I came across a word I didn’t know today. Nothing surprising in that, I do it all the time. In Spanish it is more of an event when I come across a word I do know. But this is a word I should know and that should be part of the lexicon of anyone who is regularly online in Tenerife and interested in improving their Spanish speaking skills.  Surprisingly I have never seen it before (in this context) and neither has my 40,000 entry Español-Inglés dictionary.

The word is bitácoras and it means blogs. If you are living in Tenerife and trying to pick up a bit of Spanish, scanning Spanish blogs is a great way to do that. Just as in English you will find a blog for every interest so too there are countless Canarian blogs covering every conceivable subject from birdwatching to bizarre events on the islands to lifestyle and trends.  Finding one in a niche that interests you is a good way to build up vocabulary and contacts in that subject.

Tenerife is no stranger to movie crews having done a wonderful job as backdrop to bits of Planet of the Apes and Star Wars among other blockbusters. The latest movie to be shot on location on the island, Clash of the Titans  has already started filming in London before moving on to Wales and Tenerife.

Clash of the Titans  stars Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fienes and concerns the mission of young Perseus to overthrow wicked Hades before he can beat Zeus and unleash hell on earth.

It all sounds very dramatic and with Gemma Arterton playing the role of Io, Perseus’s love interest (which was not even cast in the original) you can expect a bit of bodice-ripping breathlessness thrown in.

Ooooohhhh.

Let’s hope the movie is a roaring success and converts itself into Cash of the Titans, which would encourage its investors to use Tenerife’s varied landscapes for other major projects  in the near future.

Happily, there have been no reports of Swine Fever in Tenerife or the Canary Islands which is just as well because I don’t know how easy it is to find Strepsils on the islands.

According to Michael O’Leary of Ryanair if you are unlucky enough to be struck down with the malady that has raged through Mexico claiming over 150 lives and has the UK government currently dithering over ordering 32 million face masks “…a couple of Strepsils will do the job.”

Michael ‘Foot-in-Mouth’ O’Leary also commented that it was likely only to be the people in the “…slums of Asia or Mexico” for whom Swine Fever would be a tragedy.