I must apologise for the breakdown in
transmission between Days Ten and Twelve.
Activities have been at such a pace that after
actually attending the programme I was relieved of
the capability to document what I had witnessed.
My sister, arrived on Wednesday
for two weeks and my ace photographer became a
Grandfather on the Thursday. His eldest son
now has a son of his own hence efforts are being
made to repatriate my ace photographer to enable him to wet the baby's
head.
It is now one week on and the
temperatures are in excess of 38 degrees in the
shade and 50 DEGREES IN THE SUN and anything more
than the effort of breathing becomes a huge chore.
The usual winds that cover this island are not in
evidence and what little movement of air we have is
like a dragon's breath. At one time I thought that
the fire had been left on and then I realised that
we do not have any heating here at all. However
judging by your emails my public awaits so I will
make best efforts to complete.
Day Eleven kicked-off with the usual
Kid's games and activities which were as imaginative
as previous days, if village gossip is anything to
go by.
Later that afternoon the scheduled
Football match between married and single men was
cancelled. I can only imagine that in these
temperature and at this stage of the festival most
people just said “stuff it”
...
At 20.30 a church service was again
held and “ Our Lady of good Voyage” (you will
remember that she was brought out for a quick trip
around the harbour after blessing the boats on Day
Seven) was paraded around the village.
She arrived in the harbour at about
22.30 and at midnight was exposed to an enormous
firework display. Most of you may know that
my ace photographer
is a closet pyromaniac so this event really got his
attention. Every vantage point around the harbour
was packed with people from the whole island as
history told them that this was a display not to be
missed.
Earlier in the day we had noticed
that the beach at the harbour had been cordoned off
and contraptions of projection had been placed there
along with a multitude of cable. This was the
“Cape Canaveral” of Fuerteventura for the night.
The cliffs surrounding the harbour had been wired
and when released the effects were astounding.
Some fireworks were particularly unusual as they
were released like torpedoes. At first sight I
thought we had some duff rockets as these
projectiles shot across the waters surface and when
they reached the full extent of their power fell
into the sea. Image my surprise when they ascended
skyward bringing the briny with them. The following
array of flowers and stars was a treat. We are told
that the display cost the local council 14,000
euros.
At the end of the display all present
adjourned to the stadium where they were entertained
by a live group and danced until 07.00 the next
morning. Happily we are not near enough to be
disturbed by the music and were able to snatch a few
hours sleep.
Day Eleven ran seamlessly into Day
Twelve.....
At 08.00 the adult's fishing
competition was held in the New Harbour and
activities continued throughout the day constantly.
This correspondent felt unable to run from location
to location in an effort to report the events of the
day.
16.00 saw the start of the Bowls
competition which culminated in the final being held
at around 20.00. This village takes bowls very
seriously and all three pitches are occupied every
night of the year between 19.00 and midnight,
playing under floodlights.
The “Children's Gala” took to the
stadium stage at 20.30. A fascinating array of
dance then followed starting with the youngest
dancers. The first pair to enter the stage were
approximately ten years old. They were dressed in
traditional ballroom attire; ball gown and white
gloves and tail coats. They proceeded to
demonstrate the Viennese Waltz to great effect
obviously having been instructed on how to hold
their heads and to maintain a full smile at all
times, synchronised swimming came to mind.
The next age group were about 12
years old and continued with the Tango. The movements were all there however the pointed toes
and elegant demeanour was slightly lacking as on
most of the lifts the young lady was unable to
maintain her poise and the elevated extended legs
were Kermit-like! But bless 'em they all did a
great job.
Salsa and Pasadoble followed with
gusto and it was very obvious that mothers had been
nailed to the sewing machines for months.
Unfortunately, taking visual records proved to be
quite difficult as my ace photographer was stampeded by the
parents in the rush. However, it is nice to know
that in this country there are no restrictions on
taking photographs of your own children performing
in this way and this makes it possible for memories
of these occasions to be cherished at length. The
most charming couple were aged in the region of
three and five, they danced the pasadoble sharing
the stage with an older pair. The younger couple
were unfazed by the grandeur of the occasion and
stole the limelight. The finale of their
performance was a lift where the five year old boy
gathered his partner in his arms. The effect of his
struggle was to imitate the use of a battering ram!
Artistes aged 14 to 16 followed
performing lip-sync to popular music and rap. Although this was entertaining the younger dancers
took the prize for me.
Once again at midnight the live band
and dance took over and no sleep was achieved by
those down wind of the stadium.
This is Your Cotillo Correspondent signing off,
just hanging on with one more day to go.
