Spain Part 74 – Oceanográfico y el ensayo
Apr. 11th, 2008 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amorousodiousI woke up around 8,30 on Friday and got ready quickly since Alicia and I were meeting Liz and Chrysten at the corner of Quart and Gran Via at 9,15. We met them and walked to the centro commercial (mall) called El Saler to meet the group from the centro to go to Oceanográfico, a Sea World type park. It took us about an hour to get to El Saler, because it’s on the other side of the city, and according to Alicia’s pedometer we walked a little less than three miles (¡dios mio!). When the whole group got there, Maria, who works for the centro, explained the area to us and then told us that we were free to wander through the park as we wished but that we should first go and see the Delfín (dolphin) show that would be on at 11,30.
It was definitely a good piece of advice that she gave us. I absolutely loved the show, the delfines did flips and jumped through hoops and pushed their trainers around by their feet and flipped them up into the air and all kinds of fun stuff. Megan had been to Sea World before and said that it was a pretty similar show except that they had whales there as well. After the show we went and explored the park, there were a lot of different fish tanks from different parts of the world, a small penguin exhibit, and a tunnel with sharks and fish from the Mediterranean area where they can swim over you, similar to the arctic exhibit at the Detroit Zoo.
My favorite part was the dolphin show, but what came close was an exhibit with the pinkest birds in the world, which aren’t flamingos. In Spanish they’re called Rosaves, but I don’t know the English word for them. They eat lots of shrimp just like flamingos and that’s what makes their feathers all pink. They also have red eyes, not just red like an albino but blood red. It was slightly creepy when they looked at you but from farther away they were very pretty.
Megan and I left the park earlier than a lot of the students and went down into the Rio to eat la comida. We were planning on meeting up with Heather to have an ensayo (rehearsal) for our skit later, so we were just hanging out until she was ready to join us. We went by the Palau de Música (Music Palace) which is a very nice building with an enormous fountain in front of it by which we stopped to eat. There were also a lot of skate parks, playgrounds, cafés, fútbol fields and whatnot in that area of the Rio. We sat down in a café for café con leche and chatted until Heather met up with us. We started by reading our lines out loud (the people in the café must have thought we were nuts) and then left the café to find a place to practice the acting part of our skit.
I am extremely glad that we practiced outside of our usual rehearsals because I think that we really got a lot accomplished and are on our way to improving. I just wish I had as much motivation to do my tarea as I do to practice my skit. I guess I should have just been a theater major like Heather. After our ensayo Heather and I walked back to our end of town and stopped at a candy store on the way so that she could pick up some dulces (sweets) to eat this week. She let me try one of her favorite kinds of candy which was like a really soft Swedish fish in the shape of a heart. I walked home after that and ran into Alicia on the way waiting at the bus stop to meet up with Amanda to go to a movie. We said hasta luego (see you later) and I headed up to la casa (the house) to hacer la tarea (do my homework).
I worked on tarea until Lucía and Alicia returned home in time to watch pasapalabra and prepare la cena. We had pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, and though it was still delicious it didn’t quite make it on par with the baked version. After la cena I decided I needed to do some serious blog updating so I worked my butt off until I had almost all of fallas done and all of the more recent ones. The ones that I’m missing in between I think are almost all from my Belgium trip. I also wrote an email to send out once I get all of them posted so that I could make sure everyone knows there’s a LOT of new material, and most importantly, pictures.
It was definitely a good piece of advice that she gave us. I absolutely loved the show, the delfines did flips and jumped through hoops and pushed their trainers around by their feet and flipped them up into the air and all kinds of fun stuff. Megan had been to Sea World before and said that it was a pretty similar show except that they had whales there as well. After the show we went and explored the park, there were a lot of different fish tanks from different parts of the world, a small penguin exhibit, and a tunnel with sharks and fish from the Mediterranean area where they can swim over you, similar to the arctic exhibit at the Detroit Zoo.
My favorite part was the dolphin show, but what came close was an exhibit with the pinkest birds in the world, which aren’t flamingos. In Spanish they’re called Rosaves, but I don’t know the English word for them. They eat lots of shrimp just like flamingos and that’s what makes their feathers all pink. They also have red eyes, not just red like an albino but blood red. It was slightly creepy when they looked at you but from farther away they were very pretty.
Megan and I left the park earlier than a lot of the students and went down into the Rio to eat la comida. We were planning on meeting up with Heather to have an ensayo (rehearsal) for our skit later, so we were just hanging out until she was ready to join us. We went by the Palau de Música (Music Palace) which is a very nice building with an enormous fountain in front of it by which we stopped to eat. There were also a lot of skate parks, playgrounds, cafés, fútbol fields and whatnot in that area of the Rio. We sat down in a café for café con leche and chatted until Heather met up with us. We started by reading our lines out loud (the people in the café must have thought we were nuts) and then left the café to find a place to practice the acting part of our skit.
I am extremely glad that we practiced outside of our usual rehearsals because I think that we really got a lot accomplished and are on our way to improving. I just wish I had as much motivation to do my tarea as I do to practice my skit. I guess I should have just been a theater major like Heather. After our ensayo Heather and I walked back to our end of town and stopped at a candy store on the way so that she could pick up some dulces (sweets) to eat this week. She let me try one of her favorite kinds of candy which was like a really soft Swedish fish in the shape of a heart. I walked home after that and ran into Alicia on the way waiting at the bus stop to meet up with Amanda to go to a movie. We said hasta luego (see you later) and I headed up to la casa (the house) to hacer la tarea (do my homework).
I worked on tarea until Lucía and Alicia returned home in time to watch pasapalabra and prepare la cena. We had pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, and though it was still delicious it didn’t quite make it on par with the baked version. After la cena I decided I needed to do some serious blog updating so I worked my butt off until I had almost all of fallas done and all of the more recent ones. The ones that I’m missing in between I think are almost all from my Belgium trip. I also wrote an email to send out once I get all of them posted so that I could make sure everyone knows there’s a LOT of new material, and most importantly, pictures.
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Fun Time
Date: 2008-04-15 05:34 pm (UTC)Spring is here, finally!!! No more of that white stuff floating down from above.(we hope)
Enjoy your last few weeks with your Spain friends/family. Your STTAS family is eager awaiting your return.
Love from all,
Mom D (Diane)
From Aunt Kathy
Date: 2008-04-23 02:45 pm (UTC)Thank you for all the wonderful pictures. The girls and I enjoyed the pictures of your home away from home and the colorful celebration. It was hard to believe everything was set on fire. Amazing.
Am also amazed at how much you can do in one day. The food sounds delicious because it is so different. Things must smell different there too. We are counting down the days until you arrive home. Kiersten and Lindsey can't wait to give you great big hugs. Me too.
Love you, Aunt Kathy
no subject
Date: 2011-04-09 02:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-14 09:42 am (UTC)