Waterpark

1:04am
Sunday, July 4

Happy July 4th! Too bad I had to explain to my family the significance of this day in the USA. I am sure all of you watched fireworks, had some BBQ, and spent time with the fam… Just pretend I was there with you! Our group celebrated the fourth with a trip to the water park and dinner at Tony Roma’s (yes they exist in Spain!!)

The weekend has been one of the most relaxing I’ve had since coming here. On Saturday, it was raining hard and I didn’t feel 100% after the excursion to Cuenca the day before. I skipped out on the amusement park and thus slept in and then spent most of my morning at a small café with my computer allowing me time to finish my homework for Monday and begin my tourism paper due at the end of the semester. I recharged all day and was thus full of energy for the Spain game at 8:30pm.

A group of us met up at a local bar to watch the soccer game against Paraguay. We arrived 5 minutes after the game began and every seat, except 3, by a few 16-year-old boys was open. We thus made some new friends and shared drinks and tapas during the table-quenching, mood changing excitement. There were quite a few yellow cards during the game and each team had penalties inside the goal box resulting in a p-kick (penalty kick). Paraguay had the opportunity first to score on a p-kick; however, our goalie is phenomenal and blocked the kick. Almost two minutes later Spain had a chance at a p-kick. Our first one went in beautifully, and then the referee called it illegitimate as one of our players stepped into the penalty box before goalie touched the ball (or something along those lines). We shot again and missed… still 0-0. Restaurant enraged and on edge of our seats. Spain later has the ball near the goal, first person shoots and ball bounces off a goal post. Second teammate there for the follow up where the ball hits the far goal post but bounces back in for a goal. I’m talking hugs, screams, cheers, dancing, and singing in the bar… The game ended and the score remained 1-0. Spain continues to the semifinals on Wednesday night. 8:30pm here – 1:30pm in US

After the game, the streets consisted of cars driving around the roundabout waving Spain flags out the window and honking horns. Singing, dancing, and yelling were in abundance. I will attempt to attach a video to portray just a small bit of the streets.

This morning we slept in again and headed to the water park around lunch. It took about 4 hours to get there as we used train, metro, and bus. We doubted the existence of the park as after the bus let us off, we walked 10 minutes through neighborhoods and a country club before finding the water park in the distance. The park is located in the country with the most beautiful views of the city surrounding it. We had a million dollar view from every start line of the water slides.

We played for about 5 hours and felt like little kids again. We rode almost every slide at least once and completed a water obstacle course consisting of a zip line into the water, rope monkey bars, and more. I didn’t want to leave the park and the last hour we were there, a few of us kept racing down one of the rides that consisted of 5 slides where you race each other. I must say I have mastered the art of quick sliding and beat a few people… Nonetheless, one of the most enjoyable days I have had in a non-art, history, or educational way. Our ride back home seemed to go by much quicker as I had the chance to sit next to someone in our group I haven’t talked to much in the past. The small group atmosphere is really bringing most of us together.

At the water park, young girls up to four or five years old go without tops, and thongs and extremely cheeky bottoms are completely acceptable for ladies. Speedos were abundant among the guys and almost two out of every three people had a visible tattoo.

Since it is the 4th of July and we had to celebrate, we went to Tony Roma’s. I had BBQ chicken and a baked potato. The menu was in English and the restaurant was full of other students studying abroad. We would have found a local disco for tonight; however, many people in the group have Literature essays due tomorrow. Día triste (sad day)

Headed to bed!
Hasta luego amigos!
Kristina