So we've been in Gran Canaria on our free jolly jaunt for nearly a month now and we're loving our stress-free lives. Okay so the weather hasn't been quite as wonderful as the photo to the left implies but it's still pretty nice. It's been warming up in the last couple of days following the Canarios having seen their worst winter for 20 years-bloody typical! I gather it's certainly nowhere near as cold as it is back home though, if it was that cold here the Canarians wouldn't know what had hit them, can't say we miss the grey skies! We are sharing an apartment with 4 english girls who are here on the Leonardo da Vinci scheme with us and we live near to the pretty old quarter where there are plenty of opportunities for eating tapas and cervezas in the plazas. As far as speaking spanish is concerned we completed our 2 weeks language course which went pretty well but I'm finding it a bit of a struggle after having to start from scratch. Jammy is doing pretty well though and giving it loads with the lingo although I wouldn't say he's completely fluent just yet! The city (Las Palmas) and the island are pretty small really although there is a fair amount to do here especially when the weather's good. The old town is gorgeous and there is a huge beach in the city which , although certainly isn't idyllic, it serves its purpose well as a place to soak up some rays and be entertained by greasy Speedo-clad men playing a bit of beach tennis! We have visited the touristy south of the island about 30 minutes away which isn't quite as brash as I'd imagined, but there are a few too many naked wrinkly germans wandering around the sand dunes for our liking! We are planning to discover some of the less touristy areas of the island but having already been on a nail-biting bus journey through the mountain roads I can't say that either of us is brave enough to hire a car just yet! As for our work placements, which of course is the reason we are here (?!), Jammy is working in some sort of social club that gives talks to young people about social issues which, although perhaps not particularly career related, is giving him a good chance to talk lots of Spanish, as well as a good chance to be a lazy git seen as he only works 4 hours a day! I on the otherhand have had to ask to change placements seen as my days have been consisting of trawling through google trying to find hotels in Gran Canaria that don't have websites. Dull is not the word. I think I will be moving to a sports company next week although I haven't got a clue at this stage what I'll be doing, I'm pretty sure I won't be asked to do anything too taxing tho' what with me only able to grunt a few spanish syllables at them! Make sure you take a look at some of the photos I've put on here-remember the boring ones are there for the 'rents! If you look now it saves you been subjected to loads when we get back! We are back in the UK for a couple of weeks at the beginning of April before heading off to Asia so this is hopefully just the beginning of the glory days ahead!