One week ago we went to the center of the island and we collected almost 10 kilos of walnuts. They were early this year and we arrived before the rush, so we could collect quite a lot of nuts. The ground was covered and just a little movement of the branches made lots of nuts fall down from the tree.

The big advantage is that we will have plenty of nuts for the rest of the year. The disadvantage I noticed a bit later. It seems there is something in the nuts that is also used for those self tanning cremes. Some stuff that makes your skin nice and brown. The disadvantage of picking up all those nuts was that some needed to be peeled and taken out of their skin, and I used my thumb to do this. Now, one week later, after cleaning a big part of 10 kilos I still have a dark brown thumb.

There is a clear trend of things getting automated. In our new car for example we never have to touch the light switch. If it is dark outside, or we are in a tunnel the lights switch on. Since a couple of days our floor is also kept clean by a robot. Not the well known rumba, but we have an iLife.

Our iLife is doing a good job at cleaning the floors. Every day she collects a tray full of dust and sand. Some days we fill her up with water and she also mops the floor.

Last Sunday it was fathers-day, and I clearly noticed. During the entire day I received lots of presents. Bonbons, a personalized shirt for running, an own for on the fridge and lots more.

Finally I found something at which I am very good. I was asked to do a BOMAT test, and my results very good.

The result summary was as follows:

Your result of 25 correct answers gives you a sten score of 10, which means that about 98% of the reference group achieved a lower score than you, 2% achieved a similar score, and 0% a higher one.

Although I’m happy with the result I still have to see is there is a practical use to all this. The test was quite straightforward. You were shown a number of figures which represented a sequence of evolution’s. The last image was always blank and you needed to select the correct one from a list op possibilities. Not hard in the beginning but it quickly became more complex to figure out the evolution that was displayed.

In Alex’ class the parents have agreed to celebrate the various birthdays together. Whenever a couple of kids have had their birthday an invitation is send to all the kids. The party is always in some kind of factory specialized in kids birthdays. In Las Palmas there are a few of these sites and all use the same canvas. Entry, take off the shoes, playing, eat some chicken nuggets, play again, the birthdays kids have to sit on a chair and receive their gifts, unwrap gifts, store gifts in a big bag, play, final dance, put on shoes, receive a bag of candy on the way out.

These celebrations take three hours, and until now this time is adhered to very strictly. Three hours after the beginning you’re outside again. Something accepted happily by all, but still very very un-Spanish.

Ai! My driving license was almost expired, so I had to apply for a new one. Luckily my Dutch license is valid in Spain, and it was easy to change it to a Spanish one. In Spain you do need a medical certificate stating you are fit to drive. This costs around 45 euros and the test involved a measurement of your blood pressure and some questions that basically ask you if you are alright. I passed the test and now I drive around with a a4 paper stating it is my temporary license, until my plastic card arrives.