Welcome to El Hierro!

Hello again! Last week, I made the journey to El Hierro for the first time. There is one small airport on the island (still much bigger than the Kirksville airport!), on the northeast corner, but there are only two airlines that fly there. From El Hierro, you can go to and from Tenerife, the capital of the western province of the Canaries (Santa Cruz de Tenerife). Flying into the island is quite jarring: you pass over another small island, La Gomera, on your way, but you don't see El Hierro itself almost until you land. We passed so close to a fisherman on a rock I thought we were going to hit him!

Once I arrived, I found a cab and ascended the mountain to Villa de Valverde, the capital of this tranquilo island. From him, I learned that the population count of 5,000 that I was so skeptical of actually includes the entire northern part of the island, the county of Valverde. In the capital city itself there are only 1,700 people--now 1,701!

El Hierro is a volcanic island, covered with green forests, towering mountains, and cacti. Because of Villa de Valverde's altitude (an impressive 1,873 feet given that you are coming from sea level), the entire city is made up of incredibly steep winding roads and around every corner is another stunning view of the sun, sea, and sky. I have been spending the afternoons wandering about, getting my bearings, and walking up lots of hills.

On Monday, I went to school for the first time! I am teaching at a K-6 elementary school with kids ages 3 to 12. I don't have an official school schedule yet, but last week I worked with first grade, second grade, third grade, and fifth grade. We did everything from playing name games to designing name tags and learning vocabulary about the classroom. We have also been doing lots of singing--Baby Shark, Head and Shoulders, and Monday is a Working Day :)

I have also recently found an apartment. House hunting was difficult in such a small town; there just aren't that many places available and many apartments are 2+ bedrooms for families. On Friday, after over a week of searching, I found a tiny little studio way up on the hill. It is not glamorous but it is officially my first solo apartment! It has a tiny little stovetop (no oven D: ), a little sink, a bathroom, a wardrobe and a couple of chairs, and the craziest washing machine I've ever seen.

It also has a beautiful view since I am so high up the mountain. It was one of the main reasons I said yes to this place.

Doing battle with the washing machine

My new apartment is quite nice in a lot of ways, but the washing machine is not one of those ways. On Friday, I did battle with the monster you see below.

It is a tiny little plug-in machine that is very do-it-yourself.

Step 1: Fill the machine manually, which involves filling and hefting at least three buckets of water per load (think Mickey Mouse in Fantasia)

Step 2: Make sure the little hose is upright fully or all the water will go everywhere

Step 3: Drain the water with the little hose to at least attempt and rinse the clothes. Which leaks about four gallons of water all over the floor if you take your eyes off it for more than one millisecond.

Step 4: Once the clothes are reasonably clean, take a little basket and put it into the machine to spin. Only about three shirts will fit into the basket at one time and if you don't watch it religiously, the basket will come off its little pedestal and bang all over the inside of the machine.

Step 5, 2 hours later: Finally, hang the clothes to dry, which as far as I can tell takes two days minimum.

I was successful in my battle but it was certainly a day full of adventure! Truly, Trial by Fire.

A Day in Tamaduste

After all the moving and unpacking, I took Saturday afternoon and finally went swimming in the ocean!

El Hierro is not as famous for beaches as some other islands--it is very dry and rugged, filled with mountains and cacti and volcanic rock. Although there are some black sand beaches on other parts of the island, I went to a zona de bañar, a swimming area, just north of Villa de Valverde in the cute village of Tamaduste. I managed to find the bus, a ten passenger van with two drivers for one me :) and marveled at the ocean view during our fifteen-minute descent.

Tamaduste is a very picturesque little cove, protected by the waves and surrounded by towering mountains, and had the clearest water filled with fish, big and small. I met one of the teachers from my school there by chance and he let me borrow his snorkeling mask to check out all the fish--I'm definitely investing in a mask!

The water was turquoise, clear, and oh so refreshing after all the stress of finding a home and settling in.

Next week, I'm off on the adventures of trying to get WiFi in my new tiny home and setting up a bank account.

Hasta luego!