Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias.

In Valencia, Spain, there are some really cool, weird, modern buildings. Ciudad de las artes y las ciencias es interesante y maravilla arquitectonica. The buildings are really neat because of the architecture and water that surrounds them. Just looking at the outside of them make me want to go there just to see what it looks like on the inside of the buildings and seeing all the (I'm sure) amazing things inside.

Dia de los Muertos

This week, since we had to write something about Dia de los Muertos, I figured I'd make my post about it. Dia de los Muertos is a holiday similar to Halloween, but at the same time it's not at all like Halloween. The people celebrate Dia de los Muertos to celebrate the memory of the dead. Loved ones, in particular. Traditionally, they build a altar for their loved ones to honor them. On the altar they place items that are to represent who they are/were. The festivities also include eating and partying for the dead. Dia de los Muertos esta a interesante celebracion.

This week

This week in Spanish, we learned about irregular verbs! There are so many of them. However, most of them seem really familiar from taking Spanish in high school, so they shouldn't be too hard to remember on the test. Some of the verbs are only irregular in the yo form, some change from e to ie, o to ue, and some stay the same in nosotros form. Verbs always seem to have all these rules and exceptions, but that's kind of like everything else in life. Verbos en Spanish se muy importante de aprender.

Mariachi

Tonight, I ate a Aculopocos, a local restaurant in downtown, Amarillo Texas. There is where my idea for a blog sparked. Listening to the mariachi band play songs! I've been to birthdays, weddings, and several restaurants that have mariachi bands, and I knew someone in high school who frequently performed in one. Generally, mariachi bands have a couple of trumpets, a guitar, a saxophone, singers, and sometimes more instruments play in as well. Mariachi bands were originated in Mexico, and spread throughout Spanish speaking countries, each of them making their own unique contributions to their bands. Customarily, mariachi bands play upbeat, happy, dancing-type music that boosts people's attitudes. Mariachi musica esta muy bueno, feliz musica.

Esta semana

This week we learned about fútbol in Spain. I learned that Spainards don't just love fútbol, but that they are "crazy" about it. I also was informed that the biggest stadium for fútbol is in Club Barcelona, where 100,000 people can watch the games. I didn't realize there were different types of Spanish; in Barcelona they speak Catalan, which I've never heard of before. Catalan esta a lenguaje romantico. Along with Barcelonians speaking Catalan, I didn't realize that Spain speaks at least 5 different languages: Spanish, Catalan, Galacian (although I'm not sure that's spelled correctly), and Basco being four of them.

Piñata

Piñata's are a celebratory icon originated from Mexico. Originally, piñatas were made of clay pots that represented a particular god. Once the piñata's were broken, what was inside and fell out represented favors presented by the gods. Piñata's now, are generally popular around children's birthdays, made of characters, and filled with candy to be shared. Once, in elementary school, my teacher taught us how to make piñata's. We used balloons, paper mache, newspapers, and tissue paper. Piñata's se muchas haces divertidas!

The House on Mango Street

This week in Spanish when I was reading my book that I bring to class, I actually started learning more of what the book was about by getting both the English version and the Spanish version and comparing the two. It's amazing how some of the words are so close to one another in pronounciation and spelling. Some Spanish words even seem to make more sense than English ones do. My book seems to be a pretty easy read, good book. Mi libro es 'La Casa en Mango Street'.

Quinceañera

In Spanish speaking countries, there are many traditional events that are very important to family, life, and culture. One of them is the quinceanera, which takes place on a girl's fifteenth birthday (hence quince). This is a day that marks a girl's entry to womanhood, and leaving childhood behind. Having a quincenera is a lot to plan, and can be very expensive. There involves dancing, food, a ceremony and the dress and make up for the special girl. Yo deseao yo podria han a quincenera pero es tambien tarde!

Drug War

In Mexico, there is currently a war going on, more commonly known as the 'Mexican Drug War'. I found out about this pretty recently (which is probably a bad thing I'm not keeping up with these things), but it started a while back because the government is trying to stop drug trafficking in Mexico. Mexico is a large supplier of quite a few drugs, including meth and cocaine, that is going to the United states. It's been suggested that about 90% of cocaine going into our country is coming from Mexico. Considering this war started in 2007, it's been pretty violent because many people have died. Esta estima que sobre treinta mil han murio.

Family

This last week in Spanish, we learned about family terms, and we learned a little about Spanish families. We watched a video about how families tend to be bigger in Spanish countries, and got to see how some of their life-styles are. It didn't really go into religious practices in Spanish families, but I think that has a big influence on why their families tend to be bigger. Catholic practices tend to lean toward having many children, from what I understand. Yo relamente disfrutar de esta capitulo, porque la familia es muy importante para mi.