Playa Del Ingles, Gran Canaria

I apologize for the delay in my blog posts. I have been seriously considering how much I should share about my trip to the Spanish Canary Island of Gran Canaria. You see, every time I visit a place I have all kinds of adventures, both public and private. I love you all, but I still need to keep some things only in my private life. The reason for this is that doing so helps me keep my sanity. I am all for transparency, there certainly isn’t any secrets about my life, but this isn’t the Truman Show so I cherish some experiences only in my heart and memory…but I digress. Here’s some of the highlights (and lowlights) of Gran Canaria.

First off, I didn’t see one canary in the whole time I was on the Canary Islands! False advertising!

Let me back up a little. My goal in visiting Gran Canaria (the second largest island of the Spanish Canary Islands) was to focus on bettering myself, creating some sustainable healthy habits, and spending a little time at the beach (which there was plenty of, seeing as it is an island). So, I defined what I wanted for myself and made the Airbnb reservation about a month in advance. The advertisement said it was an apartment and that I would have the “entire place.”

When I got here to the Canary Islands, I quickly found out that the “entire place” didn’t apply to this situation. It was a three bedroom apartment, with one bathroom and a total of two shelves for my food (one in the fridge, one on the pantry). This wasn’t what I was expecting, but both of the other occupants were fine with me and I had a lock for my room. First time sharing a place. 

The second day I was there, I had dinner and a few drinks with the two other occupants (Manager of the place and another traveler). Finding a real kindred spirit with the the other traveler, we decided to go out and explore. Vecindario is a rather small town, so we went to the boardwalk area and found a pub to share some drinks at. We were both having a good time at this point, not feeling intoxicated at all (neither of us were in the young, “drink til you pass out” phase of our lives), and both have a pretty strong tolerance to alcohol…this is where it gets iffy. I remember getting to the bar, our conversation, paying for our drinks, and then waking up the next morning. I had bruises, my clothes looked consistent with being in a fight, and I didn’t remember how I got back to the apartment. So, hesitantly, I asked my neighbor and new acquaintance what happened. He said that he was fuzzy on the night as well, but thought that I had just wandered off. After verifying that having a lapse in memory was not the norm for him either after the relatively medium amount of alcohol consumed, I was worried. To this day, I still believe we were drugged. So, that was the last time I drank in Gran Canaria. I wouldn’t drink again until amount two months later.  First time being drugged.

Having taken precautions to not make myself vulnerable like that again (by not drinking), I was ready to continue having a great time in Gran Canaria. I went to Maspalomas (the main beach area) many times. My new friend and I had a great time celebrating Carnival in Las Palmas (first time celebrating Carnivale). I began physically training like a crazy man (first time injuring myself while traveling). While going to a massage place to get my knee taken care of, I had a quite gorgeous woman tell me she liked my American accent (first time that’s happened). Ate a calzone, after many sittings, that looked as if it was a large pizza folded in half (first time I’ve seen such a monstrous, delicious concoction). 

Now to the real drama that had me very seriously think about changing the rest of my trip. The live in manager of the place I was staying, was very “particular”. Wireless internet only at certain times of the day, very specific cleaning requirements, and he really didn’t like the other occupant. The manager has gone inside his room while he wasn’t there, picked verbal fights with him over small infractions, and at approximately 7pm (on a Sunday) he went into his room, grabbed the internet router and told the other occupant to get out. While being calm and level headed, he explained to the manager that he needed internet to make other arrangements for a place to stay. The response from the manager: “No. You use it outside.”… In other words, find a place with wifi at 7pm on Sunday in a small town in Catholic dominant country. These are both grown men, but one sure wasn’t acting like it. First time witnessing a fellow traveler being harassed and kicked out by a host. 

Regardless of the negative experiences, I accomplished what I set out to do. I now workout, read the Bible, read a “technical” book of some sort, and read a “fun” book every day.

I made new friends. I explored. I learned.

These are all habits I can sustain for the rest of my life.

I am so very thankful for all of it.