Reencuentro y homenaje: retiro del teniente Pedro tras 30 años de servicio en la Armada

Reception for the retirement of the lieutenant Pedro

1. I am writing to tell you about the reception due to the retirement of Lieutenant Pedro, who is retiring after 30 years of service and 15 years on this ship. The reception will take place on Saturday, October 14th, on board the ship based in Ferrol. The reception will take place on the quarterdeck of the ship, and military personnel must wear the daily uniform, while civilians must wear formal clothes.

2. Pedro has been posted to different places in Spain and has known different boats. His coworkers from the patrol boat Toralla, where he was stationed for 10 years, helped him a lot to achieve all his accomplishments during his career, since they made a great team that always reached their goals in the different surveillance and anti-piracy missions they carried out. He is a person with extensive knowledge of Spanish ships, even participating in the design of the new F-100.

3. Finally, I want you to remember that Mr. Pedro has been very important for the Navy and for the security of Spain during the war in Iraq. He was posted to the embassy there, and in this place he did not work in an office. He worked in a team that detected some bomb parcels, and thanks to that, many people were alive. Besides, he bought new ambulances for the hospitals there, because many injured people who needed to go to hospital were left halfway when the old ambulances broke down. I hope you all may come.

Changes in the crew's routine

1. Dear Laura, how are you? I am writing to update you on how things have changed lately, since you are not at our post because our commander got sick. We have a new one who does not see things the same way as the old one. The first thing he wanted to change is the way we eat, because he wants a healthier and fitter crew. He also wanted to establish a schedule so that the entire crew would do one hour of mandatory sport every day.

2. At first, the changes seemed very good to the crew, especially the younger ones, since they are more used to this type of lifestyle. However, the older crew is not so happy because, as you know, there are people who, after years working in the Navy, have left sport aside and cannot imagine sailing on a diet without any fast food in the replenishments, for example, or having to do sport every day after being on watch every four or six hours.

3. For now, these changes are going to start next October, but being on land I don't think there will be much of a problem, since people usually ask for the time they have available to do sport and then eat at home. I suppose the problem will start when we do the first navigation, because it will be the moment when we face the changes, and for me the one about food will be the worst. Let's wait and see.

Planning a summer trip to Britain

1. Dear friend, I'll go to Shere this summer with my husband and my daughter. I'm writing to you because you told me you were in the same village last summer, and I would like to know: What dates did you go there? How much did it cost you? My idea is not to spend more than 1000 pounds. I'm looking for a place to stay that is located in the centre and is not too expensive. Do you recommend any place? Where did you stay?

2. My family and I have always gone to beach places, and this year we would like to change. We all like hiking and running in the countryside. Do you know if that would be possible? Furthermore, we have never done rafting, and someone told me you had practiced it in a nearby river. Could you confirm it for me too? We would also like to get to know London, and I want to know if there is a train or bus to take us, with a long schedule.

A bad experience abroad

3. Last year we travelled to a town in France and it was awful. We couldn't speak French, and nobody wanted to speak English to us. So, we had many problems, especially at mealtime. That is the reason why we only had burgers. Besides, one day we drove our car into a dead-end street and we had to use Google Translate to get people to help us. I'll never go there again. Looking forward to hearing from you. Next holidays, I'm looking forward to enjoying a good time with my family and being able to forget the problems of daily life.