Gran Canaria, January 2 1937
Today we have received your X-mas letter and thank you heartily. I sit down right away to answer so you can know that we received the letter. Inspite of the valuable contents both the printed and handwritten with the printed I think that 59 francs and newspaper clipping, most grateful for the 50 – we will save it for better times. Here the conditions are so that you should not buy any more except the bananas. The man in this family went to 5 O’clock tea in the Club Nautico. The spinsters were also invited but the little Miss didn’t feel well this afternoon and went to sleep at 3 o’clock and she is still snoring. Maybe she has something like measles. Both of them have had some red spots and the consul says it’s going around but it’s also possible that she to tell the truth ate too much. We kept our X-mas party yesterday at New Year’s day on a Danish steamer and it was exactly as Valdemar had expected gänse sülze (jellied goose) with beats, Schnapps and a Tuborg beer for Peter and I but no porter for Lars. Instead he got a balloon and Musen also and some other toys. It was very cozy and we needed to taste a little bit of X-mas. We could not find not even one pine tree anywhere for X-mas and also no candles on account of the conditions here but here lives a tobacco shop owner Antonio Corbello. He is the old-time world sailor and everybody’s good friend and didn’t let us down. On X-mas Eve he sent a suitcase full of bananas and oranges, 2 bottles of Malaga and one package of cookies. That brought us in X-mas mood despite of everything which kept on by the X-mas meal consisting of a really big green Danish Meldisterpolse (kind of sausage). On the table we had 3 candles which I had the forsight to let sit in holders since last Christmas. Afterwards the children had a big party with chocolate, a doll for Musen, chu chu train for Lars who followed tradition by taking it apart on 1st X-mas day. When I said that I thought it was disappointing he answered that was but also such cheap stuff and when I asked what to do with it he said send it to Valdemar. So now you must study how to repair the chu chu train. Peter and I were invited when the children were asleep to Grog by a German who is tied alongside us with his yacht but the children did not fall asleep and the lady who also was invited got seasick so the ending of the evening was a fiasco. the winter here fell unfortunately on the X-mas day with a lot of wind and rain.
NO DATE missing first part
That’s how we live, that’s how we live, that’s how we sigh every day .. there is something about 40, latitude, what, … and there are bananas on the Canary Islands, but only where there are pineapples! So, there is always something that will promise even more gently. We’ll tell where it was most beautiful when we go back in Kertenminde gade sit over a cup of coffee according to Marie’s recipe and I was not surprised if Lars would say that the coffee that tastes best, about Valdemar’s comments about Spanish girls I can’t miss here because of the censorship but I have a good memory and can report on appropriate occasions, but everything that is said about them is true.
Peter