Ever since we got back from Castilla, the school has been keeping us busy with various activities. I feel silly now, almost, for making up my own on a fine evening, my friend Jenny and I photographing each other with our Toledo blades right after we got back--the pictures are cool, at least. Soon after that peaceful night, the world seemed to break into a flurry of activity.
Last Sabbath was Musicalia, the Spanish equivalent to a choir festival. It's not quite the same, though--they do not collaborate on the same repertoire, but show off the best each of them has to offer. The one that impressed me the most hailed from the first gypsy SDA church in the world--a fact they're quite proud of. I've seen gypsies here do flamenco tablaos, but when they take their style of music and rhythm and turn it into an expression of praise, it's amazing. There was one girl who could've only been nine or ten, but when she sang, she had lungs of iron.
The local school choir and orchestra also put on an excellent performance, putting their music together into a commentary on all the paradoxes of human nature. It was called, "El Hombre Es Una Cosa Curiosa" (Man Is A Strange Thing). I actually cried during one of their songs about the environment, of all things.
Last Wednesday we had an open dorm night, which they make a much bigger deal of here than they do in the States because they only do it once a year. I had fun showing off my room and handing out candy--for this, I was accused trying to buy votes in the contest for most original room. That kind of bothered me, because at PUC mere candy would not be sufficient hospitality for open dorm night. The room that won totally deserved it. Seeing the guys' dorm was fascinating--they have way more space than we do, space enough for couches! I don't know how they live with all the noise, though.
After the tour of the dorms, they served us all fresh, cool horchata--mm, that was good.
Sunday, though, of all the activities, was the one I had been looking forward to the longest. In the City of the Arts and Sciences, there's a massive aquarium called the Oceanografic. I had always seen it, and never been inside, and we finally got to go.
The variety in the aquarium was amazing--not even Monterey has such a variety of species, even if their collection is larger. One of my favorite creatures was a sea dreagon, a cute little things. There were even some familiar California species, like the Garibaldi. There were others that I can honestly say I've never seen before, not even on the Discovery Channel, like the Giant Spider Crab which hailed from Japan. The dolphin show was neat, as dolphin shows go--I don't think the Sea World trainers back in the States trust their whales and dolphins that much.
There was one part that was really neat where we could walk through a glass tunnel under one of the tanks and sit in a bubble inside of it. It felt like we were actually underwater with the fish.
More than the sea life of the Oceanografic, almost, I really liked the gardens they were in and the birds they had. There were flamingos, black-necked swans, and some bright orange thing I never caught the name of that was really cool. The perfect weather made this even more beautiful. . . the first time I'd worn shorts since Fallas.
Last night, I somehow managed to get roped into doing worship an hour and a half before the fact. I cobbled up something together really fast, and was almost surprised when it turned out to be my best worship talk of the three I've given here this year. It left me exhausted, though. . . and then today hit me in the face. Life is getting crazy as we approach the end of our last quarter. Not only do we have all of these wonderful activities, but a mountain of homework, projects, and preparation for DELE. DELE is a test which, if one passes it, grants a diploma recognized internationally which acknowledges a person's level of proficiency in Spanish.
So, between one thing and another, life hums along. I hope you're all having a wonderful week, full of opportunities.
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