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.