Spain, Las Palmas Mission Spain, Las Palmas Mission consists of Four island groups: Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands. We have Portuguese-speaking Missionaries serving on the islands of Sao Miguel and Terceira in the Azores, the island of Madeira (pronounced muh-day-tuh), and the Cape Verde islands (called Cabo Verde). The Spanish-speaking missionaries are serving on the Canary Islands, which are Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, Tenerife, and Gran Canaria. The mission office and mission home are located on the island of Gran Canaria in the city of Las Palmas. These island groups are several hundred miles apart and stretch from 400 miles off the western coast of Portugal down 3,000 miles to the Cape Verde islands off the coast of western Africa. The Canary Islands are located close to the coast of Africa, with the island of Fuerteventura being only 70 miles from the African coast. The weather ranges from very hot to very cold. The Canary Island group has moderate weather all year, with the summer months becoming very warm. The islands are volcanic islands. Some of them are lush and green, and others are very dry and barren. All of them have some nice beach areas and are famous tourist spots because of the wonderful weather and beautiful ocean and beaches.. Fuerteventura is known for its very beautiful sandy beaches, the sand blows over from the Sahara Desert in Africa. Occasional sand storms bring dusty sand which blackens the skies for several days and leaves a brown deposit on everything. This only occurs once or twice a year. Sometimes it rains "mud". The women do not wear hose, except in the wintertime when the weather is cooler, and a warm jacket or coat is required. Even then many women do not wear hose. You cannot buy "panty hose" in the Canary Islands. Clothes are very expensive, as is everything else. However, the vegetables and fruits are tasty and plentiful. They have plenty of eggs, poultry, fish, pork and pork products. Ham and cheese sandwiches seem to be the most popular. They also have a nice variety of other meats. Milk is also plentiful, it comes in 1 liter cartons and sits on the shelf, it has a shelf life of about 3 or 4 months. Some brands, of course, taste much better than others. If you get it good and cold it is very palatable. You can buy peanut butter, Skippy, but it costs $2.67 to $3.97 for one small container. They have big super markets and also many small little stores! Bars here are places where you can go in for a quick lunch, to get a sandwich and a cold drink, plus pastries, etc. Everyone goes in the bars for different kinds of food and drink, ice cream, telephone, etc. It is not the same as a bar in the U.S. The people drive very fast, the streets are narrow, and everyone parks anywhere there is a space. One wonders how cars can get through the maze, but somehow the people who park their cars leave just enough space for the other drivers to get through. The people love to honk their horns, they will honk at the drop of a hat. They get irritated quickly and love to use their hands for emphasis. They hate anyone to get in the space that they want to occupy, even when you are driving down the street and they want to get in front of you they honk or flash their lights. However, if you want to do that they won't let you in, they scream at you. And it's lucky we don't know all those words they say. However, we Are guests here and must remember this always. Bus and taxi service is excellent on most of the islands. The people walk a lot of the time. A majority of the men don't wear socks. The people are family-oriented and take great pride and joy in being with their families. There are many babies, being pushed in heavy-duty push carts. The carts have to be heavy duty to withstand the rugged sidewalks and streets. You feel every pebble when you have thin-soled shoes on. It takes a little while to get accustomed to the food. The pastries are much different, but one acquires a taste for them. The people here love soups and love to put everything they can in soup. They always serve soup before the main course. Their most popular dish here is a "tortilla" which isn't a thing like a tortilla in the U.S. Here the tortilla is made from eggs, fried potatoes, onions, cheese, and anything else they want to put in it peas, corn, peppers, etc. It is round and about 2" thick and is served in a piece of the shape of a piece of pie. It usually is served with a special sauce, or catsup, and is delicious. One experiences a culture shock, in fact you never quite recover from the culture shock, but you get more used to it in time. Life here is most interesting and fascinating. The people are receptive and friendly. They love to talk. It takes several weeks to get to the point of understanding what they say. Here in the Canary Islands the people have a different Spanish dialect than in the [Iberian] peninsula of Spain itself. They drop the "s" and say the rest of the word very quickly. They are most kind and helpful to you when you struggle for a Spanish word or phrase. The Canary Islands are totally Spanish speaking, but there are many German and Swedish people who live here. Americans are always mistaken for Germans. There are very few Americans here. Mail is slow. The city of Las Palmas will not forward any mail unless you re-send it and put on additional postage, so we ask the missionaries to have their mail sent to their address (rather than the Mission address) if they live in places other than Las Palmas. The other islands do allow the missionaries to forward mail. It takes 10 days to 2 weeks to get a letter from the U.S. A package sent air mail usually takes 3 weeks. If you send anything "postal express" it will reach the U.S. in 3 to 4 days, and the same holds true if you have a "postal express" package or letter sent here from the U.S. It costs more, of course, but it is a very fast way to get something here quickly. It is less expensive than using any other carrier. The Portuguese islands of the Spain Las Palmas Mission are extremely green and beautiful. Currently three islands are open to missionary work on the Portuguese side: Madeira, Sao Miguel, and Terceira. The Portuguese people seem to live a little slower pace than the Canarians, but they are all wonderful, loving people and those of you who will be working in the Portuguese islands will be thrilled to work with these choice people. Madeira is a very popular island among tourists. It is nicknamed "Perola da Atlantica" (Pearl of the Atlantic). Most of the island is very steep, shooting straight up out of the ocean. It is green all year round and has a rainy season in October and November, when it rains heavily nearly every day. Be sure to have durable shoes with good soles because the island is covered with cobblestone streets. Be ready to climb a lot of hills. The major city of Funchal is built on the coast in a valley shaped like a bowl. The people are very friendly and humble as well. The Azores islands are very cold in the winter. Missionaries are working at present on the islands of Terceira (pronounced tur- say-tuh). These islands are much flatter than Madeira and are also very green the year round. During the winter months it is very humid and rains violently. Be sure to bring some thermal clothing for it gets very cold. The islands are covered with fields filled with cows. Terceira has a U.S. Air force base and there are several American members on this island. 10-1-89 jhm Please note, this was written by the McCalls in 1989 and so the Portuguese islands are no longer in the mission. I believe they are now part of the Portugal, Lisbon south mission.