Visiting kiters

I’ve only been here a few weeks so can hardly be considered a local. That said, I’ve played host and guide to a number of visitors, which has been most enjoyable.

Kasia and Dana: the first visiting kiter friends I met were two girls arrived from Gernsey Island (in the English channel), yet they were natives of Poland and Slovakia. I got a mild tongue lashing when I collectively described them as Germans!

They were a lot of fun, and it was great to watch them improve from having trouble staying up wind to confidently riding in strong wind conditions with little worries. I joined them out on the town one night but had to call it quits by 2am. Apparently they carried on till 5 or 6 that morning. Of course, they were a waste the next day. But as they said, there was nothing they had to do except kite, which doesn’t happen till the afternoon here anyway.

Sergio Borg: Perhaps most enjoyable was this young chap who, despite the name, came from the north of England. On a whim he came for a few days in the sun, rented a station wagon, bought a cheap air mattress and wetsuit, and was the happiest man you could imagine! The first day I met him, he was frozen to the bone (this was before the wetsuit purchase) and chatting away with another kiter, who we (the “German” girls and I) were introduced to as Tony – actually Antonio from Sevilla, Spain. Tony spoke barely any English, so we marvelled at Sergio’s linguistic skills. It was soon revealed Serg didn’t actually speak any Spanish, but with a fun friendly attitude and a few hand gestures, they were able to communicate quite impressively.

All 5 of us went out to dinner that night and it was a riot sharing thoughts and ideas between this multi-national group. It turned out I actually spoke probably the most Spanish, but that didn’t mean I was the best at communicating with Tony – my perceived knowledge prevented me from bridging the gaps as willingly (and flagrantly) as the others. But at one point, after sitting back quietly, Tony turned to me and expressed that he was really enjoying this interlude as it was a great language lesson for him. I love people with good attitudes!
The next day we met another Spanish guy from Sevilla who spoke good English. Although this improved the communication to some extent, this kind of took the fun out of it a little.

I’ve also played local guide to a few others:
Ed, who wanted to learn how to turn, and thought he would need some lessons as he thought he’d never get it. But I watched for an hour and could tell he just needed a bit of time in these ideal learning conditions.
Lee and his horse-loving wife, who were here for a few days
Tim, the bulky tattoo but soft-spoken Brit for the south-east who was just happy to be here.
And then there was Ed & Kev – two examples of backpackers who each stopped me on the street, noticing my stickers, and asked for some info. Of course, I haven’t heard from either of them again…