Work days...

We all went our separate ways this morning and since everyone was too tired to write their separate pieces for the blog, I will adlib and try to remember what everyone did. Here goes:
Carla and I had a scheduled visit at an MBA school here on the island. I met Carla this morning and we were to walk over (about a 15 minute walk in town) however she was supposed to ask Jorge (her host father) for directions of where the place was. Do you think she remembered to do that? So we started walking in the direction that we thought it was and called Argi for exact directions. Amazingly, we made it on time where we met Judit Garcia, the director of Academic Affairs. Judith is a native who did her studies in Spain but lived in London for seven years before moving back home to work with the Business school here in Las Palmas. The school is private and has partnerships with Georgetown University in the states and Leed University in England. We learned about the various projects and classes that the students have to complete in the one year program. Judith told us about an upcoming trip that the faculty will make in July to Washington, DC to work with the professors there. The visit was very interesting and proved to entertain both of us as we are hoping to pursue MBA degrees sometime in the near future.
Chris visited a technology firm. He said it was fun.
Catherine visited the school where Suzie works. She said the school was very modern and comparable to schools in the US.
Tong went to a College for American students. She liked her visit.
Bert stayed at home and packed his stuff. Typical retired person.
After our professional visits, we all met at Museo Nestor for a private tour of this famous artist’s gallery from the Canaries. Nestor Martin Fenandez de la Torre was man who lived in the 19th century and traveled the world painting. The museum provided us an insight into the work of the artist who without any doubt created unique Canary Island art linked to various trends that were used throughout his lifetime. The tour guide told us that Nestor was a complete narcissistic person and painted himself and his lover in many of the paintings (we also learned that his lover was a man). The guided visit was a nice one and we were able to view the beautiful artwork that is displayed within the old house situated in an old town square.
After the tour, we were hurried over to the Hotel Santa Catalina for lunch with the Rotary Club of Las Palmas. We enjoyed some drinks with the members outside on the patio and a few minutes later were herded into the main room for lunch. This Rotary club is a bit larger than the last few that we have visited but is still no comparison to Bert’s club in Greenville. We enjoyed lunch and moved to the front of the room after Manolo directed the business of the club. We made a marvelous presentation (I think most of us have memorized our own lines as well as each others lines by now) and received praise from our friends as we sat back down. After lunch, we were free for the afternoon and each of us took off in different directions. Bert went with Victor to get settled into his new house. Chris and Tong went on a shopping expedition along the beach promenade. Carla and I laid on the beach for a couple of hours after checking work email. And Catherine went and got her haircut as well as doing some shopping in the old town.
Once we were all relaxed from our free afternoon, Carlos Medina, a Rotarian with a sweet wife, Ana, invited over for dinner and to watch the futbol final between AC Milan and Liverpool. We met at his house around 9 and sat down in his basement/bodega in front an amazing flat screen TV that covered the wall and enjoyed snacks as they were placed in front of us. The basement was amazing with the flat screen, surround sound, speakers, lights, a pool table, a foosball table and much more. However, I didn’t see a wire in the entire place (my dad would have been proud of the electrical work). To our dismay, AC Milan pulled out the victory by a score of 2 – 1…I was informed that we were pulling for Liverpool because their coach is Spanish and a couple of the players were also Spanish. I didn’t care as long as food and drinks were placed in front of me. After the match, more food was set out on the table and we all migrated that way to try the desserts and sit around the bar for more drinks. Sometime during the party, matches got started at the foosball table where I showed my skills that I learned in college in the tiny little house where we lived in Clemson…I knew those nights would pay off sometime. After meeting some new friends, including Carlos’s son, Carlos who studied in West Virginia and because of that could understand our accents, we were given gifts of alcohol by Ana who didn’t want to send us away empty handed. As the night ended, we all said our goodbyes and head home for a good nights sleep as tomorrow will be an extremely busy day. Better get some rest…