Up early this morning, the gang gathered at Casa de Marcos and was quickly whisked away by our taxi driver Merci. We were dropped off at the center of Santa Cruz and we instructed to hang out in the square until some Rotarians came to pick us up. We sat down and ordered café and all of the sudden, Rotarians started showing up out of nowhere. 
There was Juan Miquel, Ana de Miguel (no relation) and Maria Rosa. Maria and Ana (Juan leaves) joins us for café and we get acquainted for a few minutes. Already late for our first appointment, we walk towards the Parlamento building. 
We arrive and are greeted a Bureaucrat that takes us through the Parliament and explains more of what we learned yesterday from Diego. This building was amazing from the outside as well as the inside. 
Fernando gave us a behind the scenes tour in which we each got to stand behind, in front of and around the seats that the Presidents sit in…even with elections so close for this town, the group took time out of their day to pay great attention to our group. 
Everyone points to me anytime “politica” is mentioned and this part of the morning was filled with plenty of it.
The entire experience was a great one and it was only 9 am. We tried to stay on schedule and headed to the Camara de Comercio (loosely translated it means Chamber of Commerce). 
We met Jose Tort, who we later found out owns three businesses: An import/export business that operates out of the Africa, a banana plantation that operates out of Africa and something else that his daughter runs between the three islands…Catherine wrote it all down…we will get her notes and update the blog tomorrow. He is a Rotarian and a dang good one. We hear a wonderful presentation on the importance of the two major exports from the Canaries, tomatoes and bananas, and also the importance of the relationship with part of North Africa. The guide also taught us that in their Chamber of Commerce it is mandatory for businesses to be members and much more is provided than what the American chambers provide. Jose (or Pepe…apparently anyone named Jose can be referred to as Pepe…similar to Richard and Dick in the US…I guess) has a wealth of knowledge about commerce in the islands and the advantages and disadvantages of the industries. I would have loved to hear more but we were rushed out as we had to meet the director of one of the sections of the Chamber. We were presented with gifts and then had to leave to make it to Casa Elder and the newspaper/radio station before lunch.
Casa Elder is a beautiful old building that has been restored completely. We walk in and our eyes are drawn to the marble stairway and the stained glass window in front of us.
This building is one of the most important in the history of the island (or so we are told) by our tour guide. Casa Elder was home to the offices/residence of the Dempster shipping line/many other businesses that the Dempster and Elder family ran. We walked around the building which has now been transformed into a workers compensation insurance company office space as well as an open area designed for meetings and cultural events. 
The majority of the original building has remained in place but the inside has been modernized to adapt to today’s business world. We are served café in the conference room and I stand around and talk with the officials about workers compensation for a few minutes as our group looks around the building a little. Ana and Maria rush us out of this building onto the Ayunmiento where we are supposed to meet with the mayor’s right hand man and see the government office building. We walk up the street and are met by another Rotarian, Almudena, who works at the Bank of Spain which is nearby, and head inside. An older gentleman that speaks English very well comes in to greet us and talk to us about the history of the island and why Santa Cruz is so important to Teneriefe. He is a great guy and explains that the Santa Cruz is a sister city to San Antonio because of the relationship with Canary Islands citizens and the Alamo. He presents us with a gift from the mayor and again we are hurried out the door. On to El Dia, the newspaper/radio station in town that supplies the news to the entire islands. We arrive and have no one to meet us, so Ana and Maria decide we should take a break at the restaurant in front of the building. All of us tired from the meters that we have walked this morning agree and dropped ourselves in the chairs. Coca-colas are ordered and served with olives (again, I have never liked olives until now) and peanuts. Joaquin, the president of the Santa Cruz Rotary Club and the guy with tons of yokes (no one over here pronounces the J in words and any time they speak English they call jokes yokes…hilarious), leads us into El Dia where we are met by a wonderful tour guide who shows us the printing press that is used for the newspaper (Joaquin makes a yoke about the press in Spanish…He said “one must pay attencion a la tension” when describing the careful eye that the operators must have when working with the press). 
We saw the huge rolls of paper that is kept in storage to make the newspapers every day and then the group was led upstairs to see how the workers prepare the layouts for the papers each day. 
After that, our guide led us further upstairs to see the radio portion of the building where we were allowed to view the local radio host conduct her show. Apparently, the topic being discussed was a crime that was committed during Carnivale in which someone was dressed up like Fidel Castro in the streets and a man came from the crowd and stabbed him with a knife in the back…the man was being sentenced today and the host was taking calls to hear the opinion of the community. 
It was fun to watch. Throughout the whole tour, we were followed by a camera man who was snapping photos after every step we took. An article is supposed to be published in the newspaper tomorrow about our team. 
After our tour, we were presented with two large books about Teneriefe and a copy of El Dia for today…I think I know what everyone is getting for Christmas…Seriously, we have gotten a ton of books and if anyone wants them, the team would be glad to donate them if you are willing to pay shipping and handling back to the states.
After this, the group is transported by cars to lunch…finally at 3:30 pm. We ended up in a small pizzeria where we met the Italian owner and quickly decided that we all could share some pizza. Tong, Chris, Bert and I ordered some pizza with mushrooms and some of the freshest mozzarella ever while Carla and Catherine shared some kind of vegetarian pizza. Of course, there was way too much food for everyone to eat…including dessert and café that we enjoyed out on the patio. After a relaxing lunch, we were snatched up and directed to the brewery where we would be taking a tour (or so we thought) of our new favorite beer’s (Dorado) home. When we arrived at the Dorado plant, we learned that they made way more than Dorado…they brew another couple of beers called Tropical and Guiness. They also are a distrubitor for Red Bull, Miller Light, Appletiser and some other brands that are owned by Miller Brewing Company. Dorado and Tropical are local brands that were started in the islands and were purchased in the 90s by Miller and still operate much like they did in the olden days. The Director of HR greets us at the door and explains to us that we would not be taking a tour of the brewery…everything was confused and he had no one to take us on a tour of the brewery but he had prepared a presentation on human resources. I sat down and took lots of notes (I think they need a little help in the HR department. Darryl and Lisa, I might need to see if I can stay a little while longer to help some over here maybe you could join me) The others asked some questions and learned about the legal drinking age being 16 years old and no restrictions on where or when you can sell alcohol. We left the brewery a little disappointed because we all expected to get some beer while we were there but were only served coffee.
We jump back in the cars and headed to the Rotary club meeting in Santa Cruz in order to make a presentation for the group. We arrived at Club Oliver, a private club that reminded me of the Piedmont club but much nicer and larger, plug in the computer and prepare ourselves for a presentation to the group of 30 or so Rotarians.
The presentation goes off without a hitch and the group claps for us as we finish speaking about a various topics. Bert is presented with a banner from the Santa Cruz Rotary Club for Rich Waugh and Joaguin also gives us each for our personal collection. 
The group is separated for our trip home after some refreshments and we are taken back to our homes by the Rotarians that live close to our host families.
Chris and I ride home with Joaquin (who understands English but can’t speak it) and his wife (who doesn’t speak nor understand English). The ride home (in a sweet BMW) is quiet until Joaquin uses his bluetooth built into the car to call his daughter in Madrid and tells her to speak to me. Beatriz and I carry on a conversation for most of the ride home in English about her life in Madrid. She is a journalist with a Masters degree from Madrid and is working in television/modeling. She has lived in the US for a couple of years while she was in school and has several friends from the states. She is impressed that we are on the trip and excited that we are having a good time in the islands. She says that she will gather the groups’ information from her father and contact us to visit us next time she is in the US. We arrive home (our temporary home) and take it easy for a few hours before heading to bed. Today has been a long day and hopefully tomorrow will be a relaxed day for the group. Another day in Santa Cruz, Tomorrow, we have been promised to be taken to the beach…
There was Juan Miquel, Ana de Miguel (no relation) and Maria Rosa. Maria and Ana (Juan leaves) joins us for café and we get acquainted for a few minutes. Already late for our first appointment, we walk towards the Parlamento building. We arrive and are greeted a Bureaucrat that takes us through the Parliament and explains more of what we learned yesterday from Diego. This building was amazing from the outside as well as the inside. Fernando gave us a behind the scenes tour in which we each got to stand behind, in front of and around the seats that the Presidents sit in…even with elections so close for this town, the group took time out of their day to pay great attention to our group. Everyone points to me anytime “politica” is mentioned and this part of the morning was filled with plenty of it. The entire experience was a great one and it was only 9 am. We tried to stay on schedule and headed to the Camara de Comercio (loosely translated it means Chamber of Commerce). We met Jose Tort, who we later found out owns three businesses: An import/export business that operates out of the Africa, a banana plantation that operates out of Africa and something else that his daughter runs between the three islands…Catherine wrote it all down…we will get her notes and update the blog tomorrow. He is a Rotarian and a dang good one. We hear a wonderful presentation on the importance of the two major exports from the Canaries, tomatoes and bananas, and also the importance of the relationship with part of North Africa. The guide also taught us that in their Chamber of Commerce it is mandatory for businesses to be members and much more is provided than what the American chambers provide. Jose (or Pepe…apparently anyone named Jose can be referred to as Pepe…similar to Richard and Dick in the US…I guess) has a wealth of knowledge about commerce in the islands and the advantages and disadvantages of the industries. I would have loved to hear more but we were rushed out as we had to meet the director of one of the sections of the Chamber. We were presented with gifts and then had to leave to make it to Casa Elder and the newspaper/radio station before lunch.Casa Elder is a beautiful old building that has been restored completely. We walk in and our eyes are drawn to the marble stairway and the stained glass window in front of us.
This building is one of the most important in the history of the island (or so we are told) by our tour guide. Casa Elder was home to the offices/residence of the Dempster shipping line/many other businesses that the Dempster and Elder family ran. We walked around the building which has now been transformed into a workers compensation insurance company office space as well as an open area designed for meetings and cultural events. The majority of the original building has remained in place but the inside has been modernized to adapt to today’s business world. We are served café in the conference room and I stand around and talk with the officials about workers compensation for a few minutes as our group looks around the building a little. Ana and Maria rush us out of this building onto the Ayunmiento where we are supposed to meet with the mayor’s right hand man and see the government office building. We walk up the street and are met by another Rotarian, Almudena, who works at the Bank of Spain which is nearby, and head inside. An older gentleman that speaks English very well comes in to greet us and talk to us about the history of the island and why Santa Cruz is so important to Teneriefe. He is a great guy and explains that the Santa Cruz is a sister city to San Antonio because of the relationship with Canary Islands citizens and the Alamo. He presents us with a gift from the mayor and again we are hurried out the door. On to El Dia, the newspaper/radio station in town that supplies the news to the entire islands. We arrive and have no one to meet us, so Ana and Maria decide we should take a break at the restaurant in front of the building. All of us tired from the meters that we have walked this morning agree and dropped ourselves in the chairs. Coca-colas are ordered and served with olives (again, I have never liked olives until now) and peanuts. Joaquin, the president of the Santa Cruz Rotary Club and the guy with tons of yokes (no one over here pronounces the J in words and any time they speak English they call jokes yokes…hilarious), leads us into El Dia where we are met by a wonderful tour guide who shows us the printing press that is used for the newspaper (Joaquin makes a yoke about the press in Spanish…He said “one must pay attencion a la tension” when describing the careful eye that the operators must have when working with the press). We saw the huge rolls of paper that is kept in storage to make the newspapers every day and then the group was led upstairs to see how the workers prepare the layouts for the papers each day. After that, our guide led us further upstairs to see the radio portion of the building where we were allowed to view the local radio host conduct her show. Apparently, the topic being discussed was a crime that was committed during Carnivale in which someone was dressed up like Fidel Castro in the streets and a man came from the crowd and stabbed him with a knife in the back…the man was being sentenced today and the host was taking calls to hear the opinion of the community. It was fun to watch. Throughout the whole tour, we were followed by a camera man who was snapping photos after every step we took. An article is supposed to be published in the newspaper tomorrow about our team. After our tour, we were presented with two large books about Teneriefe and a copy of El Dia for today…I think I know what everyone is getting for Christmas…Seriously, we have gotten a ton of books and if anyone wants them, the team would be glad to donate them if you are willing to pay shipping and handling back to the states.After this, the group is transported by cars to lunch…finally at 3:30 pm. We ended up in a small pizzeria where we met the Italian owner and quickly decided that we all could share some pizza. Tong, Chris, Bert and I ordered some pizza with mushrooms and some of the freshest mozzarella ever while Carla and Catherine shared some kind of vegetarian pizza. Of course, there was way too much food for everyone to eat…including dessert and café that we enjoyed out on the patio. After a relaxing lunch, we were snatched up and directed to the brewery where we would be taking a tour (or so we thought) of our new favorite beer’s (Dorado) home. When we arrived at the Dorado plant, we learned that they made way more than Dorado…they brew another couple of beers called Tropical and Guiness. They also are a distrubitor for Red Bull, Miller Light, Appletiser and some other brands that are owned by Miller Brewing Company. Dorado and Tropical are local brands that were started in the islands and were purchased in the 90s by Miller and still operate much like they did in the olden days. The Director of HR greets us at the door and explains to us that we would not be taking a tour of the brewery…everything was confused and he had no one to take us on a tour of the brewery but he had prepared a presentation on human resources. I sat down and took lots of notes (I think they need a little help in the HR department. Darryl and Lisa, I might need to see if I can stay a little while longer to help some over here maybe you could join me) The others asked some questions and learned about the legal drinking age being 16 years old and no restrictions on where or when you can sell alcohol. We left the brewery a little disappointed because we all expected to get some beer while we were there but were only served coffee.
We jump back in the cars and headed to the Rotary club meeting in Santa Cruz in order to make a presentation for the group. We arrived at Club Oliver, a private club that reminded me of the Piedmont club but much nicer and larger, plug in the computer and prepare ourselves for a presentation to the group of 30 or so Rotarians.
The presentation goes off without a hitch and the group claps for us as we finish speaking about a various topics. Bert is presented with a banner from the Santa Cruz Rotary Club for Rich Waugh and Joaguin also gives us each for our personal collection. The group is separated for our trip home after some refreshments and we are taken back to our homes by the Rotarians that live close to our host families.Chris and I ride home with Joaquin (who understands English but can’t speak it) and his wife (who doesn’t speak nor understand English). The ride home (in a sweet BMW) is quiet until Joaquin uses his bluetooth built into the car to call his daughter in Madrid and tells her to speak to me. Beatriz and I carry on a conversation for most of the ride home in English about her life in Madrid. She is a journalist with a Masters degree from Madrid and is working in television/modeling. She has lived in the US for a couple of years while she was in school and has several friends from the states. She is impressed that we are on the trip and excited that we are having a good time in the islands. She says that she will gather the groups’ information from her father and contact us to visit us next time she is in the US. We arrive home (our temporary home) and take it easy for a few hours before heading to bed. Today has been a long day and hopefully tomorrow will be a relaxed day for the group. Another day in Santa Cruz, Tomorrow, we have been promised to be taken to the beach…
1 comments:
Ahh...but that sounds like a GSE day...brings back memories.
Hope you all are loving every hectic minute of it.
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