Maurice's
Beginning of a New Year
It may seem an event in history to you by now, nevertheless, I hope you had a pleasant festive season. Apart from the party at the Hanley centre, Christmas for me was an enjoyable family affair with a traditional lunch at my nephew's home in Standish near Wigan. It was good to be with mum and to have the opportunity to entertain my six month old great nephew Matthew. When the men folk decided to set off on a post meal walk I chickened out and headed for home. I was tired, which is not surprising as I was up the night before playing the organ for midnight mass and back in church for the 10.00am Christmas Day service followed by a long drive up the M6.

New Year turned out better than expected. A close friend suggested we let in the New Year at The Club in Hanley. It was a rare chance to go out on the scene and dance - Dancing is something I enjoy but seldom do. The occasion surpassed my expectations because of the warmth and sincerity of the greetings I received from people I hadn't seen in ages. It was a comforting feeling to find that people were genuinely pleased to see me not to mention the boost my ego received as they told me how well as I was looking. I really enjoyed meeting old friends and dancing the night away, even if conversation had to be conducted at the level of shouting to be heard over the deafening sound of the music.

Winter Break
Like many people, whether HIV+ or not, I am detrimentally affected by the dark cold days of winter. Thankfully I am able to take a break and escape to somewhere in the sun at this time of the year something that I find is an enormous help to cope. This year I was unable to find a bargain package deal and had to make do with a cheap flight only to Tenerife. The snag with this particular offer was that the flight departed from Manchester and returned to Birmingham. Staffordshire Buddies overcame this difficulty by sanctioning the aid of a very understanding and angelic transport volunteer to take care of my needs - Well I ask you, who but an angel would get up at 4.00am in the morning?

Car problem
My planned respite of peace and tranquillity quickly turned into more of a nightmare or at best an adventure when the hired car had a blow out on the motorway. By good fortune, a police car pulled up. Two uniformed officers got out, approached me and ask what was the problem. Once I had explained they immediately set to and replaced the shattered remnants of the tyre with the spare wheel and advised me to return straight away to the hirers for a replacement. They were truly wonderful. When they saw that I hadn't moved off and was looking somewhat distressed they reversed and helped to rescue my keys that I had distractedly locked in the boot.

The wheel replacement didn't go as smoothly as it might because the attendant on duty at the rental return area first of all thought I was returning the car. I politely pointed out that I had only taken the car out a few hours previously whereupon he decided that I needed to have a fresh vehicle. However, after trudging across to the office in the airport building I was relieved to find that the administrative staff agreed with me that all that was needed was a new wheel. By the time I had made my way back to the car, the job had been completed and the mechanic assured me that all the tyres were fine and the vehicle was safe to drive

Although it might not have been the best start to a holiday, it had at least given me confidence in my ability to communicate in Spanish because throughout the entire scenario not a word of English was spoken.

No room at the inn
Accommodation proved to be the next problem when I found all the reasonably priced hotels in Los Christianos were full. After a fruitless trek along treacherous mountain roads in the dark I returned and took a room at the three star Sol Princesa Delial. In view of the stresses of the day I comforted myself with the thought that a little luxury was just what I needed.

My car took me safely North to the capital Santa Cruz, a place I would love to revisit. I was charmed by its interesting old churches and public buildings as well as the striking new auditorium under construction by the port. I also enjoyed exploring the maze of narrow streets that led into plazas with fantastic shrubs and trees where you can sit and eat or just have a drink A short drive from the city I found the beautiful beach of Las Teresitas with sand imported from the Sahara (the natural sand of the island is black). I spent practically an entire day on the beach and was the only person playing in the sea with an inflatable bed.

Far Side of the Island
As the hotels in Santa Cruz fill up with business people on weekdays, I decided to leave on Monday for Puerto de la Cruz on the far side of the island. On arrival and after some difficulty parking I went to the tourist office who were most helpful in suggesting suitable accommodation. A couple of phone calls later, I found myself in the delightful San Baradon hotel. I spent three very pleasant days here and took time to relax, read and listen to the local radio as well as taking strolls around the port and the little fishing village of Punto Bravo.

By the end of the week I was still a little jittery about the car and was conscious of the considerable distance between Puerto de la Cruz and the airport. This led me to drive around the island on the penultimate day and spend the final night at a hotel in San Isidro just five minutes away from San Sofia Airport.

Happy Ending
The return of the vehicle went without a hitch. However, the final stage of the holiday was less than perfect. The worst thing about package holidays and charter flights is the boring long queues for check-in. However, the stress was somewhat lightened by a pleasant exchange in Spanish with the young man at the counter. We enjoyed a few laughs and I had the pleasant surprise of finding that he had given me three seats all to myself in an otherwise full aircraft. A tasty lunch on the return flight rounded off a very memorable holiday

Website
www.LGBmind-matters.com's web site has received much praise since I last wrote. MIND and Stonewall intend to refer to the site as a useful resource and perhaps most gratifying of all, individuals have emailed me to say that they have personally found the site helpful. In the course of building the site I have made friends that have become part of my life. I can honestly say that this has been one of the most rewarding projects I have ever achieved. If you haven't visited the site yet why not check it out? You can now access the site via http://www.connects.org.uk/ This is an extremely useful mental health resource that you can join FREE. You will find www.LGBmind-matters.com by clicking on 'Websites' and typing in the search box - "LGBmind-matters" You can also give the site a rating.

Open University
When I last wrote I was still waiting for my results. I am happy to report that I passed both courses with distinction. Encouraged by these results and enjoying being a student once again, I have enrolled on two further courses in Music and Spanish starting in February. Wish me luck.

Keep well,

Maurice