ZUMO, ZOTE & ZANAHORIA - the end of the A-Z Challenge.

ZUMO in Spanish means juice.  I begin every day with a walk, a shower, and then breakfast, which always has to start with fruit juice. Oranges are around a euro a kilo and make the perfect base for whatever other fruits are in season.

Bananas - we bought some of these this morning at the local market -

mangoes,
strawberries,
or papayas.
This papaya tree is just up the road from where we live - I didn't know before I saw it on one of my morning walks that the fruit grows directly from the trunk.

Continuing my Spanish words theme - here's another one.

ZOTE is a Spanish word meaning dimwit, though whether that is a strong enough word to describe the people who deliberately set fires. Every summer our bomberos – most of whom are volunteers - have to fight to save homes, livestock and crops from total destruction. The fact that they eventually succeed, despite the difficult terrain of steep barrancos and inaccessible cliffs, is a tribute to their courage and training.

                

I love the way words can still surprise me, and here’sanother Z word I found.

ZURCIR = to darn. I presume this means mending socks but, like the expletive “Darn it!” in English, another version is used colloquially – “¡las zurcan!” means “to blazes with them!” which ties in nicely with the previous paragraph.

ZANAHORIAS  are carrots - this was one of the words it took me a long time to learn when we first arrived. 

This road sign in Las Galletas amuses me. The road is about ten metres long, one step from the beach, and the rest of the alphabet is nowhere to be seen - every other road in this small village is named for some dignitary with three names. Calles A to Z would have made life much easier!

AND FINALLY

Until a few years ago all cars registered in Tenerife had the prefix TF followed by four numbers and then letters indicating the year. 

This one is about 20 years old, but bang on target for my final A-Z post.

If you've stayed with me throughout the A-Z Challenge, thank you - your encouragement has kept me going - and if this is your first visit, welcome and feel free to browse.

 My experience of this year's blog-fest has been like the curate's egg, but thank you to the A-Z Team for their sterling work. I shall continue to visit as many blogs as I can, but I am flying to England on Friday for a fortnight with family and friends, so forgive me if I fail to respond immediately to any comments left on my blog. 

FIRE ON TENERIFE

I make no apology for returning to yesterday's subject, and I am about to make a politically incorrect statement, so don't read this is you're likely to be offended.

Arsonists should have to live with the consequences of their crimes.

I live in Tenerife where at least 2000 hectares of beautiful forest are on fire because some blithering idiot set it on fire. Some selfish, thrill-seeking bastards decided it would be fun to watch other people's homes and livelihoods go up in smoke. And make no mistake about it - lives will be lost. Just this afternoon a fire engine crashed on the motorway - one can't help wondering if its driver had been up all night.
The bomberos and military are doing their best while millions of trees explode and die, thousands of birds fall screaming as their feathers burn, thousands of rabbits, lizards and insects bake in a coating of red-hot pine needles.
There are goats that people will not be able to rescue, dogs and cats - some with owners, some feral, all un-deserving of the fate that is racing to overtake them.
I saw the desolation of Masca after fire swept through there five years ago. I shall never forget the weeping shopkeeper who sent me up the stairs to look at his apartment. "I won't come with you, it upsets me too much" he said and I could see why. Televisions melted, his bath like a Dali painting, precious photographs ruined in twisted frames, clothing and furniture just piles of water-soaked ash, and the stink of burned dreams everywhere. It's happening again, now, as I type this.

If you don't read my Facebook page, look at these sites to see the awful pictures and get the latest updates.
www.facebook.com/cav.tenerife
www.facebook.com/prensa.laorotava
www.facebook.com/canarianweekly

FUEGO!

Fuego means fire, but the word is also used to mean fuegos artificiales - fireworks.
Last weekend was a big fiesta weekend here in Tenerife, to celebrate the Fiesta del Carmen, and there were dozens of beautiful firework demonstrations all over the island.
Las Galletas, our nearest coastal village, was packed to bursting with cars and camper-vans. Tents were erected on the outskirts, the beach was full, the life-guard was on his perch and the sea heaved with bathers.
We have been to the firework display several times - to sit on the beach and experience it close-up is amazing. Yesterday I merely saw them from afar and heard the thud-thud of the huge bangers, and waited like a local for Las Tres Palmeras - three fireworks that resemble Three Palm-trees - which signified the end of the show.

Meanwhile in the mountains, what we have been dreading for the past year has finally happened - a forest fire. We have had no significant rain for a whole year and everything is tinder-dry. Fire could have burst out by itself, but the usual explanation for such disasters is human. Sometimes it is a dropped cigarette-end - it is illegal to throw one out of ones car window here, and quite right too. Sometimes an irresponsible farmer will let a bonfire get out of control, or sparks from a barbecue will fly further than expected. But often it is arson. Acres and acres of trees burn because some stupid idiot wants to watch the fire, or has a grudge against society. People's homes and livelihoods are destroyed, lives are lost. 

The bomberos do their best, but much of the forest in Tenerife is inaccessible to vehicles. Pines packed with explosive resin cling to precipitous slopes. The layer of pine needles is metres thick since the peasants no longer gather it. The roads are bad enough without thick smoke obscuring the bends.
The firemen climb up the slopes in danger of their lives, dragging their hoses - helicopters drop buckets of seawater - trees are felled to create fire-breaks. Eventually they always put out the fire, but at tremendous cost, as the remote village of Masca learned a few years ago. 
Wish them and the residents of Tenerife the best of luck - we need it! This link is to the local newspaper.
http://www.diariodeavisos.com/