News January 2010

We can look back and be proud that over this time we have grown from a small school with 2 teachers to our present company with 6 teachers, 12 classrooms and a very successful hotel internship programme - we have had 6,000 students from 12 countries and look forward to the next 10 years.

Within the EU Funded Leonardo da Vinci and Grundtvig programme we have developed partnerships with schools in Germany, the UK , Poland, Lithuania and Latvia and we look forward to welcoming many new students next year.

At the moment the temperature here is 21c - that’s only one very good reason to spend some time in Tenerife during the winter.

Banish the winter blues! Take advantage of our Christmas offer and book a language course. We are always pleased to see old friends and welcome new visitors. No need to sit at home and feel miserable here. There is always something going on and the people are warm, friendly and willing to have a chat - practise your Spanish in the best possible way by talking to the local people, the taxi drivers, waiter, hairdressers or cashiers in the supermarket are always willing to pass the time of day and like it when you make the effort to speak their language.

Celebrate New Year in true festive style - fireworks are something of a national obsession and well-being and happiness is high on the agenda in the Town Halls round the island. There may be pot holes in the streets but the party must go on. The biggest party of them all is in Santa Cruz, the island’s capital but you had better have siesta in the afternoon as the fun starts about 10 o’clock and continues until the small hours... There are always a Verbena which is an all-night street-party with dancing to a live bands and the side street around the main squares fill with small stalls, Chiringuitos, which serve drinks and tasty snacks.

On New Year's Eve, Nochevieja, (Old Year's Night), or San Silvestre as it is also called in Spain, it is traditional to eat 12 "lucky" grapes (Uvas de la Suerte), one grape for each stroke of the clock. In England is New Year is heralded by the chimes of Big Ben in Westminster in Spain we listen to the bell from the Puerta del Sol in Madrid. It is not easy to eat 12 grapes in quick succession so it is washed down with the Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine. This causes lot of hilarity and depending on the size of the grapes it is sometimes an impossible task. Hugs and kisses (one on each cheek) are obligatory and the New Year begins in true party style.The tradition is thought to come from wine growers but it is certainly a boost for the grape growers these days as the grape price rises dramatically during the build up to December 31st.

January 5th Cabalgata de los Reyes -The procession of The Three Kings.
This is the night before The Epiphany, January 6th, and the moment the children in Spain have been waiting for all year. Perhaps because there aren’t so many chimneys in a warm country Father Christmas is not such a big feature here but the Kings, Los Reyes Magos, bearing gifts is the highlight of the festive season.

The Cast: Melchor is the old man with a white beard who brings gold to Jesus, representing his royalty. Gaspar brings incense representing the divinity of Jesus and Baltasar, the black king brings myrrh, which represents suffering and death.

On the night of January 5th don’t forget to leave water and straw out for their camels and leave your shoes outside the bedroom door. If you have been good you will be rewarded with presents if not you be left a lump of coal. In the shops see small sacks of black-dyed honeycomb sweets for the naughty ones in the family.

In most of the towns there are parades. In Santa Cruz the Kings have been known to arrive in the football stadium by helicopter so they are keeping g up with the times.

Win a fortune! Buy a lottery ticket and the chance to win the nation’s second largest prize, El Niño (The Child) which is drawn on January 6th. The largest “El Gordo” - The Fat One- is drawn on Christmas Day. In past years El Niño had yielded more prizes in the Canary Islands than El Gordo.

Other events - Mama Mia! You’ve seen the film now see the show on 28th December to January 4th. See www.auditoriodetenerife.com for details and ticket sales.

Surfing Tenerife! Under 21 Competition January 2nd -17th 2010 - See the Canarian Surfing Federation’s website for more details of the events. www.fcsurf.es

International Music Festival January 8th -7th February
There are events on all the Canary Islands. If you click on the dates on the website you can see the details but here is just one example of the standard of performers. Book on-line. www.festivaldecanarias.com

The Dresden City Orchestra 11/01/2010 20:30
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Auditorio de Tenerife
Staatskapelle Dresden I
Zubin Mehta, conductor
Thomas Quasthoff, baritone
A. Webern: 6 pieces for orchestra
G. Mahler: Kindertotenlieder
R. Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra
Series 1, A- 100€, B- 85€, C- 55€, D- 40€

See the Tenerife official website for www.webtenerife.com for photos, news and events.

This month’s recipe is the traditional sweet bread eaten on the January 6th
Roscón de Reyes (Crown of Kings)
This traditional confection is eaten on the day of Los Reyes - The Kings - January 6th and people come from all over the island to buy the very best Roscón de Reyes (pictured) from Pasteleria El Aderno in Buenavista del Norte, Tenerife. If you can't get there, you can have a go at making your own.

Ingredients:
1/2 kg flour
Glacé Fruits
40 gr bakers yeast
100 gr sugar
150 cc. milk
1 small cup vintage rum
3 eggs
1 small cup orange blossom water
120 gr. of butter
grated orange and lemon rind
10 gr. of salt
1 heat-resistant "surprise"
(The ones from El Aderno have three small ceramic figures of the Three Kings and one white kidney bean, wrapped in foil inside. Some say the bean is "bad luck". I prefer El Aderno's suggestion that the person who gets the bean should pay for the Roscón.)

Method:
Knead half of the flour with the yeast and 100 cc. of lukewarm milk. Make a ball, make cuts in the top part, cover with a cloth and leave rest for 90 minutes in a warm place.
Beat the eggs with the melted butter, then add the salt, sugar, rum, the rest of the milk, orange blossom water, the orange and lemon rind, binding it with the remaining flour and knead for a good short while. Add this mixture to the rest of the dough and work everything together (energetically, it says) until you obtain a fine and elastic mass. Make it into a ball again, place in a container, cover with a cloth and leave it to rest, this time for three hours until it's double its size again.

Grease an oven tray. Take the paste, knead slightly and make it into the form of a crown by making a roll, twisting and joining the ends, then place it on the tray. Cover it with a cloth and leave it to rise for another two hours.

Paint with beaten egg, decorate with the Glacé fruits, place the surprise somewhere inside and place in the oven, preheated to a medium-high temperature for about 40 minutes.

If it browns quickly, cover with a sheet of aluminum foil until the baking finishes.

Thanks to Pamela Heywood from www.secret-tenerife.com for his recipe.

All of us at the FU Academy would like to wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2010.