Over the past week, we've received a few e-mails or been engaged in several conversations about the 22 Cruise Ship Passengers Robbed in Puerto Vallarta. However, I have not even flinched at this news? Is it foolish on my behalf not to be concerned? Me, the overly cautious, non-risk taker who applies sunscreen to the bottom of her big ole' feet while at the beach and the tops whenever they are exposed? Me, who wears an avalanche beacon in bounds of a resort on a powder day?
I'm not concerned, Here is why...
As I have mentioned before, I am on the conservative side of travel. I trust my gut...if it does not feel right, I don't do it. However, I do have some cardinal rules: I don't walk around at night; always take a taxi. I don't explore isolated stretches of beautiful, exotic beaches; although I am willing to bet I can out swim any robbers and potential attackers (however, I will choose not to make any bets because it is illegal in the state of Utah). I don't get drunk while out in a public restaurant/bar; no need to be the dumb-ass gringos who get followed home and robbed. New Year's Eve, 2009, on Isla Margarita in Venezuela reinforced this rule after somebody slipped something into one of Sammy's drinks. Fortunately, I was not drunk and noticed how goofy he was acting and we immediately went back to our hotel. I have a system for my money; decoy $10.00 goes in the right hand pocket and the small amount I have left gets shoved in my bra or bathing suit bottoms...you getting the idea?
Back to the topic at hand...the news being reported. While living abroad in Ecuador, it became clear that what is reported in the United States was not always what was being reported in the actual country. For example, in 2008 the government of Colombia launched an attack against the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) along the Ecuadorian border. The United States news exasperated what had actually happened. In Ecuador, the news was reported very differently from the reports I was getting from friends and family members back home. So differently, the head of my school and president of the local university addressed it in a meeting with all foreign teachers. Today, as I read the Mexican newspaper which reported the robbery of Carnival Cruise line passengers last week, I noticed the robbery did not take place in Puerto Vallarta rather in the town of 'El Nogalito'. Referring to my guide books and google maps, the robbery actually occurred 40 miles outside of Puerto Vallarta. The only relationship Puerto Vallarta has to this news story is that the boat was docked in it's port. Let's be rational for a moment and look at this information in a different manner: I grew up in Corona, California which is 40 miles from Compton (considered the toughest streets because they are home to rivalry gangs: Bloods and Crips) and 50 miles from South Central, Los Angeles (were 11 violent crimes were reported between February 21-February 27, 2012; reported by the LA Times as average for the area).
In the past 10 years of traveling internationally, I have only taken two group tour packages. One was from Ecuador to Cartagena, Colombia. We took a taxi to the airport in Quito, a party plane, with all Ecuadorians, to Colombia, and tour bus to an all inclusive hotel. The second was a trip I took with a group of co-workers from Quito, Ecuador to the Galapagos Islands. We hired a man, associated with the school where we worked. He was a guide who worked all over the country and is known for research he has done in the Amazon with birds. I had gone on three trips with him, previous to our teacher excursion, while leading science trips with my students: twice to the Amazon region of Ecuador and once to the Galapagos Islands. Typically, people residing in a country travel very differently than tourists coming to visit for a short period of time. What is the most glaring difference between the group tours I have participated in and the group tour recently reported in the news?....the frequency of the trips. The number of cruise ships which stop in Puerto Vallarta is large! Large enough the companies who organize hiking excursions/tours to the jungle of El Nogalito have a separate schedule than a tourist not associated with the cruise lines. I saw one tour company who offered Monday and Wednesday tours for cruise ship passengers at the same time each day. I imagine the frequency and consistency of cruise line passengers taking this tour in a big, flashy bus driving through the countryside is rather easy to become familiar with. Making it an easy target to stop along the highway and rob the passengers of their valuables. While being robbed of your valuables is a scary, horrific event I would like to never experience....it is just material possessions and nobody was harmed (unlike the 11 violent crimes in South Central). I do not believe robbing and stealing from others to be the most righteous way to make a living; however I also can empathize why poor people in the jungle of Mexico would have done this. Again, thankfully nobody was hurt.
So, why would I take the time to research and dissect this information if I wasn't concerned by it? There are several reasons, one to help anyone who is concerned about our safety in Mexico. And may I stop and declare, I am so grateful to have people who are concerned about us! I would be more concerned if nobody ever thought about our well-being. So thank you to those who look after me and Sammy! Secondly, doing the research helps confirm we are making a safe, rational decision in moving to Puerto Vallarta. If we get there and find out we were wrong (like in Venezuela)...it is simple: we pack up and come home. It would be foolish not to research the safety of an area you live. In fact, I encourage everyone to look at the crime reports in your current neighborhood; interesting stuff happening in the Sugahood; where I currently reside.
In conclusion, lightening strikes anywhere. As 76 year old Marianne Rumsey suggested in the article Lessons for Living, "Enjoy each day. There are no guarantees for the future. Lighten up, let's look at things and be happy instead of being glum and negative. Walk cheerfully on the face of the earth"... And I will continue to do so but not before I have applied sunscreen to my feet!
I'm not concerned, Here is why...
As I have mentioned before, I am on the conservative side of travel. I trust my gut...if it does not feel right, I don't do it. However, I do have some cardinal rules: I don't walk around at night; always take a taxi. I don't explore isolated stretches of beautiful, exotic beaches; although I am willing to bet I can out swim any robbers and potential attackers (however, I will choose not to make any bets because it is illegal in the state of Utah). I don't get drunk while out in a public restaurant/bar; no need to be the dumb-ass gringos who get followed home and robbed. New Year's Eve, 2009, on Isla Margarita in Venezuela reinforced this rule after somebody slipped something into one of Sammy's drinks. Fortunately, I was not drunk and noticed how goofy he was acting and we immediately went back to our hotel. I have a system for my money; decoy $10.00 goes in the right hand pocket and the small amount I have left gets shoved in my bra or bathing suit bottoms...you getting the idea?
Back to the topic at hand...the news being reported. While living abroad in Ecuador, it became clear that what is reported in the United States was not always what was being reported in the actual country. For example, in 2008 the government of Colombia launched an attack against the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) along the Ecuadorian border. The United States news exasperated what had actually happened. In Ecuador, the news was reported very differently from the reports I was getting from friends and family members back home. So differently, the head of my school and president of the local university addressed it in a meeting with all foreign teachers. Today, as I read the Mexican newspaper which reported the robbery of Carnival Cruise line passengers last week, I noticed the robbery did not take place in Puerto Vallarta rather in the town of 'El Nogalito'. Referring to my guide books and google maps, the robbery actually occurred 40 miles outside of Puerto Vallarta. The only relationship Puerto Vallarta has to this news story is that the boat was docked in it's port. Let's be rational for a moment and look at this information in a different manner: I grew up in Corona, California which is 40 miles from Compton (considered the toughest streets because they are home to rivalry gangs: Bloods and Crips) and 50 miles from South Central, Los Angeles (were 11 violent crimes were reported between February 21-February 27, 2012; reported by the LA Times as average for the area).
In the past 10 years of traveling internationally, I have only taken two group tour packages. One was from Ecuador to Cartagena, Colombia. We took a taxi to the airport in Quito, a party plane, with all Ecuadorians, to Colombia, and tour bus to an all inclusive hotel. The second was a trip I took with a group of co-workers from Quito, Ecuador to the Galapagos Islands. We hired a man, associated with the school where we worked. He was a guide who worked all over the country and is known for research he has done in the Amazon with birds. I had gone on three trips with him, previous to our teacher excursion, while leading science trips with my students: twice to the Amazon region of Ecuador and once to the Galapagos Islands. Typically, people residing in a country travel very differently than tourists coming to visit for a short period of time. What is the most glaring difference between the group tours I have participated in and the group tour recently reported in the news?....the frequency of the trips. The number of cruise ships which stop in Puerto Vallarta is large! Large enough the companies who organize hiking excursions/tours to the jungle of El Nogalito have a separate schedule than a tourist not associated with the cruise lines. I saw one tour company who offered Monday and Wednesday tours for cruise ship passengers at the same time each day. I imagine the frequency and consistency of cruise line passengers taking this tour in a big, flashy bus driving through the countryside is rather easy to become familiar with. Making it an easy target to stop along the highway and rob the passengers of their valuables. While being robbed of your valuables is a scary, horrific event I would like to never experience....it is just material possessions and nobody was harmed (unlike the 11 violent crimes in South Central). I do not believe robbing and stealing from others to be the most righteous way to make a living; however I also can empathize why poor people in the jungle of Mexico would have done this. Again, thankfully nobody was hurt.
So, why would I take the time to research and dissect this information if I wasn't concerned by it? There are several reasons, one to help anyone who is concerned about our safety in Mexico. And may I stop and declare, I am so grateful to have people who are concerned about us! I would be more concerned if nobody ever thought about our well-being. So thank you to those who look after me and Sammy! Secondly, doing the research helps confirm we are making a safe, rational decision in moving to Puerto Vallarta. If we get there and find out we were wrong (like in Venezuela)...it is simple: we pack up and come home. It would be foolish not to research the safety of an area you live. In fact, I encourage everyone to look at the crime reports in your current neighborhood; interesting stuff happening in the Sugahood; where I currently reside.
In conclusion, lightening strikes anywhere. As 76 year old Marianne Rumsey suggested in the article Lessons for Living, "Enjoy each day. There are no guarantees for the future. Lighten up, let's look at things and be happy instead of being glum and negative. Walk cheerfully on the face of the earth"... And I will continue to do so but not before I have applied sunscreen to my feet!
2006
