Every dog lover must have his day and if you are within striking distance of Los Gigantes on Sunday then the Live Arico Fun Dog Show will make yours. Expect lots of fun and games and all in a very good cause.

You’d have to be barking not to go really. For more information you can call Eugenio on 649001907 for information or info@livearico.org.

Well that was interesting. One bolt of lightning and kaboom. Lights out from one end of Tenerife to the other. That certainly inspires confidence in the island’s infrastructure in the event of a real emergency doesn’t it.

This past few months we’ve had a bit of a survivor thing going on anyway watching Les Stroud struggle to feed himself and get a fire started  in various extreme, exposed and uninhabited parts of the globe.  We’ve snorted at Bear Gryls ridiculous efforts to be rugged before nipping off back to his four star for the night and marvelled at Ray Mears’ effortless ability to stay warm, dry and fed in the most unlikely of places.

The 80’s series of Survivors in which 98% of the world’s population is killed off by a deadly virus  attracted our attention for a while. The acting and sets seem a bit jaded now but in a lot of ways it can still hold its own next to last year’s version which finished on a cliff-hanger so all we know  is that after surviving plague, kidnap and a murderous politician, Abbey has now being taken into custody by some mad scientists who are quite willing to kill her to crack the secret of her immunity … oooohhh.

Anyway, you’d think with all that I would be quite well prepared to deal with a couple of electricity-free hours wouldn’t you? I could’ve practiced my skills with my fire key and flint stick, rustled up a few rabbit snares and picked some wild berries and edible leaves. I could have but I didn’t.  Instead I patted my unconscious computer and wandered past the kettle a couple of times before resigning myself to the very mundane task of cleaning my desk. Under piles of to-do lists and Extremely Important Papers! I found my lost ipod shuffle and a bowl of unused sugar sachets. Here’s a picture specially for John who recently cast doubt on the existence of my sugar sachet Spanish stash.

I also walked the dogs and sat for a while watching the clouds gathering in the distance. Though we were anticipating a wild night it didn’t come to much more than a downpour in the early hours of this morning and the sun was out again by the time I took the wee ones to school this morning.

Even so, half the little guy’s class didn’t show up and his teacher led in the fila muttering under her breath about those who were afraid of a little bit of agua.

Every day at more or less the same time I can hear rhythmic music from the park out at the front and I know that the local kids are practising capoeira out there under a large shady tree. Combining music and movement, tradition, rhythm, folklore, art and harmony into one overall philosophy, capoeira teaches not only self-defense but also respect for oneself and others, racial tolerance and the benefits of healthy diet and fitness. Listening to the music I know that the kids who are practising their moves out there are not the same ones that will be hanging out round the corner smoking and getting into trouble in the evening.

If you have an active child and are looking for something to occupy him or her then you might want to consider the Terra Firme Canarias capoeira lessons which are subsidised by the ayutamientos of San Miguel de Arona, Guia de Isora and Arona council.

The Terra Firme Canarias Association was established by César Barreto in 2007. As a young boy in Tenerife, César was captivated by the performance of a capoeiria master he saw in a movie. That was the start of a journey that would eventually take him to Brazil to learn the art of this Brazilian traditional fighting skill from internationally recognised Maestre Hulke and in time receive his own capoeira title, ‘Instructor Pescador’ from his teacher.

Capoira Classes are held:

Ayuntamiento San Miguel de Abona (Concejalia de Deportes)
Barrio de Guargacho – Colegio el Monte
Tues & Thurs:  18:15 to 19:45 hrs

Ayuntamiento Guia de Isora (Concejalia de Juventud)
Barrio del Fraile, Centro  Juvenil del Fraile
Wed & Fri: 18:00 to 19:45 hrs

Ayuntamiento de Adeje (Concejalia de Deportes)
Barrio de Los Olivos, Complejo de Deportivo Las Torres
Mon & Wed: 16:00 to 17:30 hrs

Academia de Arte Marciales ACAD
Los Cristianos, near the bus station
Tues & Thurs: 18:30 to 20:00 hrs

Academia de Danza
Barrio de Los Olivos, Adeje
Friday: 16:30 to 17:30 hrs

As far as I know these classes are free as they have been  subsidised by the various councils mentioned but you can contact the Terra Firme Canarias Association yourself to confirm that and class schedules. You might also want to ask about demonstrations as Instructor Pescador and his team can often be seen at festivals or shows.

Contact Details:

Website: Terra Firme Canarias
Email: terrafirmecanarias@hotmail.com
Tel: 696219518 or 638579432

Capoira – Martial Art or Dance?

Well done to the A.M.P.A (parents assoc.) in Las Galletas for organising the 1st Festival Infantil which was held in the schoolyard on Saturday 14th March. Entrance was free to members of the A.M.P.A while non-members were charged only €3 per kid for hours of fun.

The A.M.P.A. organise various after-school activities and charge only €10 per year so this was also an opportunity to top up membership. My two have done clay-modelling classes and what not via this group and its always been very worth the small annual membership fee.

Once through the gate, kids were let loose to jump from one bouncy castle to the next or participate in the Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro dance animation, have their faces painted by ‘Atty and Friends’, enjoy the drums of the Tambores Urugayo or sit and scream at the clown.

Was it a success? Well the bars and cafes round about certainly thought so. After a couple of hours of ear-shattering kids entertainment, I don’t think there was an adult within a two mile radius that didn’t need a stiff drink to recover. Anyway, the kids definitely enjoyed themselves and that was what it was all about after all:

Kid’s Party Contacts

The giant paella was prepared by the lads from Comidas La Union (mob: 606 52 04 38).

The bouncy castles were provided by
Globo Diversiones (mob: 620 255 150) and I think they supplied the bouncy dance animator too.

Face painting, balloon modelling and other kids activities were provided by Atty and her friends (mob: 649 21 65 58).

In recent years, the last day before the schools knock off for the Carnaval holiday has been a huge event for the whole town. All the kids in school get dressed up, as do all the teachers and a hefty percentage of the parents and there has been a colourful (if shambolic) parade round the streets.

If anything hints at the effect of the current recession on the community it is the curtailing of this event on a local level (as well as the abandonment of all school excursions). This year only the infants get to dress up and there is to be no parade. Even so, the costumes the little ones wear are fabulous. Whether home made or store bought they are all wonderful and a far cry from the cobbled together fancy dress cossies of my day.

In days gone by,
When I was five,
And dressed up for celebration,
The trick back then was coloured pen,
and huge imagination.

This year the theme of the Las Palmas Carnaval is Pirates while horror movies are the focus of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnaval (that is a link to the official website for Carnaval 2009, though honestly I wouldn’t waste my time. You’d be better of popping over to Secret Tenerife where writer Pamela Heywood is doing a far better job of providing info about the event than the touruist board. Shame on them, really…

Anyway, it was no surprise to see quite a few scary skeletons and quite a few pirates. There may even have been a scary skeletal pirate though I admit that one did not catch my eye.

As always, Spiderman was hugely popular and there were more Disney princesses than you could shake a broomstick at. Minnie Mouse was popular this year while a brilliant Ninja costume was a new one on me and on Sami who found it most annoying that he couldn’t tell if the Ninja was really his friend, Noel.

There are times when in the process of getting the kids out of bed or into bed, into their clothes or out of clothes and into jammies, to play nice, to be quiet or to just leave me alone for FIVE DAMN MINUTES! (ahem,… ehm.. sorry…where was I…)… that I just feel so shrill.

Surely I can’t be nagging at them ALL the time, can I? It feels that way sometimes. I used to wonder if I was missing some vital part of DNA that meant instead of a Hollywood nurturing nest, my home was doomed to be a chaotic pit until the kids grew up and moved away. That was until I received the following clip which I am setting to replay until the kids are about 27 or so:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6P2w5GkXmU&hl=en&fs=1]

The clip is of the comedienne, Anita Renfroe, who condensed her own (and every mother’s)daily experience into 3 short minutes and set it to the William Tell Overture.

Well, it was a beautiful crisp morning in Tenerife today. Walking the dogs in the utter quiet I could see Teide in the distance with her first signs of snow cover. The dogs pottered about and there was not another soul in sight (and yes, I did pick up the poop anyway, Natasha Kaplinsky!). Bliss.

After a peaceful twenty minutes, the flock of green parrots that live in the area started to wake up and their argumentative squawking seemed oddly familiar…

Judging by my son’s mood this morning yesterday’s trip to the clinic was a success. After thundering up and down the corridor to show how fast he can run he asked if I’d like to see him break dance. I can’t really tell if he is altogether better or this is just the first blush of morning fitness which will wear of as the day goes on.

My daughter is laying on her sickie status with a brickie’s trowel, bossing her little brother around as normal when I am out the room and then reverting to a deathbed croak the minute I return.

So both are off school today and now my main worry is my own sanity. I gave up trying to get any significant work done when they are off school at the weekends a long time ago and unless their Gaga volunteers to do her lion-tamer bit for a few hours in the afternoon on schooldays, most afternoons are out too. My working hours are school-time and bed-time.

Still I have every mother’s emergency pack to hand. On the way back from the clinic the second stop after the chemist was The Big Orange. Now I can at least get them settled in front of a DVD. That should score me … oh, 15 minutes of concentration time. If I’m lucky.