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. 

Latin American Art

One aspect of Latin American culture that I am more familiar with (besides food) is art. We have a very valuable resource on campus in The Blanton. The art museum houses multiple pieces of art from influential Latin American artists. Studying the art of a group of people often highly reflects social, political and environmental factors that influence them. In connection to the conversation we had in class regarding the colonial expansion of the Spanish and French (and why Latin America is called ‘Latin America’), I’d like to introduce Cildo Meireles’ ‘How To Build Cathedrals.’ The work, located in the back of the America/Americas exhibit, is made of 600,000 coins, 800 communion wafers, 2000 cattle bones and 80 paving stones. The exhibit highlights the relationship between wealth, agricultural exploitation and religion. As a contemporary artist, Meireles draws from old world views to create a modern work of art. Other artists to check out in the Blanton are David Alfred Siqueiros, Gyula Kiocise, Antonio Berni and Joaquin Torres-Garcia.

Oswaldo Guayasamin is considered a popular, socially-concerned artist in Educador. My favorite painting, "The Scream," is a work by Guayasamin that most relate to Picasso. His images capture political oppression, racism, poverty and class division found in South America.