SO WHAT IS IT THAT I DO HERE ANYWAY?

I realized that most of you, my dear readers, must have absolutely no conception of what wondrous events fill my everyday life on Tenerife, and so I've created a nifty outline of a schedule that generally mimics my daily tasks. Check 'er out below:

6:15 Alarm sounds

6:30 Time to make breakfast alone because the fam is still snoring above. Usually the meal consists of oatmeal, a peanut butter sandwich, or cold cereal with the nasty boxed UHT milk. Without fail I eat one of many daily oranges at this time, which is not uncommonly accompanied by a manzanilla tea or a Cola-Cao hot Beverage. (beverage is a great word, it just sounds so much like Beavus, or Beaver. You have to say like Wally says it: 'wull, gee whiz beave...' Ahh yes Beverage.)

7:00 Carmen (mom) comes into the kitchen to make her coffee beverage. Without fail, even though I ALWAYS leave the killer-vicious fluorescent light OFF while its still dark out and I'm calming eating at the table, she asks her rhetorical question, 'ahh, woaw, qué oscuro Sam, ¿no quieres luz?' At that point you just have to squint the eyes, because without response, here it comes. Bam. Like a preview of its shocking penetrating powers, the exposed bulb flickers once, and then remains lighted.

7:10 I run down the hill to the road which goes to the freeway. At the bottom is where some family friends pick me up to car-pool the 10 minute drive to Santa Cruz. If I don't make it, it's bus time.

7:30 It's a 5 minute walk to school

8:00 First Class begins. On Mondays its language and grammar. That's the worst. Any circumambient free-flying creativity is trapped in a net of death and has its head ripped off by the 55 minute lecture. Symbolism? Ummm...I don't know how to say that in Spanish.

10:45 30 min break begins. I usually sit around doing very little outside the bar on the patio of the school. Most kids buy a gigantic sugary croissant or a mayonnaise-packed chicken sandwhich way to the barf bucket. Normally, I hold out until lunch at home.

11:15 3 more 55 minute classes and the school day is over. My class list is as follows: Spanish Language, Philosophy, English, Geography, History of Spain, Art History, Math, and Art.

2:00 School ends. I walk for 25 minutes down to the central city bus station, Sometimes with Kristo, who also lives south of Santa Cruz. The station is a few hundred feet from the ocean, where I can see the sailboat masts in the gigantic harbor. There are many tourists waiting for buses to go to the south of the island, most of them are English or German. I have never seen another person from the U.S., ever. With a Bono Bus Pass, the trip costs .90 Euros , which is about $1.05.

3:00 I arrive home, and ring the doorbell. Mercedes, the cleaning woman/cook/spoiled-brat disciplinarian opens the door. My place at the table is set, with all courses ready to roll. About half the time I eat with the family. The other half of the time, they have already eaten, or my parents have stayed in Santa Cruz for the afternoon, so I eat with Pedro, my little 12-year old bro. If that's the case, lunch is very loud. Mer always prepares me a nice vegetarian dish to eat if Carmen, Antonio, and pedro are eating meat (which is rare- I mean rare as in not often).

3:20 Clear my plates, which Mer washes, and then it's across the hall to my room where I take a 30 minute nap, because I'm pooped.

3:50 Alarm sounds. Time to go to training. I get dressed, fill the bottles, and check tire pressures.

4:00 I climb up the 15% grade to the 'old road' above the house about 1/2 km. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are calm Zone 2 recovery rides, if I can help it. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekend days are usually strenuous. About 4 times a week I train with one or more of my team members, the other days alone.

6:00 Return form my training ride. I stretch for 20 minutes, and prepare a good recovery snack, which means that I have a 4:1 ratio of Carbohydrates to Proteins. No-one is home because Antonio and Carmen have returned to work, and Pedro is at soccer practice, tennis lessons, or guitar lessons.

6:25 Shower

6:45 Occupy myself with such silliness as writing this website, checking my emails, or talking with pals online. This is a nice time of the early night because I can relax without Pedro blasting the TV next to me, or yelling in an argument with his parents close to the matter of why he can't be watching TV.

7:15 Bro rings the doorbell 5,000 times successively while knocking on the door simultaneously. I go upstairs to unlock the door.

7:20 I read (right now I'm reading Harry Potter books in Spanish), check up on any language questions I have, or watch some stupid but helpful and educational sitcom.

8:00 I start to prepare dinner for Pedro and myself.

8:30 Antonio and Carmen arrive home, and help me with the dinner.

8:40 We eat together (usually, but sometimes Carmen gets home late cause she has dance lessons.)

9:00 Carmen or I do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. (Mercedes has left long ago, at 5:00)

9:20 If I have the energy, I force myself into my room to do homework. Often the invitation from Antonio and Pedro to watch a big soccer game on TV is too tempting though.

10:30 I drink my 2 glasses or water, take out the contacts, brush the teeth, and put in the retainer. Then I stretch before going to bed for 10 minutes.

10:45 Hopefully lights out by now. In the summer time, I leave the windows open. The sound of the waves 1000 feet below my neighborhood sometimes reach my ears, but its hard to distinguish between the water's sound and the whine of tires on the freeway close-by.


Weekends are always filled with all sorts of crazy things, but my training is a constant. On Saturday and Sunday I have team rides. I have to get up at 7:00 and start training by 8:00. Usually I get back by 2:00.

That's about the size of it.