Visit to Monastery of Montserrat.

It was my first day in Barcelona and the sky looked angry and dull. It was such a gloomy, wet day, I felt the cold envelop me. Every hour I walked out to the balcony and showed my fist skywards punching into empty space. While travelling, every day counts, to spend the day indoors was quite depressing. 

In the evening, my host suggested we go for a drive. My face beamed, going out for a drive in this wet weather would certainly change my mood. 

 We drove through the city, passed through broad expressways and were soon driving through curved winding path, backdropped against the cliff of large rocks, shaped in mysterious large cylindrical shapes. We drove up, above the thick clouds and the scenery was spectacular.

The sky had calmed down, there was just a faint drizzle. We decided to walk up the tiled pathway leading to the Monastery of Montserrat. 

There were lots of tourists at this point braving the wet, biting cold weather. I snuggled tightly under my shawl and increased my pace to feel the warmth.

There were rail tracks too for the people who had reached at this point  from the city by train. 

A tram coach rolled through the steep curves going down the hills offering the view of sloping plains.

Another tram coach rose up the cliff at dangerous angles to reach the top of the cliff. I am sure there would be a reward of beautiful view and a strong cold breeze at the top of the cliff but I wouldn't dare sit in that tram, it looked too steep. 

Monastery is what draws people here, there is a statue of black Madonna inside the church which is believed to have powers of answering prayers. Some people, who have faith in miracles, walk up the steep path for more than five hours on an empty stomach to reach this place.

At some places it seemed like the church is clinging to cliff for support, the cliff resembled at some places like a huge idol of elephant Gods. 

I was drawn towards the architecture of this church, the floral dents above each window, the droplets at the rims, the symmetrical curved walls 

Inside the church there were etched murals depicting an inspirational story of faith.

The huge stained glass windows allowed enough light to brighten up the dark corridors

Jesus and his apostles were etched out on the facade of Montserrat basilica. The church inside had high gold plated ceiling that was quite ornamental. We walked up the steps, and arrived at tiny inlet at the end of the church that housed the statue of black Madonna, people called it 'Morenita'. The six o'clock mass was being conducted, peace surrounded the walls, the hymns resonated, echoing, bouncing back from the ceiling.

Soon the bells began to chime and it was time to leave. We spend more than one hour going through corridors, visiting different rooms. One room contained offerings (including shoes, wax limbs, books and even bridal wear), other room had hundreds of burning candles each flickering with promise to be fulfilled, and yet another room had just a lone bench for a private chat with spiritual being. 

Every person had their own reason for visiting this place and all found the peace in their own way.

Day Care Center for the Aged

“Papa, are you ready? Hurry up, I am getting late for work” said my cousin as she picked up the clothes from the sofa and started to fold.

Her 80-years-old dad emerged from his bedroom and came to sit on the sofa next to me.

“You know they treat me like a little child, these children of mine” he said, annoyed at being forced out of his slumber.

Cousin starts to adjust her father's collar and buttoned his shirt, asking him to stand straight.

“I want to go to the toilet” he said and he walked towards the service room and locked the door. After much prodding and tapping on his closed door, he relented

Every morning was the same story. Cousin did not want to leave her father alone at home so she dropped her father at day-care center for the aged for few hours in the morning but her father was most reluctant to go and he preferred sleeping all day.

Every morning she had to forcibly take him to Day-care center for the aged.

But once there, he is fully entertained,

The volunteers involve the senior citizens in various activities like playing ball and other indoor games, painting and drawing. There are separate rooms for different activities that include gym, reading room, physiotherapy room, dinning room and a garden. It is a small institute with about 30 senior people of which only ten are regular.

The volunteers are informed about the medication of each person. Breakfast, lunch and evening snack is served at the institute. It is observed that women are more cheerful, they gossip, laugh and even argue amongst themselves whereas men are more reserved and often wander off in dark corridors lost in their own world.

There are many such day care centers for the aged in this town, at Tenerife, where I have come to spend some time with my family. This is a boon for the elderly whose children are too busy to look after their parent’s needs and health.

Made Ganesha Idol This Year

I still like creating handicraft stuff, really I do. Well that’s what I would do all day if I am not occupied with listening to the music, or flipping through pages of a book or hang around social media or FB, twitter, blogging, movies, food, friends. Can’t help it.   Too many distractions or should I say ‘too many interest’?

Well, last week I was with some friends in Tenerife and my friend suggested I make an idol of Ganesha for her. In India, during Ganpati season, all the stores are full of idols but in places out of India, it is difficult to find unless you visit an art store.

I have silicon mold to begin with, all I needed was the rest of the art materials.

I have an artist friend who also owns a hobby store, so it was not difficult to find the materials required to make the idol. Many years ago I had learnt to make clay by binding fevicol glue with corn flour (which is more eco-friendly) but my friend suggested I use chalk powder.

First step was to mix chalk powder with water and pour it into the mold. Let it set for 30 minutes and then remove it.

The idol was ready and now it has to be kept for drying for at least a week.

The idol has to be scraped and polished using sand paper, to give it a smooth finish, a special attention to be given to the base so that it is able to stand. I stuck the base to a rectangular cardboard and stuck few beans to give it a rough look.

After one week, the idol is coated with base solution (kind of rubber solution) that will prevent it from absorbing too much paint.

I selected white paint for the idol because it gives an ivory look.

A final coat of gold paint to highlight the jewelry on the idol.

It was important to mount it on a stand. I bought empty boxes, stuffed them with newspaper and covered it with gold paper.

And finally a decorative lace on the border did the trick.

Birth of a Music

What game did they play while their parents enjoyed a cup of coffee at the sea front cafeteria? 

Parents were watching them from far, just seeing to their safety, they were asked to remain in the same line as their vision and not disappear far away. Children were also aware that parents were around and they need not be afraid. They ran, one behind the other, laughing, chasing and speaking in the language that they understood. It was simple sentences, which anybody would understand had they paid attention, but nobody cared.

They were left alone to do what they pleased. 

“Come, see what we have here” said the girl. 

They came to stop around a huge barrel, that once was used to store wine.

Maybe it leaked and did not serve any purpose and now it was used as a decorative piece. The children moved around it, watching it from all angles, touching the smooth sides of the barrel. One of them slapped the top of the barrel and liked the sound it produced. Soon there were more slaps, in rhythmic beating like those African they had seen in a film, soon there was music in the air, not the plagiarized one, but pure creative music produced by innocent minds…

Everybody was distracted but nobody said they had heard this tune, they just relished the joy on the children’s face. The children continues to bang on the surface of the drum and shook their waist with every beat.

A new music had just been created… waiting to be copy-pasted…. Maybe by a passer-by.

Visit to the Coastal town of Garachico

Some evenings when I need some fresh air, I like to go for a drive to the picturesque town of Garachico.

As soon as I see the big rock in the middle of the sea and a long promenade along the seashore, I get ready for my niece to stop the engine and walk with me on the promenade..

Further down the path are the amazing natural pools carved out through the rocks (which resulted after the volcanic eruptions in 1706), making it a safe place to swim with tropical fishes.

There is even a mini children’s park where kids can play after the swim.

Garachico was once a port where ships anchored but this port was completely destroyed during the volcanic eruption. However the castle with the stone doorway of ‘San Miguel Castle’ still stands there at the end of the promenade. This is the finest building, a 16^th century stronghold belonging to the Count of Gomera’ that survived a volcanic eruption in 1706 unscathed.

Further up, there is a natural beach with black sand and more rocks where people can swim and fish too.

Garachico is a beautiful quaint town with rustic houses. It is very Spanish in Character with narrow, cobbled streets with cars parked on the one side of the road. It is still arguably the least spoilt coastal area of Tenerife.

During festivals, the balconies are dressed with a certain theme, for example you will find them dressed up promoting products of the village

There is a plaza in the center of the town where people can enjoy the traditional cuisine with the glass of local wine or with the tiny cup of Cortado (strong coffee)

After a short drive I come back to Icod de Los Vinos, to sit at my brother's store at 'Teban S.L.'  at Calle Sabastian, also known as 'Bazar Hindu', My brother has lots of tourist visiting our store to buy souvenirs and electronic products to take back home. I love too talking English with the tourists, which is a welcome change from speaking Spanish all day with other local clients.