He is a Rotarian that started his business from scratch a few years ago and is now running a very successful commercial furniture business. 
As we toured the facility, we learned that Manolo actually founded this company that designs and sells products that go into the stores that are normally placed in malls and retail shops. The designers come up with the concept and his operational people manufacture the components that go into the actual woodwork and glass work that is seen in malls across the world. 
We walked the production floor and were surprised as he had a machine that etched out a piece of wood in the shape of the statue of liberty for us. 
After a quick tour of the commercial side of his shop, complete with Catherine visiting the mannequins, we headed back to the garage and on to our next visit.Our chauffeur drove us to the Potabilizadora de Emalsa near the sea. Once we showed up there, we were met by Jose Luis who walked us through the process of filtering the salt water and making the water that is sent to each individual in the area for household use.
Jose showed us a lot of similar things that we saw at the desalinization plant in Lanzarote and shortened the tour because we had seen most of it. Once the tour was complete, we headed to a restaurant called “Cinco J” which was nicely positioned right beside a golf course. We enjoyed lunch with Jose Luis, Farzad, Manolo and Eddie, a Rotarian who was visiting the area for business from Manchester. 
The almuerza was exciting as we each got to order our own meals from the menu, something that we haven’t been able to do since we got her three weeks ago. Following a long meal that included more English than Spanish, we were taken back to the center of town where we met up with Alfredo who got a special VIP visit to 112 Canarias.
This place is the equivalent of a 911 call center in the states. 
Alfredo owns a business that provides emergency vehicles for these services and pulled some strings to allow us inside for a presentation of how this system works in the Canaries. After this, we were free for the afternoon for a little shopping in the major district but had to be back in a couple of hours for dinner with our host family. 
Each of us split up and headed our separate ways to try to find a few souvenirs to fit in our suitcase for family and friends.Since my host person was out of town for business, Effi, the flatmate, decided that she would take me and Carla out to a social meeting that she and her friends have every Monday. We met at a place that they all call the Gym (I know great excuse to say that you are going to the gym). This was a small bar centrally located for all the friends where they gathered each week for a good cause (they take up money for charities) and have tapas and drinks. We were introduced and began to make new friends. The group is a multinational group with several people there doing work studies here from England. Effi made the comment that there were more foreigners here tonight than locals. Everyone took us in as we had been friends with them for thirty years and we had a great time learning about everyone’s different experiences. The night ended when Carla and I made the decision that we needed to get home because of an early morning coming up. We said our goodbyes to new friends and left the gym without working out…
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