Delicious oranges right from the
tree, and a new experience,
the fruit of the cactus. Also fresh and very tasty. But not the
fruit
we thought of when we first discovered this plant on Lanzarote....
Again,
I have to ajust my kind of knowledge to other people and places.
I have a feeling that most of us
up here in the industrialized part of Europe
(at least a lot of people feel like this in Norway), than on a small
island,
way out in the Atlantic, far off the coast of what we belive to
be
the African desert, the people there don't care much of what happens
elsewhere in the world. And that they are farmers, living by old
traditions
in a very simple way of life.
Of course, they have schools for
their children, and on La Palma
there might well be a higher school in the capital of Santa Cruz
on
the other side of the island. At least in the main island of Tenerife
-
and surely also a university on the mainland in Spain.
But here in Puntagorda, with only
about a thousand inhabitants,
harvesting the almonds and other fruits - there is no need of higher
knowledge we might think. And then - what do we see?
A bibliotheque filled with huge
volumes about the old people and
the history of the island, the other canarian islands, the history
of Spain,
the conquests, and the entire history of all mankind.
large colourful books in spanish
about our living world, not only people,
but birds, animals and all kinds of creatures, way of life in other
countries,
world of arts, of music, cooking in just about any other country,
lots of dictionaries and what else you need to know just as much
as a
person living in London or Paris.
And at last, three big computers,
with printing possibilities and
a copywriter, of course.
Who said this spot out here in the Atlantic was remote?