Through the Eyes of a Child

One of the best places to visit exotic animals is in our very own city; it is called the San Antonio Zoo. The San Antonio Zoo is ranked number six of America’s top ten Zoos scatter in the U.S. I am going to talk about the zoo and how my son is fascinated by it.
The Zoo is located 3903 North St Mary’s Street, San Antonio, Texas. It started in the 1800s at San Pedro Park. By 1914 Colonel George .W. Brackenridge provided buffalos, monkeys, two pairs of lions, and four bears. He placed them on his land as today known as the Brackenridge Park. Then it became the San Antonio Zoo. The zoo has over 3,500 animals and 750 different kinds of species of animals. The first two cageless animals were the Bareless Bear Terrace and the Primate Paradise. Then the city got the Richard Friedrich Aquarium that was dedicated in 1948. After that the city got the Hixon Bird House that was funded after Colonel Fredrick C. Hixon in 1966. Today the San Antonio bird collection is one of the world’s largest. It took 91 years of effort and hard work for this Zoo to be one of the best in the U.S.A.
The best thing I enjoyed at the Zoo that is that unlike other tourist attraction is that it’s open 365 days a year and there is free parking. The hours of operation are very convenient that is from 9am – 6pm and for the winter it is 9am-5pm. The only price that I had to pay was to go in. The price is $9.00 for adults, $7.00 children ages 3-11, and children under 2 are free. They also have membership’s offers free admission. What come with the membership are discounts on gifts shop, concession stands, and parties. The membership cost is range from $30 to $1000. At the zoo, there are also special events. My favorite event is on Halloween. It is fun for the parents and their children. It is called the Zoo Boo where you dress up for Halloween and go trick or treat inside the zoo gates. They have many fun activities like costume contest, games, and face-painting. They also have Feast with the Beast where you eat like an animal. They have food sample of different kinds of restaurants all scattered through the Zoo. They also have private events like birthdays which come with 10 entry tickets, 10 train tickets, and 10 invitations. It is $200 for non members. There are also different kinds of birthday’s parties.
I love taking my son to the zoo. Every time I go he always has a blast. I think it is a great place for toddlers. My son gets a kick on the animals from the monkeys to the lions. It is funny when I see my 2 year old try to meditate when the monkeys are hollering and when the lions are roaring. His favorite animal to see is the tigers. He loves to watch the Disney cartoon Jungle Book and the tiger is the most terrifying creature in the cartoon, so when my son and I pass by the tigers he gets so excited but at the same time scared. In the cartoon movie there is also a bear that he enjoys and the bear is called baloo. It is so funny because in the cartoon the bear sings and dance and my son expects the bears to talk or dance. He got a little disappointed because the bear didn’t even move it just lay there. My son ask me “mommy the bear not singing”. I started to laugh, but I didn’t want to tell him that animals don’t talk. I told him that baloo is tired he put his head down and was sad. I guess to him is very exciting to see his favorite cartoon character come alive. My son also likes the baby elephants in the cartoon. He is always asking where the baby elephant is, but in the zoo they don’t have one. He says that there is the mommy and daddy elephant. He thinks that they forgot the baby elephant at the jungle. Kid’s minds are so imaginary and it is wonderful to see how he imagines the animals.
Will my favorite part of that I love to take my son is this place for toddlers. It is called Tiny Tot Nature Spot. It is indoor and outdoor spot. As soon as I walked in there is this short rock cave entrance, and in the cave there is a built in a small aquarium. Inside the aquarium they have this huge fish and catfish. It is really pleasing to the eye. My son just stands there looking at it for a good ten minutes just being amazed at it. Once I walk through it, I went into the indoor building where there is A/C and it gives me and my son a nice chili breeze. It is good to go in there when you’re walking all day in the heat and your child is complaining about the sun and you have no more energy for your child. You could sit down while your kids are playing. They have a kitchen playing area, a puppet show, a small water bed, and a little stream. They also have a gopher tunnel and my son never likes to get out of it. The restroom in there is very convenient and elegant. They have a toddler size sink; therefore I don’t have to pick up my son to wash his hands. They also have a nursery room. In the nursery room, there is a changing table, a rocking chair, little chairs, and some toys. It is really decent when you need to breastfeed because you can lock the door. In the other hand outside have a riverbank, a play area, and some animals. The river bank is very fun for the kids. It’s a small area of water surrounded by sand. It’s about a foot deep and the kids could play in there. My son loves jumping in there and the feel of the sand.
The San Antonio Zoo is one of my favorite places to take my son. Seeing him just have the benefit of exploring the place is so wonderful.

Different Sides

My humanities class is in the 5th essay assignment and the assignment is to write about a visual art. I have to explain on two different kinds of art. Well the art that I chose is an American Art and a European Art. The reason why I choose this two is because their two different kind of art and two different kind of culture. This two pieces of art is found in the San Antonio Museum of Art
The American art is called Passing Storm over the Sierra Nevada’s by Albert Bierstadt. It is a uniquely driven painting and a brilliant piece of art. The painting of the art is in the wilderness next to a river. All you see is trees and the river bay with rocks along the side. The clouds are grey with a little bit of light coming out. It is like the storm is trying to make a way through the clouds. The colors are sort of nature colors that flows over the painting like if it is real. The texture of it is dark and frightening. The shape of forms is very bumpy and has smoothness to it. There is no painting of wild animals. When you look at it you feel this pause of silent just waiting for something to happen. The painting made me feel mourn and dreadful. The dark clouds are signs of depression and that little light is a sign that I still have hope left trying to break through.
The European Art is called Admiration by William Adolphe Bourguereau. This piece of art is different from the other one in every way as possible. The European art is more shake sphere century. It is more of a gentle passionate painting. The painting of it is five women with a little boy in the middle. They are all looking at him with a tender look and the little boy looks like he is bashful The women are half way dress with clothes that are like blankets and the little one is wearing a little piece of cloth the covers his private. The colors of this art are not heavy colors more like peaceful colors. The texture is very calm and ordinary. If you look at this painting it seems like it’s telling a story. When a little boy is lost and these five women found him trying to talk to him with passion. He feels timid and doesn’t know how to react; the only reaction is he is blushing.

Sweet Home For Birds

In my humanities we have to write essays that are called Field units where we have to visited sites in San Antonio and talk about it in our blogs. The essay is on environment, so the place that I am going to talk about is the Mitchell Lake that is located in the south side near I-410 on Moursand St. I went November 10, 2007 the blog essay was due Nov 1, but since there is no bus that passes by there I didn’t have no other transportation. I ask my uncle if he could take me on Saturday, so he was nice enough to drive me over their.
Mitchell Lake is a wildlife preserve it is owned by SAWS. It has a spectacular view of the lake. As you enter the property there is this huge sign that say Mitchell Lake Wetlands the place is not very hard to find. Before it became a tourist site it uses to be used as a dump waste for the raw sewage. In the mid 1900s San Antonio had no underground sewer, so all the bowel movements that the city made had to go to the lake. In 1987 they stop dumping the waste. Now Mitchell Lake is like a shelter to the birds. Thousands of different birds has been spotted there like vultures, swans, wild ducks, barn owls, and night hawks. The lake is about 1,200 acres. Well when I went there I didn’t see as much bird that I expected to see. I think the birds flew more south because probably a cold front was coming. It is better to come in the spring and hopefully there will be plenty of different birds.
What is unique about it is that it attracts people that love birds like a bird watcher. So if you love wildlife of birds Mitchell Lake is a place to visit.

There is No Place Like Home

Well first of my name is Lori Rangel and where I grew up and still live at is in the central part of San Antonio, Texas about five minutes away from down town. My neighborhood is a low-income neighborhood where the government helps you its called S.A.H.A it stands for San Antonio Housing Authority. My neighbor is called project or courts. They look like any other apartments just regular two story complexes connected together and some are by themselves. To be honest they look better them some apartments. It’s not a peaceful place you always see kids running around the streets. Mostly all the family that lives there has three or more children. My neighborhood is not a gated neighborhood or private. Where I live in is a one story complex it’s a three bedroom and has AC. People think when they say courts it’s a dangerous place to live. The first thing that comes up to their mind is gangs and shooting. Well my neighborhood is not like that. Yea you see some gangs but everywhere you go there is going to be a gang. Well they only thing is that you always see people walking around and mostly everyone is friendly. Every day I would see a group of kids going to the basketball court to hoop. When I was little I would do that every day after I came from school the some of the kids well come out and play ball or tag. It’s a lot different when you see little kids doing that it brings me memory. The only different is we can’t afford a regular house or apartment. We pay less because we don’t make average income. Mostly every one that lives there is on Medicaid or has the lone star card, but other than that we are like everyone else. So where I live it’s not a bad place to live, but there is always going to be someone making a big deal because that what shows in the movie.

A WONDERFUL PLACE TO VISIT
September 21, 2007 at 10:00 am my Humanities class visit The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. A tour guide showed us around the place and talk about the history of it. His name is Dr. Winder. It’s an awesome place to tour round. He was talking about how the Alamo got started. There were many interesting things he said about the historical church. It’s the heart of Texas and part of the missions. It was known as Mission San Antonio de Valero in 1836. It’s a historical place that was built in 1724. Many people remember the Alamo by the famous actors as David Crockett, James Bowie, William Travis and also Santa Ana. They people also remember the Alamo as the John Wayne movie. Well this place that I visit is very moving to my culture. Before this was San Antonio it was known as Coahuila. In 1836, the war with the Mexican troops begins. The Alamo was having many troops around country to volunteer. Santa Ana wanted the Tejanos to be a dictator government, but they didn’t want to. The Tejanos wanted to be a federal government. What I learn in the tour that Dr. Winders took us is the John Wayne movie is noting compare to the facts of the Alamo. It is amazing to walk on the grounds of a historical event that took place in my city.

The Espada Aqueduct

My humanities class had to do an essay on a place we visited. There where four places to go. The Espada aqueduct was one of the places. I visited the Mission Espada Aqueduct September 15, 2007 in San Antonio, Texas. It is a National Historical Park about 1 1/2 miles from mission espada park. It’s a really neat place to visit. The water is very shallow and plenty of trees around. It is very grassy. It is made of gravel and rocks. I read that it was built from 1731 to 1740 and it is a 270 foot dam. I believed I heard that it carries water from the San Antonio River to Piedas Creek. It was built to supply irrigation water. They repaired the dam in 1895. I read that it was used back in the days as a system flood gates. The people back then would also use this for bathing and washing. Back then they would call it at acequia marde. It is one of the four dams that were built along the San Antonio River. They still use the dam today. I never realize that there is a aqueduct near the Missin Espada park. It's amazing how there is so much stuff to learn about my city. Taking a walk there is really exciting because you get to see how our background city built things. I wonder what people in our later future think about our stuff that we have today.

On September 7Th, 2007 I went to Mission Espada in the south side of San Antonio. It was a hot sunny day. A tour guide took us around the place. It's a historical place that created in 1700Th. There are remains of the small town in the mission. I saw a beautiful rock structure of a church that they remodel. There were three brass doorbells on top of the church. The church door was very unique arch door. It was made out of wood, it felt very firm when I open the door. It was very exciting to know about our city's older background. I enjoyed listening about how it was created.