Today was a big day. And by big, I mean that a lot happened. I spent the morning/afternoon with Dolores and Svenja and after lunch (I had a chicken sandwich with toasted bread that literally massacred the roof of my mouth) Dolores went to meet up with her brother and his wife, also here visiting Tenerife, at the casino. On the way back home with Svenja I stopped at one of the street shops to buy some clothes; on the way down towards the beach with Dolores earlier, I'd seen a really cool touristy shirt that I wanted, so I made sure to go back haha. While I was there I looked around and ended up buying the original T-shirt I'd seen plus 2 other tops, and a few gifts for people back home. Like my mom. :) The guy at this store was different than most other shops I've come across; he was actually helpful, without being pressuring. If he saw me trying to find something or looking confused he'd come over and help me or give me some info to help me out, but then he'd immediately back off and give me my space, which is EXACTLY how to make me happy. Be helpful, but not overbearing. Ah, so nice. I often walk past this place and I always take a quick look to see if there's any excuse to give him more of my business. I would not hesitate at all to shop there again.
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| ESPAÑA |
And yes, later in the evening we all had dinner with Steve and Lynne, our English neighbors. They are fabulous. They live here permanently and own a real-estate company called Tenerife Properties. Not gonna lie, I LOVED getting to have real, adult conversation, in English, at the dinner table. Sometimes with all the German that I still struggle to understand, I feel like a toddler. Lynne brought up the fact that they were going to a comedy club tomorrow and I responded with, "There's a comedy club here? Where?" And then she said she had an extra ticket if I wanted to come along. Really? Awesome! I loooooove stand-up comedy! But then they both showed concern that I wouldn't get the humor. Hahaha oh silly people, I was raised on BBC and English comedy. And I watch stand-up videos on YouTube from comics around the world. Part of me just felt like they were trying to back out of the invitation, which made me feel super awkward because it's not like I self-invited myself. I had merely asked where the club was, because yes, I would have definitely checked it out on my own. But nonetheless at the end of the night, the invitation stood. After dinner, Christian tried to converse with me in German. That was rough. Thankfully Peter called him away for a night swim or something, so I was left in peace.
Saturday (12/6/14)
Went to the beach today with Tamara, Svenja, Peter, and Christian. This guy is driving me NUTS. It's such a love-hate. He really is a cool, interesting guy. But his teaching tactics do NOT work on me. In fact, they make me want to never speak ever again. Where's a black-hole when you need one? Then he just gets insulting. He says to use other words to describe the word I mean. *Facepalm, facepalm, face-freaking-palm* Don't you think if I COULD do that, I would?! I don't know enough words! At this point, if I don't know the ACTUAL word, chances of me having other descriptive words to describe the original word, is pretty low. I eventually said, to everyone in the car, "You all take it as me not trying, but if I could FIND the words to say I would SAY them; it's not like I'm just sitting here knowing German but refusing to speak German." Thankfully it wasn't a terribly long car ride and once we made it to the beach I was much happier :)
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| Swim in the Atlantic Ocean, check! |
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| Christian, Peter, Svenja |
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| Christian thought it was a big deal he was in a Speedo, like I've never seen an old dude in a Speedo before... Europe isn't all that special in this regard lol. |
Some signs outside a little grocery store. Oh, the grammar.
So for dinner we had leftovers (usual low-key dinner). BUT Tamara had brought home some leftovers from her dinner out with Peter the other night... Octopus. She had leftover OCTOPUS. I was hesitant to have any, but I promised myself before I took this job, that I would at least TRY new foods presented to me. Which anyone who knows me really well, knows it's a big deal. I don't particularly enjoy trying new foods, let alone "weird" foods, and weird textures freak me out. GUYS, I ATE OCTOPUS! Honestly, it wasn't that bad! I even had it cold; apparently it's better warm, but it really wasn't so bad - to the point where I had like four pieces. I'm SO proud of myself!
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| Eating OCTOPUS like a BOSS! |
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| Tamara said I needed to take a better picture that actually showed the tentacles haha |
After dinner Christian and I were in the living room while I was waiting to go meet Steve and Lynne outside for the comedy show. Christian thusly decided, it was again time for another Deutsch. Oh goody (sarcasm). So the conversation awkwardly volleys back-and-forth, 'til finally he brings up politics. Of course. Alright, let's talk about Obama, and how much he sucks, shall we? But he wants me to make my point in German. HELLO! I barely know enough to talk about me and my family, let alone politics! Give me a break. So after awkwardly rummaging through my head for some words, that I couldn't come up with, he says "Should I just give up on you, Rebecca?" to which I curtly replied, "Well since you're leaving tomorrow..." Even Peter told him to back off (just nicer). And then I left ...like 15 minutes early to wait for Steve and Lynne outside.
Then we were off to the comedy club, Showtime Tenerife, when Peter (not my host Peter, another Peter) came and picked all three of us up. There was one table of SUPER obnoxious drunk patrons, and another slightly less obnoxious table of drunk patrons, which I'm still kind of shocked no one threw any punches, but it was a blast! Almost everyone was from some part of the UK; I was DEFINITELY the only American, and no I did not advertise, nor did I allow any of my English companions to advertise for me. The first comedian was English and hilarious. The second comedian was Dutch, and whilst most of his material was fairly vulgar, he too was weirdly funny. The third comedian, who was apparently supposed to be the main attraction, I didn't find funny at all. I thought he was a bit witty, but mostly just bumptious. It was definitely a very pleasant night out though. I really enjoyed Steve, Lynne, and Peter's company and their friends.
xoxo,
Rebecca
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