We met everyone in front of the coliseum and waited for Jorge to show up with tickets. There was a small problem and the tickets that were for us could not be located at first. Marian spoke with the manager; undoubtedly she told him that we were with Rotary because minutes later, we had tickets in our hands. We found our seats and waited for the game to start. Gran Canaria was playing DKV Joventud in game two of the playoffs. The place was full and the fans were all dressed in yellow, the color of the home team. We watched as the game began and quickly knew that this was no comparison with the NBA.
Nonetheless, the game was very fun to watch and flew by. At the half, Gran Canaria held a convincing lead and at one point led by as much as twenty points. A Rotarian came by and greeted Jorge and all of the sudden we were taken down closer to the court to sit in better seats for the second half. We rooted for the home team as the game got closer throughout the second half. With a few minutes left in the game, the green team (DKV) made a run and eventually won the game by nine points much to the dismay of the fans. The team was happy just to see the game but hated to see the game end on a sour note. As we filed out of the coliseum, we were directed back to different cars where we would be taken to lunch out on the hillside about an hour away. Finally, I could catch up on the sleep.Argi, Chris and I headed up the mountain in his car following the directions that were given to us by the Rotarians. We were to meet at casa de Victoriano Rodriquez at 1:30. On the way up the mountain, there was some trouble with the car and according to Argi we had to let it cool down for ten minutes before we could continue. We continued on, following the directions and at one point realized that we were completely lost. After a phone call, we were turned in the right direction and finally made it to the house around 3 (starving to death). When we arrived, we learned that Catherine and Tong (who rode with Marian) had still not made it and when they got there, told us stories about how they were lost and almost ran out of gas. Bert and Carla rode with Jorge and Suzie and they were eating lunch when we all walked up. After all the troubles, we were all very hungry and dove right into the carbanzo beans with meats mixed into a soup like dish, cheeses, jamon, salted turkey and homemade vino that was provided for us. When we had finished eating, the host told us that the meat in the soup dish was the stomach of cow (apparently a local delicacy in the islands). None of us had any suspicion except for Tong who said that a piece of her meat (that she didn’t eat) looked like it had hair on it…
When she showed it to Suzie, she was told that it was part of the stomach.
Victoriano and his wife took us on a tour of the plot of land and we learned that there were many more houses that he owned and also a small church (sits about 16 people) that is used for various religious ceremonies.
The whole afternoon was wonderful (once we arrived) and we each thanked our gracious hosts for having us. Victoriano did not let us leave empty handed as he gave out bottles of the homemade wine that he grows on the farm. After more kisses and hugs, we headed back to our host family homes – Each allowed to spend time with the families for the evening…or sleep.After a short nap, Argi had promised some friends that he would bring his American friends out tonight to meet everyone so Carla and I went out to have a drink and meet everyone around 9 pm. Most of his friends are college students or recent grads and were all happy to meet us. Most of them spoke some broken English and with our broken Spanish, we communicated just fine over a few drinks. The crowd decided to leave around 11 and go start dinner. I opted to come home and go to bed because I could barely hold my head up. Effi, Argi’s flatmate, dropped me off at the house and the rest of the gang stayed out on the town. There is no way that I could have made it in the morning without some rest tonight…
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