Friday, March 28, 2008

Puerto Penasco, Provincetown, Fire Island?

I put the 3 names in the title together because this is the first attempt by a human being to combine them. they are the same species. before this moment, rocaportenses (spanish term for residents of rocky point/puerto penasco) were unknown to populations of the other two, and vice versus. like Cris Columbus, or more likely, the vikings, ive blended intelligence of the new world resort on the sea of cortez and the old ones hanging at the edge of the atlantic. like the viking discovery - this one might end up as the majority of mutations, sperms and seeds, failing to create something new and advantageous. how long will it be before andrew sullivan, john waters and kevin sessums are vacationing in Las Conchas instead of P-town? rhetorical question. probably not by next monday when im planning to return to Puerto Penasco. sadly i wont have much in common with the rocaportenses but equally ill be relieved of having to compare my own achievements to the great gay artists and intellectuals from the east should i have spotted one of them strolling along the malecon. ill be in my cultural tower of babel or behind a one way mirror, unable to find locals, for their lack of interest, to communicate with me in language of my values and interests. but i'll understand them, in english or spanish since i can and must if i don't want isolation sickness. i refer to the mexicans, gringos and pochos who dont know much nor care about gay, artistic, intellectual life in New York, San Francisco and Mexico City. that life i miss in the deserts. It had been a while since i'd spent much time in penasco. i felt too isolated and had lost interest. its a huge contrast to my life in manhattan for 18 years and san francisco for 8 years before that and the many long stays in Mexico City during the last decade. the growth is astounding in penasco, sometimes called the "Mexican Dubai". all the investment in tourist infrastructure and second homes for wealthy arizonans results in opportunities for mexicans from the south who migrate with much less money. they are creating humble communities spreading out into the vacant, enormous desert, such as the one pictured above on the side of town heading towards the Mayan Palace.