Pictionary

Can you recognize these images?

I work at Tesoros Trading Co. on 2nd and Congress and we are very popular with tourists. It's a location near many downtown hotels and is next door to a very popular Mexican eatery. Often, customers think the first image (which of course is the revolutionary Che Guevara) is that of Cesar Chavez. Maybe the names are confusing (I don't think so) but people who come in the store sure mix the two up. The second image is the 'anima sola' which is prevalent in Catholic culture. I don't expect everyone to know what the picture represents because not everyone is Catholic, but the anima sola represents the soul in purgatory (the place where one is held before going into the hell beneath). The third, of course, is Frida Kahlo and it would blow your mind to know the amount of people who don't know who this is. Prevalent comments in the store include "Ugh, she's so ugly," "Why does she have that eyebrow?," "Who was she married to?" and, my favorite, "Why does she have so many pictures of herself?"

I'd like to focus on Frida and the fact that she represents a beautiful, creative, misunderstood soul. It seems that Americans don't understand the fact that beauty is only skin deep and sometimes your skin includes a prominent unibrow. She painted self-portraits to convey feelings that otherwise would go unnoticed. And her husband was the painter Diego Rivera, for those who didn't know.

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I'd also like to comment on Geoff's entry about Seu Jorge. Check out the Life Aquatic Studio Sessions. It's Seu Jorge playing David Bowie songs on an acoustic guitar in Portuguese. Brilliant!

Venezuela will miss Fidel Castro

After much deliberation, I felt that this would be a good topic, because for ...ALL of us here, Fidel Castro has been in power our whole lives. Well, today he announced his resignation, he wrote: "I will not aspire nor accept -- I repeat I will not aspire or accept, the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief."

I was vaguely aware of the influence he had in South America, so my question was how will probably be impacted by Fidel Castro's leaving the most...and some research the answer is clear--Venezuela.

During the past decade, Hugo Chavez, the leader of Venezuela, and Fidel Castro have formed an alliance, punned by some to be an "axis of evil," but if I were living in Venezuela, I would be very happy with it. According to the UN 32% of Venezuelans lack adequate sanitation, primarily those living in rural areas. Only 3% of sewage is treated; most major cities lack treatment facilities. (Even with this, they are trying to do something we still havent figured out how to do--provide free health insurance for everyone in the country for free). This could have been taken care of very easily, the only problem was that Venezuela was currently going through a shortage of doctors, and the ones they did have are underpaid.

So... recently not only has Chavez raised the pay of state doctors by 60% but in 2005 Fidel Castro sent 20,000 Cubans (14,000 being physicians) to Venezuela to provide free healthcare to the poor for free. Testimonials are everywhere online. This is a FIFTH of the doctors in Cuba. Makes me wonder if they were sent there willingly? Anways, Cuba has apparently been sending doctors to places such as Haiti and Equatorial Guinea for some time now. Cuba is getting oil (resulting in the biggest economic boost since the fall of the Soviet Union)...but Hugo says that has nothing to do with the doctors.

They will miss each other...Fidel Castro....and Hugo Chavez. With each other's help this were able to help there countries. I don't know...they might be secret lovers...because I don't know any other president that would send a fifth of their countries doctors over seas...but hey I am not complaining...till next time.

SaviourMoney

Let me tell you about my boat.

I'm an idiot.

I had an entire blog post planned out about how I would describe/explain/relate/compare & contrast the (seemingly) Spanish music artist, Seu Jorge, to American music and culture.

The problem is, Seu Jorge is Portuguese.  And so is his music.

However, with some quick Wiki-research, I found out that I may not be a (complete) moron after all.  

According to Wikipedia, Spanish is the major language that is closest to Portuguese.  Both languages are widely spoken throughout South America and come from a family of languages called, West Iberian.  

That explains why I thought he was speaking Spanish. 

From his song Tive Razao:

 

"Que vontade de chorar, dói
Em pensar que ela não vem, só dói
Mas pra mim tá tranquilo, eu vou zoar"

Just from looking at these lyrics, it is easy to tell that there are many similarities between Portuguese and Spanish.

For example, both languages use the words "que" and "mas."  Also, the words "pensar" and "tranquilo" are identical to their Spanish counterparts, meaning "think" and "calm."

While the two languages appear to be quite similar, when studied in detail, they are very dissimilar.  

Both languages use the verbs "ser" and "estar" in the same meaning.  However, with Portuguese, "ser" is used to describe permanent location, whereas in Spanish, the verb would be "estar."

Oh well.  I had reason.

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth is very interesting movie and yet also somewhat disturbing. Even though the film is a fairy tale which uses fantastic elements such as magical creatures, there is deep meaning to this film that correlates to everyone. During a time of chaos and turmoil people have a tendency to create a surreal world just to escape the truth or reality. Due to the aftermath of Spanish Civil War, a mysterious and magical realm is created where the main character Ofelia can escape the turbulent period of war and bloodshed. Like most children, Ofelia has a vivid imagination and an insatiable curiosity. In the alternate secret "fantasy world" that Ofelia enters through an overgrown labyrinth garden, she meets a faun who tells her that she is actually a princess. After hearing this, Ofelia immediately sets out to accomplish her three tasks in order to be rightfully reinstated into her kingdom. During her three tasks she comes across a series of monsters. Yet the twist in the plot of the movie is that in reality the monsters she imagines is nothing compared to Captain Vidal. The true evil that Ofelia is trying to escape turns out to be a human who has gone mad with power. You may think its irony but it not. Most of the problems that we face in the real world are caused by people just like you and me who abuse their power. We have numerous times in the course of history. To escape such events people create their own worlds where they can feel safe and secure.

La Quinceañera

The fifteenth birthday is an event typically overlooked in the lives of many non-latinos. At fifteen, the government grants you no new abilities, such as the right to drive, or to gamble, or to purchase alcohol. Despite the uneventful nature of the fifteen year old birthday in the English world, in the Spanish world, specifically for girls, the fifteen year old milestones is a momentous event.
This momentous event takes place in the form of a quinceañera, an array of events focused around the celebration of a woman’s 15th birthday. It typically starts with a waltz between the birthday girl and her friends, with fifteen couples dancing. Then the father of the birthday girl changes her shoes from tennis shoes to high heels, symbolizing her advancement into womanhood. The girl dances her last dance with her father, and is given a porcelain doll, which she passes on to a younger sibling. This is followed by a crazy party.
It is interesting to note how different birthdays are important to different cultures. For instance, in America, the 16th birthday is celebrated far more than the fifteenth birthday. And in some cultures, the 18th birthday is the most important. The quinceñeara is a very important, and intriguing, part of Spanish culture.

Dirty Dancing Havana Nights

One of my favorite dancing movies is Dirty Dancing Havana Nights. The movie takes place in Havana, Cuba in the 1958 just before the Revolution breaks out. Dirty Dancing Havana Nights shows a lot about the Cuban culture and Cuban dancing. The two main characters work together to come up with a salsa dance. Javier knows how to dance the titular Cuban style of dirty dancing while Katey has been trained in ballroom dancing. The movie has many scenes with Cuban dancing in a Havana Nightclub and a scene of Cubans free dancing in the streets. The movie enlightened me on the Cuba culture through the character's lifestyles, clothes, and dance moves. It showed me how a typical Cuban family lived and the stuggles they were going through during that time period.

North America to South America

Most of my family is from up in Canada, and I realize when I am up there how much I miss our Texas culture, which is obviously vastly influenced by Hispanic culture. For instance, when I am up in Saskatchewan they think they are eating Mexican food and they literally call fajitas "Fa-gee-tahs" and jalapenos "Jah-lep-anos". Obviously, it doesn't taste very authentic either. But what is interesting is that that is how they truly think it is pronounced and that is the closest most of them have come to Hispanic culture. I think we take for granted the natural knowledge of the Hispanic culture that we already have just from being born in area with such a prominent Mexican and South American population. We know the correct way to pronounce most Spanish words, especially foods, just because we have grown up eating it and hearing it pronounced a certain way. Also, we often don't realize how frequently we say Spanish words in our everyday life, and a good example of this is the number of streets with Spanish names especially in San Antonio and Austin. We are fortunate to see some of their architecture, clothing, traditions, music and art everyday, and people a lot further north definitely do not and for the most part are completely naive about Hispanic culture.
In addition, when I visited China and Japan two years ago, the thing I missed the most about home was Mexican food!! It is moments and experiences like these that make us remember how important their culture is to ours and how influential it has become especially in Texas. This truly makes me appreciate the diversity that we get to encounter daily because it is definitely obvious when you visit other places that many cultures are completely homogenous, and I think they are truly missing out.

Shakira

I knew little about Shakira or much Spanish music in general regardless of the fact that I've lived in South Texas my entire life. Sure I sang along to the hits like "Hips Don't Lie" and even just enjoyed the flow of Tejano music from bands such as the Kumbia Kings. It wasn't until I met my current girlfriend, however; until I really experienced where singers like Shakira started before they became pop sensations in the United States. My girlfriend introduced me to Shakira songs and music videos. "Inevitable" and "No Creo" are two of her favorites. I found it interesting that though I only understood certain phrases and words, I could still understand what the theme of the song was without even watching the music video. The inflections in Shakira's voice and the passion that is often associated with Latin music flows thick in her songs. Just listening to her passion and not even considering word meaning, one can determine if its a song about her cheating boyfriend or love at first sight. Although Shakira goes for sex appeal in her music videos, it struck me as much more inventive and classy than the American pop singers' music videos of today. However, the themes of Shakira and those of American pop singers are very similiar and relevant to what teenagers and young adults are interested in hearing.

don quijote

I studied spanish in high school and one memory that really stood out to me was studying the story of Don Quijote. We read the novel in class, watched the movie, and also we were able to go see the play. Studying the story helped give me an insight to Spanish culture. The story is a comedy making fun of the main character, who believes he is a chivalrous knight. This story is still well known across all different cultures after over 40 years. This is what struck me the most. I am familiar with historic literature from European and American cultures but this is the first example of Spanish culture I had seen.
Surprisingly what I got the most out of studying this story happened after watching the play with my class. Our class among others was invited to stay afterward and meet some of the actors. I was extremely surprised at how friendly they were. I have volunteered as an usher for years at the Dallas Children's Theatre in my hometown. After viewing these plays, the actors would also meet with the audience to sign autographs and take pictures. The difference was the American actors were professional and somewhat reserved. The Spanish actors were overly friendly and greeted us with hugs and kisses on the cheek. They also jumped in and out of their humorous characters which gave us all a good laugh. This showed me how very open Spanish culture is when meeting new people. The play also helped me to increase my Spanish vocabulary because the actors performed the play in Spanish but would speak the occasional confusing scene in English. I very much enjoyed learning about Spanish culture and language through this experience.

Customs

I think it's funny or rather...not funny but somewhat incorrect that certain Catholics practice little rituals and place their faith elsewehere besides in God and Jesus. An example of this is in Pan's Labyrinth (I know this movie has been mentioned before) when Ofelia wants her mother to get better so she places a mandrake root that is claimed to be a plant that strived to be a human in a bowl of milk. This little ritual reminds me of my Grandma's Mexican customs when people would give me the "evil eye" when I was a little girl. When I wouldn't stop crying she would rub an egg over my body and pray. As she finished praying she would crack the egg in a clear glass of water and place it under the head of our beds. If that yolk turned white in the morning it meant that someone has mailicious intentions toward you. There are similarities because there are countless other little rituals that Mexicans do which is technically not right in the Catholic faith, but we practice anyway. I guess Spaniards and Mexicans have these practices in common. Same Movie, different topic.

El Orfanato

I watched "El Orfanato" recently. This movie was marketed in the US as "The Orphanage". It is about a family that lives in a house that used to be an orphanage. The wife (played by Belen Rueda) used to come to the same orphanage. The parents think that their son may be seeing ghosts since he is very sick. One day he vanishes and the movie tells the story of the mother's quest for the connection between the orphanage's history and his disappearance.
I noticed that the spanish from spain is slightly different from the spanish of mexico (or that from my family). This movie being made in spain, has a more annunciated form of spanish than what I am used to. This reminded me that while many countries have spanish speaking people, there are many ways for the spanish language to be spoken.

la musica mexicana y quinceaneras

I come from a predominantly white community, so I think I lived a sheltered childhood.  The only Spanish music I had ever listened to before this assignment was during high school, I was in one of my good friends quinceanera.  

The Quinceanera was a great experience for me.  I learned a lot about Spanish culture during that event.  I mostly learned how important religion is to Spanish Americans; mass was close to 2 hours long.  Then when we finally got to the hall where the dance part was it was so much fun.  The music and doing the cumbia and the other dances (can't remember the names) was so much fun.  There were dances that everyone else at the party knew already, but they all waited and watched us do our show and then everyone was dancing.  I also learned that Tradition and Family is very important in Spanish culture.  My friend April's whole family was there, including Aunts, Uncles, and third cousins.  It's different from American culture because its more focused on immediate family.

I also looked into some Spanish music and more of the cumbia on youtube-- I find it really interesting that the spanish music seems to flow better than it would in English.  I also find it interesting that it rhymes.  I figured that it would be easier to make it sound good in Spanish but harder to make it rhyme and make sense.  

The Virgin, Saints, Angels, & Me

I absolutely love going to museums so when I heard that there was an exhibition we could use for our blog I was really excited. I went to the special tour open to the public for this exhibition yesterday. The paintings are beautiful. My favorites are "The Penitent Mary Magdalene," "Noah's Ark," and "The Last Judgment." I thought it was interesting how in almost every painting God and the Holy Spirit were present. God is typically displayed at the top of the painting with his arms spread open and the Holy Spirit as a dove right below God flying towards the observer of the painting.

When the Spanish came to the New World, Catholic missionaries also came with them, and their main goal was to convert the indigenous people. They used paintings to communicate with the indigenous people since they didn't speak the same language. To the Spanish missionaries' surprise these indigenous people understood what the paintings were trying to convey even though it was supernatural concepts. I'm Hmong which is a small tribe that's scattered throughout the world, but the majority currently reside in Laos where they practice shamanism, the worship of spirits and ancestors. I don't practice shamanism, but my grandparents still do. My grandparents are really strict and stubborn so it would seem really hard to convert them especially if there's already a language barrier. It amazes me that those South American tribes could understand and convert to Catholicism.

I really liked this exhibit. The Blanton is the last venue for this exhibit, and when the exhibit leaves the Blanton it'll go into storage. These paintings won't be in exhibits for many years so if you want to see these paintings make sure you go before they leave. It may be a once in a life time opportunity.

La Música

I started getting into Spanish music last year when my roommate introduced me to Juanes and Julieta Venegas, and since then I have really come to love many different Spanish artists and types of Spanish music. Julieta sings songs about things that many English singers do, for example in my favorite song of hers, No Seré, she talks about how she is not a perfect woman but she is just as capable of making someone happy. This is a topic many people in general are able to relate to, myself included. She has songs about love and songs about life, as does Juanes. Spanish music is just like that of English and it is just as easy to relate to, and in some cases, it's more fun to dance to. Some Spanish music has the beat that a lot of English music is missing out on [it's difficult to find an English song that is adequate for Cha Cha or Salsa dancing]. If I feel like I need to dance, I know that I can always count on Spanish music to get my feet moving.

Juanes

I went into writing this blog pretty blind. I have never listened to any Spanish music and thought this would be a great opportunity to hear some. While on youtube, I came across a guy named Juanes. The first song I listened to was called "Me Enamora" (translated into English: "It Makes Me Fall in Love") . It was very catchy and I absolutely loved the beat. Compared to the slow love songs written in English, Me Enamora has a faster beat. I then watched a music video called "La Camisa Negra" (translated into English: "The Black Shirt"), which was also a very catchy song. This song has also topped the charts in many countries including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela. I found out that there is some controversy with the song though. In Italy, the neo-fascist group was using it as support. I think it is very interesting how different countries interpret songs in different ways. As I was coming across all this music, I became interested in Juanes and decided to look up his biography. Juanes is from Colombia. He was in a group called Ekhymosis. In 1998, he decided to go solo and it seems as if he is very big in the Latin community. I am very glad I came across Juanes. I now consider myself a fan of his music and look forward to discovering more!

Pan's Labyrinth pt 2

In response to Misha's post, I've also seen Pan's Labyrinth (it's one of my favorite movies!). I remember going to go see it in theaters and also trying to see how much Spanish I was able to catch and translate on my own (seeing as how I had a couple years of Spanish in high school). I remember getting very confused while watching the movie when different verb conjugations came into play because of all the different tenses used in Spanish. Conjugating verbs is definitely something to get used to, but I do feel like it's more helpful in establishing subject and verb agreement and it gets rid of a lot of subject verb confusion.
I was also fascinated by the historical aspect of the film. Since it was set in 1944 fascist Spain, it gave me a better look at conditions in post-Civil War in Spain. With the rebels still fighting the fascist army in the mountains, it allows Ofelia to escape the problems of the time and enter this fantasy world. Such a beautiful movie! Everyone must see it if they haven't already.

Merging Hispanic Culture

It is very interesting to realize how much of our society is influenced by Hispanic culture. Especially living in Texas, a state that has one of the highest Hispanic populations. I have grown up with a lot of things that I have never realized originated from a Hispanic culture.

One of the main and more obvious influences is the food. Mexican food is so popular in Texas that it has evolved into its own style of cuisine only found in Texas, the popular Tex-Mex. Tex-Mex has spread to other parts of the US and even other countries.

There has been a huge rise in the popularity of Latino music in American culture. Artists such a Enrique Iglesias, and Shakira have successfully integrated Latin music with American pop music and become huge stars worldwide.

Clothes from Hispanic culture have also been a large influence in the United States. Fashion trends like brightly colored Mexican dresses and ponchos have become trendy in the US and are regularly worn in Mexico and some other surrounding Hispanic countries.

It is evident that these cultural influences will continue to be a strong presence in the lives of Americans as our cultures and becoming more and more intertwined.

Merging Hispanic Culture

It is very interesting to realize how much of our society is influenced by Hispanic culture. Especially living in Texas, a state that has one of the highest Hispanic populations. I have grown up with a lot of things that I have never realized originated from a Hispanic culture.

One of the main and more obvious influences is the food. Mexican food is so popular in Texas that it has evolved into its own style of cuisine only found in Texas, the popular Tex-Mex. Tex-Mex has spread to other parts of the US and even other countries.

There has been a huge rise in the popularity of Latino music in American culture. Artists such a Enrique Iglesias, and Shakira have successfully integrated Latin music with American pop music and become huge stars worldwide.

Clothes from Hispanic culture have also been a large influence in the United States. Fashion trends like brightly colored Mexican dresses and ponchos have become trendy in the US and are regularly worn in Mexico and some other surrounding Hispanic countries.

It is evident that these cultural influences will continue to be a strong presence in the lives of Americans as our cultures and becoming more and more intertwined.

Pan's Labyrinth

I watched Pan's Labyrinth this weekend, and I paid attention to verb endings a lot (trying, in vain, to understand most of the movie, as it was in Spanish). There were way more possible conjugations than I thought--thank goodness for the translation below, or I would've had no idea what some of the words would've meant.

More than that, I think it was a good indirect way to learn about Spain's turbulent civil-war filled past. It seems like, culture to culture, generals are the same, and war atrocities are the same.

I wonder if Hispanic perceptions of frightening things are different than mine--because Pan was TERRIFYING!

It was also a good way to see ties between Spanish fantasy and other fantasy--the mandrake was present in this movie, as well as in Harry Potter. While they did different things in each movie, they both took the form of a rather ugly baby in both.

Greetings and Gender

I found it very old that when doing the last SAM activity, it asked, if you touch people when you first meet them or keep your distance from them. Growing up in America, we are taught to respect peoples "bubble" and not to violate their space, even when we do know them. So I was very confused as to why the book would ask if we touched people when we first met them, since we do not get close to many people we know well.
After studying traditional Spanish greetings, it makes sense as to why the book would ask that question. In Spanish nations, it is the social norm for men to hug each other and kiss women on the cheeks. It is also normal for woman to kiss other women on the cheeks. Therefore, we can tell Spanish countries are much more personal when it comes to greetings.
I also find it very interesting how Spanish speakers put such an emphasis on gender when speaking and writing. In the United States, we have things that we would say are femine and some that are masculine, but we really do not have any formal rules within the English language for gender. Therefore, I find this very interesting! After doing some research, the information about gender and the evolution of the Spanish language is all over the board with no real answers as to how these rules originated.

A Puerto Rican friend of mine likes to throw in some Spanish words when she's talking to me in English, partly because she knows I'm learning Spanish, and partly because she just talks naturally and comfortably that way. It's pretty cute and funny because I really have to listen to keep up before she gets carried away. The mixing of words from different languages doesn't just happen with Spanish and English, although living in Texas, that is the most common mix. Sometimes, there are some things that can't be described accurately using English, so people use a word from their native language that is more accurate. Some English words also just don't have that "tang" or "oomph" to the meaning, so a word from a different language is used. Other times there is more enjoyment and satisfaction of pronouncing a word in another language besides English that makes people want to mix them up. I haven't heard much Spanglish or slang like that, but hopefully once I learn more Spanish I will be able to pick up some.

I think that the idea of spanglish, the mixing of english and spanish language, is very interesting. It shows how the location in which you live in, and the culture you belong to, plays a very important role in the way you speak. A hispanic growing up in america, might practice spanish at home, but at school or with his friends use english. then he might mix the two languages together, probably not on purpose. In my communications class, we learned that this is called codeswitching, which is the alternating use of two languages. Growing up in san antonio, and having alot of hispanic friends, i have seen them mix spanish words in while talking to me, or mix english words in while talking to their family. I think it is so interesting that people do this because it shows that the people you talk to and where you are talking to people influences the way you talk. For many bilingual speakers in the united states, spanish has become a new type of slang. It reflects the type of person that many Hispanics in the United States are.

Not just another movie

Dirty Dancing Havana Nights has become a popular movie and rendition of the older movie. It shows the different aspects of the Cuban culture and the revolution that was going on in the late 1950s. The movie discusses a time when Castro was forcing all Americans to leave their country and an American girl and her family face the struggle of leaving a life of luxury or trying to fight the potential overturning of a government and the expected chaos that was to follow. Although this movie was made as a source of entertainment, it also gave me more of a sense of Cuba. Throughout the movie we were able to see different aspects of the culture, from dance, to dress, to food. It also gave me more insight into the radiant and bold Cuban culture.

common words in spanish

I find the Spanish words very interesting.  Sometimes if you change one letter or change the accent to a different spot in the same word it means something totally different.  I noticed the reaction to spanish only speaking people is that they are in total disarray as to what you actually meant.  I would think if something like that were to happen in english that it would be easy to catch and understand what the beginner meant.  I think this makes it extremely difficult to have a conversation when you are a beginner.