I am part of a team who talk English with the children at our local primary school in the Port. I am there every week to chat, sing and encourage the children to express themselves in English. This week we talked about the seasons and conducted a poll on which season the children liked best. The musical backdrop was the Byrds singing ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ and the stage was set. Every child took turns in telling each other which season they preferred and why. The overwhelming victory was for the winter season and the class teacher and I were really surprised. These are local children born and raised in the heat of the sun and the advantages of the weather. They all loved to swim, sail and enjoyed the beach but the winter was still their choice. They loved being cosy in the house in front of the fire watching TV or playing computer games. Some loved the winter weekend walks in the mountains and the outside barbecues. Others celebrated their birthdays in this season and that was very important. Most of all the children just loved Christmas and all the celebrations including the church services and concerts. It was a revelation and I learnt something this week from my lovely class.
Do you remember the days when the Anglican Church held services in Soller? It was a long time ago when Soller was one of many outposts where the Vicar was sent to hold a communion service. This was before my time and the only reason I know about it is that the Anglican church on the island is examining its future. The two vicars of the Anglican Church have been promoted to work in other European locations. From January 2020 new decisions will be made as to whether two vicars become one and how the ministry should best do its work. The diocese currently works in Palma, Puerto Pollensa, Cala D’or and Palmanova. If you want to be part of the discussions on the future contact the church for details of the next discussion meeting. This is your Church and you are welcome to contribute to the debate.
Talking Church, the diocese of Soller and the surrounding villages have a new man in charge. His first job was to create an excellent new website giving service times and lots more information. This is a great addition to the information stream for the Valley and you can access it on https://www.cristiansserraalfabia.com/
On Saturday the music of the mountains was heard all over the place. My choice was for the traditional music and dancing held in the Victoria Community Centre. Sollerics love to dance and enjoy their local music and watching is always a joy. Rock and Roll happened at Cuina D’en Marc in Soller and Sa Fonda had their traditional Saturday night jam in Deya. So much music for so many and the fact that the weather has turned chilly and Autumn is underway is irrelevant.
Election Sunday had everyone out early plus the elderly were being chauffeured to the Polling Stations. The UK residents here cannot vote in this election but we all have views on what we would like to see happen. My local friends don’t take my views seriously these days as they look at the mess we have made with Brexit. The unfortunate thing is that those of us here longer than 15 years can’t vote there either. No votes for us this month or next - such is our ex pat life.
The Soller Train has begun its wind down and reduced its timetable for the next month or so. We still get four journeys a day from Palma which will please the shopkeepers and the restaurants. The tram has its regular timetable and sometimes its size gets reduced to just one carriage. When that happens we know that winter is round the corner.
The children of the Pere Cerde School in Puerto Soller elected Winter as their favourite season and I think they might be on to something. Community and family life and events are so evident now. Also so many are painting and renovating their houses ready for Christmas. The season of having time to do all those odd jobs has started, and they are content.
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