Juliette and Leilani come to Tenerife

Maude and I had been expecting our special guests for some time, we deliberately planned it so that they would be here for the same week so that we could be a big fun group of crazy NorthAmericans. They both arrived Sunday, the 13th, so I went up in the guagua to SC to pick up Leilanifrom the airport while Maudewent with her family to get Juliette. Later that night, the four of us met up in Adeje Pueblo for a Hindu festival. We tried some spicy cracker samples and decided that Hindu food was not the preferred choice. Leilani and I received stickers that symbolize the word ´hummmmm…´, yeah, like the sounds you stereotypicaly make when you meditate. We ran into Dani and Tarik, my hindufriend from school, (I love these boys) how ironic. It was a little lame and dirty, the used junk sales stands were a turn off so we hitched the bus to El Farro, the classiest disco out there, to watch a free Jazz. On the way there we made some British friends and ran into Dani and Tarik AGAIN, what are the odds? Unfortunately we pretty much walked in and they stopped playing, but it was a good place to chill for a little first night bonding.

Monday. Beach. Duh.

Priorities first, so we went to the beach of course.  When one goes on vacation to an Island, going to the beach is the above all expected activity, and it is expected that you return home a few shades darker, which we did. But with more of a reddish tint. Leilani bought a ten euro ipod stereo which would come in handy for the rest of the week. After basking in the sun all day and drinking shitty watered down five euro piña coladas delivered by our beloved waiter Abdul, we all went home to rest up for the upcoming events of the week.

Tuesday. Loro Parque.

Maude and I managed to score some free Loro Parque entries since the man who owns it is in out Rotary Club. We took an early bus to Puerta deLa Cruz and passed the day watching animals do unnatural things. I had already been there with my host family over the holidays and it is ten times more boring the second time through. We entertained ourselves by flirting with the penguin men through the big soundproof, weatherproof windows. We managed to give out several of our Rotary cards out that day to various good looking men. There is nothing more fun than acting like ditsy bimbos in a crazy group of flirtatious girls, somethinewe would partake in excessively through the entire week. After visiting the penguin center several times through, we decided we´d had enough animals for one day, so we hopped the free train to catch a ride into the town. We took a nice stroll in La Puerta de la Cruz to get to the guagua station. Arrive home. Sleep.

Wednesday. Los Gigantes. Garachico.

Because the west coast of the island is the most complicated to travel due to lack of highway and cascading mountain slopes, we had to be creative with the transportation (we had to switch guaguas several times) in order to arrive at our destination, Garachico, to bathe in the natural swimming pools. First we took a detour in Los Gigantes, where we drank some nasty free wine, and slathered on enough sunscreen to protect the burns from the days before. After ´darring la vuelta´ there and checking out the beach, we were up and leaving on our second bus swap which took us down the scenic mountain passes. The bus ride was long, but very enjoyable, as it is one of the loveliest places to drive on the island. We took crazy photo shoots and sang out loudwith the stereo to pass the time. We really were the perfect group, the four of us. We had to take another unexpected stop in Icon de los Vinos, then FINALLY at about 3 30, we arrived in Garachico, about five hours later. The weather up north was overcast and chilly, so we didnt even end up swimming in the natural pools, but we climbed on some lava rocks (or maybe that was just me) and enjoyed the tranquil beauty of the adorable pueblo. Waiting for the guagua, we lost track of how many beeps we got from flirtacious passing boys. Juliette pretended to be a bull, and i the torreo…that scored some honks. It was a long but enjoyable ridehome, filled with conversation, shared stories about the exchange, photos and singing; the kind of light hearted ambiance that told in a story seems unimportant but really has a lot of significance.

Thursday. Los Chrisitianos.

We took the day off from adventurous excursions and chilled in good ´ol Christianos, which the girls had yet to see too much of. We went shopping and found some good sales. I think three of the four of us bought the same 5 euro dress. We tried on some clothes in a china store and amused ourselves with the shelves of junk. We finally made it to the beach, thought it wasn’t an ideal beach day, it was overcast and chilly. Maudeand Juliette left to eat lunch with Laura, Maude´s host mom, so Leilani and I did a bit more window shopping, then took a short siesta in a grassy yard just off a sidewalk in Las Americas. We went home to dinner, then prepared for a long night out in the discos. I wore my little black 5 euro dress. We met up in San Telmo and encountered one of out prior good looking aquaintancesof that day with some of his friends. We hung out for some time, one of them invited us to come eat for free in the restaurant at which he works; we swapped numbers then ditched them and made our way to Las Veronicas. On the way we madea pit stop outside an Irish pub to use the bathroom/drink and befriended yet another random acquaintancewith a man who works at Aqualand, a water slide park, and invited us to go one day for free. Being friendly to people really does the wallot good, as you can see…or maybe that is being good looking and female. But friendliness helps. A few drinks later, we finally arrived at our destination in las Veronicas. We danced in Tramps for a while, then migrated to Rags, where I got hit on and being that it was the week of friend-making whores, I figured what the hell and gave him my card. We were ´chatted up´ by several more British boys before the end of the night, and then finally left to go home around 5am. Leilani and I cleaned up the room and packed before going to sleep, and finally got to bed at 6am. I would be soo tired for my excursion to La Palma.

Friday. Last Day together. I leave for La Palma.

I woke up surprisingly early at ten. Crazy, I always do that after going out. Four hours of sleep under my belt for my big weekend in La Palma. Nice. I packed that morning while Leilani slept until one. We met later with the girls in Los Christianos for a few hours, I had to leave at 5 30, so it was just enough time to say goodbye and cherish out last moments of reflection on the wonderful week we´d had. We ran into a bit of a coincidental conflict with both Maude´s and my host parent about my duffel bag and some carpooling, but everything turned out just fine. We madeour closing video clip for the documentary that we had been filming for all week. Withall of us standing in a huddle with a flower in our hair, it ended something like this: ´Adios, ´hasta luego, TE QUIERO TENERIFE!!´.

Excursion to La Gomera

I woke up at 6:45 Saturday to catch the bus for my excursion to La Gomera. I love going on these tours alone, beacuse although you are in a large group with a guide to advise you where to go, but you have the freedom of going through with discovering any spontaneus curiosity that you have personally, as long as you come back to the bus in time. There is noone to share the decision making, and noone to slow you down.

We borded the Ferry at 9 am (I was one of the first of MANY people boarding the bus, I think it would have been more convenient to meet at the boarding dock at quarter ´til 9.  We were one of the last groups to board, and so there were literally no seats available. There happened to be a band playing in the dining area, so I bought my half way asleep self a cafe con leche and managed to snag a seat at a dining table with people I didnt know, who didnt know each other and who didnt speak my language. It was great, one man was playing the accordian, another the guitar, one man singing, and everyone around dancing and singing along and having a great time.  The pure spontneaty of the whole situation was gorgeous, it was cultural and genuine and i felt lucky to have been right there to witness it.

We arrived on the island 40 mins later started our loop of the little Island on the bus. We drove up to the highest peak; it was incredible how enourmous Tenerife looks from La Gomera, especially when my normal view is seeng La Gomera from Tenerife.  We did a little path hiking; how incredible it is to breath the cool fresh air of the damp, mossy woods at the peaks of the island. I felt There was alot less to see on La Gomera then on my home island or El Hierro, but I was glad to get to know another one of the Canaries. For lunch we all ate together, the whole tour group, it was included in the fee. I ended up having to sit by this Scottish man who earlier that day cought me taking a photo of him from the bus window. I didnt know earlier that he was in our group, but when I saw him dressed in that kilt, I couldnt help but snap a quick one. Apparently, I wasnt quick enough. Who wears kilts, anyway?, even if you are from Scottland. Regardless, the situation wasnt wierd, I told him my last name was Scottish and that my grandfather had come from there. We ended up becoming freinds and trading cards. He has a farm there, and has cards for it, haha. You wouldnt beleive how difficult it is to understand a Scotish accent, I felt embarrassed that I had to ask him to repeat things several times. I also made freinds with two Polish girls who are working in England.

After lunch I bought some Goffio in a tourist shop, its a very typical Canarian cornmeal poweder that is used in cooking, or you can also drink it with hot milk and sugar (I had tried it for the first time the mornign Maude and I spent the night in La Laguna for the Rotary meeting and liked it alot), it is supposed to be very nutricious.

Many photos later, we were boarding the ferry to return to the Island. I found a seat this time and slept most of the way home, exhausted from a long day of adventure.

Class Concert and Rotary Meeting in La Laguna

Wednesday i had a concert with all the students who take singing class. I sang two songs in Spanish: ´Por los años que me quedan´ by Gloria Stefan and ´La camisa Negra´ by Juanes. I was really dissapointed after the concert because I worked very hard on both of the songs, which I am very confident that I can sing, but I got nervous, which is unusual for me, and choked in front of the audience.

Thursday Maude and I went up to the North with a Rotarian, Marcus, in order to give our powerpoint presentations about our homes to the Rotary Club of La Laguna. First we arrived in Santa Cruz and walked around this beautiful garden (it was nice to geta bit of nature), then met up with a Rotarian, Elena, looked at her shop and some wedding dresses, and then did some window shopping in SC. We stopped in the art gallery where Marcus´s wife takes classes; it was neat, we got to meet with a real professional. We went to Marcus´s house with his wife to eat and get ready before the Rotary meeting. He jsut so happens to have a very sweet and attractive 19 year old son ( I am kicking myself for not getting a screen name or something, but I am hoping that we will meet up again sometime in the near future). We went to the meeting and gave out presentations, chatted with crazy old men, then went to bed late.

We woke up early the next morning to walk around the college town of La Laguna, an ended up finding there was a free hour long tour group, which worked out too convenientely. We did a little shopping, I found three euro shoes, and then learned some Laguna History with the cutest tour guide ever in a tiny group of four, Maude and I, and a couple visiting from Madrid. After La Laguna tour Marcus picked us up and we all went together to La Candaleria to meet with another Rotarian. There we watched a documentary and learned how Las Guanches, members of the first civilization on the Canaries, made their claypots without spinning wheels and with this powder dust. It was really interesting, they had the whole recreation proccess down to a ´T´, and we watched them work a little. Marcus bought us both necklaces as souvenirs.

After that we went to lunch and had fresh fish and papas canarias. We ended the excursion with a look a the basillica of La Candalaria, the largest, oldest and most historical church on Tenerife. We were dropped off at the guagua stop to catch a ride home to the south and made friends with a wandering German woman who happened to speak both English and French.  The busride home was quite and relaxing. Then I went home to watch about 8 consecutive episodes of Desperate Housewives. : )

Excursion of Tenerife….six months later

Anna works in a hotel, and being that it is such a touristic area, the hotels often arrange for their guests optional excursions and she was trying to arrange for me to go for free to La Gomera with one of the groups this Saturday, but it turned out that the excursion to La Gomera is actually NEXT Saturday so, instead, I got to go on a tour of Tenerife and this coming saturday I will be checking out the other Island. Beleive it or not, though I have been living on this small speck of map space for the past half year, when I went on the tour, we visited some places that I´d never been that were so different, so incredibly beautiful that I could hardly beleive I was on my Island at all. First we went to Teide and La Puerta de La Cruz, both of which I have already seen, then when we moved onto the North eastern tip which was completely different from the rest of the Island. We went through two adorable pueblos, Maraca and Garachico which i loved, and it was where we ate lunch and had a longer hour and a half break. It was very representative of the Canaries rather than scumming itsself up with the tourist filth of the South. My favorite of which I saw was Buena Vista, ´Good View´ in English, and trust me, it lives up to its name. It was like a scene from Lord of the Rings, only less sprawled out because of the ocean; It was a deep sharp, mountanous valley, rocky but green, with a tiny

Later that night I went with Maude to see a Jazz concert in the Cultural Center. It was small and intimate in a darkened room. The band consisted of only three men, a pianist from Brittian, who also sang a bit of scat, a drummer from southamerica and a spanish bassist/songwriter, there were no trumpets or saxaphones and they played with this style that reminded me so much of a Charlie Brown episode. They were okay, not amazing, but just seeing and hearing the live Jazz made me so happy. Clay Stevens, I thought of you. ; ) haha.

Today is Sunday and since we didnt have Sailing this weekend, Teresa and I had made plans during the week to cook together, so today we brewed up what is called Potaje de Berros, it a stew of pumpkin, zuchinni, potatoes, pork, and an herb called Berros all brewed together in a big ´ol pot. I am trying to learn a little bit of spanish cooking before I come home, because the greatness of Spanish food is non-existant in America.

Right now I am halfway through watching the third season of Desperate Housewives in Spanish on DVD. I dont know what I will do when I finish this season, since they are currently airing the fourth season on TV. Recommendations of lame passtimes? Anyone??

PS: Just a side note, wordpress has changed the setup of their webpage and I cant seem to find the Spell Check button, so please excuse the spelling errors and understand that when I write it is usually quickly and I rely on spellcheck to fix my errors, so…if you come across an awkward word that doesnt look Spanish, just be creative ; )

Semana Santa in Tenerife

Well its actually the week after Semana Santa, or that which we call Easter Week in Spanish, and though i don’t remember all the juicy details, i figure its better to write something to have some slight record of how i spent my ´vacation time´ without my host family here on the island, since i haven’t been writing so frequently these days. (See that as a good sign that I have been too occupied to write down all my activities.)

Since my host family had made their plans long before to go during Easter week to the United States to visit their son in New Jersey, I had also been planning on ways to get out of dodge for the time being, since I didnt want to be alone for the week, and it would be a great opportunity to travel, since everyone is on vacation. So initially I had plans with my friend Anna to go with her to Galacia, the north eastern corner of the peninsula to spend the time with her grandparents there since they have a house in which we could stay and all, and we were even planning on catching a bus to Portugal to take a look. THEN, when i went to Italy, we (the group of exchangees) had started to make plans to go to Marbella, the southern tip of the peninsula, to spend the week with the group of Americans, which to me sounded much more appealing considering that I would be with this amazing group of kids, and Id thought about visiting with my friend in Valencia beforehand, and then moving onto Sevilla afterwards, and it was going to be this great elaborate excursion of all of the important southern regions of Spain and I couldn’t wait. In the end, there was a problem with accommodations, and all the people who had willingly offered their homes as places to stay weren’t given permission from their host parents, and the cheap tickets I had found came up as unavailable. After a lot of stress, tears and frustration, I couldn’t change that I would be spending my Easter vacation here in the Island.

It had been arranged that I stay with my ´aunt´, who lives right in Los Christianos, and I ended up having a great time passing the week here in the island. I skipped school Friday with Maude, and we went to the beach; I was red as a cherry at the end of the day because I still havent learned to use sunscreen. That night I went out to the discos with a big group from class, which works out nicely having a home in Los Cristianos because it is not necessary to pay for a taxi home, as everything is in walking distance. Saturday morning, with three hours of sleep, I woke up early to go to the Playa de San Juan and cheer on my sailing school classmates in their regatta, or sailing race. Because there wasnt enough wind, they couldnt compete. That night I went out again, though with little enthusiasm because of my tiredness, with Andrés, the Italian, Soledad, the Argentinian, and Maude but we left early, around 3 because we were all tired. Sunday I walked to the beach with Anna (my aunt), I went to Palm Sunday mass, and then we met up at the beach and relaxed and recovered from the night before (she had also gone out to dance). We went to bed early that night. Monday was the second part of the Regatta, fortunately there was wind; the kids from our school all did really well, one boy Uli, took second place. Tuesday I had sailing class, in order to compensate for all the kids that didnt participate in the regatta over the weekend when we would have typically had class, we had our classes during the week. There was no wind that day, so we went out in the plastic canoes. This turned out to be quite the experience, it was me and this seven year old boy, Ricardo, a smart kid who is not afraid of stating his opinion, and we got in a mixup with the a strong current which we couldnt seem to row out of no matter how hard we tried, and the waves were big that day and the wind had started to pick up, which worsened even more our struggle to break free from the current and we were headed straight for the rocks. I was having a great time and enjoying the situation until he started crying and yelling at me and screaming ´we are going to die!´ in spanish. The poor kid, I felt so bad, but I couldnt really do much but try and calm him, which wasnt working so well. Finally Monolo, our instructor came to the rescue and pulled us out of there. We returned to land smiling about it, but the last thing he told me was ´I am not going to forget to tell my parents about this.´ Comforting. The next day we had class again, and it was another day without wind, so we rode around in the Lancha, the new motor boat, and watched the dolphins and rode along the coast. We had a paella at Marisols with all the family for el dia de los padres.  Thursday was a free day for me, so I did a little hiking. I walked about three hours (there and back) to Las Galletas, on the other side of the mountain, then went to have lunch at my grandparents house for lunch, and later that night went to hang out with some friends. Friday I went to Adeje pueblo to watch the Easter processions which ended up being different than i thought they would be, and more like a theatrical reproduction of Easter Sunday than anything, with one man playing Jesus, etc, etc.  Later I went to my grandparents again to eat, and then to the movies with Emilio and Anna and we  watched The Chronicles of Spiderwick. Saturday we had sailing. again. Finally I went out in the boat with Niko, a friend studying in Madrid; we went together  in the Vorean and he practiced his English in that sexy french accent of his ; ). Later that day I watched my little cousins, Eva and Mar for Marisol, then went out to the discos later that night. Sunday was another day at sailing and the wind was acting really crazy and I tipped two times in my first ten minutes and then had to go in because of the speed and irregularity of the wind, that and i was very tired from the week before and didnt have much focus, so i went home early and rested. My host family got home late that night, so I spent my last night at Anna´s house.

Monday we started again with school. The worst part of any vacation is getting yourself back into your normal everyday routine. Maude got back Wednesday from Sevilla, and we have been planning and preparing ever since for the visit of Juliette, an exchangee who lived close to Maude in Barcelona who will be arriving on April 13th and staying for 9 days.

Random thoughts as I sit in the Sun

Here I am, kicking back in my room, the door-sized window wide open, allowing to enter every ray of sun possible and exposing to it my pale-ish American skin. This is the life, I tell you. Never have I felt more relaxed or without worry, though I am certainly aware of more important things that deserve my attention, I would rather sit right here and spoil myself with luxury.

I dont know why I have this inspiration today, I see sun almost every day here on the island, but for some reason I have this nostalgic feeling that brings me back to a childhood summer vacation, not a worry in the world. Maybe its because I have been sick with a stuffy nose and sore throat these past several days, and am still in that dreamy-hazy state or mind, you know, that tired feeling you get when your body is tired because your immune system has been working ever so hard to make you better. Maybe its because I am content with the state of my life right now. When I first got to the Islands, I was depressed and lonely and hated it here and wanted nothing more than to move to the peninsula where I felt I would seek the answer to all of my problems. Sometimes when I prayed at night I would ask God why he did this to me, and what it was that I was receiving punishment for, that the exchange wasnt supposed to be like this. Here I sit, five months later thinking to myself how glad I am that the moving to the peninsula plan didnt work out and that I got stuck here in this shabby little 800 square kilometers of space. The only thing that I can possible imagine that could make me better would be to have the amazing view of the ocean and all the houses below that you can see when you look out the two giant windows of my little host brother´s room.

I should probably be finishing up my blog about Italy about now, but that seems like too much work for me to handle at the moment. I cant concentrate when that cool breeze is caressing my face so delicately. That must sound so terribly poetic, I am sure. Apologies for the sappy emotional crap lately.

I cant believe I am going to be an aunt. But all the same I am thinking that its about time that Kerri had a baby. I guess I have just been hoping for so long that I cant believe it. More flashbacks of childhood memories, summer vacations, New Jersey at Grandmas and Poppop´s, playing Troll at the park, running away from Dad screaming with excitement, tire swings, beach clubs, Spice Girl´s Movie, trying to stay up as late as we can so that when the clock strikes 12, we can officially call it a ´Midnight snack´, going to Katherine’s because Oreos always tasted the best at her house, lemonade stands and then burying the money we made afterwards for ´safekeeping´, stoop baseball, crabbing with Uncle John. Those were good times, and I am glad that I still retain memories of those times, some people cant, then again, I am only nineteen years old, i guess it really wasnt that long ago. My host father says he cant remember anything from his life before his years of twelve or thirteen. I feel bad for him, but I guess he was always moving around and stuff as a kid with his dad being a pilot and everything. He probably never had time to attach himself to anything.

Its funny when I look back at myself as a kid, a little embarrassed of who I was: shy, pudgy, afraid, always off somewhere daydreaming, wanting nothing more than for to be a part of the group; I think of all the many ways in which Ive changed, with age, with maturity, with trying to better myself and yet, I am still that same kid.  : ) 

Life is like a Warhead

Sometimes life is like a Warhead. Do you remember Warheads? Yeah, those insanely sour black little candies that my friends and I used to buy at out little brothers´ summer baseball games and have competitions to see who could withstand putting the most in their mouth at the same time. Well yes, sometimes this is life.

You pop just one of those bad boys and you are about ready to cry, but once you surpass that outer layer of powdery super-sourness, you make it to that sweet candy center that tastes so smooth and soft after enduring the challenging sourness. Sure, you can cheat and soak the warhead in a bit of water so you only have to taste the sweet part, but for some reason the sugar always tastes sweeter after a zap of sour.

This past Monday I started with my painting classes in the Cultural Center. I love my teacher. Ive only gone twice and I have learned so much. Im so happy to be going, because sometimes with all the obligations and necessities that need attended in life, I forget how much I love to make art and to be creative, then once I am re-exposed to the opportunity to be creative, it makes me so happy.

Also this week we started Tennis in gym class. Two times a week we will be going across the streets to the courts to play. This also makes me happy because I had attempted to play in the beginning of the exchange, it wasn’t possible for me, and now, in the end, I am able to play. : )

Yesterday I skipped sailing to go shopping in Santa Cruz with my friends because everything is on SALE this time of year (yess!!). We ate lunch in a fast food restaurant and I got a little disgusted that this is what I have to come home to in July, haha.  I bought a lot of things for little money. I had to replace some pants because the ones I brought with me are too big now haha, strange that the food here is so much better. Finally I have more than five options to choose from in my closet!

I don’t know what it is, but ever since vacation, I have been feeling so happy about everything and life; I feel soo very improved at Spanish; I have such better relationships with my friends; I am learning in school even though I don’t have to worry about it or study; I have structure and composure in my new life here, and I am situated and comfortable with my new family (although I still can only sing very quietly in the shower). In philosophy class we are studying Aristotle and what makes happiness happen. How is it that a per   and how happiness is the main goal in life, and that all other things that we do or make are in the pursuit of this ultimate goal. Aristotle has some good ideas, some very interesting ones, but still I am unsure that there is an answer. Maybe its singing along to a familiar song on the radio, or watching Power Rangers in Spanish with your little brother and remembering how you used to play that with your cousins when you were a kid; maybe its the distant view of La Gomera amidst the painted sky at sunset, or the way that when the sun hits the mountains just right, it brings their brown, dry rockiness to life. Maybe its just being so comfortable with the people around, or getting to know a person well enough that they know exactly how you like your food and make a special picante sauce just for you even though the rest of the family doesn’t like their food spicy.

Its been a while since I laughed so hard that I cried, and its no longer everyday that my eyes have those smiley circles that I cant seem to get rid of, even when I try, and sometimes I miss home and I cry just the teeniest bit, but I like it because it makes me feel like a stronger person. Ive had my hard parts with the exchange, and I have learned that all experiences aren’t perfect, and I am learning a lot about life and about myself, and how there is so much that I don’t know, but if I can be sure of one thing it is this: that this moment, right now in my life

I am Happy.

last day before school starts

Why does choosing a college major have to be so difficult?I just looked through the OSU website for about an hour thinking ´okay, I like this, but no,´ or ´I would love to go to college to study this, but there is no way I will ever find a job´. Ugh, I just don’t know.  I don’t want to end up one of those boring old nobodies who ends up sticking with a crummy job that they don’t really like but were too afraid to pursue something more daring, but of their heart´s true desire; all the same, I want to graduate with a degree that I can rely on to make me some dough. Can´t somebody just choose for me?

Right now I am sitting at home watching the clouds change colors as the sun goes down reflecting on the happenings of Christmas break as my last day of vacation winds down to an end. My bad circulation is making it difficult for my icy fingers to type, and although I am wearing two pears of socks that Los Reyes Magicos (the Three Kings) brought to me to nights ago my toes are on the verge of numbness. Cold? On Tenerife?? I cant imagine being in Ohio right now.

If you were wondering about my mentioning of the Three Kings, it is because of the Spanish tradition to celebrate the Catholic holiday of the coming of the Kings to present the gifts to baby Jesus, and for this, all kids in Spain receive most of their gifts on the night of the Epiphany, and not from Papa Noel on Christmas night. This is an international holiday, hence the reason why I am starting school so much later than you.

There was a parade in Los Christianos for the coming of the Kings. The place was packed with people to watch the three second event. For a dramatic presentation, the Kings dressed up in their elegant robes rode in on their gigantic camels, tossed some candy, and that was about the end. There were a few guys with flamey sticks, but I was rather disappointed with the parade after seeing the size of the crowd because I´d had high expectations. 

Over the holidays I went to watch American Gangster with some friends, not my favorite movie to watch in Spanish, then we went bowling another day, apparently bowling is not very popular in Spain, considering that there is one tiny bowling alley in the major touristy part of the South.

I JUST received information about our Rotary trip to Italy exactly ONE MONTH before the event, after changing our plans to go to Andalusia in April. Ha. Goodness knows I am overwhelmed to be going to Italy for a week, but you cant pop news like this one month before when it costs a lot of money. I would just like to say: Spanish Rotary is a joke. American Rotary, how I miss you so!!! You are such an amazing and organized group! American inbounds are spoiled.

Mañana, school. 

Happy New Years!!!!!

Shit. Its already 2008? Remember at the turn of the century that whole Y2K ordeal? Yeah, that was 8 whole years ago. Good thing the computers are working, or else you wouldn’t be sitting here reading my blog. ; )

Since I have had little or no inspiration to express my thoughts and feelings via blog lately, I will fill you in on several happenings of last week that I want to write about solely out of obligation to continue what I have started and for my own personal record.

Saturday, with the Austurias family we went to Loro Parque for the day. This is like the European version of Sea World. We saw penguins and fish and leopards and watched dolphins do neat tricks with their trainers and heard parrots talk in Spanish.  The following day I went to the spa with all the ladies: Teresa, her two sisters in law, and her mother. Anna (Tere´s sister in law) works in the five star hotel with the spa and so we all got in for free. It was my first time going to the spa so I was amused by everything. First there was a giant hot tub of salt water (all natural and from the ocean *good for the skin!*) with tons of jets and these super powerful shower-heads and waterfalls that gave you a back massage when you stood under them. Then we migrated to the sauna and drenched ourselves in heat until sweaty, then dipped in the cool pool (the water is so cold but you are supposed to dip in after the sauna to stimulate circulation) and then another time in a heat box, only this time we went into the super humid one where you sit and breath the misty water vapor. After that another time in the cool pool, and then to the floating pool which is so dense with salt that you float super easily and it has these color changing lights for relaxation. After all that to clean the salt off the skin, there were a series of showers to choose from (I did them all). There was a hot and cold shower, pretty self explanatory, for a while it gave hot water and after that sprayed you with cold (not my favorite); the Swiss shower,  super awesome, its a full body spray, there are little shower heads all around your body starting at your feet and they work their way p your body spraying you all around with a mist of warmth; the bucket shower, this one is my favorite, its just a bucket of water above your head and you pull the string and it all dumps on you in one time like in Kelli Smith´s shower in last years musical, only not with a plant watering bucket, the only thing was that it was filled with cold water; the final shower was a hot and cold spray with lemon and oils that are supposed to be good for the skin. Revived and relaxed we all went home after that.

Finally New Years Eve rolls around. Flavia and I went shopping in the morning to find some shoes to match the dress I was going to wear that night.  I had borrowed two dresses from a friend, and my host mother lent me one of hers so I had three to choose from. After deciding on one and then changing my mind, we spent the whole morning looking for a fat white belt and after not encountering one (because the winter colors are out and it is difficult to find specific clothing in light colors) I went into the dressing room to try on that dress with a black belt to see how it looked and ended up changing my mind again to the third dress that I was positive before that I was not going to wear. So then I still had to buy shoes to go with that dress and the first shoe-store we walked into I found REALLY snazzy black shoes on sale for 11€. 

I stayed in with the family to eat the traditional 12 grapes for the first 12 seconds of the new year, and then at 1am Anna and I went together to meet up with the rest of the group in Santelmo. We went to the beach and drank a little then headed for the discos around 2 30 and danced in Santelmo until about 4am, then all of the group migrated to Las Veronica’s which is normally a 15 minute walk, but with all the girls in their dresses and high heels it took about twice as long and felt like hours. We had one extra pair of flip flops and between three girls we were sharing them, taking turns wearing them. It was so cold, although the temperature in Fahrenheit was really only something like 58 degrees. Finally we arrived in Veronicas and danced in only one club out of huge variety for not so long, witnessed the aftermath of a bar fight, my friend had a bloody tie after trying to help, and someone thought it would be fun to go to the Faro (ughh), so after we just walked over thirty minutes in order to not have to pay for a Taxi, then danced for about the same amount of time as it took u to walk there, we decided to take a taxi to the Faro. After trying for about 30 minutes and waiting in the freezing cold 60 degree night (haha seriously) we FINALLY got a damn taxi and make way to the club to finally arrive around 6 or so. I hate the music of the Faro but we danced a little there and relaxed on the cosy patio chairs until the sun rise and the place was closing. At 7 30 we had to leave, so we headed for the Guagua stop to get a ride to Los Christianos where we would go to eat a traditional Spanish night-after-fiesta breakfast of churros and hot chocolate.

Satisfied and tired after a long night of fiesta and fun and sore feet, I strutted slowly up the hill to the Guagua station, my high heels in one hand, my red purse in the other, it was clearly evident that I was still making my way home from going out the night before. I waited some time for the Guagua, reflecting on the happenings of the night before and smiling to myself just a little. When it finally came I made myself cozy in the seat, maybe a little too cozy, because I almost fell asleep, had it not been for some strange girl yelling at me ´Wake Up!´, not that I was asleep but I was in that almost-half-way-there daze.

I finally arrived at the house a little past 10am. After that you can guess that I slept, woke up to shower and eat because the family came over for a little BBQ we had for lunch, then slept some more. The first night of the new year turned out to be a good one. Good times in Tenerife. : )

A day in The Pit and Celebrating Dunfee Day via Webcam

Yesterday was my Tenerife cousin, Mar´s birthday. To celebrate the whole family of kids, me, Ruben, Miguel, Pablo, Emilio, and of course the Birthday Girl, Mar (Eva, Mar´s sister, couldn’t go because she is too small) went to the Santa Cruz to this annual indoor carnival in a place called The Pit. The Pit is an indoor arena where different expeditions and events are held all year round, for example, through late December and January is always the carnival, other times there will be car shows, etc. The pit was filled with your ordinary carnival type rides, small and non-permanent, but fun when you are with the right group of people, and being with kids makes it more fun because for them everything is bigger and better and more exciting, so their enthusiasm kind of rubs off on you and you can enjoy yourself.

The place was okay, aside from the carnival rides, they had activities set up for the kids to participate that helped promote and teach ideas like recycling and nutrition, etc, etc.  I was a little jealous because some of the things would have been really cool to try, but I couldn’t partake in them lest I should look like a tard participating in activities designed for children half my size; for example, they had a miniature military course set up, and this blow up labyrinth where guys with whistles chased you around. I think for the future they should create a larger scale version. ; )

The coolest thing for me was that they  had a climbing wall and when you got to the top you got to use one of those rope glides to get down. That was fun and I think the kids were excited to see me take on such a feet. ; ) I saw some friends from school there too.

When we returned to the South, everyone went to Marysol´s house to celebrate Mar´s birthday, but I went home because I had a date with mis amigos Americanos!!! (Don’t shame me for skipping the party because it was the same group of people that I have been with the past four days in a row). After much hassle with web-cam problems, I FINALLY got to see my group of amazing pals to celebrate with them on my special annual day of the year. Of course they were full of questions about my experience thus far. I think this is all I have to say about that for right now because I am a little self conscious that some of them might be reading this blog right now, and you know how it is to be saying things about a person while they are listening, well, it is the same with typing in a blog, therefore, HELLO all Dunfee Day friends!!! Thank you so much for participating!! It made me SO happy to be able to talk to and see you, you reminded me of a little piece of my personality that I think I forget sometimes on Tenerife! I LOVE YOU ALL!!

After the webcam meeting event I went to the Farro to watch a comedy show with Anna. I didnt really want to go but she had gotten me a free ticket and felt obligated, plus I like to take every opportunity I can to go out with friends so I don’t get lonely. We had a good group of people, but I was so bored during the comedy acts because I didn’t understand much of anything and because I was bored, I wasnt paying much attention. However, in between the acts of three comedians, there was a band that played really good American songs that I knew, so that made things a little better. Then later, not to end the blog on a bad note but I accidentally wasted 7 Euros on a cocktail drink not knowing how much it was that was not even close to seven Euros good, and after that I was mad and very tired but didn’t feel like paying for a taxi, so decided to wait for the boys that we came with in the car, and they ended up staying until 4 am when finally the disco closed for the night. Nothing sucks more than waiting for someone in a disco. For as stylish as the Farro is, I always have a little bit of a bad time when I am there. Finally I got home to get some sleep, sweet sleep.