San Antonio Zoo

The San Antonio Zoo is a wonderful place to visit for all ages. It has been open for about 94 years. The San Antonio Zoo was opened in 1914 by Colonel George W. Brackenridge, who placed buffalo, elk, deer, monkeys, a pair of lions, and four bears on land. In November 1929, America’s first cage less exhibits opened, which were the Bar less Bear terraces and the primate Paradise, for people to view. In 1948 the Friedrich Aquarium was dedicated to the zoo. In 1966 Hixon Birdhouse opened, which was made to look like a tropical rain forest with free-flying birds. The largest collection of birds is the one at the San Antonio Zoo. More than 3,500 animals have their home here. There are 750 different species of animals on 56 acres. During the year over 850,000 guests attend the San Antonio Zoo. Out of these guests 123,000 are children participating in education programs and 10,300 are children going on field trips.
There are about 11 different exhibits at the San Antonio Zoo; they are Africa Live, African Plains, Amazonia, Butterflies, Cranes of the World, Gibbon Forest, Hixon Birdhouse, Kronkosky’s Tiny Tot, Toadally, Lory Landing, and Prairie Chickens. Africa Live is the zoo’s newest exhibit at the zoo. It gives people a chance to travel to Africa through the zoo. This gives people a chance to see how the animals would live in their natural habitat. The animals in Arica Live are Nile hippopotamus’, African flower beetle, African bullfrog, emperor scorpion, African lungfish, dwarf crocodile, mud turtle, Nile crocodile, African rock python, green mambo, elephant shrew, banded Egyptian cobra, rhino viper, and gaboon viper. This has the animals that are mostly in the water or water based. Next is African Plains this has animals that live on land live on land like the ostriches, grevy’s zebra, giraffes African crowned cranes, white-faced whistling ducks, Thompson’s gazelles. This place has all these animals running free together and meets together for the common need of water. There is an elephant near the aardwolf which is like a hyena. The Amazonia has the New World monkeys, the pygmy marmoset, Hoffman’s sloth and spider monkeys. There are fish that can be fed. There are also giant anteaters and toucans that fly around. Other animals are large and small cats, like the jaguar, the ocelot, and venomous reptiles like the bushmaster, also cotton-topped tamarins, marmosets, capuchins, white-faced saki monkeys, armadillos, fish, birds such as macaws and giant Andean condor. Near and around are rare tropical plants. Near here is what they call the Twighlight where there are bats, three toed sloths, armadillos, monkeys, and a boa. Butterflies! is also a very popular exhibit, where hundreds of butterflies fly free throughout the net. Fifteen to twenty species of butterflies delight guests through intimate interaction. These beautiful creatures are approachable and sometimes they like to rest on the visitors that are passing by. In September 2005 the Butterflies! exhibit was destroyed by a fallen oak tree, but was rebuilt. Cranes of the World was open in 2000, it is home to whooping crane, blue crane, Manchurian crane, and hooded crane. This has a lot of birds from all over the world. Gibbon forest is an enclosure that has a rock wall separating the komodo dragons and wolf’s guenon. Visitors can watch the gibbons closely through glass panels. Hixon Birdhouse has birds from all over the world that fly free inside the exhibit. Inside is planted with trees, shrubs, and plants and also contains a small pond. There is a thick-billed euphoria, red-billed leiothrix and many other birds that fly around in there. Lory Landing has hundreds of brightly colored, nectar-eating lorikeets. Guest and visitors can purchase a cup of nectar and feed the lorikeets while they perch on your hand or shoulder. Cups of nectar are $1.00 and can be purchased near the Hungry Hippo concession stand. Lory Landing is open from 10:00am to 4:00pm daily. Next is the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken. In 1996, the San Antonio Zoo joined the Attwater’s prairie Chicken Recovery Team. The zoo works along with other zoos and organizations to protect habitat and to release North Americas most endangered bird into the wild. Since 1996 the zoo has raised 133 Attwater’s prairie chickens. Out of the 133 birds, more than 50 has been released to the National Wildlife refuge. Kronkosky’s Tiny Tot is a Nature spot for kids. Children can run around, take off their shoes and socks and explore hands-on with real wild life. Play leaders (the staff) help children and their families to explore nature. Different activities are planned each day, so no two visits are the same. They can participate from things like lady bug release; uncover worms, to digging up carrots to feed the guinea pigs. They can also play in the river bank, which is a little river that allows children to place with water and sand safely. This place consists of seven major areas and a total of 19 sub areas. The pier and pond, where kids play in a boat, pretend to fish, explore pond life, and create fish prints. Traveling through the underwater adventure, children can get face to face with giant fish. My backyard has gardens where children are allowed to plant seeds, water and transplant seedlings. At the Coati/sloth hang and dig area. Where children can climb and hang like a monkey or dig a tunnel like a coati. Also near is an oversized sloth that children can climb. The campground, kids explore tents, play in the stream and uncover animal tracks. In the center is a Discovery House, an interior exhibit that has three distinct rooms, each connected by wall-sized windows. In explore your pond room, children can play in an indoor pond, or enter a child-sized aquarium. In explore your zoo room; children are encouraged to discover the various jobs, functions, and roles of the zoo staff. With the help of props children are able to become zoo keepers, veterinarians, and even the zoo director. Parents are encouraged to play with their children in the Kronkonsky’s Tiny Tot nature. The last exhibit is TOADally, which has all amphibians from all over the world, frogs, toads, salamanders, poison dart frogs, and bullfrogs. It’s a great experience.
I interviewed three different people two work at the zoo and one was a visitor that goes to the zoo often. First I interviewed Kristy Hernandez. Her job title is Special Events Coordinator. Her job consists of putting all five fundraisers together. First, is the zoo run which happens to be one of her favorites. It raises about $1,000 every year. This is mostly for adults and children over 12. Second, is kids run, about 250 kids go to run and these two are held in September. Third, is feast with the beast, which happens in April. There are 27 restaurants to try their food. They raise about $2,000 and the tickets are about $15. This is a family event everyone is welcome. Fourth, is the zoo ball which is the biggest event. They raise about $200,000. This is held in November. The tables are in three different prices, 1st is $2,750, 2nd is 5,500 and 3rd is 7,500. Red McCombs comes to this event often. Fifth, is the Zoo Boo held in October. This is another of her favorites. This is a chance for kids to visit the animals while dressed in costumes and candy, but please don’t feed the animals candy. She enjoys her job because she makes others happy, she says “the best thing about working here is all the proceeds raised go towards the animals, and this place is a nice environment”. She has worked at the zoo for 10 months. She enjoys her job because “I’m my own department, I plan everything and send out memos to everyone; everyone helps and all the departments work together to help with the events”. Her favorite animal is the Hippos. Second I interviewed my sister. Her name is Nicole Ledezma. Her job title is Maintenance-Sweeper. Her job description would be to change trashcans, pick up trash, pick up vomit and yes anything else that is not suppose to be there. She says “I am trained to clean up blood and burn pathogens, if anyone is bleeding; I am able to and know how to pick it up.” She has worked at the zoo for 3 years. She says the best thing about working at the zoo is “my coworkers and sweeper team are great, and I get to see the animals every day.” The worst thing is “people think were unimportant but I feel we are the most important.” There are four parts of the zoo, first, Front Area, second, Middle Area, third, Cross Canal, and fourth, Monkey Island (now Africa Live). She says “I am rover” because she is not assigned to one area she is an extra person and gets assigned to whoever needs her help. Her favorite animal is the Japanese giant salamander and her favorite event at the zoo is Feast with the Beast because she gets to try different foods at different restaurants and eat and drink for free. She also said “I clean up after all of Kristy’s events”. Last I interviewed a guest at the zoo; he is a friend of my family and goes to the zoo often. His name is Raymond Ruiz, he says “the best part of the zoo is the animals. There are so many kinds, I also like how when I went there was a new exhibit to see. It made the trip more enjoyable”. His favorite animal is the rhino, “I have a picture of me petting it”. He said “the workers here are friendly and helpful”. He enjoyed all the exhibits when he went to visit.
Admission for the zoo is Members get in free, Adults pay $9.00, kids (3-11) pay $7.00, seniors (62+) $7.00, military discount pay $1off, Handicap (3-14) pay $4.50, Handicap (15+) pay $6.00, and parking is free. The zoo is open 365 days a year, and never closed.

CONJUNTO EXPERIENCE

On Sunday April 20th, I went to Mission County Park. Mission San Jose Church was having a festival called “Fiesta de la Familia”. This is something they have every year around fiesta time this is the first year they had it off the church grounds. It was their 75th anniversary. I did not get the chance to go to a club but this had cojunto bands performing all day. The place I went to was Mission County Park. It’s near Roosevelt but don’t know the exact location. The groups that performed were David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, Ram Herrera y Los Outlaws, and Los Tex Maniacs. There were more but these were the names that I got. There were a lot of performers that day. These groups had drums, accordions, guitars, base, harmonicas, keyboards, and a bell thing. The atmosphere was great, we were outside, a lot of people were talking to each other and everyone was very friendly. It was a great day to be outside, not to hot, it was nice and windy. There was lots of food and drinks to buy, games to play, music and places to sit down and enjoy the music. There was a place to dance and they had a bar there. The audience that went was mostly people from the church and their family. A lot of adults, teenagers, and children were there. People went o watch the groups, eat or just to get out of the house, some went to help with the booths and just to enjoy hanging out with their family and friends. The effect the performances had on me was great; I enjoy this type of music and love to dance to it. I like when they play he accordion. It really makes the performance better form me. It livens it up. I liked how when they were performing, people were dancing and enjoying the music. It was a big open area so the music wasn’t too loud and could be heard when standing far away. It was nice to sit on the benches and enjoy the music. The music played great, the artists were really into the music, and looked like they were enjoying playing for this crowed. They were dancing as they were playing, telling people to get up and dance and sing along. Their performance was not mechanical at all it looked like they were just going with the music as well, letting them enjoy the songs and instruments they were playing. Them performing, it make me want to dance or get up and sing myself, or learn how to play an instrument. They enjoy performing so much you can tell when they are performing that it makes you happy and it makes you enjoy the performance. It reaches out to everyone whether they understand the words or not, the music is so catchy it makes you happy. It is so up beat. I enjoyed the performance and am glad that I went to go see it. I would definitely want to see them perform again. I love this music, so I would definitely go buy a CD from one of these artist in the future. I would recommend people to go see these groups if they enjoy the music and love to dance.

During class on April 16, 2008, Juan Tejeda came to our class to talk to us about Conjunto music and about his music he plays in his band and about Chicanos, Americans, and Mexicans. He calls himself a Chicano except he spells it “xicano” to show the history of the Mexicans. He said how he believed in a way most people are Americans, because we are all born in America and how the people who were born in South America and North America can be considered Americans. He brought to the class room show us a flute, a seashell, a drum, a flute that was made out of a PVC pipe, another instrument but I don’t know the name, it had little shells attached and sounded like a maraca, and an accordion. He played the flute and seashell then he said a poem. Then he continued to play. He said the poem in Nahuatl, Spanish, and English. He then played the drum and sang a song, I think in Spanish. Then he showed us the accordion and the different types of music he could play like polka, waltz, cumbia, country, and blues. He really seemed to enjoy playing and showing us what he knew. I really enjoyed this presentation. I as a child have always loved the accordion and had one when I was a child, it is something that I would love to play. I find it fascinating to play and accordion and love the sound of it. I like how one side sounds like a harmonica which I never really noticed. I never noticed how all those different types of music could come out of one instrument.

CONJUNTO MUSIC

The first Conjunto performer was a lady and she was the first in America to be signed. Conjunto music has been a big part of my family since I was very little. It is music that I have always listened to. Many people who speak Spanish listen to this music because they relate to what this music is talking about. Others listen to it because the like the way it sounds and like to dance to it even though the words don’t make any sense to them. The difference in Conjunto music is that a person can always tell the difference from the beat that is heard in Conjunto. It has the accordion, the guitar, the harmonica, drums and the base. It has a lot of different beats from different instruments. To people who listen to it has a different feel to it and it talks about everything in life. This kind of music has made the accordion more popular to many other genres of music. It has become more popular to America. I learned that many others sing conjunto music. I did not know many artists are considered Conjunto and I did not know what kind of music Conjunto is just who the artists are. The accordion used to not be used or heard from as much and now many performers use it in other kinds of music not just in Conjunto it has became a more popular instrument than it was before. I learned that the people who sing and play Conjunto music love what they play, it makes them happy and they enjoy playing music for others.

MCNAY

On April 9, 2008, my sister and I went to go visit the McKay Museum. It is a very nice place outside and inside. The grounds are so huge and beautiful. I have been going to the McNay for 11 years now. I started going with my sister for her French class in high school, then I continued to go for my French class in high school as well. We still visit the McNay all the time. The McKay was closed for renovations, so I could not enter to see my favorite painting by Monet called Water Lilies. So we continued to search around outside and I found two sculptures that I liked. The first one is called NIGHT INTO MORNING by George N. Newton. It is a sculpture. It is painted aluminum one piece is red, the zig zag part, and the other two pieces are black. My immediate attention went to the part how the pieces kind of connect or the red piece moves in between the two black pieces. This is an abstract piece of work. The colors would be dull and bright. The form is zig zag and strait. Lines are mostly used in making this piece. This piece is symmetrical. My overall impression of this piece was that it looks interesting because I wonder how people come to think of this kind of work, I was drawn to it because the black and red pieces moves back and forth connected at the bottom. The three pieces of the artwork intertwine with one another. The best way to describe my sense of it would be intense because it’s black and red and if it is wind it would be moving fast. I wonder why it is called NIGHT INTO MORNING, I guess it goes like dark into bright changing the days. The difference between seeing this piece on the internet and seeing it in real life is on the internet you can’t see that if it is windy outside the piece moves back and forth. Seeing it on the internet the advantage would be that a person may be able to get a closer look at it because it is very tall. The next sculpture I saw was an untitled piece by Joel Shapiro. It is a sculpture of painted aluminum. It is a piece on the side of the building, but literally on the building, it is attached at the top. It is a blue sculpture. My immediate attention went to the blue because it is the only blue thing on the building. The form is lines and rectangles to make the piece. The texture is smooth and the color is dull blue. My overall impression of this piece is wow; I like it because it looks like a man running on the side of the building. It is a strange place to put it, and I never noticed it before. The best way to describe my sense for it would be photographic and comfortable, because to me it is a piece of art that I just want to take a picture of and would like to have one of these in my own home if they did not cost so much. I have seen another one like this in another place but it is bronze. I think the sculpture is interesting like it looks easy to make but it was really hard. Seeing it on the internet would be the same not much can change except for this piece it would be easier to see it up close since at the McNay it is far up on the building.

ARTS

On March 29, 2007, I went to San Pedro Art Gallery. There was a party there for my brother’s birthday. I got to view the entire art that they have there. I went with my sister. In the San Pedro Art Gallery they have different pieces of art there. They have paintings, drawings, jewelry and many other pieces of work. It’s a real nice place to go look at art work. All the art is done by different people, so it’s a variety of different kinds of are for everyone’s taste. My brother has a piece there right now of flamingos. I’ve been a couple of times to see my brothers’ work. People just walk around viewing the art, talking, and eating. There were drinks, the water they have taste weird it is in glass bottles, then they have regular water. They have finger foods, like cheese and crackers and dip. The art is viewed and some of the pieces have lights over them to emphasize the paintings. My sister-in-law has jewelry at San Pedro Art Gallery as well. They are bracelets she makes out of paper, she showed me how and it is very time consuming. I love the art scene and the people there are really interesting. Everyone goes dressed nice, and everyone is always ready to talk. People stand around and talk about how they like the piece and just about the piece of art. The artists are so willing to tell you about the piece of art, when they made it, why they made it and how long it took. I enjoyed this art gallery and well definitely go visit it again in the next month.