Palma Aquarium
Today I had my first adventure with some students from my language school! Amélia, Martin and I went to the Palma Aquarium and then to the beach. It was a great end to the weekend.
We had agreed to meet at the bus station at 10 in the morning to go to the aquarium. I walked to the station and met Amélia. Unfortunately, Martin had missed his bus, so we grabbed a bite to eat at a little restaurant in the Plaça d'España while we waited for him.
We had a brunch of champions, getting cheese fries and nachos to fuel our trip. When I placed my order, I was asked my name. The man at the counter didn't understand "Zoe," and in a panic, I forgot how to spell my name in Spanish! Fortunately, Amélia helped me out.
You become very humble living in a country where you dont speak the language. I can't tell you how many times I've been unable to do a simple task because I can't read the directions. Or how many times I've looked like a fool because I truly dont know what's going on.
Martin met us at the restaurant, and we walked to the station to catch our bus. We waited for a while in the grueling heat (Sundays are very slow in Spain. Bus routes are limited.) and finally got on the bus to the aquarium.
After paying for our €25 tickets to get in (ouch), we began our marine adventure. First, we walked through a building with tanks of smaller sea creatures. There were small eels, sea horses, numerous beautiful fish and even squid. Each tank had wonderful displays of coral and sea anemones that almost stole the show with their mesmerizing colors and graceful tentacles.
As we walked on, we visited Amazonian aquatic life such as piranhas and other large fish. We even got to take pictures with a very friendly macaw! (Those pictures cost €10, so we didn't buy them, but the memory of a macaw on my shoulder is free!)
Next was the shark exhibit. The shark tank is huge, and there's even a tunnel where we could watch animals swim above us! The smaller sharks zipped through the water while the large ones swam slowly and methodically. There were many large fish and well as stingrays swimming alongside the sharks as well. We sat on the mats close to the glass and spent several minutes just admiring the animals swimming around.
After our close encounter with sharks, we went to see the jellyfish! They were hypnotizing and truly amazing to watch. Rather than attempt to describe them to you, I'll show you.
Once we had seen all that the aquarium had to offer, we went to the beach in Palma to cool off. It was a lot of fun, and I'm thankful for the friends I'm making at my school.
Meeting people from across the world is really cool. I learned a lot about Belgium and the Czech Republic today, thanks to Amélia and Martin, and as I meet more people, I'm sure I'll get to learn about other cultures as well!
We had agreed to meet at the bus station at 10 in the morning to go to the aquarium. I walked to the station and met Amélia. Unfortunately, Martin had missed his bus, so we grabbed a bite to eat at a little restaurant in the Plaça d'España while we waited for him.
We had a brunch of champions, getting cheese fries and nachos to fuel our trip. When I placed my order, I was asked my name. The man at the counter didn't understand "Zoe," and in a panic, I forgot how to spell my name in Spanish! Fortunately, Amélia helped me out.
You become very humble living in a country where you dont speak the language. I can't tell you how many times I've been unable to do a simple task because I can't read the directions. Or how many times I've looked like a fool because I truly dont know what's going on.
Martin met us at the restaurant, and we walked to the station to catch our bus. We waited for a while in the grueling heat (Sundays are very slow in Spain. Bus routes are limited.) and finally got on the bus to the aquarium.
After paying for our €25 tickets to get in (ouch), we began our marine adventure. First, we walked through a building with tanks of smaller sea creatures. There were small eels, sea horses, numerous beautiful fish and even squid. Each tank had wonderful displays of coral and sea anemones that almost stole the show with their mesmerizing colors and graceful tentacles.
As we walked on, we visited Amazonian aquatic life such as piranhas and other large fish. We even got to take pictures with a very friendly macaw! (Those pictures cost €10, so we didn't buy them, but the memory of a macaw on my shoulder is free!)
Next was the shark exhibit. The shark tank is huge, and there's even a tunnel where we could watch animals swim above us! The smaller sharks zipped through the water while the large ones swam slowly and methodically. There were many large fish and well as stingrays swimming alongside the sharks as well. We sat on the mats close to the glass and spent several minutes just admiring the animals swimming around.
After our close encounter with sharks, we went to see the jellyfish! They were hypnotizing and truly amazing to watch. Rather than attempt to describe them to you, I'll show you.
Once we had seen all that the aquarium had to offer, we went to the beach in Palma to cool off. It was a lot of fun, and I'm thankful for the friends I'm making at my school.
Meeting people from across the world is really cool. I learned a lot about Belgium and the Czech Republic today, thanks to Amélia and Martin, and as I meet more people, I'm sure I'll get to learn about other cultures as well!
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