A day on the magical island

Yesterday was an adventure filled day for me. After complaining to my boss about being a little bored here in Sevilla—I only work three days a week—he invited me to go to La Isla Mágica with him and his family. This theme park is Sevilla’s version of six flags I suppose, but more for children, which I still kinda consider myself to be. When I got to the entrance of the park where we were meeting, I found his family and eight other extended family members/neighbors too. Spain is a very family oriented society, which is something I really like here. Families typically don’t move around the country, or leave it, and many people raise their kids in the same town or at least province they were raised in. Another thing I love about Spain is how parents dress their children in the same clothes to make it easier to find them in amusement parks (genius!) I know sometimes children in the US are dressed the same but I think its like an every time we leave the house kinda thing here.

We met up at the gate and I was introduced to everyone, at least the people that were over seven years old and not running around in circles with excitement. There were a total of six children (all under the age of seven), 6 parents and one me. And even though I was on kiddy rides most of the day, and watching children’s shows (which are about at my level of Spanish) I really enjoyed myself. Amusement parks are always fun, and it was nice to do something different. It was also a nice change of pace to be around families (although it did make me miss my own a lot!).

Since Halloween is coming up, the park had some special Halloween themed shows and rides. When one of the seven year olds asked me if I was scared, I said yes to make him feel better in case he was too. But I think towards the end of the night, when we were walking through the haunted house, I actually was scared. However, if a three year old could make it through without screaming or crying, I figured I should keep myself composed as well.

At the end of the night, all the kids could hardly keep there eyes open (including me). It was a long day of pirate shows and 4D movies, boat rides and magic shows. I essentially went right to sleep because lacrosse practice was bright and early this morning, 9 AM, on a Sunday. The field is apparently very overbooked because there is another one nearby that is under construction. The captain of the team told me he wasn’t very happy with the practice schedule because 9 AM is “not an hour Spanish people know.” I think I was supposed to be Spanish…