Rotary 7750 to 2200

And We're Home...

2007-05-28T13:48:00.002-05:00

Didn’t keep the pact last night…I dozed off around 3:30 and slept for about 45 minutes before everyone got up and showered to prepare for the long day ahead. Chris, Bert and I loaded our stuff and made it downstairs around 5:15 as we were to head to the airport around 5:30 am…Yes A.M. The girls arrived and we all checked out and were presented with breakfast boxes full of all kinds of goodies. Not wanted to carry anymore bags, we all consumed the contents immediately and threw some of the leftovers in other bags. Around 5:45, Bert started pacing because no one had arrived to take us to the airport. Catherine called Juan Jesus who was already at the airport waiting for us and was highly upset because the bus he arranged was supposed to be out in front of the hotel at 5. We all began to wonder but sometime around 6:30 we found a bus driver wandering around in the vicinity of our road…Yes our flight is supposed to leave at 8. Finally we make it to the airport where Juan Jesus is standing with his hands folded across his chest (he was not happy). He puts on a smile for us and quickly moves us to the line for check-in. Everyone gets checked in but Tong and I get caught in a line with a guy at the counter who must have been in training because he took forever even when his boss was standing watching over his shoulder. He took what seemed like twelve hours before he finally got us checked in for the flight and we took off running to make it through the security checkpoint. When we cleared security, we learned that Catherine had been caught with a bottle of rum in her carry on baggage and had to throw it away. We gave Juan Jesus a hug and thanked him for the entire trip and promised we would all see him soon. A four hour place ride to Munich was very uneventful as we experienced a smooth flight. We passed through passport control and headed to the flight counter to check in for our next flight. Carla and I did some last minute shopping and when we returned the group had already boarded the place. Chris, Bert and Catherine were upgraded to business class and as the rest of us boarded the plane we found them sitting in the “nice seats.” We settled in for the eight hour flight and most of us slept the entire ride to DC. We arrived in Washington, the land of cell phone usage, cleared customs and headed for baggage claim. Everyone got their luggage except for I was missing one bag which the guard assured me would be delivered to my house by fedex tomorrow morning…we will see if that happens. A two hour layover went by quickly as we all experience a little bit of American food…nothing like it…and finally boarded the plane around 9:30. After a final video of us boarding the plane, we sat and enjoyed the tranquility of the thought of heading home. We arrived in Greenville about an hour and a half later to greeting from family and friends. There’s no place like home...maybe Tenerife…

Last day of Island Life...

2007-05-28T13:48:00.001-05:00

A late morning began at Suzie’s house where I met Carla and Tong for breakfast after I had made sure that all of my stuff was packed. We loaded into the car and headed down town to start our day at Casa de Colon (Colon is the Spanish word for Columbus). When we arrived, we learned from Catherine and Marian that Alfredo was running late because of the strike that his company is dealing with by the emergency vehicle workers on the islands…He was to bring Chris and Bert but has not been able to get away from the office. We decide to walk down and find some coffee and as soon as the drinks arrive, the rest of the gang shows up. They join us for café and Alfredo runs back to work as we make our way to the house that Christopher Columbus built. Through the different diagrams in the museum, we learn that Columbus stopped in the Canaries in 1492 before he sailed the ocean blue. After his maiden voyage and much success, he stopped here on each trip thereafter. This house is full of interesting information as well as artifacts. We tried to take pictures but were each fussed at by the security guard. After the tour, Suzie walked us through the streets of the old part of the city. We stopped at several shops and enjoyed the beautiful day while we took a leisurely stroll through town. The time passed quickly and soon we were met by Manolo who led us to the Canario Museo where we saw many relics from the aborigines who inhabited the island and lived in small caves throughout the islands. Over the past four weeks, we have seen a lot of this and could probably teach a course on the Guanches and their lifestyles in the olden days. When we had seen all of the mummies and the clay pottery, we followed our leader as he meandered through the streets and into the shopping district. Nobody purchased anything except for ice cream…of course we needed ice cream.
It was getting late, so the team went separate ways to have lunch and get their bags transferred to the hotel. Suzie took me, Carla and Tong while Bert, Chris and Catherine went with Manolo. After we made our last effort to fit more stuff into our already overweight suitcases, Suzie treated us to some tapas at a local restaurant. We enjoyed peppers, potatoes, croquettes and a nice little dish that included eggs, potatoes, cheese and sausage. Once the food was consumed, we grabbed a cab and loaded all of the luggage (half in Suzie’s car and half in the cab…yeah that much luggage) and headed to the hotel. We checked in and were met in the lobby by Manolo who had set gotten us tickets to the Futbol game in town at 5:30. Of course we were in VIP section in the shaded box seats where we met Farzad (an old friend from a couple of days ago) and sat down to watch the game. The crowd was loud and we understood why after we learned that they have had a bad season thus far and if they were to lose this game they would be bumped down to a lower level league (as the worst team is sent down a league each year to keep the competition going). We must have been good luck charms because within the first ten minutes of the game, Las Palmas had scored two goals and held the 2-0 lead going into halftime. Sometime during the second half, the red team scored a goal but our home team (they wore yellow and blue) held on to win, even scoring a third goal in the final minutes on an amazing goal that barely made in it.
We followed the 18,000 plus people out of the stadium singing and cheering all the way up the hill. Since there were not any taxis available, Manolo suggested that we do some shopping in the mall for a little bit before we headed home. Catherine and I stayed and got a few items for people back home and we all agreed to meet at Manolo’s house on the beach for dinner at 9. We had all made a pact to stay up all night because we were to leave for the airport at 5:30 and there was really no point in going to bed…As we walked into the beach house, I realized that the majority of us were not going to be able to keep the pact. Our bodies are completely worn out and as we ate some dinner, everyone could tell that we were dragging. We enjoyed a wonderful final fiesta with our friends from Gran Canaria including Alfredo, Argirios, Suzie and our host Manolo and his wonderful wife Donna. After many hours reliving our experience and talking with all of the new friends we have made, we each left and headed back to the hotel…some earlier than others. At this moment it is close to 3 am and I have made the decision to keep the pact but it looks as if no one else is joining me…

Casual Friday...

2007-05-25T19:34:00.001-05:00

Our final Friday in the Canaries was to be a relaxing one. Carla, Tong and I began the journey to Real Club Nautico de Las Palma around 9:30 am this morning. It was a ten minute walk and went by quickly as we talked about the night before. We met the gang in the lobby where we were quickly led through a tour of the place by Victor, a member of this club, the Rotary Club, the consulate to Ireland, a business owner, the Vice President of the senior golf association of Spain and the coolest guy ever. Victor told us of the 16 Olympic gold medalists that have trained at this club and the hundreds of world champions, whose names were on the mail wall in the foyer. The club consisted of an Olympic sized pool, a gym, a sauna, a Turkish bath, a restaurant, tennis courts, squash courts and a beach that may or may have not been a topless beach. The group changed their clothes and headed for the pool. Bert sat under the cabana and caught up on his journal which is a week behind. Tong went for a swim. Chris went and worked out. I laid by the pool and took a nap. Carla and Catherine sat around and gossiped like old ladies. Victor told us to meet him back upstairs for lunch at 2 pm so that gave us four hours to hang out and do nothing…a far cry from the schedule that we have been following over the past few weeks. Sometime during my nap, Tong and Carla walked out into town and did some shopping as well as changed clothes for the afternoon. Catherine and I walked on the beach and got our exercise in for the day…err the past four weeks and talked about the trip and how amazing the Rotarians have been to us since we have been chosen for the program…not only here but in South Carolina (we have all come to the consensus that we are all truly grateful for this experience but we also want to go to Norway next year with the GSE program…Ken/Myles, is that possible?). After a brisk walk and a sauna, we all showered and changed for lunch. Victor treated us to another great lunch in the upstairs dining area that overlooked the pool and the beach. During lunch, we all took some Dramamine because we were headed to the ocean to meet a sailing competition team and follow them as they practiced sailing for the regatta that is happening tomorrow.
We walked over to the port and met the team that is sponsored by the club we visited earlier. We watched as they prepared the boat for the trip out to see. We learned that in most cases, it took around two hours to prepare the boat for one hour worth of sailing. This is the only predominantly female team in the Spanish league (they have a couple of guys to help with some of the heavy lifting). The team worked together like clockwork to make sure that everything on the boat was perfect before they headed out to sea. When it was time to leave the bay, we were led to a small tugboat that followed the team and we watched as they sailed the open sea…they didn’t go too far or too fast because the wind was not blowing at all. However, we followed and cheered them on as they practiced for tomorrow’s event. At some point during the trip, Catherine decided that we needed to sing songs to pass the time and they all had to deal with water…the songs ranged from “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog” to “I saw three ships coming sailing in…” It was a fun ride. Once the team had finished their training and exhausted all of the wind in the harbor, we headed back to shore for snacks. The team unloaded the boat and we enjoyed cold beverages and sandwiches before getting together for some group photos. The team accepted us with open arms and made us feel like we were going to be on the boat with them tomorrow. We wished them the best of luck and headed out to the cars.
The schedule said that we were supposed to have dinner with our host families this evening and Argi and Efie had prepared a Greek dinner for me, Tong and Carla. Sometime during the evening, Alfredo and Marian, the host of Chris and Catherine respectively, called and said that they were coming over as well. They stopped and got food from an Iranian restaurant and our Greek meal turned into an international party. The night was wonderful as we enjoyed the company of the entire group sin Bert. He was having dinner with Victor and probably in bed early. Argi and Efie were amazing hosts and took care of the group like were all one big happy family. Once we all had agreed that we were tired, the house cleared and everyone headed back to their houses for the night. The day was perfect. We needed a day to relax and get ready to move into the hotel tomorrow. We still have to pack…

Yo Ho Hum and a Bottle of Rum...

2007-05-24T19:35:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning began quite early as Carla, Tong and I took a cab over to meet the rest of the gang excepto Catherine at Hotel Santa Catalina. As soon as we arrived, we were met by two Rotarians, Jose and Maria, who directed us to the bus that had been rented specially for today’s trip. We drove to the town of Arucas where we met up with the district governor and a few other Rotarians from the town and headed to the Ayuntamiento. Mayor of the town, Angel Victor Torres Perez (trying saying that five times fast), took time out of his busy schedule (he is in dead in the middle of a political race that will hopefully result in his reelection on Sunday) to speak with us in English about the town. He told us about the history of the town and welcomed us as our visit was being broadcast on the radio as well as being covered by several newspapers. After the visit, Juan Jesus took us for breakfast at a small bocateria where we each enjoyed ham and cheese sandwiches (what else) and café. During the course of desayuno, we convinced the district governor to have his picture made with each of us wearing a red nose (for those of you that got to know the inbound group from the canaries in our district, you will remember that Sylvia made everyone where the red nose in her pictures including our very own Rich Waugh). Once we had consumed the breakfast, we headed out down a street when all of the sudden, a magnificent church rose in front of us. We walked up to the Templo Parroguial de Arucas. This church was constructed in the early 1900s and is designed similar to the church that stands in Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia. We received a special tour from a fellow Rotarian who knew all things that related to this Iglesia (that is Spanish for church, Ken). The group walked around and was all amazed at the sculptures in the church as well as the church itself. Another thing that we found interesting was the fact that the entire church was constructed in eight years with all of the intricate work completed by hand by local artisans. Once our tour was finished, we headed back to the bus where we were transported through the city to a facility that houses the stone crafters that are direct descendents from the sculptors that completed the church façade. The family now owns a business that carves rock for residential and commercial businesses as well as has a mock up area where they show how their jobs were completed in the old days. After we saw the facility, we headed for the real fun…the distillery of Arucas. Apparently in the olden days, sugarcane was a huge crop for the people of this town. As it was, they created rum with this resource and so was born the trade of rum in the canaries. There was a small debate among our tour guides as to the origin of rum. Some of them said that rum was first made here, others said elsewhere. We really didn’t care as long as there were samples. Our guide led us through the factory where we saw oak casks full of rum that is aging…The owners had various famous people that have visited over the years sign the outside of the casket. There were signatures from huge dignitaries including the King and Queen of Spain, Cesar Manrique, Placido Domingo and of course…Tom Jones (somehow he didn’t seem to fit). As we passed through the facility, we saw the assembly line and learned that eighty percent of the Canaries market uses this brand of rum. After the tour, we were led into the tasting room where we each sampled a handful (yes handful) of flavors. Carla had two handfuls. We all liked the chocolate flavored rum the best, some of us sampled more than others. As we walked out, the CEO of the company met us with a kind word and some gift bags which included a bottle of rum for the road.
As we boarded the bus, Juan Jesus told us that we all looked very tired and he was pulling the district governor card and cancelling the dinner that was planned at the Rotary Club in the south this evening. Our lunch club would be the last presentation because he was the boss and he said so. We all delighted in this new revelation because we really were (and are) tired from the culmination of all of the activities over the past three and a half weeks.
As we arrived at the RC of Arucas, we walked into the restaraunte past a crowd of people gathered for a dinner with one of the candiates for President of the Cabildo. Tong and I stayed to listen to part of Jose Manuel Soria’s speech that was made to a sold out crowd. A few minutes later, we were summoned to the back room for the meeting. We enjoyed a fine dinner as we prepared ourselves for out last presentation in the Canaries. The meeting began and during several breaks, the club had brought in a folkloric band to perform as a special treat. The group sang a few special songs…one of which was our favorite…Hay, Hay, Hay, Hay, Canta y no llores….
After the concert, we made our final presentation and probably one of the best as we got several ovations throughout our time on stage. Once we had finished, the Governor had several gifts to pass out for us and had nothing but good things to say about us and the GSE program. Juan Jesus has become a friend. A few minutes later, we received a visit from the very important candidate for President, Jose, who to my liking was a conservative. We promised him that we would vote for him if we could but told him that we would be leaving on Sunday and would follow up on the results when we returned to the states. He made his rounds throughout our Rotary meeting to lock us some final votes before heading out. The final meeting was a great success and we enjoyed meeting so many new friends in the town of Arucas.
With the afternoon granted free by our best friend, we each went our separate ways. I visited the beach for an hour before dinner at Suzie’s house with Tong and Carla while Bert, Chris and Catherine all had dinner at Marian’s house with their host families. After dinner, Carla and I came back to have a few glasses of wine with my host family before calling it a night.
As I get ready for bed, I remember the sign that I saw in the factory today that said…”A day without rum is a bad one…”

Work days...

2007-05-23T18:10:00.000-05:00

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…

Road Trip...

2007-05-22T19:25:00.001-05:00

Out early this morning, Carla, Tong and I caught a cab and headed to the meeting place. After some miscommunication with the driver, we arrived at Hotel Santa Catalina to find the others drinking café. We joined them and waited around thirty minutes until the District Governor, Juan Jesus, came walking up. He explained that he had hit a lot of traffic and was running a little late. We gathered our things and he led us to a bus that he had rented specially for us. Juan informed us that the visit to the Air Force base had been cancelled because of certain issues but other things would be interjected into the schedule to make up for the missed visit. As we rode to the south of the island, he explained to us many different things about the various parts of the islands and talked to us about his travels throughout the district as the governor. Around 10 am, we pulled up to a coffee shop where we got out and had our second café of the morning. We met Jose Carlos, the President of RC Maspalomas, and Pablo, an older gentleman who is a Rotarian and a really good artist. They joined us in the bus and we went on our way to an area further south. When we had driven a little while longer, we found ourselves parked at a security gate where Juan Jesus explained who we were and we were immediately granted access. As we drove in, we learned that this was a former NASA facility that has been turned into an research institutes that monitors satellites for the government and private companies. INTA is located on a site that is at the same latitude as Cape Canaveral in Florida and was placed here to monitor space activity throughout the years. Not to long ago, NASA downsized and this facility was closed and reopened by the Spanish government and uses some of the highest quality satellite tracking devices in the world. Not only does this place monitor air quality, vegetation growth, space activity, and storm movement from outer space, it offers a service that monitors gps tracking devices to rescue people lost at sea or lost in various parts of the world. We got the royal treatment including a private tour of all the major equipment rooms and satellite stations. After we were all amazed at the access granted, we loaded back onto the bus and headed back to Maspalomas. Jose Carlos and Pablo directed the bus driver to take us back to some conference center where their meeting would be held. Around 2:30, lunch began and we gave a wonderful presentation to a group of about fifteen Rotarians. After several questions from the group, they decided that they wanted to take us around the area and show off their towns. We split up into two cars and were driven to Playa del Ingles. As we walked up to the beach, we were all amazed. This was unlike any other beach that any of us had ever seen. There were dunes that stretched into the distance and finally met the sea. People leaving the beach were walking along the tops of the dunes. The beach reminded us all of the pictures that we have seen of the Sahara and each of us could not believe our eyes. After a few pictures, I decided to take off my shoes and go walk out on the dunes. I became king of the hill (because no one else wanted to scale the dune like me) and enjoyed having my feet in the ultra fine sand. Next the Rotarians took us to a boardwalk type place a few kilometers down the road to have ice cream and enjoy the sunshine. We then loaded the bus and drove around the coastline and stopped at various miradors to see the beautiful views as the road went up and down the mountains and in and out of the valleys. The scenery was gorgeous.
We all enjoyed the relaxing time as we had been up very early this morning but as we continued to tour around the south, we realized that we were supposed to be back towards the north of the island at 8:30 for dinner at the RC of Telde…the problem was that it was closing in on 8:15 and Telde was a good 30 minute drive away and the Rotarians didn’t seem to be turning us around to head that way. Finally, we brought the facts to the attention of Jose Carlos and he made a few phone calls and told the Telde group that we would be late.
Around 9:30, we made it to Telde for dinner. We each sat around the table and talked about the experiences that we have had so far including our time on this island. We were served a light dinner and then performed for a group of 20 Rotarians. Afterwards, we answered questions and then went our separate ways with our host family for the night. One week from today, each of us will be back at work…

Simple yet Wonderful...

2007-05-21T18:35:00.000-05:00

After the most sleep that I have gotten since I have been here (seven hours), I awoke renewed and refreshed this morning. I walked over in the rain (yes, this is the first rain that we have seen since we have been here) to where Tong and Carla are staying and we caught a cab to Hotel Santa Catalina, the meeting point for our great adventure of the day. Everyone showed up a little later and we enjoyed some café on the terrace of the hotel. Farzad, a businessman who deals in imported rugs, met us and at once we were whisked away to VIMOR. Once we arrived in the center of the city (and Farzad hitting the wall with the van), we realized that VIMOR was the business that is owned by our good friend Manolo Vicente. 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…

Domingo...

2007-05-20T17:41:00.000-05:00

I rolled out of bed this morning feeling like I hadn’t slept at all. Four hours of sleep was not enough. The schedule said that we were to leave the house and meet the group at 11 am for a basketball game. I still find it hard to believe that just a few hours ago, Carla and I were still out on the town. Oh well…When in Spain.
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…

Two days worth...

2007-05-20T14:39:00.001-05:00

Ok, Ok. I know that there hasn’t been a blog for the past two days but we have been busy. I will get you caught up on all the action.
Saturday morning got off to a bright and early start with breakfast downstairs at the hotel. We were to be on the bus at 9:30 am so we met for breakfast at 8:30 am. The bus was supposed to take us to the center of town where we would meet some Rotarians. That is if we caught the bus…A few minutes before 9:30 am we got in line to board the bus and as we walked closer, we realized that there was a seat on the bus for everyone except us. Catherine talked with the clerk at the front desk and we learned that the best option would be a taxi. So they called us a taxi and within five minutes we all piled into the car and headed to the center of town. Manulo and Antonio met us there and walked us down to a small little shopping area where they planned for us to board a train that would take us to Loro Parque, the main attraction for today. Loro Parque is a theme park with tons of animals and live shows similar to sea world. This place was founded by a Rotarian who liked Parrots. He initially started the place with just parrots and expanded over the years to what is now a haven for animals. The park has orca, dolphin, sea lion and parrot shows starting every few minutes and wide array of animals in for all the children and adults to marvel at. We spent the morning on a behind the scenes tour with our tour guide, learning about the way the park operates as well as seeing some up close portions of the animals’ living quarters. Our tour guide was fabulous and afterwards she put together a schedule to make sure that we saw all of the wonderful show. Lunch was prepared for us in the grill where we had a quick lunch before making our way to the orca show. These orcas were brought here to the park from Sea World in the US and now provide entertainment for a crowd full of people after couple of hours. Next was the dolphin show where we watched as the dolphins and the trainers did tricks. Lastly, we took time to see the parrot show (since it was the original show in the park) and got an up close and personal view of the birds as they flew directly above our heads, so close that you could feel the wind brush through your hair. Exhausted from a late night last night and an early morning today, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel before dinner. Catherine, Bert, Tong and Chris caught the next bus back. Carla and I stayed to shop a few minutes in the shopping center. We all made it back (on the bus this time) and took a siesta before dinner with more Rotarians.
We were picked up at the hotel at 8 pm by Manulo and another Rotarian. They drove us back to the center of town where we would be dining at one of five of Anton’s restaurants in the city. After a quick phone call to the office to check in and help handle some minor issues, we started with drinks by the patio overlooking a gorgeous view of the city. The dinner bell rang and we all were cat herded (as Bert would say) to the table. The setting was out in the open in a small garden and was perfect with a cool breeze blowing. There were tons of laughs throughout the night as I sat beside Jose Marie, a hilarious oil tycoon. Several times during dinner, references were made to the peppers that were eaten at last night’s dinner and what they would do to one’s stomach. Dinner was way too much food but we have decided that our stomachs have adapted to the local cuisine (quantity and quality). After dinner, Bert made an outstanding presentation to our host for the evening, the club president and our two tour guides for the day. Cafe, postre and other drinks were served as we carried on conversation throughout the evening. The topics ranged from one of the members being a nobleman to Jose Maria’s travels in the US to four of the founders of San Antonio being from the Canaries. The evening carried on until the late part of the night and finally Miguel the club president presented the group with souvenirs and small gifts from the club. The team gathered everyone for a group picture and then said our goodbyes to the group from Puerto de la Cruz…
Sunday came way too early. We started off downstairs at 8 am where we had to have our bags packed and ready for travel to the last leg of our trip. Marcos and Manulo drove us to the port where we gave hugs and kisses and then boarded the ferry for a trip across to Gran Canaria. I took advantage of the down time to enjoy a nice nap while we crossed the ocean. As we got off the boat, we were greeted by Alfredo (I think we have seen him on every island now), Fernando, Jorge, Marian, Afrain and Argirios (my host for the week). We received a warm welcome and jumped on a bus that was reserved just for us. The new hosts drove us downtown where we would be seeing a prehistoric city that has recently been excavated that consisted of homes of the ancient people here on the island. After a tour of the artifacts and a history lesson of how the city was conquered and what the small villages looked like, we bought some souvenirs and headed for lunch. A 2 pm lunch is what we have become accustomed to and we are all afraid that we will have difficulty adjusting when we return to the states. We drove down to an area near a beach and were led to a quaint little restaurant that overlooked the black sand beach. The team sat down with a beautiful view of the ocean and had a meal that again filled us above the normal level of intake that a human is allowed. We all struggled to put the food in our mouths as we have not yet learned to pace ourselves with the appetizers in order to be prepared for the main course. After lunch, we were all taken to our host family homes for a much needed siesta.
Argi and I drove to his downtown flat where we lugged my stuff up into one of the rooms reserved for me. I caught up on a little bit of sleep and then woke up to get ready for the evening. We decided to walk downtown for a few minutes as there was a folkloric competition among rival groups happening tonight. We sat around and listened to the musicians play and sing with crowds filling the streets. I was introduced to a lot of Argi’s friends and we snapped a few pictures before we had to leave. We were to be at the dinner around 9:30 pm where we would be entertained at a formal dinner for the Telde Rotary Club. We met the rest of the group there and everyone shared stories of their host homes and we they did this afternoon. We were directed to sit down for dinner at a table specially reserved for us and dinner began. We ate several appetizers; a second dish that we all thought was the main course and then the main course plus dessert and café. Bert was asked to say a few words and he spoke Spanish like a pro. A jazz band accompanied dinner but we were all too stuffed to dance afterwards (even though Bert was propositioned to dance by the Club President’s wife…Don’t worry Nancy, we are keeping an eye on him). After dinner (around 1:30 am) we all headed our separate directions with our host families. However, my host person is in his middle twenties and decided that we should not go home but hit the town on a Saturday night. Carla was the only one that I could convince to come with us and we headed back to change out of our uniform clothes. We made it to an outside bar around 2 am. This place was packed with people that filled an outside area flanked by several bars where drinks could (and were) be purchased. We joined some other Rotarians on the dance floor and began the night. Carla and I were astounded that the bars in our area close at 2 and the ones here just get started around that time. We danced the night away and before we knew it, the clock said 4:30 am. Argi led us out of the club and to the car where we thought we were headed home. A few minutes later, we parked the car at a disco where we went in and danced some more. Around 6 am, we finally made it back to the house where thankfully we didn’t have to get up until 10. Four hours of sleep will be enough…Right?

Nuevos Amigos...

2007-05-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

I struggled out of bed at 8 am this morning (if you remember correctly, we stayed out until 2 am last night and I wrote the blog which was posted somewhere around 4 am). We all joined in for breakfast before being transported to our final Spanish class with Manuel. Our professor was waiting for at the entrance and we spent the next hour learning some more minor things that can help us increase our grasp on the language. After class, Bert and I were supposed to play golf with Peter and Mark but the schedule changed (that has happened quite often by this point in the trip) and we opted out of golf for a little free time to pack and get our things ready to move. We told Ingolf goodbye and asked him to visit us in the states and then the team headed back to our respective host family homes. Bert, Chris and I presented our host family with some nice gifts, including the bottle of mojo that was given to us by Rafeal yesterday (we were afraid that it would bust open in our suitcases…Bert is going to try and get his home…I will let you know how that one turns out). After the hugs and kisses, we each had a couple of hours of free time before we were to be picked up for lunch. I opted for the beach, Bert decided to read, Chris worked on some things on the computer and the girls all packed their clothes. The beach was magnificent. I sat by myself and thanked God (and Rotary and Milliken (not in that particular order)) for allowing me such a great opportunity…to be in a different part of the world and getting to experience the things that our group has been able to do.
Covered in black sand, I headed back to the house for a quick shower before being picked up by Peter for lunch. Our chauffeur drove us up to his house far up in the mountains where there is a different climate (the temperature changed a few degrees in only a fifteen minute drive up the mountain). We told Peter that the area that his house was in, looked like Beverly Hills and he replied in his perfect Danish accent…”Ah yes but Beverly has left a long time ago.” Tum was waiting for us where she had prepared a special Spanish cuisine…Thai food. Tum is originally from Thailand and wanted to make us a special meal. Enrique and Mariebelle joined us for lunch at the home up in the hills First we were served a noodle salad (Kayce and Nancy, she is going to send the recipe because we loved it) and then we feasted on homemade curry and rice. We were rushed through dessert because we were to be back at the homes to be picked up by Marcos to be transported to our next destination.
Today, we were moving to a part of the island near the North called Puerto de la Cruz staying in a hotel where Ingolf is the administrator. After a 45 minute drive (most of which we slept), Marcos and Merci dropped us off and we had to run upstairs and change clothes for a presentation to the Rotary Club of this city. Five or ten minutes later, we were rushed off to meet up with the men to ride a bus to the town of Gauratichi for tonight’s meeting. We met back up with some old friends from some of the other clubs and had a wonderful Rotary meeting where we were all allowed to speak about ourselves (not do the planned presentation) mostly off the cuff…and of course it was spectacular once again. The most improved award so far goes to Bert who’s Spanish has really improved and showed in tonight’s meeting. We are continuing to work hard. Once the meeting was over, we were directed back to the bus to be transported to a small little restaurant right on the ocean for dinner. We joined about 25 Rotarians for a wonderful dinner. I sat near an old man named Antonio and he began to show me how to eat like a Tenerife native. We sat down and immediately are served some wine (of course) and then the first appetizers, snails, came out. There were some small peppers in front of us and Antonio explained to me that these were some of the most picante peppers around. He didn’t speak much English and he used a fist pump to let me know that only real men ate these. He actually used a word in Spanish that would get me in a lot of trouble if I tried to translate it…lets just say they were extremely hot. I tried a tiny little piece of these peppers just to say that I was a man and my mouth was set on fire. I talked Chris into trying one as well and we both had to have Coca-colas sent over to the table to put out the fire in our mouths. Dinner was served in the form of a large fish and some papas arrugadas. As the night continued on and the wine bottles got empty, Antonio talked me into taking a bite of one of the peppers (Chris got it on video). I am not sure if it was the wine or the crowd cheering my name but I bit the entire tip of the pepper and immediately had to pour Coke and water and bread down my throat to help extinguish the flames. Nothing helped. It was bad. I did however get a glowing fist pump from my new best friend, Antonio. It was worth it. He was proud and said that I was a Tenerife citizen now. The night continued on with a couple of serenades from various Rotarians, plenty of toasts to the new American friends, some dirty jokes that translated and of course…dessert. Around midnight, we all hopped back on the bus and were driven to our hotel where we retired for the evening in hopes of getting some much needed rest. We have two more days on this island and we will never forget the experiences and friends that we have had in the south. Although, I will have to try and figure out a way that I can make it the rest of the trip without a few taste buds that were burnt off with the peppers…

Day at the beach...

2007-05-16T20:43:00.000-05:00

Tonight’s blog is going to be short because we just got home at 2 am and we have to get up for Spanish lessons at 8.

Ingolf picked us up this morning and drove us to Nautical Club Puerto Colon for a relaxing morning at the pool. Chris and Catherine worked out while Carla and I laid by the pool. The club was near a beach so after a quick nap and a couple of laps in the pool, we walked out near the beach. Catherine bargained with some of the local shop owners for beach towels and we took a stroll on the nice black sand beach.
After a shower, we met up with Bert who had been to coffee with Father David, a priest from Zimbabwe and the only married Catholic priest in Spain (short version of a long story: An Anglican pastor, he fled Zimbabwe with his wife after he was considered an enemy of the state and almost murdered. Then he went to find a new country to practice his religion in and became a Catholic priest who is married). We all headed over to the Hotel Gran Tinerfe where we met Rafael, the president-elect of the Tenerife Sur Club and directing manager of a few of the H10 hotels in this area. Rafeal treated us to a wonderful meal out on a nice boardwalk overlooking the ocean. We had paella (this time different with noodles instead of rice) and some kind of new coffee drink with liquor for dessert.
After lunch, we got a tour of the town hall area where our new friend Nelson, the youngest judge in all of Spain, showed us around his quarters. Nelson is a very humble guy but it very unique. He has written eight books that have been translated into many languages and is very knowledgeable in the history of the island. He walked us through some of the cases that he typically hears and showed us a few examples. The last thing that he did which impacted us all was walk us down to the jail area where over 96 immigrants were being held because they have washed up on shore over the past days. The news in the area has been talking about over 1000 people washing up on the shores of the islands over the past five days. These are immigrants who are washing up on shore in small rafts trying to gain entry into Europe for work from the African nation. These are people who come with no national papers and can not be identified. The law states that they must be arrested and prosecuted but with no identification documents, Nelson says that they must be held for forty days while the authorities try to identify which country they are from and try to extradite them…He says that most are set free after 40 days because either the countries don’t want them back or there is no way to identify them. Huge problem. As we all looked at these people, many starving, others sick from Malaria, AIDS and tropical measles, we all realized how lucky we were to be born in a great country like the US where we are afforded many things. The smell was terrible. It looked as if each person had been given clothes by the authorities with numbers written on their chest. There were interpreters there to help process the court paperwork. The whole atmosphere was a scary one and made most of us understand the importance of our nation. This experience really opened our eyes in a tremendous way.
After an experience that I will never forget, we were taken to the town of Adeje, one of the oldest towns in the islands. Nelson wrote one of his books about the history of this area and knew everything there was to know about this small agriculture center. We walked around the convent as we got our history lessons and ended up in the church where we got an all access tour of the place. Nelson then led us to the top of the hill where we saw a fortress that the largest landowner had built to protect from pirates in the olden days. The history lesson continued at the local restaurant where the conversation turned to politics. Catherine against the whole table was the theme of the evening and some very healthy conversation was had. No one won but since I am the editor of the blog, I guess I can say that I won the argument. After some dessert, that I plan to find and import to the US (a hollowed out orange filled with orange sherbet), we were returned to our host families.
Just when we thought the night was over, Catherine, Carla, Nelson, Ingolf and I decided to head back out for a drink…or two. We ended up in the bar Magic where we sat around the plush couches and discussed current events.
Around 2 am, we called it a night and headed in. Tomorrow (or I guess it is today) is moving day…

Bah, Bah Pelibuey negro...

2007-05-15T19:28:00.000-05:00

Bright and early this morning we had Spanish lesson numero dos with Manuel. Manuel covered infinitives with us and made us practice as a group (we think Lisa taught us most of this already but a good refresher always helps). After an hour of practice and some bad coffee (haven’t had much of that here but today’s was not good), our teacher led us to the Cultural Center where we were to meet today’s host. Ingolf and Francisco, a Rotarian that we met at the meeting yesterday and a businessman in town that is working with this farm in various ways, were there at the appointed time and we headed off to a faro, where the schedule said that we would see a modern self contained Banana Plantation and get to know some of the sheep (please hold all of the West Virginia, Wyoming and Kentucky jokes…Bert has already told them). We drove out to the hills and as we approached the farm, we saw a 30 foot sheep figure in the distance. As we got closer, we realized it was a plant sculpted to be in the shape of a sheep. Francisco led us into the plantation and straight out with a tour guide to show us the organic banana farm. We walked through and were explained the process of how bananas are grown each year. The banana plants (don’t call them trees around here) are used for one harvest…each year the plant produces one stem of fruit and drops small seedlings in the ground around it. Once the plant has produced the fruit, it is taken down and one of its “sons” grows beside it for next year’s crop. Many seedlings fall but the farmers choose the strongest one and dig up the rest. In this farm, after the harvest is over, the farmers bring in sheep that eat all of the old debris from the plants and fertilize the new trees for the next year. The company is very proud of the fact that they have a full cycle of plant growth contained in their facility. As we walked through this never ending greenhouse type building, we see strawberries, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, onions, papaya, radishes, corn and of course bananas being grown throughout the facility (Kim Erwin and the Clemson agriculture department would be proud…no bleu cheese anywhere though). The tour continued on to the back side of the land where we ran into the area where all of the sheep are kept. We walked up, were met by many “bahs” from the animals and even saw a lamb that had just been born and was already walking around. We were told by our guide that we would come back to the animals but we needed to hurry back up to the front for lunch. Lunch started with papaya juice smoothies which led into wine, fried cheese, salads, croquettes and the main course…Pelibuey (Ken, that is Spanish for sheep) served with potatoes and vegetables all of which is organic. Mr Sisilia, the owner, sat down at the table and talked to us a little about his travels in the US which led into a story about the Worlds Fair and some other stuff…which led Catherine to ask “how in the world did we start talking about the worlds fair?” The owner told us a few more things about the plantation and we were rushed back out to the back so that we were able to see the sheep before we had to leave. As we walked up to the gate, the worker opened it and all of the animals started running our way. In the corner, the man showed us a mother that had just given birth to two babies. Tong ran up to pet the little one (I know it sounds gross but they were completely clean). The mother was protective but allowed us to walk right up and see the babies. We are directed to another area where all of the young lambs are standing around and all of the sudden Jesus, the worker, opened another gate and all of the mommas came running up the hill to find their children. It was an amazing sight to see as each mother knew exactly which ones were their children and offered them some milk. After this group had calmed down and Tong had told them to “shut up” a few times, another four newborn babies were brought out to us. We each took turns holding them but Tong refused to put hers back down. She wanted to bring her newfound friend home with her but she was afraid Duchess (her German Sheppard) might not be too happy with that. Reluctantly, Tong let go of her amigo and then we headed out of yet another great experience.
Ingolf and Pedro hurried us back to the cars where we were driven to Parque de Aquillas, a wildlife park where we would be watching a bird show. We grabbed a couple of drinks by the amphitheater and sat down in the sun to prepare ourselves for what the announcer called “the greatest experience in the world…Wow.” I don’t know about greatest experience in the world but the show was very interesting. They had bald eagles, cranes, vultures, peacock looking birds, condors and many more birds flying right by our heads and doing tricks in the air. After the show, Carla, Catherine, Chris, Ingolf, his wife and I decided to stay and look around the park more while Pedro, Bert and Tong headed back for a siesta. This was similar to a zoo but we were allowed much closer to the animals than any other zoo that I have visited. We saw penguins and crocodiles and hippos and monkeys and parrots and some alligators mating and leopards (one of which did not like me) and lions and tigers, no bears…oh my. The park was amazing and the group was excited to get to see all of the animals up close and personal.
Ingolf drove us back to our host families where we were able to take naps until it was time to head out for our evening activity. Around 9 pm, we met the girls out at the downtown area in front of the Arona Pyramid. Tonight, we were scheduled to see a sensational Flamenco show of Carmen Mota called Esencia de Amor. The show started promptly at 9:30 pm which Bert found odd because everything here has started pretty late on what he refers to as Tiempo Canaria. The first act was a dancing extravaganza similar to the step shows that are popular in the US. The second act is a classic love story (don’t read if you plan on going to see this show anytime soon): Geeky guy wants beautiful girl, girl falls for some other rich but worthless guy, guy buys a love potion (actually not anything but wine) from an swindler, guy sings some song and makes the girl like him although he thinks it is the elixir that is making her like him, guy plays hard to get to make the girl jealous, girl doesn’t like being jealous and accepts the worthless guy’s engagement proposal to make the other guy jealous in return, girl doesn’t go through with the wedding, guy sells his soul to the devil (or in this case to the army so that he can get money for more love elixir), guy takes the elixir, guy’s rich uncle dies and leaves him lots of money which makes all the girls in town want him, guy thinks it is the elixir that is making them like him, girl gets jealous because all of the girls want this guy now, elixir swindler tries to sell potion to girl, girl says no – I can win him with my good looks and charm and don’t need the elixir, guy and girl fall in love, they live happily ever after. It was actually a very good show, dancing was great, acting was wonderful and I enjoyed this evening out. I know nothing more about flamenco dancing than I did before the show but at least I can say that I saw it while I was over here…

Professional Visits...or not...

2007-05-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

The team was split up this morning to head out on our occupational visits. We have to do this sort of thing in between the fun so that our employers will actually think that it was worth them letting us come. Today’s visits were: Tong and Catherine visited a school; Bert met with a priest; I met with a labor advisor and a union negotiator; and finally Chris and Carla were supposed to visit an engineering firm…more on that later.
Tong y Catherine hablamos (collectively written):
We spent the morning at the Instituto de Enseňanza Secundaria Los Cristianos. Guadalupe Gonzalez, an English teacher and friend of Marcos Cabrera, showed us around. She also invited us to participate in two of her English classes. In the first class, we played a game called Lie Detector in which students tell three things about themselves- two that are true and one that is false. It turns out that Catherine is a pretty good liar since the students couldn’t guess which of her statements was a lie. Next, we did a question and answer activity with the students. We spoke a little about us and our impressions of their island. The best part was when Tong got to teach a five minute lesson on functions. Both of us were very impressed with the caring that the teachers showed for all of their students, many of whom come from diverse cultures. A poem on the wall seemed to sum up their approach:
If your god is Jewish,
Your car is Japanese,
Your pizza is Italian,
Your gas is Argentinean,
Your coffee is Brazilian,
Your vacations are Moroccan,
Your numbers are Arabic,
And your letters are Latin,
How can you say that your neighbor is a foreigner?
Bert hablar:
I met with Father David Evans, a Roman Catholic priest currently serving in Los Gigantes. He is a former Anglican priest from Zimbabwe. He had become an enemy of the state there and had to leave four years ago. As part of that move, he “went to Rome,” applying to Canada, England, and Spain. The church in Spain offered him the position in Tenerife. He and his wife have two daughters, one of whom is married to a doctor in Fort Lauderdale, FL, the other married and living in the Cayman Islands. We had a great time talking about a variety of subjects, professional and otherwise. In fact, we’re continuing the conversation on Wednesday morning. This time he’s bringing his wife, Patricia, to be our adult supervision.
Nic hablar:
After a short walk to the office of Marcos Cabrerra, I was taken upstairs to his sister’s office where I met with Roberto, a former teacher turned labor advisor. Roberto explained to me the process of human resources as it applied to his position. He was very knowledgeable about all the activities that are controlled by the government. He talked about social security, taxes, wages and pensions. I learned that the majority of the workforce in the country is controlled by labor unions and there is a great need for managers to handle these issues. The whole morning was so interesting to me that we ran way off schedule and my second visit had to be cut short. Once we figured out that we had talked for a couple of hours, Roberto realized that he was supposed to take me to another office so that I could speak to Jesus Cruz, a Rotarian and owner of a HR firm, about labor union negotiation. Jesus gave me a quick run down of the processes that his company follows and what bargains were routinely located in each negotiation. By far, this was the best professional day so far for me as I was able to gain a better understanding of how the European HR systems work.
Chris y Carla hablamos (collectively written):
We helped Pedro purchase a new laptop. Once this was completed, we went to a building that is comparable to our Bi-Lo Center and attempted to bargain with security to allow us to go on a tour but they would not allow us.
We all reconvened at the Villa Cortes where we met Mark, a Rotarian and the general manager of the hotel. We learned that Mark has traveled the world in the hotel business. He has lived in Barbados, Venezuela, Mexico, Lanzarote, Switzerland and Tenerife. He is actually a Swiss but has lived here for the past five years. We were led straight away to lunch out on the patio that overlooked the pool and the beach…it’s a hard life over here. Mark ordered Paella and drinks for the table. We were all a little hungry but a little paella cured that quickly. After the Paella and the dessert (which was interesting because we all ordered strawberries and the waiter came back out and said that all of the strawberries were gone...Mark gave him one look and said - no there are some strawberries and out they came...I love Rotarians), we were sent on a guide tour where we visited one of the suites and got a behind the scenes tour of the hotel from the pastry kitchen to the banquet halls. Mark was a gracious host and allowed us to stop and take pictures along the way of the beautiful views. After the tour, the group (sin Bert) decided to take a stroll through the tourist district towards the casas. Catherine has wanted to ride a camel since we got here...and the camels were only on Lanzarote...Somewhere along the walk today, Catherine got to ride her camel. We didn’t have to be back until 6:30 so we took our time and enjoyed the 45 minute stroll along the promenade filled with 180 shops and some amazing coastline. We all finally made it home and washed up for the Rotary Club meeting.
Pedro drove us to the hotel where Tenerife Sur Club meets. We had the privilege of having a world renowned expert in volcanic science give us a private presentation on the volcanoes of the islands. Dr Nemesio Perez, who is apparently very famous to people in the volcano science world, spoke to the group about how volcanoes have formed over the years and certain methods that they use to predict the next eruptions. The ideas were very interesting and we were all very pleased to have someone like Dr Perez take time to come speak to us. After a break and some food and drinks, we had to earn our keep. Bert began the presentation and we all followed along as we have become accustomed to doing. The presentation went flawless as always and we were presenting with the club’s banner…Bert forgot our banners to reciprocate. A few business matters were discussed and the meeting was adjourned.
Since it was still early, some of the Rotarians decided to take us out for some drinks in town. Pedro, Ingolf, Paquita and Nelson led us to the center of town where we enjoyed each others company in the cool night air. Tong and I had a paper airplane race, Catherine typed her blog portion (see above) on Chris’s computer and we all let Chris download our pictures for backup. Pedro made the comment that the crazy Americans are always working even during their time off. This quote summed up our professional visits day or at least my portion of it…

Johte Johte...

2007-05-13T19:57:00.000-05:00

Our host family woke us up this morning for a nice breakfast before we started our day. Araceli had prepared toast, jam, meats, cheeses and coffee for the three chicas. After a quick shower, we headed out towards the cultural center down the road in town. We arrived and were met by Eduardo, Nelson and Ingolf. Eduardo is a young business man and the nephew of Juan Linares. Nelson is a judge in town with a big reputation for being strict with the law. He is quite knowledgeable about all things Tenerife and will be our guide for the day. Ingolf is a native German who moved here 36 years ago and is currently a Spanish citizen. We hung around for a few minutes getting to know our new friends as we wait for the girls to show up…always waiting for the girls. After some small talk, the girls arrived and we hopped in three different cars to head out for the day. Catherine, Carla and I rode with Eduardo and Nelson while Bert, Chris and Tong piled in with Pedro. The excursion for the day is a trip towards the north of the island where we will eventually end up at Juan Jose’s house/banana plantation for lunch/dinner/fiesta. The tour began with a ride through the mountains where Nelson explained to us some of the history of the island. We stopped at a lookout point, took pictures and heard the story of how the volcano erupted in 1909 and left rivers of lava that ran into the sea. We continued on, slowly learning about Nelson’s role as a judge on the island and the current trial that he is hearing that involves some local corrupt politicians. The next stop was a small cove. Punta Teno, where many locals hang out. As we headed to the north, we learned that there were fewer beaches towards this part of the island so the locals find any spots near the ocean to catch their sun. This place was a little crowded since it was Sunday and a beautiful day for laying on the beach or lava rocks or anywhere near the ocean. We looked out over the rocks for a few minutes admiring the scenery including a lighthouse off in the distance before we headed back out on the road. Our chaffeurs led us to a small town that was the sea port for the island as well as being the richest city in all of the islands in the 16th and 17th century. The city was so rich that legend has it that the main streets near the center of town were made of marble. Sometime during the 17th century, a volcano erupted, flooded the entire city as well as part of the ocean floor with lava and the sea port was destroyed because the ships could no longer sail into the harbor. The citizens moved the sea port up into a different city (Santa Cruz) and now this area is a tourist trap…or at least that is what it looked like to us. We wander around the old city…all of it rebuilt after the volcano…and see that none of the buildings except for a church survived the lava rivers. After a small tour of the city, we head to our final destination for lunch.
Around 3 pm, we left town and ended up at Finca La Gorvaorana, the home of Rotarian Juan Jose (or Johte Johte for short…that is the equivalent of JJ in Spanish). This guy is a member of the La Laguna club and has invited around 30 of our newest closest friends over for lunch. We walk into this banana plantation and see a historic house that looks as if it is out of a very old Spanish movie (JJ tells us that it was his great grandfather house and he has continued the family tradition by continuing to grow bananas on the land). As we make it down to the smaller house where we will be eating lunch, we are greeted by everyone we have met this past week including all of our wonderful host families and some new faces. We kiss everyone on the cheeks and introduce ourselves to all the new people and grab some appetizers because we are all starving. Before lunch, we are summoned to the front steps where we get a group picture. Lunch begins in this small banquet type hall where we are sitting around people who have become extremely good friends over the past couple of weeks (Kayce, some of them might have accidentally been invited to the wedding…and some of them might actually be coming in December…seriously). We enjoy the typical canarian meal with some kind of soup and plenty of papas and carne. After lunch, we are invited out to the patio where everyone has a guitar, some ukuleles and some drums. Juan and some guy who is a famous singer begin with some folk music and some of the old Spanish songs. We all hum along because we don’t know the words. Somewhere along the way “Hay, Hay, Hay…canta no llures” or something like that….I know this song because Josh Ridings used to sing it when we were in high school and it has always stuck in my head. Thanks Josh. We all hang around for a long time singing songs (Bert found some kind of instrument that he could play and he joined right in) and at some point, Chris and Catherine joined in with the traditional dancing (Kathleen, we have pictures) and fun was had by all. During the middle, we all stopped and a 97 year old Rotarian made some comments and read a poem that she had written. JJ came over once the music calmed down and decided that he wanted to take the group on a tour of the plantation. We followed him around through the house and into the fields where we saw the bananas hanging from the trees. He was very proud of his plants and talked about them for a long time. After the tour, everyone began to leave. We said our goodbyes to all of the La Laguna friends and made our way to our cars.
Eduardo and Nelson took us back towards town. We stopped at some place high above Los Cristianos and watched the sunset into the ocean and marveled at a wonderful two weeks that have already passed by on this trip. We were taken back to our host families where we had dinner. Catherine, Paquita and I went out for a nightcap in town while the others went to bed. We visited a small little restaurant called Magic where we solved all the worlds problems over a couple of drinks. We also practiced some language training as Paquita is working on her English while I am still working on my Spanish. We hung out for a while and decided to call it a night a little after midnight…

A Whale of a Day...

2007-05-12T20:34:00.001-05:00

Day 2 in the south began this morning with breakfast with Pedro and Aracili. Bert, Chris and I were served fresh fruit, toast, cheeses and coffee. Our hosts were very gracious and wanted to know all about us as we sat around the table like a family. We learned that they have five children, three grandchildren and three more due by the end of the year. After breakfast, we headed downstairs where we were to catch a ride with Paquita, the girls host and President of the South Tenerife club, at 9 am to Peurto Colon for our whale watching expedition. Around 9:30, we were told that Pedro was to take us and Paquita would meet us there with the girls. We arrived just in time to board the boat and found out that Carla had ridden with Alfredo and they had not shown up in the port. Paquita franticly called around to try to find Alfredo cell phone number but had no luck. The captain of the ship told us that we had to leave and we were off without a word from the two. Nonetheless, the trip turned out to be an amazing one. Peter, who we had met earlier last week at the District Conference pirate party…he was a pirate, was the owner of the catamaran that takes tourist out to sea to look for mammals out in the wild. Peter welcomed us on board and told about his business and the things we would see during the trip. We sailed out to sea and about 15 minutes out, the boat began to slow down and crept towards to figures in the distance. As we got closer, we could make them out to be some type of animal that look liked a dolphin. The guide told us that it was a pilot whale which is about 8 feet long and has a dorsal fin that makes it look similar to a dolphin. We were able to get within a few feet and watch as he/she went up and down in the water. The animal got tired of us watching him and dove deep into the clear blue ocean. The boat sped back up and stopped from time to time as we approached different types of animals including two types of dolphins and three types of whales. After a few hours out in the ocean, the captain informed us that we would be stopping near a cove for a swim before lunch. Chris, Peter and I dove in the water as the ones not willing to give up the opportunity to swim in a beautiful ocean surrounded by volcanic mountains. The view was amazing as we looked up into the hills to see El Tiede rising above the clouds and looked below in the water to see small little fish swimming around our feet. The moment was so wonderful and can not be explained in words…so I won’t try. Peter told us that the beach in the distance was a secluded beach that could only be reached by boat or by a two hour hike through the mountain ranges. Amazing!
After a little time in the water, we were directed back to the boat where we enjoyed a typical canarian lunch…don’t worry we took Dramamine to calm our stomachs. With our bellies full once again, we headed back upstairs to the top deck where we all took in the sights on our ride back to the port. We all bathed in the sun, some of us covered in sunscreens or towels, and talked with Peter about the tourism on the island. Riding along the shore, we were able to see all of the hotels that are built up along the ocean and learned about the local fish farms that are used to harvest fish for the local restaurants. Around 3 pm, we arrived back at the port and thanked Peter and the captain for a wonderful experience and headed back to get some rest. At some point during the debarkation of the boat, we received a cell phone call that told us that Alfredo and Carla had missed the boat because they went to the wrong port. Alfredo did however take Carla on another boat so that she was able to enjoy a similar experience that we had during the day.
After a quick shower and a change of clothes, we met back a Paquita’s place where we were to begin our first Spanish lesson with Manuel, a member of the GSE team to Greenville and an English teacher to Spanish students here in Tenerife. We begin the lesson with some fundamental verbs and move to some more complicated verbage that we can use throughout the trip. Manuel is a wonderful teacher and engages the group throughout the lesson. Around the time that the lesson is ending, Alfredo and Paquita show up with refreshments. Small tarts and ice cream are served and the group digs into some of the local cuisine. As we are eating, Paquita reminds us that we will be having a large dinner at the home of some Rotarians around 8 so we need to save room. None of us listens and eat all that is placed in front of us. We have the benefit of some downtime at Paquita’s house before dinner and appreciate a little time to rest before a large dinner. Can’t you just see the pounds piling up as we eat and sit for an hour or so?
We are taken by Pedro and Aracili to casa de Enrique and Maribelle Fumero. As we walk up to this enormous house, we are enchanted by the fountain that stands at the top of the walkway and pushes water down the edges of the walkway through a canal. We are introduced to these two Rotarians and greeted by Peter and Tum, who have been here since 7:30 (when we were supposed to arrive at 7:30…currently 9:30). We are given the grand tour of this old farm house that has been renovated to include three bedrooms, which look more like three small apartments, along one side of the house (used for their children when they visit). And then we are shown the main part of the house where the kitchen, living areas, and bedrooms are located. All of the rooms on this side of the house open up to a wonderful patio where we will have dinner tonight. As we marvel at the house, we think that we are done but are corrected by Enrique as he shows off the prize of the house. He leads us down to a cave underneath the house that looks similar to what I imagine the batcave looking like. He shows us around his man area, an antique toilet, a kitchen, a winery and small spiral staircase that leads back upstairs to the patio. The cave is remarkable and took Enrique five years to complete but as we are wowed by this place, he comments that it was worth every minute just to hear our reaction. He then takes us to the wine cellar, also located in the cave, and invites us all in to enjoy some of the wine and appetizers (amazing collection of wine where most bottles are covered in dust). Enrique seems very proud of the cellar and the amount of dust on the bottles and also seems to care a lot about us as a team even though we only met a couple of hours ago. After some wonderful wine and conversation (Peter tells us in his Danish accent during the conversation a funny saying that is worth repeating…”An apple a day, keeps the doctor away…if you can hit him) On that note, we head upstairs where Tum and Maribelle are preparing the food and setting the table. After our glasses are filled back up with some great red wine, the food begins to come. Pedro and Peter offer some great entertainment in the form of jokes in between mouths full of food. And we were treated as if we were royalty in this house. The dinner progresses to the point of two desserts and café. Before we are ready to leave, Pedro promises to show us a magic trick. The trick is too much to explain but the pictures can do it justice. The night ends on that display of the dark arts and we are sent off to our host families for a good nights rest…

El Tiede...

2007-05-11T20:23:00.001-05:00

Friday are always more relaxing. Today was no different. We were able to sleep in this morning as Chris and I woke up around 8 am to make sure that we could tell Merci and Marcos goodbye and give them a few tokens of appreciation. Around 8:15, Tong showed up and as we were getting ready and packing a few last minute things, she was able to help Merci prepare the picnic lunch that we would be taking on today’s journey. I walked in the kitchen for breakfast to find Tong rubbing tomatoes on sandwich bread and adding cheese and omellettes (don’t judge…it was good). Around 9 am, everyone else arrived with Jose Luis, a Rotarian who would be joining us on our trip today to El Tiede, the highest point in all of Spain. We pack our bags in the van, negotiate with Merci for some of her artwork, say our goodbye (not really goodbyes because we will see them again on Sunday) and head for the hills. Marcos and Jose take us off into the bright sunlight and before we know it, we are up in the clouds at a lookout point directly in front of the glorious mountain. At this point, we are higher than the highest peak in South Carolina. What an amazing view. We take a few pictures and jump back in the cars. Driving up the road, our ears begin to pop as we are taken to higher and higher elevations. We reach our destination for the next couple of hours in the observatory or it’s more formal name… Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. We meet Ruyman, Vanessa and Crystal who will be guiding us through the various telescopes up on top of this hill. We followed these astronomers around the area and learned many wonderful things about the stars and the planet. For what it is worth, Ruyman says that he doesn’t really care about what the scientist say about Pluto not being a planet…kids are still going to use the same play of words to remember the order of the planets. We learned that they have seven large telescopes in this area and scientists study the stars as well as solar patterns. At this point in the trip, we were higher than the highest peak on the East Coast…and we haven’t even gotten close to the top of El Tiede yet.
After a wonderful tour, we were treated to lunch at a small little stop along the way to the top of the mountain. Marcos had packed us the lunch that Merci made and we found a spot at a restaurant to enjoy the wonderful sandwiches, fresh oranges, homemade bread pudding and cervecas that were packed for us by our host mom. With a small interruption from the waiter (they didn’t want us to sit there without ordering food) and some fun times with the lizards, we were off to the higher sites and more fun. After a little bit of driving with Jose, who we learned is a mortgage/car loan broker who owns his own business that he took over for his father several years ago, we hear stories of how the area we were driving in is the inside of a large crater where lava bubbles up from the center several thousands years ago. The volcano is dormant at this time but has produced some great structures in its history. We arrive at the visitors center where we read some information about the olden days and how the aborigines used to live. There is a small chapel outside where couples can get married in front of some great views. As we walk a little further, we find the Roques de Garcia which is a beautiful set of rock formations that have formed over the years just for us to see while we are on the GSE trip. They tell us that District Governor Rich Waugh prepared this one just for us on his honeymoon several years ago on the islands. We are glad he planned ahead! The team poses for several group shots in front of the most gorgeous view of the inside of a volcano that I have every seen (in fact, it is the only inside of a volcano that I have ever seen but it is beautiful nonetheless) and then we take off for a walk. By the time, we get back to the car everyone has a red neck that would make our friends back in SC proud. We head back down through the valley and bid farewell to the highest peak in Spain and set our sites on highest elevated village in all of Spain. Coincidence? I think not.
Marcos and Jose drive us to the small town of Vilaflor that is the birthplace of Hermano Pedro de Vilaflor who was recently named a saint by the Pope. This town is very proud of this honor bestowed upon their hometown hero and most houses have a tile commemorating this achievement. We walk around the town for a little bit (the people here are extremely nice and speak to us as we wander the street) and Marcos directs us to a small little bakery where we buy some of the freshest bite sized cakes that he swears are the best in the islands. A little old lady takes our money and immediately we all agree with Marcos and buy more because we are told they keep their moisture until July…that is if they don’t get eaten before then. After we have sampled our tasty treats, we are driven to Los Cristianos and end up at the house of Luba and Rapheal. These two are hotel magnates in the area that would be hosting for dinner this evening. Rapheal owns five hotels on the beach in the south of Tenereife and Luba, his wife, owns one. So essentially, they own six hotels in the area. Their house is a 19th century house that has recently been renovated including a complete overall of the back yard which is now perfect for entertaining. Luba gives us a tour of this exquisite home and we are all amazed at how she has blended an old style house with modern trends. We meet Hugo, the cutest and most well behaved boxer (except for the lewd act that he performed on Bert’s leg), who is the third member of the family. The Rotarian couple treats us to wonderful conversation and appetizers while we stand under the Pergolas and take in the view of the city below. After some great conversation, we are led to the table and served a magnificent meal prepared by Teresa, one of their former staff members at the hotel who has recently started her own business and does most of their catering at their home. The meal was wonderful and we are thanked for helping with the christening of their new garden. We present Luba and Raphael with a few gifts to say thank you and then are off to meet our new host families at midnight.
Tong, Catherine and Carla are dropped off at Paquita’s place and we are met by Alfredo and Manuel, both members of the GSE team that visited Greenville. The guys help the girls get their stuff upstairs and bid everyone good night. Bert, Chris and I head for Pedro’s house where we will be staying until Thursday of this week. We meet Pedro and his wife, Araceli and get settled into the penthouse at the top of the condo complex right off of the beach. Around 1 am, we decide to head for our beds as 7 am will come early tomorrow. We will be on a catamaran all morning tomorrow whale watching. I got the Dramamine…

Professional Visits...

2007-05-10T20:47:00.001-05:00

This morning we met at the Cabildo to have a meeting with el Presidente of Tenneriefe. Some of the driving/pickup plans got confused but we all arrived in time in the center of town. We were led into a very large, very unique room where we were seated in aisles. The room was painted with frescos that show the history of the island. A few minutes of waiting led to the entrance of the President, Ricardo Melchior Navarro. Ricky (not sure that he would like that nickname that I just made up) spoke perfect English and gave us an introduction to the island, a brief history of the Cabildo and welcomed us to the area as esteemed guests. He has been in office for the past two terms (total of eight years) and is in the process of running for re-election. We learned that in the cabildo, a person can hold an office as long as they are elected. The President took questions and answered everything directly and politely. He made many comparisions with the US and spoke of sister cities, including Miami, and informed us that they have recently improved relations that will add a direct flight from Miami to Tenneriefe to try to increase tourism from the states. After his speech, we were presented with a book on the island and posed for pictures that will appear in tomorrow’s paper. The entire experience was amazing and I continued to be amazed at the royal treatment that our group is able to attain from such high level persons.
After the Cabildo, each of us went our separate ways on professional visits. Here to tell you about their visits is the group…
CATHERINE:
I had the pleasure of spending a few hours this morning with Rosina Arma Matallana, fellow teacher and President-Elect of the Rotary Club of La Laguna. She introduced me to Alfonso Ballesteros Ballester (try to say that five times fast) who is the Director of Teacher Improvement with the Ministry of Education for the Canary government. Over coffee and churros (kind of like Kristy Kreme doughnuts in pretzel form), we discussed the structure of the education system and the common European framework for instruction. I was particularly struck by the similarities between education in the Canaries and South Carolina. For example, both areas are dealing with a huge influx of immigrant students who need to learn the language of instruction. I was also interested to learn that they are implementing a European portfolio system for all languages to be taught. See Eve, I really am doing some work over here!
TONG:
At 11 am, I con Luis went to visit the department of Mathematics at University La Laguna. I met with Pablo, a former dean, now a professor of Mathematics AND the current dean. The islands have two universities, this one in La Laguna on Teneriefe and the other in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. ULL has about 24,000 students, mostly undergraduate that come mostly from the area. There are some students who come from mainland Europe each year. Pablo and I discussed the programs, the math curriculums and the way to use technology for teaching and learning. After the meeting, I went to observe a Differential Equations class. It was an interesting experience!
BERT:
As the old retired guy, my vocational day was going back to Jose Manuel and Tati’s house and reading email, working on my part of the presentation and then having a half hour conversation with Tati and her sister Silvia. The interesting part was that they speak less English than I speak Spanish. Actually, it went pretty well. Immersion Spanish must be working!
CARLA:
I left the cabildo with Juan for the electric company. There are two power plants on Tenriefe, one old one and one new one. There is no way to connect to power from other islands nearby because the ocean is too deep. I learned there are three ways the new plant produces electricity – steam turbines, diesel engines and gas oil turbines. The new plant has a combined cycle that mixes water from the sea with combustible gases and moves sulfur and then they process the water to a pH of 7 (neutral) so it can be released to the ocean. The old lines deliver 66 kw and the new lines 220 kw. In America, we use 60 cycles, 110 Volts and in Europe the use 50 cycles, 220 Volts. It is cheaper to transport electricity in higher tension. There are 7 windmills that produce 660 w each and 53 that produce 800w each. New legislation was passed to use 2 mw windmills and Juan is working on this. 3.6% of the energy produced comes from wind – would like to be 12%. Met with Antion Lojendio, the manager of the chemical area and he took us on a tour. Juan was the plant manager for 4 years and designed the plant from construction up. The combined cycle is new since he left the plant.
CHRIS:
Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
I met with four different people. First, we discussed the different applications which are used for the scientific researchers to process there data. Condor was a specific name of one application and it actually does the data crunching for the scientists. It also keeps track of how much time each specific researcher is using it. In 2006 they used Condor for 170,000 hours but a couple of years ago they reached 900,000 hours.
The next discussion was related to the telescopes and instruments for the telescopes that are created at this institute. The telescope is in Las Palmas here in the canaries, it is currently being created and it is very similar to one in Hawaii that has been created by a company named Keck. It has a diameter of 10.4 meters. It was explained that the telescope has been created with 36 segments, each specific segment having 6 sensors and 3 actuators. All being run by software which controls how all 36 segments relate to each other when the telescope moves, so the image that is created is very clear. It took programmers 7 years to create the software that is used to operate the segments together. Spain (90%), Mexico (5%) and the University of Florida (5%) have all worked together to have respective time usage of the telescope. The telescope is planned to have the 1st look through in June and all segments will be completely finished by the end of the year.
Lastly, I spoke with a couple of IT personnel and we generally spoke about the network infrastructure, database systems and remote connection for employees. Everything seemed very similar to what we have in the United States though specific differences that I thought were directly related to the nature of business. The piece that was probably the most similar was how IT personnel dress, very similar to our typical IT personnel in the US.
NIC:
Joaquin grabbed me after the Cabildo visit and we jumped in his sweet Mercedes. He drives this car like he stole it (very fast) and cares for it like he paid 100,000 Euro for it (he came around and held the door for me so that I would not scratch the paint). We stop at El Corte Ingles for a bite to eat before my vocational visit begins. We sit down and he orders Café Cortados and breakfast sandwiches (he has anchovies and cheese and orders me jamon and cheese). After a refreshing break, we walk down the street and enter a building where we find Cuni and Associates, a small staffing and development firm that a Rotarian owns. Joaquin introduces me to the staff and hands me a map (that he drew on a napkin) and asks me to meet him there after the visit. I meet with Patricia, who is the head of training and development for the company and we sit down and discuss the various points of her position. She gives a short presentation on the various techniques that this company uses and explains the situation in terms of the labor market on the island. The entire visit was extremely interesting and I learned a lot about the customs and cultures in terms of hiring for the islands/mainland Spain.
After the professional visits, we all “reunion” at the Plaza and find Diego and Rossina who take us to the Bodega for lunch. We meet back up with Carla and Juan Linares and take a tour of this 5th century ran winery. The Monje family has owned this winery that produces Muscotel and Malvasia wines since its inception and the wines have remained the same since the vines were first planted. This family is one of the most famous wine families in all of Spain. After a brief tour of the wine cellar and fermenting process, we are shown a video and then directed upstairs where an amazing lunch has been prepared for us. Lunch is served around 3:30 and starts…of course with some wine and appetizers. After a few glasses of wine (which was remarkably good) everyone loosens up and the room gets pretty loud. During the meal, tongue twisters from 3 different languages (Spanish, English and Chinese – Thanks Tong) were yelled across the table, Juan loses something in translation that gets a huge laugh (we will tell everyone about it later in a less public forum) and Maria, another Rotarian who joined us at some point during the afternoon, makes each of us do some sort of test where we have to stand up on a chair, hold our arms out to the side, lift are leg and touch our noses….don’t worry we have pictures. The lunch was probably one of the best that we have had since we have been on the island and the La Laguna folks took great care of us.
After lunch, we were allowed to go back to our host family homes and take a break until the evening presentation. Most of us took advantage of the time off and took naps in anticipation of a late night. The La Laguna club meets at 9:30 and we were picked up from our houses around 8:30. The meeting began with a wonderful introduction from Juan Linares and our presentation (that gets better every time we present). After we did some work, Don Diego gave the most special speech to the group that brought a couple of tears to the group’s eyes. He talked about how a few days ago, he went to the airport to pick up a few people that he didn’t know and as we are getting ready to leave the north of the island, he has to say goodbye to six very close friends.Diego is a special kind of person that we will never forget. We have grown very close to the group in the north of the island and have made lots of friends that we will be sad to leave…

La Playa...

2007-05-09T18:38:00.001-05:00

Sleeping in is fun. We got to sleep a little late this morning. We didn’t have to be anywhere until around 9 this morning so we were able to catch up on some rest. Bert, Catherine and Carla met us at Casa de Marcos this morning and we were picked up by Rotarians Tomas and Ricardo (doesn’t that make you think of I Love Lucy?)…more on each of them later. We arrived at the Musuem of Military History, where we were met by Tong. The team had decided last night to wear our yellow polo shirts but as Tong walked up, we realized that she didn’t get the message. Tong had on her purple shirt with matching purple and white pants. We cracked a few jokes but it didn’t really matter one bit. We were eager to find some café because we are now addicted to it. Tomas, who is the President of the Anaga – Teide Rotary Club (the one sponsoring our tours today) and a labor relations director for the government, walked us down to a small diner on the corner while Ricardo, who is last year’s GSE team leader to Argentina and founder of the Anaga – Teide Rotary Club and retired businessman, tried to find somewhere to park along the street. We ordered some coffee and sat outside and admired our picture and article in El Dia, the local newspaper. Out of the blue, Rotarians began showing up. Ana and Alecia both speak English very well and tell us about an upcoming trip that they are planning to Miami and New York. Ana is taking an English class in the University and has an exam tonight and wants to practice with us today. Christina, the wife of Ricardo and mother of five (also works in a bank), appears out of nowhere and has coffee with us before she has to head back to work. After the café, we are led back to the Museum of Military history and told all about the rich heritage of the island. The group is very proud of the protections that their army afforded them against the conquerors in early battles. They even have the cannon that blew Nelson’s arm off in a battle for the Canary Islands. The museum is crowded with guns and knives from early times (Gene Fulton could spend days in here) but we don’t have much time to look around and have to head out. Our tour guide gives us books and gifts and we are on our way. Next, we drive down to the Museum of Natural History and learn how the islands were formed and what the early settlers were like. This place was very interesting because we were taught about the Guanches people who first settled the islands. Augusto showed us around and told us all about the settlers and some of the different theories of how they ended up here. The final thing they showed us was mummies that had been discovered in the islands and had been preserved in this museum. We all took pictures and will have bad dreams tonight.
After a stop in the gift shop, we met some more Rotarians for drinks on a quaint little street right beside the oldest known true house on the Canary Islands. Rotarians Patricia and Joaquin join us as we enjoy a couple of cool refreshments with olives, peanuts and potato chips. After some good conversation and a tour of the old house, we head to the beach area for lunch.
Around 3:30 we arrive near the ocean and have lunch at a small little fish restaurant adjacent to the beach. The place has an incredible view and even better food. We begin the meal with potatoes (as always) and sample a few appetizers including octopus and tuna. After that, the main course is served and is similar to the fish that we had on our first night on the island. Dessert was served as ice cream frozen inside of a hollowed out lemon and café. We enjoy the company of our new found friends and end up staying at lunch until about 5:30 pm.
On our way out, Patricia tells me, Carla and Chris that the beach that we are going to is artificial and she would like to show us a natural beach. We hop in the car with her and take off while Bert, Catherine and Tong go with the others to the beach nearby. Patricia drives us up the mountains and down this winding road until in the distance we see a beach with black sand glistening in the sunlight. We park the car and discover that this beach is natural in more ways than one and take in the sights. The beach was down in a valley and you could stand in the ocean and see the mountains right above you. We sat down near the cabana and admired the beach and all of the people that Patricia referred to as locals. After a little while, she led us up to the bar where we were served fresh watermelon, papaya, bananas, kiwi and lemon (some of the best fruit that I have ever put in my mouth) and met Charley the bartender. Charley told us that we should come back every day to this beach because it is special. We decide to head back because we want to meet up with the others.
We arrive at La Cambinos Playa and quickly change into our swimsuits and jump in the cold water to cool off. After a quick swim, we wander the beach and enjoy the feel of sand between our toes. Catherine approaches a guy with a kayak and asks if she can have her picture taken in the kayak and the guy obliges. We snap the photo and head back up to change back into our presentation clothes for the Rotary Club meeting tonight.
We get changed in the little changing rooms and jump in the cars that head to the center of the city. We arrive at a small bar where we meet up with more Rotary Club members for some beverages before the meeting. Christina returns for drinks as well as Tomas’ daughter, Elena, and his wife, Pepy. We hang out until time for the meeting and then head to the Sheraton Hotel where we will be presenting this evening. The hotel has a nice space set up for us and Chris readies the presentation. This group is a bit more relaxed than the last Rotary Club meeting and asks us to do the presentation from our seats today. We are introduced and make our presentations flawlessly. Tomas decides that everyone should then go around the room and introduce themselves to us. Most speak in Spanish (while Catherine translates) but a few tried in English. Bert makes the presentation of the gifts to the leaders and we are driven home by Ricardo.
Today was a relaxation day that was much needed as we are all starting to drag a little mid trip…

Rush, Rush, Rush in Santa Cruz

2007-05-08T18:05:00.000-05:00

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…

129 steps to the top...

2007-05-07T18:30:00.000-05:00

We started the morning off right with some fresh oranges and cereal around 8:30. Chris and I were picked up at the corner by Diego and Catherine. Diego is very punctual and was worried when we did not show up exactly at 9. We met the group at the Plaza del Adelantado in the middle of La Laguna and were quickly whisked away to the office of tourism where we were met by an English tour guide, Dominga. Dominga was filling in for the English tour guide who had another appointment…she is actually the German tour guide but her English was not to shabby. She led us through the city streets and into the Town Hall where we were given a special tour (we have come to expect this by now but it is still nice…it seems like all we have to do is mention the name Rotary when we walk in a building and they break their necks to make things work, no matter what the situation). Dominga explains that La Laguna has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and all things in the area are protected.We learn the history of the city and hear about their trees that give off an aroma. The special tour in the Town Hall led us upstairs where a fresco painted on the walls explained some of the major events in the town’s history. The archways in the town hall building were put here by the earliest form of government in the town. The arches were built with rocks that come from the mountain and were brought in by hand and carved in place. The city is very quaint and feels like it has a much richer heritage than the few places that we have visited. As we walk out of the town hall, Dominga points a building that she describes at the “Happy Birthday Cake building (later in the day, Tong tells Juan that it was her favorite part of the tour). Outside, we are told about a nun, Sister Maria de Jesus, who passed away, was buried and her body was exhumed a few years later in perfect condition. Her body has been preserved much like the buildings in the town and every year, once a year, (the day after St Valentines Day) people come from every where to pray near her body and ask for miracles that are normally granted. Dominga has a story that she asked for her miracle and it was granted…she wanted a daughter and a few months later she was with child and it turned out to be a girl. Dominga gets us a private visit into the nunnery (we didn’t get to ask for miracles) and then into the Museum of History…most of the buildings are preserved former homes of noblemen from the city. Most include a courtyard in the inner portion of the house with wells. The Museum used to be an entire estate and the back courtyard area is amazing. With some incredible plants growing the back yard, this was a very serene place. Everything is protected and preserved very well…The La Laguna people are very proud of the UNESCO honor. The group follows our guide as she winds through the streets and leads us into a church (not quite the St Peters Basillica but still very nice) and then into the Bell Tower. The tower at the top of the Iglesia de la Concepcion has 129 steps to the top and we all make a conscious effort to see the bells. After a little huffing and puffing (mostly from Bert) we make it to the top and have the most wonderful view of the city and the mountains. La Laguna was one of the first cities in all of Europe that was designed using the street paths like we see in Charleston and other early establishments. You can see the design from the tower and it is a beautiful site. Bert presented a Carolina del Sur quarter and some other small gifts to our guide and then we bid farewell to the leader of our tour, Dominga (who we learned was named after her father, Domingo, because she was the third daughter and he did not think that he was going to have a son…until a few years later when his wife had a son…Domingo II).
We meet Diego when we return to the bottom and we bid farewell to our tour guide Dominga (who we learned was named after her father, Domingo, because she was the third daughter and he did not think that he was going to have a son…until a few years later when his wife had a son…Domingo II). Bert presented Dominga with a Carolina del Sur quarter and some other small gifts
Diego informs the team that we have an hour or so until we need to be at the next scheduled place. He wants to take us through the major pedestrian street and then into the major open market in the middle of town. We head first to a small confectionary store where we sample some of the pastries…a few of us had a little bit of room in our stomachs and felt weird without something in it. We walk down through the street, in and out of shops and end up in the market where we stop for a café. Diego, who must have been transported from the south because he is a complete southern stud, buys the girls roses and blushes when they ask to take his picture with the flowers. Juan meets us as we exit the market and we all head to a small area where we can have some beers and coca-cola…yes 2:30 is perfect time for beers and coca-cola. After a nice break, we jump in the two cars and head up the mountain to see the scenic points throughout the island. We stop at the first site and take pictures (I think we are up to around 1000 pictures now) and then learn from Diego some history of the area as we look down on La Laguna. The view is of the whole city including the area where there was once a Lagoon for which the town was named. The lagoon dried up some years ago when building in the area increased and most of the trees in the middle of the city where cut down to help build. The lagoon outlines still stands…even though there is no water, the land is not strong enough to handle construction and thus nothing is built.
We head towards the top of the mountain and end up in Restaurante Cruz del Carmen for lunch. We were promised something light for lunch but what they call light…I call heavy. Lunch started with…but of course some wine and then some appetizers (cheese, rofio (something made out of ground up corn and some other stuff…I wasn’t paying attention…too busy eating) and onions/tomatoes soaked in oil and vinegar). The main course (or what we thought was the main course) was served shortly thereafter and was mostly vegetables (corn, green beans, potatoes, pears, cabbage, chick peas, pumpkin, carrots) all boiled together and then served on a platter with beef and sausage. We all dug in because it was around 3:30 and our stomachs felt like they needed something in it. As we were almost through with this stuff, the second main course came out…as Bert called it, we were eating the Easter Bunny. The rabbit was prepared with a salty sauce and was good. None of us ate much because we were extremely full from the first ton of food that we had put in our mouths. Juan finished off most of the rabbit that we left behind and then asked the waiter to bring us all coffee and some after dinner drinks. Everyone forced down the coffee to keep awake (we have only been getting a few hours of sleep most nights) and Bert tried some kind of whiskey that burnt my nose hairs. After the whiskey was served, we learn that Diego was the Cabildo chairman in the late 80s/early 90s and he begins to explain the process of government in the islands and throughout all of Spain. It is a monarchy but operates much differently than others. He drew us a diagram to help explain. This was probably the most interesting point of the day for me as it was amazing to learn how the system operates through an autonomous governmental system in the islands. More on that later in the week as the team will be visiting the Parliament tomorrow. After our belts were loosened another notch, we were introduced to Pedro and Patricia, two Rotarians that would be taking us for a nature walk through the mountain forests.
Pedro, who has some kind of job that deals with science, led us out into a nature trail that runs down part of the mountain and told us about 21 different types of plants that only grow here in La Laguna. Since there isn’t much rain, the plants have adapted throughout the forest to be able to gather water and sunlight. Smaller plants have expanded their leaves while the upper level plants have developed a way to absorb water from the humid air and drip down for the lower plants. Incredible.
We hop back in the cars (Juan has to leave) and drive around to another side of the mountain. We end up at a point in the mountains where we see where people have built farms in the valley. We find a goat tied up in a cave that has been turned into a stable and I make a noise and that gets him riled up and jumps toward the door. The view from the top is amazing and Chris makes the comment that he never thought we would see these kinds of views in Teneriefe. Pedro and Patricia lead us up through the farmland and around a corner, always making sure they stop to tell the group about certain plants (some have healing powers, others are used in food) and then we end up on a cliff. This cliff overlooks the ocean and you can see for miles. Carla and I talked about how we could sit here for days and just take in the fresh air and sites. Pedro and Diego tells us a story about cove…The legend goes that an old pirate and his buddies used to park their boat in the cove.(Juan and Diego respectively)

One guy would stand on top of the peak well above the ocean (they call this a Mirador when you can see out but no one can see you) and when a ship would come by the area, they would bombard it and steal their treasure…a couple of centuries later, a famous brand of rum was named after the Pirate…there is a lesson here kids: rob, steal and cheat and you will eventually be famous.
After a few more pictures, it was around 8 and time to head back down to the car. Dinner was supposed to start around 9 and Tong, Chris and I were part of the help staff to cook at Marcos’ house. We made our way back to our respective houses and Tong, Chris and I washed our hands and jumped into the kitchen. We were making Pasado which is kind of like tacos except not really. Tong and Chris were in charge of taking corn flour, sugar and salt, water and milk mixed until it became similar to a dough.After the dough was mixed, Marcos and I joined in and help patty the dough into round pieces of bread that look like hamburgers. The bread would then be fried and served with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers and fresh guacamole made from the avocado grown in the yard. We were to slice the bread open and put all of the stuff inside to make sandwich. The meal was delicious and very filling. Merci had prepared lemon mousse and some type of coconut cake. After everyone had sampled the dessert, most of the team hung out with the kids and checked email from the living room. Everyone marveled at Merci’s artwork and pondered ways that we could get the pictures home in our suitcases. Bert brought backpacks that were given to us from the Cabildo and it included some information about the town and a picture book on Teneriefe. The night was a relaxing one and seemed to be the perfect end to a day that included a lot of walking and more breathtaking views than can be comprehended…

Teneriefe...

2007-05-06T17:11:00.000-05:00

This morning, our flight was scheduled for 10:40 am for our short ride over to Teneriefe, the second leg (two weeks here) of our trip has begun. Everyone woke up around 7 am to be at the meeting place at 8:30 for our ride to the airport. We ran in to the buffet and grabbed something to eat…The maitre de was shocked that we didn’t want to sit down…We showed the Europeans the true meaning of to go food. Everyone grabbed a few pieces of fruit and we took off to the airport. We were met by a group of Rotarians who had some coffee waiting as we checked our luggage. Around 9:30, we headed for the gate and told the Lanzarote crowd what a wonderful time we had with them on the island and made them promise to all visit soon. The group on Lanzarote was so good, I wonder how anyone could top what they did for us.
We went through the security check and Chris was searched. Apparently he had packed the gifts that the Cabildo President had given us and they included a letter opener that looked like a knife. Marcos had to speak with the guard to allow Chris to travel with the item in his carry on luggage. Finally, we loaded the plane and were on our way. Most of us took advantage of the flight to catch up on some sleep that we did not have the chance to get the night before and others talked the entire time.
We landed in Teneriefe and immediately we could tell that we were on a completely different island. The locals had told us that each island had a distinct look and feel and we could tell this right away. This island was much greener and had much more color than Lanzarote. We were excited because we had seen mostly lava rock for the past week. It was also not as windy here as the other island. We grabbed our bags and were met at the door by more Rotarians. Carla will be staying with Juan Lanores y Anna. Catherine is staying with Diego. Tong is staying with a Luis and Carmen Luis. Bert is staying with a doctor whom we have not met (he was on call last night and could not meet us at the airport) and Chris and I are staying with Marcos and Merci. We jump in our respective host family’s cars and are told to meet at Juan Lanores’ house around 2 or 3 for lunch. Chris, Bert and I ride with Marcos to La Laguna and arrive at his house where we are greeted by his “welcome committee” (dos perros) and his three children. Adrian is 18, Daniel is 12 (just turned 12 this past week) and Diane is 10. The kids are great and all speak near perfect English. Marcos has been speaking English to them since they were born and they also learn it in school. Adrian did a youth exchange program when he was 16 and lived in Washington State. He will graduate at the end of this month and plans to then go to the University for more studies. We walk around the house and learn that Merci is a painter and has an exhibition coming up soon. Her artwork is everywhere and is incredible. We all ask to buy some for our collections at home. Marcos shows us the rest of the house including the yard where he grows oranges, lemons, avocado, figs, bananas and some kind of fruit that taste like a cross between a peach and nectarine. Beers are served in the kitchen along with mussels and we are told to rest and relax before lunchtime.
Merci answers a ring at the door and is presented with some gorgeous flowers for Mothers Day. She and Marcos are the type of couple that you know sincerely loves each other. She supports him all that he does and he cares for her and his family. It is great to stay with a family that you know genuinely cares about you and are just good people.
We end up at Juan’s house around 3 pm for lunch. Juan and Anna live in a wonderful estate near the center of the city. Their house is fronted by a large park and they have a great view of the mountains. We are the last to arrive and are immediately handed something to drink and a plate for food. The families are so nice and treat us as if we are part of their families. Lunch starts with appetizers including tortilla, anchovies and bread. We enjoy learning about everyone and find out that Juan is a mechanical/industrial engineer and he and Anna have traveled all over the world. Their house is decorated with tons of things that they have collected over the years. The main course is served and is similar to a low country boil but instead of shrimp – they include Canary ribs. The food is wonderful as always ( I don’t think we have had a bad meal so far) and the conversation is even better. After lunch, the guys are treated to cigars and the group is taken on a walk through the park across the street. The park has bike trails for kids, a pond with coy fish and playground areas throughout. We walk around for an hour (Lord knows we need the exercise) and end up back at the house where we find Carla asleep in the hammock (she and Bert left the walk early because they were tired). We get a briefing from Marcos about the events planned for our week here in the North of the island including details on our professional visits this week. Around 7 pm, we are all walking zombies because of the lack of sleep and we head for the door. Tonight, we are to spend time with our host families and rest. This week is slam packed with things to do and we need some rest before we start. Chris and I head back with Marcos and lay around the house and talk with the kids. I take a nap and wake back up around 10:30 pm to try some of the soup that Merci has made for us. She had prepared a soup with carrots and chicken and noodles from scratch and also had washed and folded our clothes. She is a perfect host mother. The soup is a perfect end to a very relaxing day and we head for the bed as we have to be up early in the morning for a tour of the city. Week number two has already began...

Uno, dos, tres, whiskey...

2007-05-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

The group slept in this morning because of the late night at the Pirata Fiesta. We walked to breakfast around 9:30 am and ate another meal. After breakfast, we all checked email and caught up on various work activities. Today is the day that we were to do our first presentation on the islands. We were instructed to be in conference around 11:15 for our introduction at noon. This gave us plenty of time to walk around and see a little more of the beach and the hotel (which is a 5 star hotel). Around 11:00, we walked down to the conference area and prepared ourselves for our first moment in the spotlight. Bert seemed very anxious as the time approached 11:30 and we were still not summoned to the auditorium. There was supposed to be a coffee break around 11:00 and then the conference would start back, begin with a presentation from the team that visited Greenville and then us. That didn’t happen. Instead the “island time” controlled the day and we finally got into the large room at 12. Marcos and the gang gave a wonderful speech and showed lots of pictures of the time they had in our district. We were called to the stage and faced a crowd of 200 people all anxious to hear us habla espanol. We began with an introduction from Arturo and he rambled for a little bit in true Ken Tucker fashion and took up the majority of our time. We began and everyone performed in perfect Spanish. My part of the presentation got a huge laugh…(for those of you who haven’t seen the presentation, I have a slide in my portion that shows the textile influence that our area has on the world with a large picture of Mr Milliken in the center…In the presentation, I make a comment about the man in the middle…pause for a little bit and say “mi jefe” This got a huge laugh from the group and then I continued to say that I had to put his picture in the presentation so that he would allow me to come to the Canaries…At this point, the room broke out in an ovation). As the presentation continued on, the newspaper photographers snapped tons of pictures and video taped us as we spoke. After we were finished, the district governor approached the stage and we presented him a few mementos in the name of the district and Rich Waugh and he said a few words and shook our hands. When we exited the stage, we were met outside by numerous people telling us how wonderful our presentation was and how happy they were to see it. I think we did pretty well for the first time. Side note: Everyone here has told us to not say cheese when we say pictures. For some reason, they think that it makes your face look funny in pictures. Our favorite one that we have been told this week - was taught to us by Eileen (Wolf's wife) - uno, dos, tres, whiskey...try it - it makes a better smile in pictures.
We headed home and changed clothes because we had to be back soon for our trip to the volcano. We got out of our formal clothes and changed into something more comfortable for our afternoon excursion. The team made the joint decision to walk along the beachside to the hotel. The beach (which is the same one where we were “baptized” earlier in the week…yes the one that I translated in a previous blog as the one where little clothes are worn) was beautiful and we stopped a number of times to take pictures of the sights.
The excursion began at 2 pm and there were a few stops on the way to the volcano. We stopped at the house of Benito Perez who was a famous author from the islands…inside was an art exhibition from Bambino, a local artist who ain’t no Picasso. We stayed for a few minutes and were off to the National Park Timanfaya where the Montanas del Fuego stands. We walked around to the entry way and our group huddles around a large circular area. The tour guide explained to us that we were standing on volcanic rock, at which point the guy dug down a few inches and pulled out a shovel full of rocks, walked around the circle and handed each of us a small sampling of the rocks. He told us to move them back and forth in our two hands…as soon as they touched our hands, we understood why…the temperature of the rocks was over 100 degrees and it burnt our hands if we didn’t move the rocks back and forth. Finally, they cooled down and we all put them in our pockets. Next we were led a little farther up the mountain to a hole. You could feel the heat rising from the hole and as we crowded around it, the guide dropped some brush from the area into the hole and it quickly caught on fire and rose up high into the air. We made the comment to the tour guide that the area looked completely barren and there was no greenery anywhere in sight. She told us that Neil Armstrong visited here some time ago and said that it was the closest thing on Earth that he had seen since he visited the moon.
The restaurant that sat on top of the hill overlooked the badlands and was called Restaurante del Diablo. We all sat down for lunch and learned that our food was going to be prepared over heat from the Volcano. We had a wonderful meal with a few appetizers and a huge plate of chicken and pork and beef and wine to drink (of course…I think we have all finally gotten used to the fact that we are served wine and water at every meal). The meal was amazing and the view was even better. After lunch, we headed back to the bus and drove down the very narrow roads into the lava river. The rock formations that had formed throughout the area were breathtaking and none of us could believe what we were seeing. We continued until we reached a church call Ermista da la Virgines de los Delores. The story goes that in the 18th century, the lava flowed from the mountains and continued for several years…Finally the lava began to flow towards one of the more settled villages and the residents were scared. The spirit of the Virgin Delores appeared and a town’s person took a crucifix at the urging of the spirit and placed in the road where the lava river split and avoided the time. The residents promised Delores that they would built a hermitage and the building was constructed. We walked around the area and heard the story and then loaded back on the bus. We ended our tour at the Winery – Bodega de Ramon Melian – where they are famous for Moscatel and Malvasin wines. We sampled some jamon (ham cut straight from a dried out leg of a pig) and goat cheese. Catherine, Carla, Tong and I stood around drinking the various wines while Chris and Bert went with Pepe for a tour of some of the wine vats. After the full stomachs from lunch and the winery, we loaded the bus and slept most of the way back to the hotel.
The cocktail party began at 9 pm and we had to be dressed and back at the conference center at 9 or so for the formal dinner. This was the closing ceremonies for the conference and was a big deal for all Rotarians. Catherine, Chris, Carla, Alfredo and I sat down with the President of the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz, who we will be visiting this coming week in Teneriefe while Tong and Bert sat at another table with Marcos and Merci and Wolfgang. The dinner started around 10:30 or so and was a great dinner except all of us have learned that we can only eat half of what they bring us. Dessert was served at midnight and we thought we could sneak out the back door because we had to catch a flight in the morning early. As we were planning our escape, the team was told by Arturo that we should stick around. A folkloric group began performing a traditional set of songs around 12:30 and more dessert was served at 12:45 along with café. Around 1 am, the band played a song that we had to get up and dance for that celebrated International Mothers Day. All the women received roses for the occasion. We all were dead tired at this point and wanted to go to bed. Most of us had still not packed our stuff for our trip out of town tomorrow. The evening was remarkable but went on way too long for our level of energy. After the closing of the conference, we all headed upstairs for our ride home. By the time we had climbed the stairs, we were summoned back downstairs to receive a gift from the District Governor. After the trip back down, we met with Juan Jesus and were thanked for everything and presented with books about the Canary Islands and a flag from the host city of Lanzarote. After a few handshakes and a few kisses on the cheeks, we said our goodbyes to all the wonderful people that we had met in Lanzarote and headed to our houses for the evening…around 2:30. On the way home, we found out we had to be out of the house at 8:30 am…

Pirata, Pirata...

2007-05-05T04:17:00.001-05:00

Around 9:30 we all gathered in the girls’ apartment donning our white attire. I must say that we all looked great and probably could have appeared in GQ. We were picked up by Peter, a Rotarian who is from Teneriefe and is Marcos’ friend. We boarded the bus as soon as we got there and quickly learned that most everyone was dressed in white and some guys were allowed to dress as pirates. We were informed that we would be heading out to a wonderful area called Puerto Callimo. The bus ride over there was filled with talk of what everyone was wearing…The Spanish women are all so elegant and the Spanish men have a style that sets them apart from most everyone else. We are led to an outside portico where more people begin to show up and more wine is handed out as we stand outside and enjoy the nice breeze from the ocean. We meet more people and see some of the people that we have already met and enjoy being the center of attention for most conversations. Everyone wants to have their picture taken with us and we want to take pictures of everything we are experiencing. We meet a guy who tells us that he is a Prince of the Ukraine and also a diplomat/ambassador of several royal families. He has his picture taken with us and tells us that he will sign the photos and mail them to us. We don’t really know what to think but we all pose for a picture. Out of nowhere, everyone moves to one side of the space and begin looking into the distance. In no time, a ship comes into the harbor and as they approach, we see what looks like pirates. The pirates dock the ship (which looks more like a rich person’s yacht than it does a pirate ship…but everyone plays along) and come running on to shore singing, dancing and pretending to sword fight. After this, a group of people come from the other side of the harbor and are dressed in typical old world style costumes and begin dancing an old world dance while a band made up of around 20 people (that has appeared out of nowhere) begins to play music. We all join in with the groups and clap along. A little while later, we are summoned to the upstairs of the building where we have a table reserved for dinner. A room for of Rotarians is waiting upstairs and we sit and take more pictures. The first course comes out around 12 (yes midnight) and we all partake in some more wine, and the 4 courses that follow. After struggling through dinner (seriously there is no more room in our stomachs), we bid our dinner companions “hasta manana” and head back to the bus around 2 am. The evening was an experience that none of us have ever had nor will we soon forget. I never found an eye patch…

La huelga ha terminado and Dukakis…

2007-05-05T04:12:00.000-05:00

This morning began with a bit of good news. We heard that the strike was over and all of the major tourist attractions are open again. This news changes our day because now we get to visit a couple of the more famous attractions.
Breakfast was served at the hotel around 8:30 and I told myself the entire twenty minute walk that I was only going to eat a piece of fruit and nothing else because I was still full from last night. That lasted about five seconds when we walked into this eating area and the entire room was covered with a buffet. This breakfast buffet wasn’t quite Shoney’s but it was a sight to see. There was every kind of fruit from the islands, a bread station, a cereal station, a hot food station, some homemade jelly (that is not quite as good as Kay Fulton’s blackberry jelly but still very good), some smoked salmon, etc etc etc. We all ate more food than we needed. Towards the end of the meal, Marcos came in and gave us our registration materials and told us that we didn’t need to go to any of the conference sessions today and that we were free until 1:30 pm when we would be heading out for our excursion. With the weather outside overcast, we decided to hang around the hotel and enjoy some of the luxuries that are afforded at a 5 star hotel. We did some shopping and caught up on emails and found a newspaper that had written an article about our visit to the Cabildo from yesterday.
Before we knew it, it was 1:30 and we were supposed to be out front of the hotel for our guagua to take us to the different sights of the city. While we were standing out front, Catherine turned to me and said that she thought the man standing beside her was Michael Dukakis of failed presidential candidacy fame. We looked at the man closely and mentioned this to the receptionist and she said it was him. Apparently, there is some sort of economic development activity that the US is planning to do with the Canaries/Morocco and we think that he might be the representative handling these issues. We never spoke to him because the receptionist said that he did not want to be bothered but it was neat to see someone from the states that we recognized.
Soon after, we loaded the bus and headed out to see some sites. We went straight to El Campo, a local restaurant where about 350 Rotarians were to eat lunch. We had a tabled reserved for us and sat down to more food. The wine started flowing and our stomachs filled up with octopus, tuna, mojo sauce, little whole fish (again) and much more. Tong really liked the fish. After lunch, we loaded the buses again and most of us took advantage of the trip up the mountain to catch a little shut eye as we were up late the night before (as well as every night since we left Greenville). Most of us woke up to our arrival at Mirador del Rio. This is a site that we had visited earlier this week but did not get to see the entire place because of the strike. We walked inside a building designed by Manrique and were amazed by the view. This is the place that overlooks a smaller island called La Graciosa and the view was spectacular. We took a view pictures and were herded like cats back onto the bus. Again, we all closed our eyes and awoke at Jameo del Agua. This place was extra special. The process by which this place was created is very hard to comprehend but I will try to explain. When lava flows from the volcano over a period of time, the part on the top solidifies…once that is done, the river of lava below it continues to flow until it all runs out typically into the ocean. Sometime in the history of the island, a volcano erupted in this part of the islands and this process occurred. The area where the river of lava was flowing eventually became open space and over a period of time, the upper area became weakened and caved in. This open space was discovered by Cesar Manrique and he turned it into a piece of art/modern gathering place. The area under the surface is home to a small lake type body of water that is supplied water by the ocean. It is also home to a rare form of small albino crab that can be only seen here in Lanzarote because in this area, they have never been exposed to light…Our guide told us that they exist elsewhere in the world but can only be seen here. We walked around this beautiful area all the rest of the afternoon. The amazing part about this place was that most of it was created by nature…Manrique just did a little cleaning up and created a wonderful place within Mother Nature. The pictures that we all took do not do the place any justice but you will just have to take my word for it that it was magnificent. By the time we had finished walking around this place, the time was around 8 pm and we were supposed to be at the Pirate Party at 9. The guide made a few changes and we were told as we were dropped off at the hotel that we needed to be back at 9:45 for a great adventure…

El Dice y Ella dice...

2007-05-04T04:46:00.000-05:00

Today we will be trying something new. Instead of just one point of view, we will be hearing from all the members of the team.

Nic dice:

This morning, I woke up a little late because I stayed up watching Spanish tv last night. Someone told us that we could help better our Spanish by watching television and/or seeing a Spanish film. I watched some show that reminded me of Benny Hill but I think it helped a little. Before I went to bed, I flipped over to Fox News and caught up on all of the happenings in the US. Seems like the same old stuff is happening in the States (I plan to refer to the US as the states now because I am an international traveler).I woke up this morning a little late. My alarm didn’t go off but I had plenty of time to get to the meeting place. We had to pack our bags because this afternoon, we would be moving to the District Conference. We got all of our stuff together and bid our first home adieu. This morning, we were visiting the Cabildo so we had to be dressed in our formal outfits. We started out the fifteen minute walk (this time with all of our luggage with us) and arrived at Hotel Lanzarote with a little bit of sweat on our backs. We are met by Alfredo and instructed to leave our bags with the hotel staff. We sat down and waited for our fearless leader to show up. Raphael walks in about five minutes after 9 am (this after he told us yesterday that it was “muy importante” to be “punto manana”). He blames it on the traffic and laughs it off. We all hop in the guagua (on an earlier blog, we spelled this word incorrectly…this word means bus and is pronounced wawa…don’t ask me why) and head to the middle of town. We get to the Cabildo (capitol) and walk in the front door and are met by a whole host of people. We see Pepe, who we met earlier at the Pealla and who we now know is a consultant for the electric companies in the islands, and are introduced to Frank Devlyn, a former Rotary International President (which is a huge deal) and probably the nicest guy in the entire world. We talk to Frank (we know him well enough now that we can call him Frank) for a little while learn that his father is from Chicago and his mother Mexico, he owns the market of Optical Services/Business in all of Mexico and he is an ambassador for the current President of Rotary. Apparently, the current President can’t be at every district conference but he always sends someone pretty important in his place. Frank speaks a few languages including Spanish and English and is a great conversationalist. We talked to him for a while and then are whisked away upstairs. The cabildo has just been built a few years ago and is remarkable. Most everything is made of marble and it has an amazing view of the beach. We are led into a waiting room where we enjoy more conversation with Frank, Juan Jesus (current district governor of 2200) and a few other Rotarians as we are waiting for el Presidente to be ready for us while we have our picture taken by several newspapers photographers and a couple of tv crews. Finally, we follow Raphael into a large office and each of us are introduced (kisses on both cheeks) to Ines Rojas de Leon (the current President of Lanzarote…we think this is similar to our Governor…It is an elected position but she is in charge of the entire island’s government). Ines (we are not on first name basis with Ines but I don’t want to write out her entire name again) is a stunning lady and her office is immaculate. We see Manrique paintings on the walls and many photos of other dignitaries. We are led to her sitting area and are asked to sit in a semicircle so she can speak with us. She welcomes us and speaks about the island, the economy and a few other things that I did not understand. Frank then speaks to the group which includes every Rotary who is anybody on the islands and then passes along greetings to el Presidente from the President of Mexico and the President of Rotary. She speaks a little while longer and then presents us with a gift from the Cabildo and then we stand around for pictures for the newspapers/television. Bert presented el Presidente with all of our gifts including the SC State quarter to which she exclaimed “I will take this as a campaign contribution.” I have been excited about this day all week because the town is in the middle of campaigns for the elections that will take place at the end of the month. Ines is running for re-election and all over town, we have had the opportunity to meet various candidates and hear everyone talking about political issues. I am right at home although I am not at the point where I argue my side in Spanish yet.

After the pictures, we head back downstairs and head out the door for our next stop on day number five.

Carla dice:

The school of Maritime and Fishing related activities is a free institution that professionals go to in order to recieve a certificate in diving, fish cultivation, mechanical, captain, or communication/navigation. Fernado, the director of the school gave us a tour of the facility and explained to us the history of the school. His office was small but had a great view of the ocean. The facility is also shared as a school for youngsters (primary school). On the tour we first stopped in the machine shop and the smell of oil and grease made me instantly happy. I love those type of places. And the host Rotary clubs were so worried about not being able to show an engineer things that were interesting on the islands... I have been extremely happy with everything we have seen, and very impressed! We toured the fish cultivation center next and saw fish, sea turtles, and enormous hermit crabs. We were allowed to touch the sea turtle (there were 2, but one would not come to the surface). We were taken to the dive simulators next. As we walked outside we saw that there were divers in the water and then we were shown the area where the scuba instructors teach and then in the back of the room was the decompression chamber. Fernando then showed su the simulator that helps train students for survival skills with fires on large ships. After this, we said our goodbyes and thank yous, and Catherine was transported to her TV interview while the rest of us piled in the van to go to Palacio Spinola in Teguise.

Catherine dice:

After the tour, I had the honor of being interviewed by Lancelot Television at the base of the Arrecife Gran Hotel. Myles Golden had worked to prepare us for a lot of questions that we might anticipate while on the exchange, but I certainly got more than I bargained for today. Instead of discussing our team and the purpose of the GSE, the conversation moved from George W. Bush to gun control to Iraq and back again...Whew! Thankfully, Severino (one of the Rotarians who has been around most of the time and a reporter himself) taught us a phrase that we can use if we ever find ourselves in the political firing line in the future..."sin comentario” (no comment).

Bert dice…

After our touring, we picked up our luggage at the Hotel Lancelot, and headed toward Playa Blanca. We stopped for lunch in the town of Yaiza at Restaurante La Era. The restaurant is owned by a Rotarian. Antonio seems to be one of the more influential members of RC Lanzarote. He wears a white hat that we have all decided reminds us of “Juan Valdez” of coffee commercial fame. It is in an 18th century farm house, one of the only buildings to survive the last major eruption of the volcano. The complex includes the house itself as well as the stable area for camels all of which has been renovated to create the most beautiful restaurant we’ve been in so far. It is a beautiful setting.

The meal was even more wonderful than the setting itself. It was a special meal that was prepared for us… Seven courses! None of them was very large, but all together the effect was VERY filling. What a surprise. This was another fine example of our typical daily schedule – comer, beber, comer, beber (eat, drink, eat drink). There was an initial appetizer plate with four items, then a watercress soup, then salad,

then some kind of cheese and potatoes, then fish (tuna), then meat (rabbit!), then a dessert assortment, and finally coffee. It’s really a good thing that at the District Conference we’re staying a 20 minute walk from the meeting hotel!!

This was another fine example of how Americans go out to eat, while Europeans dine. Two hours, more or less, of good food and good conversation. And most of the conversation was in Spanish! I think we’re all somewhat amazed as to how much our linguistic ability is improving.

Tong dice…

At noon, we were heading to the oldest town, also the old capital of Lanzarote, called “Teguise” except Catherine. She was doing a TV interview in Spanish, representing our GSE team. Like other towns, a lot of the houses are white, but a lot of windows frames and doors were stained wood rather than the green color we have seen. We took a little break sitting at the visitors’ center. It’s a neat old building which reminded me of the West End building. Then Knut guided us for a walking tour in Teguise. The town center is not very big like many modern cities but it is very peaceful with an ancient cathedral in the center. Rafael, my host father, also arranged for us to visit a museo called Palacio Spinda in Teguise. The palace was built in the 1700s with more than twelve rooms including a small cathedral. The palace was privately owned until 1974 and was acquired by the town for many years restoration, later converted to a museum. We had a wonderful tour guide with sparkling blue eyes and a beautiful smile. She also served us coffee with cookies and small cakes called queque in the palace’s cocina. Normally visitors can only view the room behind a rope, but we were actually sitting inside the room at a table with many treats on it. How special is that! On the way to our van, Nic bought a beautiful, one of a kind necklace for Kayce at one of the cute shops in Teguise. (shh...don't tell her...it is a suprise)

Chris dice…

We arrived at the hotel at about 6pm. We were in our formal attire and were a little early for the cocktails prior to the actual meeting taking place. It began with music from a live orchestra, then designated speaker Frank Develyn spoke. It was obviously all in spanish but I was able to see how many rotarians had years with rotary. There were several people standing when asked 30 years or more. Each club was then introduced. Ventura (my initial host family father) carried in a flag. We than began eating dinner, it was wonderful.After dinner we began talking with all of the Rotarians and had a quick few minutes to share photos and discuss different questions everyone had. Poor Catherine has been a huge benefit to us and to most of the Canarians as well as she has been the mediator between all. Finally, the District Govenor Juan Jesus Suarez finished with a quick speech which ended the evening a few minutes after midnight

Nic dice:

All in all, the day was another wonderful one. None us can believe that we have already been here for five days and there is still so much to see and do. Tomorrow, we will visit an active volcano and then will have attend the Pirate Fiesta (we learned that the white party is officially a “Pirate Party”)…I am going to try and find an eye patch…

Arrecife...

2007-05-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

We woke up early this morning. I got my stuff together and headed off down the promenade. It was about a fifteen minute walk and it was beautiful outside. The walkway ran alongside the ocean and the sun was shining brightly. Towards the end of walkway, as you get into town, a beach sits in the cove. This beach is directly in the center of town and all the shops/restaurants have a wonderful view of the ocean.
I get to Hotel Lancelot (our meeting point for the week) and Chris is already hooked up on the internet. Tong has arrived and Chris and I have café con leche as we wait on the others…some of Sharon Johnson’s coffee cake would have been good about then as we had not eatten dinner last night because of the large lunch that we had…I think our stomachs have gotten used to this 2 pm lunchtime and 10 pm (or later) dinner. Raphael shows up and he informs us that we will have to be up early tomorrow and dressed in formal attire to meet the government folks. Catherine will be interviewed for the TV station and for the newspapers… (Because she hablas the most Espanol). Bert, Carla and Alfredo arrive and we head off to the Desalinization plant for the morning.
We arrive at the plant and meet Antonio, the plant manager for the past 31 years, who is going to be our tour guide for the day. The process of cleaning all the water for the entire island is controlled from this area plus one more plant in the North of the island. He explained to us the process by which they take the salt water and run it through a membrane, a couple of filters and then out to the public through pipelines. The water is still not potable but can be used for showers, agriculture, etc. The entire process was very unique…and Carla enjoyed it the most because it was all engineering type work…I wandered around and look at all the safety hazards and human resources postings (Steve Giles and Wayne Punch probably should make a trip over and speak with Antonio about some of the things that I saw).
After the tour of the desalinization process, we headed over to a famous artist’s former house. Cesar Manrique was born on the island and spent most of his life here. All the famous artwork/architecture on the island is his. As we pull up to the house, we notice all these amazing “wind toys.” Manrique designed these large sculptures that are all functional to move with the wind and they are placed throughout the estate. Raphael speaks with some people and arranges a special tour of the complex for us. We walk up and are in awe. In the front area (before the entry gate) we see a vast yard of what looks like dried up lava. There are plants growing everywhere and most are protected by stone walls like what we saw in the wine fields earlier this week. We walk inside and the tour guide, Alfredo, begins to tell us about the history of the house and the ideas of Cesar Manrique. The first part was very interesting because we learned about the house itself but then Alfredo decided that instead of talking more about the house, he wanted to share his socialist views about the world…He began by saying that Manrique was very concerned about Lanzarote and development of Mother Earth, etc etc but then he turned it into his idea that the government wants tourism and it is wrong for Lanzarote and wrong for the world…We actually had this discussion in the car earlier this week…Catherine was talking about how beautiful the land was and I was talking about how much money could be made from development of the land. The conversation went around in circles for a few hours but I was finally proven right.
Back to the house…Manrique decided that he would build his house on top of a volcanic river. Most people thought he was crazy…and while he might have been crazy, the house is amazing. We walked into the open room and there is a whole in the floor with a guard rail and a tree growing up to the second floor. The tour guide (not talking socialism anymore) explains to us that there were several lava bubbles in the ground and Manrique turned them into magnificent rooms. We walk outside and there are beautiful views of the island but nothing is green outside the estate because it is all a lava river. We find his studio which overlooks the lava river and the volcano can be seen in the background. Several pieces of artwork are hung around the rooms and since Manrique’s death in the early nineties; this place has become a shrine to him. Alfredo then tells us that since we are special guest, we get to go behind the scenes where normal visitors are not permitted. He walks us through a closed off area into the…….bathroom. The artist believed that one spends most of their time in the bathroom, so it should be very open and colorful. The room was filled with plants and had an opening to the back portion of the estate. Arturo gave us a demonstration of the proper use.We then headed back out to go downstairs to see the bubble rooms. There are three bubbles rooms and each has its own color. Each also has an opening at the top that either opens to the house or to the sky. The tour moves on to the outdoor area and this is like nothing we have seen before. There is a large pool that has a waterfall dropping into it. There is a large open pit barbeque grill and a great opening for seating and relaxing. We think that Manrique was either quite the entertainer or quite the ladies man...in my mind, he was both. We walk back around to another area where there is a gallery of artwork. Most of the artwork in this room is from the 70s – late 80s and the most interesting pieces in the gallery was art that he had tried to visualize the people trapped in the liquid hot magma (cue the Dr Evil/Austin Powers voice) as the volcano erupted. We walk back to the outside and the final part of the tour is to visit the restrooms and then the gift store.
We leave this wonderful and historic place and head downtown to Ginory. This is a tapas bar and we are having lunch here before we get a tour of Arrecife. Raphael tells the waiter something in Spanish (he spoke way to fast for me to understand) and a few minutes later, beer (locally made Dorada), wine and seafood starting piling on the table. Don’t you just love it when that happens? We have some great lunch and great conversation…MaryBelle (Catherine loves her name), Raphael’s wife, shows up and joins us during her siesta and helps us eat the mound of calamari, fish, some kind of shrimp with garlic and pamas frites.
We then head back out so that Raphael can give us a tour of Arrecife. We learn that the name of the town means “reef” and it was named this because this island is protected by the reef in the ocean and this would keep pirate ships out in olden days. We walk further into town and visit a Roman Catholic Church. The church was very intricately designed and was built about 150 years ago. After visiting the church, we walked around to the commercial center of the town where all of the shopping is located. We were told yesterday that needed to find all white clothes because we would be going to a white party on Friday evening. So we find a bank and exchange some money and head in search of something white…what is the rule about wearing white clothes after Labor Day? We end up in a place called Ferrer and I find some clothes that make me look like Enrique Iglesias (ladies, I am taken). After everyone has bought clothes, we head to Spanish class.
The team that visited Greenville from the Canary Islands has arranged to teach us Spanish on each of the island (each person was from a different island). Today is Spanish lessons with Professor Alfredo (yes, everyone over here is named Alfredo). We go to the top of the highest hotel in the city. There are regulations in place that will only allow houses/hotels to be a certain height…This one somehow got by those regulations and we are glad that they did because the view is spectacular. We enjoy some Sangria and fresh olives (I thought I hated olives but these were amazing) and then begin the lessons. Alfredo actually helped some of us understand some key terms and I feel better about some of the Spanish because of the lesson. Chris found out that the top of the hotel had wi-fi and hooked up to the internet and Tong talked to Tom on SKYPE. Don’t you love technology? The lesson finished and we all headed back down to gather our bags and head out for dinner.
Catherine, Carla, Alfredo and I ended up at a place called La Cerveceria con Estrella Galicio. We had some beers and sat around and enjoyed some wonderful conversation with a great view of the beach and the moonlight. I ordered what I thought was a hamburger (there was no fish on the menu) but it came out as cooked ham, a salad and French fries. The food was great but my confidence in Spanish went way down…Alfredo said it was a mistake that any American would make. We enjoyed a few more beers and called it an early night (11 pm) because we all had to pack our stuff…We leave our first host families tomorrow and head to District Conference.
I bid everyone Buenas Noches and head back on my stroll along the promenade to casa de Ventura.
I still can't believe that we have only been here three days...

Paella...

2007-05-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

We arrive at a cottage off the main road that is surrounded by wine fields. We walked into the house and were greeted by a handful of “holas” and a bunch more “que tals.” We have learned that the local tradition is for men to kiss on both cheeks of the women and by the third day this has become habit for us. We meet the man of the house and learn that this is merely a weekend home where he grows some local vino. The wives (Chris and I were taught last night that the culture in the islands is more traditional here and women do everything…Chris is planning on having a conversation with Kathleen when he returns home…Kayce already knows) began to put out appetizers (raw fish on melba toast, little fish again with eyes staring at us, cheese, bread, tomatoes with tons of garlic, some kind of soup that had chick peas and some meat in it and the piece de resistance…sour cream and onion potato chips) while we were all led away to try some of the homemade wine that Marsial had created.

They told us that if we drank too much of this wine, we would end up like the dog (see picture above). We conversed with Rotarians and their spouses for the next little while and then were asked to sit around a large table as more and more people began to come in the doorway…each with a pleasant “hola.” More food began to come out of the kitchen as we sat and spoke in Spanish/English. We got more wine and beer passed to us than any of us should have drank and then the main course arrived. Marcial and another Rotarian came in around 2 pm carrying the largest skillet on the face of the earth to cheers from the crowd that had gathered around all of the tables. Naturally, the team joined in the clapping and celebrated the arrival of more food…even though we were completely full from the appetizers. Before we knew it, a plate was thrown down in front us that contained paella (a concoction of rice, shrimp, prawns, peppers, clams and who knows what else). We all dug in realizing that this would be our largest meal of the day and the fiesta could possibly last all night. Around 60 people did not make a dent in the food contained in that skillet. None of us realized that we should have left room for dessert but as soon as we placed our forks on the plates, they were cleared and Cayeta (the lady sitting to my left, who I learned has a son who went to school in South Dakota for tourism but came back and works for the family business now...see, my Spanish is much better) presented a pan of a custard-like dish and forced us all to take one. This was dessert number one. Dessert number two came out 3 seconds later and was an apple strudel like cake which again we were all forced to indulge in. Dessert number three came out almost immediately afterward and was some sort of berry pound cake (I think blackberry, Chris thinks cranberry and Catherine thinks blueberry) (at this point we didn’t dare decline as we didn't want to hurt Cayeta's feelings). Dessert number four was a coffee cake that reminded us all of tiramisu (yes we all had some). At this point in the evening, Cayeta and all of her friends began to tell me that there is way more sugar in the desserts in Spain than in America….I think by this point we have all gained 12 extra pounds. Dessert number five was shots of homemade sweet wine/rum. We had a toast and all the Americans drank the shots in one gulp (like normal) and the locals all laughed at us as they drank theirs very slowly. Needless to say it burnt going down. Carla had two again. Dessert number six came out and we had no room in our stomachs. Absolutely no room. There was a plate full of what looked like macaroons. They tasted like a mix between cotton candy and roasted marshmallows. We tried them and they were the best. Should have saved room for more but there was none. Cayeta (who had now become my best friend after several glasses of vino – which we later found out contains 12.5 percent alcohol by volume) told me that she made this merely from huevos and azucar (that translates as eggs and sugar…Ken Tucker). Dessert number seven was optional – the guys enjoyed cigars and the girls had café. Seven must have been the magic number because the desserts stopped coming…Or at least they stopped coming to us…Or at least they saw that our stomachs were sticking out on top of the tables so they stopped bringing them. We all got up out of our seats to stretch our legs and our bellies and I accidentally knocked some piece of decoration off the wall and broke it…All the Rotarians laughed but Bert and Chris made fun of me.

After dinner entertainment came by way of a guitar and what we call a ukulele. Some guys were standing in the corner singing their hearts out. We all sat around and clapped along. Raphael brought me some whiskey that was too strong to smell, let alone drink…I politely tried it but couldn’t get it down…I think what little bit I did get down, put some hair on my chest. The whole atmosphere was one that we will never forget…as we saw the incredible camaraderie that exists among Rotarians…We have seen this in our district when Ed Maier treated us like family even though we had never met him but to see it in another culture was special.
After the entertainment, (around 7 pm) we were introduced to a Rotary Scholar from Chile (Carolina) who is studying in Spain and visiting the island for the conference this week. She was very interesting and we hope to get to know more about her when we are at the conference later this week. Marcial then decided that we needed a tour of the wine process and his winery. We all grabbed a jacket (the wind was fierce) and headed out to the fields. He has 325 grape vines and each is protected by a stone wall built in a half circle that blocks the northeastern wind that is constantly blowing on this portion of the island. Marcial told us that it takes only five hours for his family to harvest the field each August and just one day for him to finish the rest. This supplies him with wine for the entire year plus much more. He doesn’t sell any of it…just is happy to share it with friends and family…Needless to say, we all hope to be bringing some wine back home with us.
After the tour, we were led back inside for a thank you speech in which Bert tried to speak Spanish, although he did quite well…Alfredo and Catherine bailed him out (Russ and Nancy Warmath - Catherine nor Bert has been sick yet...we are keeping our fingers crossed that we don't need to put into use the exercise from Clemson). Catherine was asked to introduce the team in Spanish and did a marvelous job expressing our thanks to the Rotarians present at the Fiesta. We ended the evening and headed home with our stomachs completely full. At some point during the evening the sun must have went down because it was dark outside when we left. The afternoon turned evening turned night was an experience that we will never forget and just think we have 26 days left…

Disclaimer: Chris and Nic are co-authoring the blogs for the trip.

May Day...

2007-05-01T15:57:00.000-05:00

We loaded back in the van and used the trip down the mountain to ask Knute more questions. We found out that Raphael owns a security systems company and is not a securities trader as stated in yesterday’s blog…Lost in translation applies here. We learned that Ventura (mine and Chris’s host) has a business that sells kitchen appliances and cabinets and everything else in the kitchen….Knute told us that Ventura does well with the business which we already knew by the size of the house that we are staying in. We also learned that today is a holiday called May Day in which most of Europe celebrates their form of Labor Day. We ended up at a coffee shop/bar down the road where we discovered that happy hour starts early on the islands. We were drinking coffee of course…wink, wink. We were taught that the difference between café cortado and con leche is condensed milk and regular milk. We learned lots of important things in the span of a few minutes.Raphael showed us a contraption called a Pila which is used to distill rainwater for drinking since there is no natural clean water on the island. The water runs over a special kind of rock and makes it drinkable...Doesn't look like much but it does the job. Since it is not very easy to get the water, the water bills for the residents are extremely expensive...We will visit a desalinization plant later in the week.We all hit the bathrooms and headed back on our tour. Knute stopped on the roadside and gave us a tutorial on the reasons for all the cacti fields in this area. Apparently, there is a louse (cochinilla) that attaches itself to the tunera cactus and is harvested and boiled for red dyes which are used to color lipsticks and clothing. The group found it amazing that a plant is sewn just to harvest a bug that attaches itself to the cacti. We were also amazed at Knute's hat celebrating the Chicago Bulls 1996 NBA Championship. He is great and loves America and we love him. He has a wealth of knowledge about the island and has donated his time for us.
We then headed down to Orzola, a tiny fishing village where according to Raphael the best fish are found. We took some pictures and then had to get to Marcial’s house for lunch/dinner. We had no clue what we were in for...

Strike...

2007-05-01T15:08:00.000-05:00

We boarded our “wawa” (bus in the local dialect) early this morning (after Carla was late because she forgot her sunglasses) and headed off to the northern part of the island. On our way, we saw an area called Nazareth where actor Omar Sharif once built a home as well as Teguise, the original capital of Lanzarote. There were 9 huge windmills at that end of the island which were brought in by ship, then transported by truck while all public roads were closed. These produce energy for the island. We made two camera stops; one at the Valley of the 1,000 Palms (there really aren’t 1000 palm trees down there – but I guess valley of about 450 palm trees didn't sound as nice) and the other at Mirador del Rio, where the water runs between an island and the coast and forms what looks like a river (rio). The tourism workers at this site started a strike today and most public tourist attractions on the island have workers standing outside with signs protesting for higher wages, more holidays, etc. etc. Catherine felt sorry for the strikers, so she shared some M&Ms with the poor employees. Me, being the human resources professional that I am, tried to negotiate so that they would get back to work and let us see the attractions on the island…I am not good at arbitration in another language. I think my way is much better than Catherine’s.
We walked down to the edge of the cliff where we could see La Graciosa (the small island accross the river looking part of the ocean) and Alfredo walked on the embankment (even though there was a sign forbidding him to do so) and was reprimanded by the security guard…Raphael immediately took up for Alfredo…Rotarians stick together even when they are wrong. We learned how the natives to La Graciosa would catch fish in olden days, take boats across to Lanzarote, climb the mountainside and then barter with the locals for vegetables with their fish…Most expeditions would take weeks before they were able to return to this small fishing village with supplies even though the trip was only a couple of miles long. After the lesson about the island and a few pictures, we walked back up to our wawa where Catherine and Carla made friends with some “cute” British cyclists who were practicing for the Ironman competition, held later this month on the island…Of course they did.

Baptism...

2007-04-30T19:10:00.000-05:00

Alfredo, a banker/lawyer/GSE team member that visited Greenville last month/future Rotarian, had this bright idea that we would all be baptized on our first day in Lanzarote. Most of us are God-fearing Baptists from the south and have already been baptized, so this idea was far flung from us. We were dropped off at Playa del Blanco, which for those of you that speak Spanish – you will be able to translate that as “the beach where little clothes are worn.” We made our way to Cala Blanco which we found out was a scuba diving center. This idea of scuba diving excited all of us and we liked it much better than being baptized. We filled out a waiver to be able to scuba dive, some of us even filled out a couple until we got all the right answers. After the instructions, we got suited up in our gear (this took more energy than the actual scuba diving did) and were taught a few things about the equipment. We carried 80 pound packs, not without complaining from the group, and headed to the beach. We arrived at the water’s edge and all headed out to sea. The water was beautiful, I got stung by a sea urchin, Chris picked up sea shell from the sea floor, we took some good pictures underwater, and Bert had some kind of attack that had him heading back to shore. He might not have been the best scuba diver but dang did his but look good in that scuba suit. We all were dead tired from the fun but managed to make it back, get out of the scuba suit and enjoy some concoction (ask Catherine for the name) that was made of Red Wine and Sprite.
We all headed back to our host families and had a nice dinner. Chris and I found some wi-fi and were treated by Nelly to some tortilla and apple salad. Tortilla’s in Spain are not what we know as tortilla in the US – this was an amazing combination of potatoes and eggs that was similar to a quiesh. We met Elena, the Acuna’s oldest daughter, who also speaks perfect English because she spent several summers in England. She was very helpful as Nelly speak little English and Chris and I still speak un poco espanol…

Lanzarote...

2007-04-30T19:06:00.000-05:00

We boarded the airplane quickly as Arturo informed us that the seats on the plane were first come first serve. We all got window seats. The flight was 45 minutes. The plane magazines were in Spanish and English and we all took them because they were informative. We landed in Lanzarote and were greeted by a whole host of Rotarians. There was Wolfgang, Knute, Raphael, Alfredo (part of the GSE inbound team that came to Greenville), Oto. More on all of them later. We headed outside and found out that we were going on a tour of the city in a rented bus they the Rotarians had obtained for our stay in Lanzarote. Knute, a Norwegian military vet who retired to the Canary Islands after many holidays here with his wife (we have only been in Europe for 2 days and we are already calling vacations holidays), was our chaffuer for the day. Raphael, a former architect/industrial designer turned Securities trader with an MBA, was our tour guide and told us all about the islands and it rise from a fishing village to a agricultural center and now a tourist destination. According to Raphael, the greatest number of tourists that visit the Canaries each year come from Germany, England and Ireland. We circled the islands and saw Hotel Las Fariones, the first hotel built on the islands in which Raphael helped with the design work and then we stopped at the second hotel built on the islands and saw the plant life that grows in the middle of the hotel. This was designed by a famous artist who we are promised to be taught about later in the week. We ended our tour by being dropped off at our host family’s home.
Chris and I are staying with Ventura Acuna and Nelly (su esposa). The house is a mansion and Chris and I have the entire bottom floor to ourselves (to include the kitchen, two bathrooms, a bar, a swimming pool and open pit barbeque). We amazed at Ventura’s collection of every canned drink known to man…and promised that we would send back some from America. We were set up in our room by Bea (hija de Ventura). She speaks English extremely well and is flying to New York this week for the youngest sister’s graduation from some kind of medical school. We ate some lunch with Ventura – cheese and Spanish ham sandwich and una cerveza. The van came and picked us up before we finished lunch and we were off to be baptized…

Day 2...

2007-04-30T18:57:00.000-05:00

We were awakened at 6 am by what Bert deemed the “Beach Zamboni” outside our window. Throughout the night, Chris and heard sounds out the window and also Bert’s snoring…Chris was smart enough to put in earplugs but we were both so tired that it didn’t really matter. Breakfast was downstairs at the hotel and consisted of the freshest bananas anyone has ever put in their mouths, fresh fruit, meats, cheeses, croissants (not sweet), doughnuts, fresh squeezed orange juice (made right in front of us) and some great café con leche. The girls were late according to Bert (not according to Tong) and had to hurry to eat. We could see right outside to the beach and there was some guy doing yoga. I broke the top button off my shirt and Carla let me borrow her sewing kit (which she had from District Conference in Hilton Head) to sew it back on.
Victor met us downstairs after breakfast to pack our luggage in the car and take us to the airport. Arturo came as well as Efrain (a Rotarian who owns an online business, used to live in New York and also at some point in his life in Canada – we only know all of this because Catherine could talk to a hole in the wall). They drove us to the airport where we got our stuff checked…Catherine, Bert and Carla’s bags were all overweight, one day into the trip, and they were forced to pay one euro for every pound they were over (Bert’s totaled 11 Euro)…Somehow Arturo and Victor came to the rescue, after Bert paid, saying that the clerk was only causing trouble with the Americans…They talked to someone and no one had to pay.

Our first evening out...

2007-04-30T18:52:00.000-05:00

We all took showers, which were needed badly after the day/night we just had. We planned to meet downstairs at 6:30 pm to walk out and see some of the area. There was a huge promenade that ran along the beach and it was covered with people. We were met downstairs by the same group that brought us to the hotel plus Suzie, Jorge spouse, who is a language teacher who is fluent in English, German and Spanish (she was a big help) and also Victor, who is the Irish consulate for the islands as well as a business owner and the vice president of the Golf Association in the area.
We came out of the hotel and walked up on a group performing a folkloric dance. As we spoke with the Rotarians, we learned that this was actually a political gathering. The local town and islands elections are a couple of weeks away and everyone is vying for votes. This dance was sponsored by a candidate that represents the “Compromiso” party…No one could really explain much about the party’s position other than it was a very liberal party. The entire group was really excited about this because in our emails before the trip, they learned that I was interested in politics…It is amazing how much these people really care about us…They learned everything about us before we showed and they want to learn more now that we are here…We knew that all of the Rotarians care about others without asking for anything but friendship in return but this first couple of days has shown us that the Rotary idea actually translates across languages. Amazing!
We walked along the boardwalk talking and enjoying each others fellowship (trying to speak Spanish and helping them with their English) and then we were led to dinner at La Marinera, a beautiful restaurant that overlooks the ocean. We sat down for dinner and began to watch the sunset. We trusted the Canary folks to order dinner for us…We only asked that whatever they ordered was typical Canary Island food. They ordered appetizers which came out and scared us all. First we were offered little fish – Chris made the comment that we didn’t know whether to eat them or fish with them. We all tried…Chris and Carla liked them…Tong didn’t say much…Catherine was too busy talking to comment and Nic and Bert put some mojo sauce on them, ate them and smiled. Next we were brought calamari and fish consomme which was less scary and very good. And then we sampled patata arrugodas (a small potato with lots of salt) which was also good and very authentic to the islands. As soon as we finished the appetizers, a large fish (see picture) was brought to our table raw for us to see. Jorge approved of this and a little while later, it came on three plates grilled including the eye balls (see other picture). This was a fish called Sama and it was suberb. We enjoyed some red wine with the dinner and had some great conversation. Desert was served in the form of espresso (much better than in the US) and ice cream sandwiches (similar to Klondike bars). Just when we thought we were finished, the restaurant staff decided that we deserved some sweet rum shots with whip cream on top. They brought extra, so Carla and Bert had two.
After some great laughs and some more wine, we decided to call it a night. We had our picture made in front of the bay and waddled back to the hotel. Chris, Carla and I tried to walk downstairs and find an internet connection but had no luck. Around 11 pm and not much sleep for the past 24 hours, we headed to bed. Bert was snoring before his head hit the pillow and we decided to sleep with the door to the balcony open. More on that in the next blog…

The long flight...

2007-04-30T15:21:00.000-05:00

We arrive in Dulles somewhere around 3:30 and find our spot in front of the gate for our flight to Munich. Catherine, Carla, Chris and I have some coffee from Starbucks and Catherine goes to look for a place to make a copy of her passport and insurance information. Weeks before we left, Bert asked us all to have copies of our passport and insurance information for each other in case something happens and we get separated. Well, wouldn’t you know…Catherine is the one that forgets. There is no place in Dulles airport that makes copies so if she gets lost then she is just going to be lost. J The flight finally boards and Chris and I got upgraded to business class because of his frequent flyer miles with United and just because I am lucky. The flight was very uneventful. No turbulence. A few movies… (Pursuit of Happiness, One Night at the Museum and Stranger than Fiction)… at least that is what I was told…I took Tylenol PM when we got on the plane and woke up five hours later. It was a total of eight hours for the flight. We landed in Munich, Germany around 2 am Eastern Standard Time…The only problem was that we are not in the eastern time zone anymore and it is now 8 am in Germany. The breakfast we had on the plane was actually pretty good so none of us our hungry. We take a group picture to celebrate our travels and head to find our next terminal. We walk around for a little while and pass through a security gate and finally a guard points us in the right direction. We get our passports stamped and then for some reason, when we got to another entry point, Bert got his passport stamped again. We hang out in the open area for a little while until it is time to board the plane to Las Palmas. It is about 65 degrees outside in Germany. We have traveled a long way and still have a little ways to go.

And we're off...

2007-04-30T15:07:00.000-05:00

On Saturday morning, the team met at the Greenville Spartanburg Airport around noon. We were met by lots of visitors; Bert’s family (Nancy, et al), Tong’s family (her husband and son), Chris’s wife (Kathleen), Carla’s mom and dad, my family (Kayce, my mom and dad and Olivia – my niece), and some rotarians – Steve Black, Charles Warne. We checked our luggage and had lunch in the airport café. Sometime during lunch Bert realized that he had forgotten the district banners that we were to present to the Rotary Clubs in the Islands…they were at his home in Greenville. Nancy (his wife) heads back to their house and the rest of us head to the security check as it is close to time for the plane to leave. Catherine got randomly selected (the guards told her that there was a Quad “S” on her flight pass and everyone with that symbol is chosen) for a complete search including a pat down. Carla’s toothpaste confiscated at the checkpoint and all of our bags got searched because of the roll of quarters that we all had in our bags (SC state quarters are gifts to our host families). The team minus Bert is at the terminal when it is time to board the plane but no sign of our fearless leader. We board the plane and find our seats. Apparently, Bert started through the security check and Nancy made it back in time to hand the banners through the checkpoint just in time. We are all finally safe on the plane to Dulles airport in Washington, DC.

What is GSE and why are we going to the Canary Islands?

2007-04-27T06:11:00.000-05:00

I am not really sure who is going to be reading this blog...I know it will be lots of Rotarians and our family members but I guess for those people who are not really sure why these young people have suddenly left their jobs and headed out of the country, here is a quick run down of our purpose and how we got to this point:

The GSE Program offers a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 in the early years of their career. For four weeks our team which consists of 5 Team members (Chris King, Tong Wagner, Catherine Dillon, Carla Witt and Nic Lane) and a Rotarian Team Leader(Bert Strange), will experience the Canary Islands' institutions and ways of life, observe vocations as practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.

The GSE Program was founded in 1965 and has sent over 12,000 teams (approximately 57,000 professionals) to over 100 countries, investing $95 Million in ambassadorial stewardship and spreading good will. In 2006-2007, Rotary International will send 500 teams of approximately 2,500 professionals to foreign countries investing approximately $11,000 per person. We were selected to represent District 7750 in District 2200, the Canary Islands.

In Spain, our team will be responsible for teaching the rotarians and other people we meet about South Carolina in Spanish, living with Host Families, attending Vocational Days; axperiencing the host country's institutions; developing personal and professional relationships; exchanging ideas, and researching potential projects for Rotary International.

Upon return, we will Debrief district leaders; Submit GSE Evaluation Forms, Submit final reports, and Participate in 45 speaking engagements throughout SC about experiences in the Canary Islands.

SO HOW WERE WE CHOSEN:

Last spring, a special guy named Ken Tucker began recruiting young professionals for this program (it probably began well before last spring). We all had to be nominated and sponsored by one of the Rotary Clubs in District 7750. After we were nominated, we each went through a very tough interview process in which we had to sit one on one with the interviewer while what seemed like a hundred other people sat around and listened to our answers (I think the actual number was 12 other rotarians watching but it sure felt like 100). The interviewers spent two days at Presbyterian College for interviews (though they won't tell us the exact number of candidates that were interviewed) and we were each notified of the results the following week.

We all met several weeks later at the Rotary Hall in Simpsonville where Bert, Ken and District Governor Rich Waugh had clearly mapped out the next 8 months of our lives for us in which time, we would be going through leadership/teamwork exercises at Clemson University, meeting to begin preparing our presentation for the trip, taking Spanish lessons and having a little fun in between the madness.

So here we are...Close to a year since we all first heard about the program...We are all already better people for the training that we have received and the friendships that we have made without even leaving South Carolina (except for the one trip to High Point). So we will hop on a plane at 2:19 pm tomorrow and spend a month of our lives in the beautiful Canary Islands.

Before we leave, I know I speak for the entire group I say thank you to all the amazing people that have helped us along the way to get prepared for this trip and thank you to our families that have been so understanding of these long weekends that we have had to spend working on GSE stuff. We will miss each of you the entire time we are away!

PS - The above picture is a copy of our Business Cards sized Bios that we will be giving to the people we meeting in the Canary Islands. (prepared by the brilliant Steve Black)

Adiós,

Nic

3 More Days

2007-04-25T07:47:00.000-05:00

Hello All,

Just wanted to test this blog out before we head out of the country. I hope everyone is as excited as I am for this trip.

I have included a photo of some of the fun that we

have already had (this one is from District Conference) and hope to add many more photos from our trip.

Nic

Team 7750

2007-04-24T20:57:00.000-05:00

District 7750 GSE Team to District 2200

2007-01-27T20:29:00.000-05:00

District 7750 - from left

Christopher King (Team Member),
Nic Lane (Team Member),

Bert Strange (Team Leader),

Sharon Johnson (alternate Team Leader),
Catherine Dillon (Team Member),
Carla Witt (Team Member),
Tong Wagner (Team Member),
Richard Waugh (District Governor)