KETCHUP WEEK(s) - catch-up, it's a pun..

I also went to my first foreign Interact meeting, which I know the Rotarian's will know what I am talking about, but for the others, I will explain. Interact is a student run Rotary club found in many highschool around the world. The Interact Club I visited was rather small in comparison to my club back in Canada where I was Treasurar for the year 2009-2010, last year was our first year of interact in our highschool. The Club here in Tenerife that I visited was located in Puerto del Cruz which is actually very near Lorro Parque as I mentioned above. In the island Puerto del Cruz and The South (los christianos, y los americas) is where the most tourism takes place. You can find people from all around the world there, particularly people from England (because they like the sun, even though they become a lobster from 12 seconds in the sun regardless), Germans (being they love to hike, and Tenerife is the ideal place for that since it is very very moutainous/volcanoes) mom won't be very pleased with the volcano bit. And of course other Spanish people from the main land who have come here for some sun and a nice holiday away from main spain. Anyways back to the Interact Club, the club consisted of about 12 members. All the students were bilingual as the school was called Britannico (British School), and most of there classes were taken in english. It was very strange because there meetings were in english because the Rotarian who supervised them was from England and could not communicate sufficiently in Spanish. An hour of english was refreshing, yet strange!

I have been extremely busy with school and sports recently that I have not have time to update my blog. I am going to try my best to recollect everything I have done.
Back sometime in October....

It was a rainy week, and it was the day of my sister, Diana's 14th birthday. She choose to go to Lorro Parque for her birthday party and brought along two other friends. Lorro Parque is a very large and beautiful area where you can see a variety of animals from all around the world as well as many shows. We saw animals such as sharks, gorillas, penguins, tigers, whales, dolphins, flamingos, turtles, fish, many many birds (which is strange because it is very rare I ever see a bird here, and the islands are called "Islas Canarias", canary being a type of bird. Thus far I have not incountered a single one!)

The shows were amazing, I had a marvelous time. I was a child again! ahaha

Has a math exam in spanish also, thought I for sure got a zero. It was super hard, even for the spanish kids.. I seriously thought I was just making up equations.. Anyways to my suprise I actually did not get a zero and ended up beating a bunch of spanish kids in my class. It was certainly a day of celebration that I will not forget anytime soon! Soy muy lista!!!! (use a translator if you don't understand aja)

Also, I have recently joined a basketball team. Although it is not very close to my house, it is better then nothing and it is very fun! I am very happy that I am on a team now. Although my basketball skills are more then just rusty, I could always be worse! I just need a bit more practice and I will regain my skills from before ajaja I hope... Also I am not the shortest player on the team, nor the worst! muahah. but I am pretty bad! I also have become a professional at taking the guagua (bus) since I take it 3 times a week to go to basketball practice.

This past weekend, Marcos(my host father) cut down the banana tree and the banana stock located in my backyard along with 3 other large trees were ready to be eaten. Ya thats right I have a banana trees in my back yard, along with Orange tree and passion fruit. So Ive had freshly homemade squeezed orange juice from my very own tree for breakfast this week! My host mother Merci also makes a pudding out of the passion fruit, I helped her make it one day so now I know how to do it! Sometimes she makes passionfruit juice which is very sweet and delishous!

Fun fact about Banana trees: you can only have one large banana tree with a child banana tree beside it. If you have more then one child the large banana tree will not bear bananas.  As well, you have to cut the tree down once you have taken the bananas from it. It is not like usual fruit trees and they continue to grow.

Entonce, we had to cut down the large banana tree that we took the grown bananas from. And then had to make sure that only one baby banana tree was beside the large one. If there was more then one baby beside the large tree that will bear bananas first, none of the trees will be able to grow bananas.

Yesterday was national skip (or no school day) in Tenerife. Not even the teachers went to school. Dia de la fuga celebrating some person, none of my friends knew who he was either.. Unfortunetly the guagua(bus) does not take you up to the moutain, so I had to walk to the bus station in la laguna, take a bus and then walk for an hour up a moutain. I was wearing jeans and a sweater because I am now canarian and no longer find boiling weather hot for me. But I was sweating buckets when I was walking up that massive hill, while walking all I could think of is how cold it would be in Canada. Certainly the first time I have ever sweat in October, or wore a t-shirt. My entire class went to a mountain for luch for the day. It is called a chuledada, where you gather for a meal and cook sausage, meat (Carne), etc on barbeques they have there and drink enormous amounts of refrescos(pop) such as fanta naranja my favourite!. It was super fun! WAY better then school :)

Today I went to my first spanish baptism. It was on Merci (my host mothers side of the family). We gathered at a church in puerto del cruz for mass followed my a GIGANTIC lunch at a near by restaurant. I was STUFFED by the end of all that food , bread, cheese, chickpeas with sauce and meat(spanish dish), soup, a giant pieve of pollo(chicken) with salad and french fries and tarte(cake). My host sister Diana and I went for a walk after and I don't know how I managed to walk after all that!
The baby was so tiny, had a lot of hair, and didnt even cry when the priest poured the water on his head. What a good kid, but he cried when his family insisted on taking a million pictures of him ajjaja!


Here are some things that are different here then from Canada:
1. They speak Spanish here
2. There are moutains and volcanos everywhere I look
3. I see the ocean every day
- I forget I am on an island every single day until when I am walking to school I see the ocean when i cross the bridge over the highway - i would think I would remeber after every day in repition, but no. never.
4. All there grades are called different things - and not uno dos tres cuarto etc
grade 9 and 10- E.S.O = educacion secundaria obligatoria
grade 11 - primero bachiller
grade 12 - segundo bachiller
I am in segundo bachiller again, but now in spanish

5. It is hot all the time - although I no longer think so as i have adapted. Right now it is 22 degrees and its 7:37pm
6. They tell time by a 24 hour clock
7. Spanish Soccer kicks the ass of all Canadian soccer EVER
8. etc, will fill in at a later date

Another fun fact: depending on where you are on the island it has different landscape, temperature, and greenery.
por ejemplo: if you are in la laguna where i live, there is very little greenery, mainly cactus' and palm trees and a bit cold as it is further up the moutain. In SAnta Cruz which is directly below la laguna just closer to the ocean it is mucho hotter and has about the same greenery(very little). In puerto del cruz in the north it is very green, they grow wine there (in tacoronte where I practice basketball) and grow a lot of platanos (bananas). And in Los Cristianos the south it is very very hot, and practically no greenery EVER only palm trees!

ENCANTA TENERIFE!! = LOVE TENERIFE!!