one of the cooks in the back, and he said that he had left and didn’t know when he would be back. We said our “oh well” and continued on. I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get to see Jaime, and try one of his “insects of the sea” burgers, but we were on a tight schedule and being this was our last day in Vallarta we wanted to make the best of it. He hopped another bus and made our way back to the downtown/malecon area. Now for those who have never ridden public transportation in Mexico, let’s just say it’s not like the one’s in the states. Sure the busses that you take from city to city are great, but the busses within the city? They are insane. These busses are far from modern, no air-conditioning, no string to pull or strip to push to signal the bus driver to stop. No computer programmed money counter at the front of the bus to neatly hold your change. Nope, none of that. The busses come straight from the 60's or 70's, no a/c, and your signal to the bus driver? Your screaming voice. You need to get off? You need for him to stop the bus? You scream at him too, and he will try, if traffic allows of course. And the state of the art money counter and collector? A wooden box next to the bus driver. Usually busses in the USA have digital or back lit signs telling where the bus is going and the final destination. In Mexico, all the destinations are written in shoe polish on the front window, so you better read fast. And one more thing about the busses in Mexico, they don’t believe in “too many” people on the bus. As we got on, I swear I was somewhere between the driver and the front windshield, and there was one guy almost hanging out the door. The “no person beyond the yellow line” thing does not apply. But hey this is Mexico after all. It’s almost like an adventure doing simple things like taking the bus. It shouldn’t have came as a surprise.
As we arrived back downtown we made our way to the apartment so Iliana could get the thing she had to drop off at her old school. Soon we were on our way, but this time we were on foot. Her school was in the old part of Vallarta, not as far as the Marina was. So as we walked I took in the scenery and the sounds, I didn’t know when I would be coming back here, so I tried to remember as much as I possibly could. As I walked down the streets, I saw there on the corner, a internet café. I asked Iliana if I could stop, because I wanted to email Gaby about the rest of the week. I remember typing out a email, telling her that we were going to be leaving that night, and that possibly we could do something in Guadalajara the very next night, Wednesday night. Iliana had her German class that night, but with it only being an hour long, we could meet up after the class for dinner or a coffee. Really whatever. I didn’t care what we did, just as long as Gaby was there with me, next to me, in the general vicinity of me. We left the café and kept along our trek. We had a nice walk across the downtown and over the bridge to the old town, passing the infamous “Balcones” club that Leo had fooled us into going too, and the “Roxy” club we had gone too years before, when we first came to Vallarta for Jaime’s wedding. That club was actually somewhat responsible for Iliana and myself meeting. See it started like this, this is the quick story of how Iliana came to be in my life:
The first night we were in Vallarta this being in December of 1998, my cousins Julissa and Jessica, who are Joel and Jaime’s sisters wanted to go out. They were happy Kevin and I were there, and they had another friend visiting from New Mexico. So we all decided to hit up “The Roxy” because it was a cool laid back place, and they didn’t really check ID’s (not that any places do). I remember us having drinks, and listening to a live band playing old classic rock and blues. Then it was time for them to take a break, and they made their way off stage. As the filler music came on over the speakers I remember starting to laugh. This was a rock club, full of long haired surfer guys who lived for the waves and the music. And what was the featured filler music they had to keep everyone in the mood while the band took a break? Billy Ocean’s “When the Going Gets Tough.” What?? Were they serious? I remember laughing and laughing, how stupid! No offense to Billy Ocean, but I’m guessing he wasn’t thinking his music was going to be played in a Rock and Roll joint like “the Roxy.” Iliana wasn’t with us that night, and at this point I didn’t even know she existed. A night or two later I remember feeling sick to my stomach, and the whole night I was awake tossing and turning. The next day I didn’t even get out of the bed, and just spent most of the day sleeping. Around what I guessed would be afternoon time, I remember Julissa, Kevin, Jessica and some other girl coming into the hotel room and waking me up. They had come over to swim in the hotel’s pool, and had heard that I was sick and wouldn’t be joining them. Julissa being the crazy person she was, jumped on my bed trying to get me out of it, but it didn’t work, I just lay there. In my half asleep state I remember seeing someone else there in the hotel room I didn’t recognize, but soon after I fell back asleep. Fast forward a few days to the wedding, and I was sitting at a table by myself, feeling better from my sickness, but still nursing a bad headache. I sat there alone, and must have looked miserable. Just then a girl came over to my table and asked me if I was ok, and if I was having fun. I don’t remember what I said, but I’m sure whatever it was it came out mumbled. Turns out she was the girl that had come into our hotel room that day, she had gone swimming with the girls and my brother. She had seen me in the sickened state, great, already a good impression. We got to talking somehow and we hit if off pretty well. We talked about many things that night, what we liked to do, how we both liked sunsets, school, jobs, and music. We joked about it because she said she liked 80's music, especially cheezy long songs. I laughed and told her the story about Billy Ocean at “The Roxy” and she just laughed. She told me she really liked Lionel Richie and I laughed at that, because growing up that was my sister’s favorite singer, and I was familiar with lots of his songs. I asked her what her favorite song was, and she said “Hello.” I said that was a good one, but I personally preferred “Stuck on You.” She said she had never heard that one, and I told her she would like it, it was one of his best. That night we talked and had a great time, I even almost asked her to dance, but didn’t have the courage too. The wedding ended and we went our separate ways, and I wondered if I would ever hear from her again. I remember asking my aunt about her, and her saying that she was a very nice girl, and that she liked her. She said she was Karina’s sister, my cousin’s sister in law, but no relation to me. I thought about it, man I wish I could somehow get to know her. Another day passed, we went to another beach, and I wondered about this girl, this Iliana. The day for us to leave came at last but I had not seen or talked to her since the wedding. I thought to myself that I would never talk to this girl again, that one night we met, would be our only night. I remember going to Archi’s one last time, and as we were leaving I grabbed a mint from a tray Joel had there. I put the mint in my mouth and noticed that the wrapper had writing on it. It listed the street that Archi’s was on, and the local telephone number of the restaurant. I remember going to throw away the wrapper, but me being the “memento” guy that I am (I save receipts and movie stubs and all that) I decided to hold onto it, and I put it in my pocket. It was a nice little thing to remind me of Archi’s. We left and made our way to the airport, and upon arriving we had a bit of delay. I sat there and thought about her, thought that I would never see her again, that I would never speak to her again. I had to do something. I had to contact her, or her sister, or Joel, or somebody, anybody. I didn’t have any money though, so could not use the pay phone. I asked around and my brother in law had a Telmex card, but with not much money left on it. This was my chance, my only chance. I would call my Uncle Joe’s house, the whole trip someone was there at all times, so I would give them my current address at the time, and have her write me. I hoped they would convey the message to her and not forget. As I called the number, getting it from my sister who had so kindly written it down, the phone just rang. Over and over, it just rang. I swear, the whole week, someone was there, not a minute passed without someone being at my Uncle’s house. And now this! No Answer? I sunk down, I was defeated, I was out of options. The plane was almost boarding and I was almost out of time. But not yet. I wasn’t going down that easy. I thought fast, I would just call Joel at Archi’s and have him relay the message, he knew her anyways, and surely would talk to her before my uncle Joe would anyways. So great, I would just call Archi’s. I asked my sister what the number was, but she didn’t have it. My brother? Nope he didn’t have it, and Tommy surely didn’t have it. I was stuck again. I was again, defeated. But not that day, no that day I wouldn’t give up. I remembered something, as if a light directly from heaven shown down on my head. The mint wrapper. The one I didn’t throw away, it had Archi’s number on it. I almost screamed out loud I was so excited. I quickly dialed the numbers and it started to ring, and ring, and ring. Please pick up! You’re a place of business for Pete’s sake! You had to answer! Just then I heard Joel’s voice come over the phone. I quickly explained myself and told him if he could do me a huge favor. “Ok remember that girl Iliana? If I give you my address right now, will you give it to her and ask her to write me? Please, Please, Please ” The phone went silent, and then I heard a very clear “No.” “What? I asked him, why not? C’mon cuz just do this one thing for me, ask her for me, please!” “No” he said again, “do it yourself.” Then the phone went silent, me standing there in confusion from his answer. Then over the phone I heard her voice. “Hello? Hi, this is Iliana.” Huh? What? How? I wondered all these questions within half a second of each other. How it turns out, Iliana was walking down the street that day, and just happened to walk by Archi’s and decided to walk in and say hi, the very moment I had called. She hadn’t planned on going by, Archi’s being a place she had been to thousands of times, and worked at for many hours and months in the past. She was not stopping in to eat, or to help out, she just stopped by to say hi, and it turned out to be that very moment. She said she walked up and Joel just handed her the phone, saying it was for her. Needless to say, I did give her my address and she did write me. Paper letters lead to more efficient e-mail, and e-mail led to chats online. These lead up to phone calls, and the phone calls lead up to me visiting. Over the years we never stopped staying in touch, and we had become very close friends because of that. To us, how we met and the circumstances around them sounded straight from a movie. Me not throwing away the mint wrapper, her just happening to walk by, and me hanging up the phone with her that last day, and boarding my place seconds later. It all worked out somehow, and we have been friends ever since. That’s the story of Iliana and Me.
Back to the present day. Like I said seeing “The Roxy” brought all that back. But as we walked farther we came to her school. She ran inside, and then soon came out to show me around. It was a nice school, open air, but still very nice. She pointed out her classrooms and where she used to study. It was neat seeing where she went to school, because when I met her she was just starting college and was contemplating leaving Vallarta for Guadalajara. So seeing her school in Vallarta was nice. As we walked some more, I must have said I was hungry, because we stopped for tacos. We had missed the shrimp burgers, but we were going to make it up ten fold. She took me to a place called “La Marisma” which actually was just another taco cart. She asked me if I liked shrimp tacos and I agreed that I did. No Shrimp burgers, shrimp tacos would have to do. I watched the women make the tacos in front of my very eyes, they chopped the shrimp so fine, and put it together with a light batter. Then they fried it, which made it into a sort of shrimp tender. It reminded me of chicken tenders, but obviously this being made of shrimp. They wrapped it in a corn tortilla, added a bit of lettuce and handed to me. I added a bit of chile and ketchup and bit into it. The taste was beyond anything I had ever tasted. Pure Heaven in My Mouth. Clouds with singing angels whirled around my palette, while cute puppies and soft coated bunnies played on my tongue. The taco was the ultimate. It was beyond ultimate, it was truly a creation of God. I felt like crying I was so happy, I felt like going around the cart and hugging the big sweaty mexican woman who had made this piece of heaven for me. Washing it down with a cold Mexican Coke, it was bliss, pure 100% unadulterated bliss. It was so good I had 8 of them. And as I sat there, with my belly full of pure happiness, Iliana just smiled and laughed. I must have looked silly, but I didn’t care, I was completely content. If I would have died then, I would have died a happy man.
It was hard saying goodbye to my La Marisma Shrimp Taco’s, but the time came when I had too. It was almost like leaving a loved one, because I kept looking back, as if the cart was beckoning me to stay. We ended walking around some more, and the hours were passing us by quickly. As we walked back to the apartment, I decided to check in on my email that I had sent earlier that day. I had done my job, Gaby told me to email her the day we were leaving Vallarta, so I was going to see if she was going to do her part, and reply back. As I opened my hotmail, I saw her name in my Inbox. A jolt of excitement went down my spine as I opened the email, and read it slowly, as if not to miss a word. She was excited too, she was happy I was having a good time in Vallarta, and she was ready to see me. She asked for Iliana’s home number, that way she could call us the next day in the afternoon, to make plans for tomorrow night. I asked Iliana her phone number and as I replied to Gaby’s email I smiled. It was all coming together now, the days in Vallarta were almost finished, and soon I would be with my Gaby again. That’s right, Reunited and yes, it feels so good.
We continued our walk back to the apartment, laughing and joking along the way, myself with a bit more spring in my step. As we arrived it was starting to get late, and the sun was going down. The kids were inside playing and watching tv, and we got our things together and packed up what things we had laying around. For the next couple hours, we sat around the apartment, occasionally walking outside, and getting some fresh air, taking in the final hours of the Vallarta night. Later on we walked down to Archi’s for the last supper, and all of us, including the kids ate Archi Burgers. La Marisma had the best shrimp tacos, but nothing topped Archi’s Burgers. As we ate another old friend of Iliana’s had came by to say hello. His name was Carlos, and she had known him for many years. In conversation he asked if we were going to be in town for a while, because the very next day he was going to go to a very nice beach, one you can only reach by truck, being that it is off the beaten path. This was almost a private beach, one the tourists didn’t know of, and one of the most beautiful. He offered to take us along, but we had to decline his offer. We were leaving that night, to be in Guadalajara the next morning. I could see that Iliana wanted to stay, also being that Karina had told us Joel was getting to Vallarta the very next day also. Part of me wanted to stay, but then I thought about her. Gaby was depending on me, she was waiting for me, she was the reason I went down there after all. Vallarta ended being a great escape for a few days, but we had to go back, there was no other choice. I reminded Iliana of her German class the next night, and she reluctantly accepted and agreed. As we ate and talked the night progressed, and soon the late hours came. It was time for us to go. We said our good byes and farewells, them being difficult and hard to do. I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to stay in Vallarta forever, Gaby could move from Guadalajara and live there, and we could get married and have a big house. I would surf and she would sit on the beach and laugh as I would wipe out. But it was not to be. The bottom line was that we had to leave, Gaby wasn’t going to move, and Iliana and I had responsibilities in our own cities. It was hard to leave though, nevertheless. As we took the taxi to the bus station, we drove down the main avenue for the last time that night. As we arrived, I felt the ocean breeze hit my face for the last time, smelling the freshness of the water. The city was quiet now, it almost being midnight. And as we stepped on our bus bound for Guadalajara, I said goodbye to Vallarta. I remember feeling sad, but still happy I had the chance to visit again. I would be back, that was for certain. Vallarta had not seen the last of me. The bus made its way now, and I watched as the Vallarta passed through my window. It was going to be a all night bus ride back, but I was ready. The excitement was intense now, and my heart seemingly skipped a beat at the thought that I was less then a day away now. I was very close now, I could feel it. The bus drove on through the night. Day 6 was in the books.
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