Sunstroke Diaries
As I lay on the Las Canteras beach in Las Palmas, squinting into the blinding sun as I try my damndest to read Tom Robbins’ “Skinny legs and all” for the 3rd time, legs hanging over the towel’s end from the knees down, glancing up from time to time to see tanned, suimsuited bodies walk past with their towels in hand, I can’t help but think that I’m accomplishing something by being here: to the palest of observers sitting on that beach, one look at me will fill them with the comfort that at least THEY aren’t the whitest things that made it to the sun’s scorching grounds today.
Tomorrow I’m going out in search of some brave albino, equipt with SPF 300, to lay near.
I made it back to my hotel by 4:30, and as my feet lifted off the ground in a grand leap onto the bed, I considered the possibility of taking out my camera to go site-seeing for a bit, but the thought had come and passed long before I hit the mattress. I am no tourist this weekend, I’m an escapist.
It been a long and hard last few months, and as much as the exhaustion and head spinning scheduling acrobatics I’ve pulled off have driven me to think about crawling into a whiskey bottle with my blankey, I’ve kept my head about me and been pretty damn happy about all the things I’ve been doing. But I welcomed this weekend in Gran Canaria with a bear hug and sobs of relief.
So, as for the update… First off, school is going great. Classes are picking up steam, concerts in and out of Madrid and getting to know many of the other students pretty well. I can’t believe this will all be over in 4 months’ time!
2. A student of mine, a pretty well established artist and poet, introduced me to Vanesa, a poet friend of her’s, who was looking to give a reading of two of her books with a guitar backing her up. For the last few weeks I’ve been paging through volumes of sheet music and we’ve finally got an hour’s worth of material to get us through the performance. I think it’s going to turn out wonderfully, but that’s mostly because Vanesa’s got some damn fine versification. It’s been a lot of fun working on this project and hanging out with her preparing it. She’s a lot funnier than I thought a poet would be; no beret, all black wardrobe or IV cocktail of red wine and nicotine and distilled misery.
Tres. On a work related note, I’ve stumbled upon a job opportunity that might actually develop into something. I’ve been offered a position as Director of Studies. Indefinite contract, double the pay I get now, 1 month paid vacation, and all the Post-Its I can dream of. It’s a tempting offer and it would mean really settling down here. Although it’s not music related, it’s damn good experience for anyone in the education field, and that has to be good for something. For the meantime, I’m going to take some time on this decision.
So, that’s pretty much everything for now, plus I don’t want to get all longwinded on you (“Skip to the end!”)
I’ll leave it at this and I’ll make my way back to the beach for sunset.
Peas and Lub.
Paul