Two entries today, since I skipped writing here yesterday. These entries take a lot of time to write & format, and with deberes (homework) ramping up, as well as this pesky cold ... well, it's easy to shelve the whole thing. I was tempted to ignore today, as well, but then I figured I'd better get myself back on the rails, else I'd stop writing these entirely.
Today was my actividad de escuela, school activity: a trip to the L'Oceanografic at the Ciudades de la Artes y Ciensas. (City of Arts and Sciences). I was excited! The City of Arts and Sciences boasts a theater, an opera house, a laserium/3D movie theater, an aquarium (the oceanografic), a science museum, and more. The aquarium is the largest in Europe!
We were to meet at the Aragon metro stop at 10:30AM. I had planned to walk there (it would have been a ~20minute walk, and an early morning walk always leaves me refreshed for the rest of the day), but Sun was also coming on the trip, and she is not a fan of walking. So we left the house at about 10:10, after Sun mulled over which shoes to wear with her dress for awhile. Finally, she asked me for my opinion, and - thankfully! - took my suggestion (zapatos azul - the blue shoes). We were off.
Surprisingly, the metro was crowded even Sunday morning. Not a reflection of the population out on the streets, that's for certain. A group of people dressed in traditional valenciano dress boarded the metro on the stop after outs; I didn't want to be a complete boar (like a few German tourists further down the train, who were openly gawking and taking pictures from odd angles), so I was only a partial boar: I took creeper pictures with my phone. You know how that goes, you turn the flash off, position your phone with your thumb over the button, then look casually the other way as your thumb gets busy.
At the Aragon stop, we were to meet el bajo de puente, below the bridge, outside the station, right smack-dab in the Jardin del Turia. Sun and I stared at each other: we were under the bridge, it was 10:27, and we were the only ones there. Finally, at around 10:33, two German students joined us (among them Felix, mi amigo para en clase, my friend from class). The four of us stared at each other for about ten minutes. A few more students joined us. By the time our coordinator decided to call one of the students gathered, it was 10:55AM and we were all getting rather antsy. En la manera típica española, in the typical Spanish way, he lackadaisically told us to walk to the L'Oceanografic, which was a good 1.5miles away. We had a native valenciana with us, who knew the way, but it wasn't necessary: we only had to follow the Jardin until we reached the Ciudades.
On the way there, our guide (I never got her name, shame on me), told us how valencianos were very proud of the Ciudades - the strange architecture, the beautiful exhibits, etc - but they were not happy about the tax increases for the next several decades that were required to pay for the project. Sun's friends had joined us, and they were speaking only Chinese, so I wandered up to Felix's group of los alemanes, Germans, who were speaking in English and German both. I met a kid named Sandra, an 18-year-old German girl who is very proud of her German ancestry. She told me this about seventeen times on the walk over; I am not exaggerating. I tried to speak in Spanish, but all the Germans want to practice their English around me. Slightly annoying. They'd speak in English, I'd speak in Spanish in return. Everyone was left unhappy, haha.
Finally, we made it to L'Oceanografic, where our coordinator Miguel Angelo (if I knew him better, I'd be making so many Michelangelo jokes) was waiting. He passed out our entrance tickets, and we entered the aquarium.
(You can kind of see Felix up in the front in the blue shirt & the backpack. Sandra is behind him in the red pants.)
My first reaction: wow, this is tiny. It was broken up into seven sections, which I am going to embarrass myself by attempting to recount. Artic, Antarctic, Dolphins, Temperate, Humid, Tropical, Oceanic. Wow, what do you know, my memory's not as bad as I thought it was. Each area was in a small enclosed area, with the exhibits underground. We went to the dolphin show as a group. I'll be honest and say that I have a lot of problems with dolphin shows in general, mainly because I think dolphins are too intelligent to be cooped up in a tiny pool and taught to do flips and carry dumbass humans around. These are animals that have complex social structures, that communicate with one another, that think and feel. And we make circus performers of them.
(Given my issues, you'll understand why I only bothered taking a couple of pictures.)
Sandra stuck to me afterwards, which I didn't mind. She was very pushy and enjoyed talking about herself (who doesn't, you ask? Point. That said, when you ask someone's name and they answer enthusiastically and then cut you off with a comment about how hungry they are when you're trying to offer your own name in return ....), but having semi-English-speaking company was nice for a change.
First up: arctic/antarctic. The lighting in the tanks was very poor, to the point that we had trouble seeing what was in them, so the pictures I took are all pretty awful.
(Beluga whale. Or half of one, anyway.)
(A cute walrus who was spinning madly across the tank. No idea why; the other walruses were just hanging around and judging him. Or her, probably, given the lack of tusks.)
(Pinguinos! These little guys came up to investigate a couple of kids who were knocking on the glass. Despite the signs in about four languages telling people not to. While their parents were laughing and encouraging them. People!!!)
(Tiburons! AKA Sharks. And rays, a random assortment of fish, etc etc etc.)
(WHAT IS THIS THING. It looked like a reanimated boulder.)
(Sharks are cooler than bowties. For someone who does not like Doctor Who, I seem to make a lot of Who references ...)
(A denizen of hell.)
(I love these little fishies! But they were moving too quickly/the lighting was too awful, so I couldn't get a good picture. Believe me, there were about twelve worse pictures that I deleted.)
(This is called a pinecone fish. I wonder why.)
(Lots and lots and lots of fishies!!)
(Sandra on the left. On the right, Sun and her friends - Sun is on the far right. We ran into them at one of the exhibits, and they asked for a picture. Funny: because I have this giant-ass camera, everyone thinks I'm a professional photographer. Any attempts to tell them that I'm not is treated as modesty. Why is my Spanish still so terrible ...)
(I thought this was interesting. That's the amount of salt in 8litres of water in the Dead Sea. Incredible.)
(Sandra on the left again. She has a Yosuke vibe going on. Me on the right. Smiling is for dweebs.)
Sandra wanted to go to the giftshop and pick a few things up, so I accompanied her. Left afterwards, because I was feeling somewhat ill: Sandra asked me to direct her to the nearest metro station, which I did, but she decided it was too far to walk and took a taxi. I gave her my email address and told her we should meet up for a show or dinner or the like - also so I could give her the photos I'd taken for her - but I haven't heard from her yet.
It was a good 3km from my apartment, but it was a pretty day (for once, the heat had quieted somewhat), so I decided to take a stroll back. I took photos of the other buildings at the Ciudad de la Artes and Ciensas as I passed them:
And that was about it for the day! I went home, did some cooking, did my homework, took another walk later in the day — and that was my Sunday. Ravil also came to speak to me about a Spain-wide Fiesta del Cine (Cinema Party/Fiesta) that was going on; if we registered online, we'd be able to purchase movie tickets for 2,90 euros on Oct 21-13. I'll give you one guess as to what we did on Monday.
City of Arts and Sciences - looks & sounds absolutely amazing. Your pictures are so freaking awesome. Seriously.
Haha. You seem to be hating on the German's you've met. For shame Marie! I expected better! ;P It is funny. Everyone wants to practice languages that no one can agree on which to converse in. I can understand that though. You get to meet native/fluent speakers & it's this great opportunity to expand on your vocab/understanding.
Why do I see NO pictures of YOU in any of your posts? I demand that you put them on the internet so that you are forever haunted by "who has that picture now" thoughts. Yous see to that right away.
Random note: Also, you should totally go back to the Xavier school (while it's open) & see if you can go in. :D Then share all the details with Jessica.
I completely agree about Dolphin (or really any animal) shows. When you're a kid you don't really get it, but as we get older & learn about all these animals...you feel like shit sometimes. They deserve so much more.
"WHAT IS THIS THING. It looked like a reanimated boulder" -- it frightens me Marie. But I am also extremely curious about its origins & name...
"Sharks are cooler than bowties." -- Even if I am marked a traitor...I must agree. Sharks don't get nearly enough credit for how awesome they are.
Your Denizen of Hell is aptly named. And I love the random pic of that other brilliant Orange fish.
...I see that you put a picture of yourself at the end...just so I would looke & sound the fool earlier...well, fine then.
...And smiling is NOT for dweebs. Its for superduperawesomecool people of dubious morals & sanity. :P
Love your pic though!!!! :D So good to actually see you there, you know? Like your face. There. In Spain. Hmmm...that came out sounding slightly more stalkery than I thought...on to other things then...
This was totally a great sounding day (minus the ill feeling that decided to rudely interupt).
I have no need to guess. :D I am allknowing. Omniscient, I be.
it is amazing. so different from the gothic/neoclassical architecture in the old town. it's like fastforwarding in time a hundred years.
nah, the germans are great! this one just grated on me.
i may or may not have already done so. you will never know. (also, did you see the trailer for the new xmen movie? it looks amazing. even if it sounds like they ripped the soundtrack straight from inception.)
right? especially animals as intelligent as seals & dolphins & whales & even penguins. captivity is bad enough, but making them perform ... it's the worst.
i wish i knew its name! the aquarium suffered from the same lack re: all museums in valencia -- a glaring deficit of information. unfortunately.
sharks are amazing. i have a good friend who is basically a shark personified. (no, not rin.) one day, i will introduce you to him.
ha. haha.
it is for dweebs, fullstop. you're a part of the dweeb population, thus you don't see it.
thank you? i think? though if you'd like to make it across the atlantic and indulge in a little healthy stalking, i certainly won't mind.
Dude. Of course I have seen the trailer. :D I question the clothing, the hair, and the plot - slightly - but am super super super excited.
I know. Humans are terrible. We've deluded ourselves into thinking we are so superior, but we spend a good deal of our time developing better ways to destroy or otherwise control each other along with every other creature on this planet.
Sharks!!
Not Rin? Hopes shattered. Nah. Coolio. Looking forward to meeting your Shark friend that is not Rin. :)
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Shiny!
Haha. You seem to be hating on the German's you've met. For shame Marie! I expected better! ;P It is funny. Everyone wants to practice languages that no one can agree on which to converse in. I can understand that though. You get to meet native/fluent speakers & it's this great opportunity to expand on your vocab/understanding.
Why do I see NO pictures of YOU in any of your posts? I demand that you put them on the internet so that you are forever haunted by "who has that picture now" thoughts. Yous see to that right away.
Random note: Also, you should totally go back to the Xavier school (while it's open) & see if you can go in. :D Then share all the details with Jessica.
I completely agree about Dolphin (or really any animal) shows. When you're a kid you don't really get it, but as we get older & learn about all these animals...you feel like shit sometimes. They deserve so much more.
"WHAT IS THIS THING. It looked like a reanimated boulder" -- it frightens me Marie. But I am also extremely curious about its origins & name...
"Sharks are cooler than bowties." -- Even if I am marked a traitor...I must agree. Sharks don't get nearly enough credit for how awesome they are.
Your Denizen of Hell is aptly named. And I love the random pic of that other brilliant Orange fish.
...I see that you put a picture of yourself at the end...just so I would looke & sound the fool earlier...well, fine then.
...And smiling is NOT for dweebs. Its for superduperawesomecool people of dubious morals & sanity. :P
Love your pic though!!!! :D So good to actually see you there, you know? Like your face. There. In Spain. Hmmm...that came out sounding slightly more stalkery than I thought...on to other things then...
This was totally a great sounding day (minus the ill feeling that decided to rudely interupt).
I have no need to guess. :D I am allknowing. Omniscient, I be.
get back to the ship, kaylee
nah, the germans are great! this one just grated on me.
i may or may not have already done so. you will never know. (also, did you see the trailer for the new xmen movie? it looks amazing. even if it sounds like they ripped the soundtrack straight from inception.)
right? especially animals as intelligent as seals & dolphins & whales & even penguins. captivity is bad enough, but making them perform ... it's the worst.
i wish i knew its name! the aquarium suffered from the same lack re: all museums in valencia -- a glaring deficit of information. unfortunately.
sharks are amazing. i have a good friend who is basically a shark personified. (no, not rin.) one day, i will introduce you to him.
ha. haha.
it is for dweebs, fullstop. you're a part of the dweeb population, thus you don't see it.
thank you? i think? though if you'd like to make it across the atlantic and indulge in a little healthy stalking, i certainly won't mind.
mmhm. alright then, dweeb.
I aim to misbehave
I know. Humans are terrible. We've deluded ourselves into thinking we are so superior, but we spend a good deal of our time developing better ways to destroy or otherwise control each other along with every other creature on this planet.
Sharks!!
Not Rin? Hopes shattered. Nah. Coolio. Looking forward to meeting your Shark friend that is not Rin. :)
DWEEBS RULE THE WORLD!!!!
Your welcome.