Drago and Loro Parque

It feels like I haven't blogged in forever!!! Time is passing by way too quickly... and before I can even register the thought into my head, it's the weekend already. I just can't believe it's been two weeks here already... To me, it doesn't even feel real anymore. Other fellows can disagree with me on this, but honestly, I've had such wonderful times so far that I'm pretty sure I will go through some serious withdrawal when I get back to the states.. barraquito-withdrawal... bocadilla-withdrawal... all kinds of withdrawals from not having to have my daily chat with my favorite doctor about his wife's pregnancy.. not having David to "babysit" us fellows.. not having Alyia's "Sprite-only-none-of-that-7Up-crap" attitude.. not having Allen's annoying comments.. not having Bess coordinating social events.. You bet it's been different within these three weeks in Tenerife, but one thing for sure - I'll cherish every moment of my last week here!

So what has happened since my previous blog entry? Uhm. A LOT.

Last night, Bess, Alyia, and I had a girls-night-out (Allen was too much of a party-pooper to join us on our GNO +1) in La Laguna. David was not kidding when he said the night-life starts after 11pm. Despite that it was raining pretty hard later during the night, we managed to listen to live rock music at Buho Club and went for drinks at Copas. Buho was pretty amazing. I didn't quite imagine a club to be like so, but it was definitely a new and fun experience. Jamming to Spanish rock surrounded by middle age men and women ... who would have thought :P I then had a Tequila Sunrise before heading back to the Residencia to rest for the full day ahead. I didn't really notice until Bess pointed out, "He didn't even card us," to which I should have been more surprised, but for some reason, I wasn't.

Can you spot anyone from the left side...? Here's a hint.. three young and short girls who look like they don't quite belong in the scene... haha

Today, we went to the "North" side of the island to explore this nice town, see the beautiful water, have a light breakfast, and tour Cueva de Viento - one of the many caves on the island made by volcanoes. I think the tour guide mentioned that this cave was made from the volcanic eruption of Pico Viejo (next to Teide). Pico Viejo, ironically, is younger than Teide... 

You know me, I am all for new experiences, though I often am frightful of them. Stepping into a cave is probably one of those frightful experiences for me... It's not too much of a hike, compared to the first excursion we had, but I did struggle with walking on the rough volcanic ground.. in the dark.. It's probably one of those things which I would never forget. The tour was actually informative! And to top it off, I ate a wild plant.. Granted that the acidity in the plant burned the tip of my tongue, it was certainly something worth trying :D 

This is Drago, the natural symbol of Tenerife. It's the oldest and largest of its species.

 The tour guide said there would be barraquito served in the cave. And you cannot imagine how disappointed I was when I found out he was joking. There was no barraquito inside OR outside the cave. Good thing the place we stopped for lunch had it. I think I will have to declare this barraquito my new favorite drink here (sorry, cafe con leche...)

After lunch, we headed straight to Loro Parque, which was probably 20-30 minutes away. Of course, we fell asleep (talk about a typical siesta after a full lunch!) in the backseat as David drove. 

We were able to see a parrot show, a sea lion show, and an orca show.. and they were all amazing. I was that one kid who sat on the edge of her chair, waiting for magic to happen as the trainer starts the show. And to me, it was pretty magical... I don't recall having been to a show with trained animals, so it was close to magic seeing how they respond... I can't describe it, but the shows are pretty much a MUST-GO.

With some time left over before the park closed, we went through the rest of the park to see parrots, birds, fishies, sharks, weird animals that I've never seen or heard of... I took SO many pictures, but I will leave you with this upside-down jellyfish!!! It's my way of saying, "Do something different. Unexpected. Be unusual. Abnormal. YOLO!!!"