24th November

Went to school like it was a normal Friday. In the staff meeting Toni pointed out that Paco (the headmaster) has insisted I don’t take any classes by myself. What they were trying to get at is that it’s not on that the teacher is using me to take the lesson while they have a “free period”, also it’s the fact that if something bad happens while I’m alone with the students the school can’t claim they were being responsible. I am, after all, untrained. This is what Marie Carmen is doing. The other teachers are leaving me alone in the room but only with half the class. They take out the trouble makers and leave me with the stronger students who are keener to learn. This means that everyone gets more attention and the troublesome kids don’t distract the better ones. This, however, has also been classes as me being left alone and must end. This means the naughty kids will be back in class disrupting the whole lesson. Amparo got really angry that Marie Carmen’s behaviour has meant that the classes which were working really well are now going to return to being disrupted.

After school today Angel and Heri and I headed off on our department meal out. Toni and Marie Carmen didn’t want to come, Rita is ill and Amparo has family stuff to do.

We drove out to Aguimes (southwards) and headed down into a ravine. I can’t explain how amazingly beautiful it was. There were just rocky sides up all around me. You could see caves and in them were little rustic front doors and people still live there, in houses dotted around the hillside. There are no cars and no driveways for them and nothing for miles. I don’t know how they do it. It’s just so beautiful. Even in America I didn’t see anything like it. We passed one little community that had a tiny chapel built into the mountain-side. It took my breath away. It was just so humble and tiny and perfect yet served it’s purpose perfectly.

Lunch was interesting!! Angel and Heri insisted on paying which was really sweet. It was very typically Canarian – I tried Gofio for the first time, and Mechillo (sweet black pudding) and Gofio mousse for pudding and a sweet pudding called “Bienmesabe”. It was a very cultural day. Heri dropped me back home in Las Palmas which was really sweet as she lives in Melenara.

I called up Sasha when I got in and we met in Parque Doramas. We went back to the flat to get Conny and then met Mike in San Telmo (which is apparently known locally as El Oyo) which means the underground pit or something. Anyway, we hot footed it over to Plaza Santo Domingo to watch Angel’s folk group do some dancing. He had told me they’d be in full costume and that it was something different, but also really traditional if I’d like to see it.

We got to the Plaza at 9pm but there was no sign of any dancing. There was a wedding starting in a church nearby which we peeked in on but no dancing. We know what the Spanish are like for punctuality though so hung around outside a bit. After a while, we realised something was happening inside a building. We could see the dancers inside in their costumes but were expecting them to come out and dance. There was a man inside giving a speech and after a while a whole load of people clapped so we realised it was happening inside!! We went in, found space and watched.

It was so good to see. The dancers and musicians were in full dress. There were about 8 dancers, 6 singers and about 8 guitar and Eukele players. The standard (although I’m no expert!) seemed very high. The women were wearing huge coloured skirts, highly starched with white blouses, the had pompoms on their shoes and coloured clothes on their head with a little black beret on top with pompoms too. The men had woolly legwarmers on, white pleated skirts, white shirts with huge starched sleeves and coloured waistcoats. They also had black hats hanging down their backs. Angel realised I was there watching and gave me a wink hello. Later on, he announced to the room who I was, what I was doing in Gran Canaria for the year, that he hoped I was enjoying myself this evening and that he hoped I would have a nice year. I thanked him and flushed a lovely shade of crimson while everyone in the room clapped. LOL. We watched the group dance for about an hour when suddenly they started inviting people in the room to dance. Naturally Angel felt the need to pick on me. I’m actually glad he did because now I can say I danced Canarian folkdance but it was a bit embarrassing at first. Conny, Sasha and Mike were pissing themselves laughing at me but it was quite similar to country dancing or barn dancing. There was lots of passing under other peoples’ arms and moving about in a circle.

I introduced Angel to the others at the end of the evening then we said goodbyes. Sasha, Conny, Mike and I went off into El Puerto to look for food. It was Mike’s last night so he treated us all to our favourite Japanese - they know us by name in there now and we didn't end up leaving until about 1am! They cook the food right in front of you and flambé the meat. They also do the egg catching game, which we managed to video this time!! All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable day with lots of new experiences.

Most of all I was just gob-smacked by the beauty of the island. Parts of it are so green and lush and the volcanicity (little word made up by well known water vendor!) of it is astounding. Photos just didn’t do it justice!!

The only downside to today was not talking to Rob. I miss him so much and I'm literally counting down the days until I get to see him!! I worried him as well because I had my phone on silent during the dancing and when I checked them later on I saw a few texts from him and by the time I replied he had gone to bed. He had been worried because he hadn't heard from me since 2pm and I'd been travelling about all over the island. Sorry for making you worry baby. xxxx