Spanish Encounters

Spanish Encounters

Work Encounters

I have encountered many Mexicans at Fareway. Some don't speak at all others speak very little but when they are talking together that's a different story. I know going to Mexico and every thing they did speak very fast but it still gets me how fast they talk.
Then one day that I was working I was facing the Jello and the pudding and I never realized that there was Spanish on the boxes. I guess I never really look that close to the labels on things to see weather they have Spanish on them or not. So just out of curiosity I started to read all the labels and a lot of they have Spanish on them.
The people I am working with Some of the people that I work with we start to randomly start saying things in Spanish. We try to see who can say more things in Spanish. When you think about it being in Spanish 3 you do know a lot of words and phrases.
There is this gentleman that comes into Fareway and he knows many languages and one day he stars to talk to me in Spanish and I knew what he was saying and the weird thing is I actually answered him in Spanish and didn't even realize it.

Other Encounters

While I was babysitting I played a game with the kids on the computer. You had to dress Dora and put different backgrounds and animals in the picture. Once you put the things you want in the picture it tells you the English word then the Spanish word. The kids looked at my funny when I said what some of the things were in Spanish before it said it on the computer. And I actually learned some things too. There were some words I didn't know what they were. But I guess you learn something new every day.

Spanish is every where in every day life. You really don't notice until you look for it.

Fareway...

Sunday, November 27, 2011

One night when I was working in Fareway some spanish speaking customers came to my register. When I asked them how they were and if they found everything alright they replied back to me in English. Needless to say, after I was done asking them that, they began speaking to one another in Spanish. I was shocked at how they spoke English to me but then right away went back to their fluent language. While I was scanning their groceries, they continued to talk in Spanish. I tried to comprehend what they were saying but it was very difficult. They spoke very quickly but I was also able to pick out some of the words they were saying. Once I was finished and was handing them back their change, I really wanted to tell them their correct amount of change in Spanish. I didn't end up saying it in Spanish though because I didn't want to mess up. Whenever I hear spanish speaking customers though I am always tempted to try talking to them in Spanish, even though usually I never do. I thought it was interesting though how they knew the basics of what to say to me but afterwards just went to their normal language. It was a cool experience and I always find it amusing to hear people speak fluent spanish.

Wii game encounter

I was shopping for a game on the wii, mario party 8, and this struct me as strange. I was use to all of the games instructions being in mainly english but not with this wii game. The details on the back were mainly in spanish! This is the first time that I had encountered this but it was okay. On the back it had one sentence in english and then a long summary in spanish about the game. This was an eye opener that not all games are english revolved.

Alejandro Sanz

I was looking up spanish songs and I came across this amazing singer Alejandro Sanz. He was born in Madrid on December 18, 1968. He married Jaydy Mitchel, a mexican model, in December 2000. He had one child with her, which was a daughter. They split and now he has another child.

Before singing became apart of Alejandro's life he studied administration and business studies. Administration and business was not what he wanted in life, so he started singing. His First album came out in 1991, which was Viviendo Deprisa. He became nationally famous. I suggest you to listen to his songs such as Los Dos Cogidos de la Mano, Se le Apago La Luz, ect.

My Real Life Situation

Over the weekend I went up to GreenBay, granted I'm a Steelers fan, I went up there for the experience. I had never been out of state, so I was scared, but also excited. The drive took forever! Once we were there, it was all worth it! I saw a lot of cool things, but the one thing that stood out was how many people I was around. Tons of different races!

I was walking by and heard a person talking really fast spanish on his phone, he talked really fast, but I could understand a few words! As we were walking around looking at all of the people tailgating, a man from one of the stands had actually came up to me and started talking in spanish, I wanted to say that I didn't know much spanish, but once I got into that situation I was scared I would mess up and he'd laugh at me, so I felt like I forgot everything I had learned!

I had a lot of fun though, and it just shows how many races there are throughout the states! I was extremely surprised on how many there were and hopefully next time I won't freeze up ;) and maybe try and talk in spanish! :)

Experience

Last week I was with Kelli Bonert and we were talking about The Lion King. I had one of the songs beats stuck in my head but I didn't know the lyrics so we went on Youtube to find the video. Sure enough we found the song that we were looking for. I listened to it in English first then we switched it to German and Japanese etc. We later listened to the Spanish in the video and I understood all of it. It was a great way to compare English to Spanish.It was a good time, and it helped having almost three years of Spanish to understand it. Even in reality I can understand some of what the people speaking Spanish are talking about. There was a day even that there was Spanish instructions and we couldn't find the English one. So I attempted to translate a little bit of the instructions, but after I got a few sentences, we found the English instructions.



A few nights ago I listened to Fotografia by Juanes ft. Nelly Furtado, which was the song we listened to in one of my previous years in Spanish. As soon as I heard the song I remembered the frustration that we all had trying to figure out the English to it. I still remember the meaning of the song. The photos and how they felt about each other, helped and I know parts of it in Spanish that I can say. Which makes me learn even more Spanish then I already knew. Listening to movies in Spanish, music, and people makes a big difference. It helps you establish more than what you already know.

Church Card

I go to church at St. Luke's Church in Hopkinton, Iowa. We have have this card that is from the Arch Dieces and on the front it is written in English. When you turn it over it is all in Spanish. I could figure out what some of the words meant, but there were also some that I did not know. It is good that we have Spanish in our church life.

Starlin Castro

The appropriately named up-and-coming star for the Chicago Cubs has a bright future ahead of him at shortstop. Or maybe not so much, at least defensively. He mainly stars at hitting the ball hard and often, leading the National League in hits last year and holding a .307 batting average. Hold, on though. He is still pretty rough on some edges, like defense leading the MLB in errors for a shortstop last season. He could definitely use some refining, but the raw talent is definitely there. He has the ability to hit for power, hitting 10 homeruns last season, and he appears to be able to grow into more power, naturally, unlike, say, Ryan Braun. As far as his defense is concerned, look no further than the old saying, you hit your way off the island (Dominican Republic).

Still having language barriers

After being in Spanish for over two years i was feeling pretty confident in my spanish speaking skills. But after i traveled to Mexico over this past summer I realized that there is still a major language barier when it comes to me being able to talk to people who only know how to speak spanish. I did pretty good for the most part at being able to breakdown what they said to me and piecing together a sentence but when they start to talk really fast because they are excited you are american who knows spanish then I got super lost and had to ask them to slow down. so what I learned from this is that even with over two years of spanish under my belt there are still a lot of hings that I need to learn yet. But it was a great experience and I learned a lot for the time that I was there.

Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias was born May 8, 1975 in Madrid, Spain. He is half Spanish and half Filipino. Iglesias was in danger. His grandfather was captured by a terrorist group, so he was sent to live with his father in Miami. His grandfather was later found safe. At the age of 15 he secretly started writing music. In 1995 Iglesias released his first album. Today Enrique is still a very successful song writer and singer.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005040/bio

Camila is a soft rock, Mexican, group of singers that we often listen to in class. The band was created in 2005, and it has three members. Mario Domm is producer and composer from Mexico City, Samuel Parra is a vocalist from Veracruz and Pablo Hurtado is a guitarist from San Luis Potosí. This group is very, very popular in Mexico. The name Camila comes from the idea "close to God". The group has released five albums so far including "Dejarte de Amar" and "Todo Cambio". The group writes a lot of their songs in airports and hotel rooms, out of the love for their artistry and music. You could say they formed the group out of luck. Everybody was in the right place in the right time, and it just made sense. I think this is a great group to listen to. It's very easy listening and I really enjoy it in Spanish Class. I wanted to know more about them and I love the meaning of the name Camila and how it resembles their faith. It is a great group to be modeled in Mexico and the United States because of their character and the fact that they are excellent role models. I've always loved listening to bands and the radio, or anytime of music. Now that I've had a chance to research that aspect in an entirely different culture, I have fresh perspective on how big the world really is. If you want to listen to Camila and similar artists you can hear it for free by searching for Camila on Pandora Radio on the internet.

-- Hermosa Guthrie

http://www.last.fm/music/Camila

Illegal Mexican Immigration

A few days ago Homeland Security was at my friend's farm. They asked his dad some questions, but refused to release any information. His dad was required to drive all the way to Des Moines for a court case with just one day prior of being notified. He changed some plans around in order to make his appearance. My friend told me about it all and we were still completely bewildered as to what exactly was going on.
The next day I finally got to hear what it was about. Apparently another local farmer in the area, that his dad previously worked for, had many illegal immigrants working for him. He knew that they were all illegal and stated so in his testimony. Everything is alright for my friends family, but the other guy may not be as fortunate.
Now the man faces up to five years in prison with fines of thousands upon thousands of dollars. All of the aliens were of Mexican ethnicity. There are cases like this very often, however, this was the closest one to me.
I understand why they would want to come here. America is the place of hopes and dreams, were someone can really make it from any ethnic group. Afterall, look were Obama made it. Yet Mexican backrounds are much different, who wouldn't want to get away from all of the horriffic crimes we hear about down there everyday. It's a hard enough life as it is, though one thing is for sure, if you want to be an United States citizen, you must do it the right way following the law.

Anthony "Romeo" Santos

The other day, as I was winding down for the day and listening to my ipod, I came to a new song that I had just added a while back. That song is called "Promise" by Romeo Santos featuring Usher. I have not heard of Romeo Santos other than the song, so this kind of intrigued me. The part of the song that Romeo is in is all Spanish, so he is obviously of Mexican heritage. Romeo Santos is an American of Dominican-Puerto Rican heritage. He was born on July 21, 1981 in the Bronx, New York. He was His childhood consisted of his love for music. Not only his love for music, but more specifically his love for songwriting. When people hear an unfamiliar song, they usually want to know who sang it. However, Romeo was more curious in who wrote the songs. His passage of fame began when he joined his church choir, and shortly after started a band called Aventura with a few of his buddies. Apart from singing, his main role in the group was songwriting. Their original songs intrigued many people. He new is dream had come true when he was asked to sing for the president in 2009. After great successes with the group, Romeo split and released his first single on May 9, 2011. Ever since, his songs have been top songs on Latin charts. Now that I know a little about the artist of "Promise", I have a new respect for the song knowing that he probably wrote it. His voice is very soothing and rich and I will definitely check out some more of his songs.

http://www.romeosantosofficial.com/us/biography

http://www.yakoradio.com/images/photo%20galleries/Romeo%20Santos/Romeo_Santos_for_Promo_1_-_for_press_release.jpg

Scrubs

I was watching a episode of Scrubs the other day in which Turk and Carla were fighting over when they get married whether or not Carla would take Turk's last name. Carla is Hispanic and wants to keep her last name, Espinoza, because she wants the tie to her Hispanic heritage and family. Turk who is African-American wanted her to take his name to feed his feeling of masculinity. Simply this was a battle between American culture and Hispanic pride. This got me to thinking about how Hispanic people view their culture and heritage when compared to most Americans.

It seems to me that most Caucasian or African Americans are wanting to fit into the culture of their surroundings and do not hold heritage in a very high regard. Hispanic Americans including Carla seem to like to be known as being Hispanic. It seems to give them a sense of pride and of identity. They also hold heritage dear to their heart and they also seem to believe that it is a huge part of who they are. Heritage and culture means a lot more to them then it would for people from other backgrounds in the US.

http://img2-3.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/030203/113420__scrubs_l.jpg

Breaking Dawn

Everyone knows the Twilight saga Breaking Dawn, writen by Stephanie Myer. Breaking Dawn part one was just released on November 18, 2011. Breaking dawn is about Edward and Bella and how deeply in love they are. Then there is that bond with Bella and her old time friend Jacob that she can't live without. The movie starts out Bella and Edward get married and then leave for their honeymoon to Isle Esme. On their long journey there they make a few stops on the Puerto Rican towns. In these towns there are spanish speaking people. In the movie as they got off the boat and got to land they joined a crowd of people singing and dancing in the spanish language. It reminded me of the parties they have in Mexico and spanish speaking countries that we learned about. Then when they reached Isle Esme they saw their house they would be staying in and met their maid. There made turned out to be a latino. She spoke in Spanish and told them what to do when Bella gets pregnate with Edwards kid. To do this she used the Spanish back round and culture to find out what was wrong with Bella and what her destination will be.

A La Nanita Nana

This Spanish carol has many versions. There is the version on "The Cheetah Girls 2" and there is the version the Maquoketa Valley choir is singing for their Christmas concert. The version being sung by the choir is written in Spanish, but has the English translations underneath the Spanish text. The song is speaking about the birth of baby Jesus and the journey of the people to see him. The translations in the score was given by Salvador Ferreras. A La Nanita Nana is a lullaby sung by many Spanish speaking people. The rhythms and some words in this song are also found in other Spanish songs, and the key changes in the song are part of Spanish folksongs and also found in Cuban folksongs. This is a very sweet sounding lullaby, and will be sung by the choir at the Christmas concert.

"A La Nanita Nana." A Treasury of Christmas Carols: The Hymns and Carols of Christmas. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2YXYxW99es

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQuECoCQaM

Spanish Encounters At Work

When I am working, I usually am the cashier. When I am the cashier, I encounter many types of people. Lately, I have noticed that there are a few customers who speak Spanish. One time when I was working, there was a spanish family that came to my check out. They were talking in fluent spanish to eachother, but when they were talking to me it was in english. I was suprised as to how well they spoke english, and how well they understood me. One thing that I found was interesting was that when the family was talking to eachother, I could understand and pick out some of the words they were saying. I could really tell that my years of being in spanish have paid off.

Duncan and My Spanish Experience II

My wonderful friend Duncan and I were bored one Saturday night so we decided we would go to Las Flores in Manchester. It was my first time going there and Duncan had been there a couple times before. I wanted to go mainly so I could blog about it and so I could taste the fried ice cream that other people had talked about. I did not talk any Spanish while I was there but I did listen to the cooks and waitresses/waiters talk in Spanish to each other. It was crazy how fast they were talking to each other and it was almost impossible to understand what they were saying. I believe I did hear them mention how it was not a very busy night though and I believe I heard one of them say aburrido which of course means boring. And since it was a slow night, I decided it would make sense for one of them to say it was a boring night. Duncan was pretty much just long for the ride and he couldn't understand anything they said because he bailed out of Spanish after only two years. Poor kid.

Carlitos Funke

This weekend I was bored so I decided I would watch Pirates of the Caribbean. While I was watching it I realized that Penelope Cruz starred in the movie, so I figured I could do a blog on her.

Penelope Cruz was born April 28, 1974 in Madrid, Spain. As a child she would entertain her family by re-enacting TV commercials. She was also into dance when she was little. She studied classical ballet for nine years. When she was 15 she defeated 300 girls at a talent agency competition. This landed her many roles in dancing. She danced in music videos, and on a hit Spanish TV show. In the Spanish world she was a leading lady. When Penelope was 25 she decided to move to Hollywood, California. She was ready to take charge of her career and she landed a role in the movie, Woman on Top. She starred in many other movies and her career has been very successful and I'm sure there will be more to come. Penelope was the first Spanish actor to win an Academy Award.

Penelope Cruz is a beautiful, hardworking, talented actress. She has been featured in many movies and I'm sure there is more to come. Penelope worked very hard to get where she is now and her success has motivated me to be all that I can be and never settle for anything less than the best.

http://www.biography.com/people/penelope-cruz-9262753

Alexa Vega

Recently I was watching "The Middle" and Alexa Vega starred on the show as Axl's girlfriend. She played the head cheerleader, but then she crushed Axl. It then clicked that I could do my blog on her.

Alexa Vega was born on August 27, 1988 in Miami FLorida. Her father is Columbian and her mother is an American former model. She first starred in the movie Little Giants in 1996, which is one of my favorite movies. She became known worldwide in 2001 when she appeared in the movie Spy Kids. In 2003 she was named one of the years hottest teens in Vanity Fair. In 2004 she was in the movie Sleepover. Her most recent acting would be that she is in the ABC Family show "Ruby and the Rockits".

Alexa Vega has a good career in acting. I'm sure you will be seeing her more in the future. She has been acting since she was eight and she is a great actress. I enjoy most of her movies especially Little Giants and Sleepover.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0891786/bio

Kid Cudi

I had no idea what i was going to do my blog over this quarter. I started looking on the internet for people with Mexican heritage. I came across a list of singers/artists and saw Kid Cudi's name on it. I was in shock. Kid Cudi is one of my favorite rappers and I have him as a station on my Pandora account. I wasnted to know a leiitle about his background.
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi a.k.a. Kid Cudi was born in 1984 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a Mexican American and his mother was African American. Kid Cudi had a passion for music and dropped out of college and moved to Brooklyn. In 2008 he released A Kid Named Cudi and started working with Kanye West. His most popular song was Day N Nite that hit number three on Billboards Top 100. In 2009 he released his debut album Man on the Moon: the End of Day. Some of my favorite songs by him are Day N Nite, Mr. Rager, The Mood, Make Her Say, Pursuit of Happiness, Embrace the Martian, The Prayer, 50 Ways to Make a Record, and Up Up and Away.
Kid Cudi is a great rapper and one of my favorites. I was completely surprised when I found out he had Mexican heritage. He has many great songs and I love listening to him.

Sengupta, Saptakee. "Top Kid Cudi Songs." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.
http://cdn1.ticketsinventory.com/images/last_photos/concert/K/kid-cudi/show_2011_kid-cudi_13042490720589.png

Food Food Food!!

The other day I realized that I had none of my Christmas shopping done!! I knew that I needed to hurry up and get it done as soon as possible! My friend Emilee Muller and myself then decided that we would go to Cedar Rapids and then later we would meet up with my sister and her boyfriend Austin. We took our time shopping and then once we finished my sister Sadie said that she wanted to get some food and I thought that we could go to Carlos O'Kelly's. Everyone agreed and soon enough we were in her car and on our way! When we got their Emilee and I thought about using our Spanish, but we were nervous so we didn't. One thing we did do though is quiz Sadie and Austin on their Spanish to see how they were keeping up on it....let's just say I think they need to take a trip back to Spanish 1 for a few days!! :)

Mariah Carey

While my family was decorating our Christmas tree this weekend, we of course had to also listen to Christmas music. Mom switched CDs and Mariah Carey's voice filled our house with Christmas spirit. I felt she would be a great person to blog about because of her Hispanic background and also because her Christmas CD is one of my favorites comes this time of year.

Mariah Carey was born March 27, 1970, in Long Island, New York to Alfred Roy Carey, A Venezuelan engineer and Patricia Carey. Mariah is the youngest of three children, and her parents divorced when she was three. At a young age, she always imitated her mother's opera singing and was given singing lessons when she turned four. Carey moved to New York after graduating from Harborfields High School in 1987. There she worked as a waitress and a coat check girl while she continued writing songs and actively pursuing a music career at night.

Her first album was released in 1990 entitled Mariah Carey and included 4 number one best selling songs. Her next album was released in 1992, called Emotions and included 2 number one tracks. Carey has sold around 160 million albums worldwide. She is the third-best selling female artist of all time. With 2008's Touch My Body album, she passed Elvis Presley to become second to The Beatles for the most number one hit singles in the United States.

Carey married actor Nick Cannon in 2008 and gave birth to the couple's fraternal twins on their third wedding anniversary this past year.

Shopping Encounter

One day when me some friends went to the movies we were just sitting there talking waiting for the movie to start and a Mexican family came and sat by us. We all decided that we wanted to talk to them they seamed very surprised that we were talking to them and in Spanish. I was surprised at how much I knew but not with how much we were saying "slow down please!" They were also fluent in English since when they would ask us questions, we didn't know how to say it in Spanish so we said it in English and then we just talked English the rest of the time. You could tell they have been in the US for awhile and that they had plenty of practice using their English. I was surprised at how much I actually knew, but i can say the hard work in Spanish is showing. :)

Mario Lopez

Mario Lopez is a 37 year old actor and host. Lopez was born and raised in San Diego, California. He is very connected to Mexico though, as his parents are from there. Mario Lopez was born on October 10, 1973. Lopez was raised as a part of a large Catholic family. His first acting job was on a.k.a. Pablo, in 1984. He is most famous for his role on Saved by the Bell. His role was A.C. Slater, and he remained on the show until it ended. He then continued with fellow cast mates on Saved by the Bell: The College Years. As A.C. Slater, Lopez played a high school wrestler, who was also a ladies man. This is very similar to his real life, in which he really did wrestle, and he was good at it.

After Saved by the Bell, he had smaller roles in various movies and television shows. He has also hosted many events, such as dog shows and beauty pageant shows.

Mario Lopez married Ali Landry in 2004. After only two weeks, they were anulled. Apparently, Mario cheated on Ali during his bachelor party and shortly after they were married!! Mario appeared on Dancing With The Stars in 2006. He and his partner, Karina Smirnoff, received second place at the finale. Lopez and Smirnoff dated for awhile before they eventually broke up in 2008. Towards the end of 2008, Lopez started dating Courtney Mazza. On September 11, 2010, Mario Lopez and Courtney Mazza had their first child, a girl named Gia Francesca Lopez.

I personally like Mario Lopez. I think he's a great actor. Although, in his personal life, he has made some mistakes, such as cheating on his wife, but hopefully now that he's a dad he has matured some:) Saved by the Bell was one of my all time favorite television shows. Lopez was one of my favorite characters. Even though he was a jock, he was still smart and wasn't a complete jerk. I hope you all have a chance to watch Mario Lopez in Saved by the Bell. I'm sure all of you will appreciate it, just as much as I do!!

Toro Kramer

7th hr. Espanol 3

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0530249/bio

http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/mario-lopez/bio/164427

http://www.playbill.com/images/photo/m/a/mariolopez.jpg

Salma Hayek

I was watching Grown Ups the other day and noticed that Salma spoke in Spanish. I never noticed it before so I'm writing about it now. She spoke really fast and it was hard to understand but I was able to make most of it out, which was cool. In the movie, Salma plays the wife of Adam Sandler and is a successful fashion designer who has a huge house and is spoiled. Grown Ups is really funny and I reccommend it to everyone who is in the mood for some humor. I find it ironic that Salma plays a rich person in the movie because it is said she was spolied as a child.

Salma Hayek was born in 1966, in Veracruz, Mexico. Her father is of Mexican descent and is a rich businessman. Her mother is an opera singer too. Salma knew early in her teens that she wanted to become an actor. She was a troublemaker in school, but became successful. Her first acting job was on a Mexican soap opera. She wasn't treated the same as other actors in California, but overcame that and is very noticed today. In 2009, she gave birth to her first child, Valentina. To me, Salma shows how coming from a good background is lucky, but you will still have hardships and anything is possible, you just have to work to get what you want.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000161/bio

Spanish encounter at work

One day I was at work in Theisen's in Monticello. I was running the register when I saw an hispanic costumer walk into the store. While I was helping the people in line I heard this hispanic talking costumer talking in spanish! To my surprise another costumer approached this man and was speaking in fluent spanish as well. I couldn't understand all of what they were saying but I did understand some of it. I was so shocked that I could use my spanish this close to home!

Enrique Iglesias

Last week I was watching best songs of the 2000's. There was a song that came on that I hadn't heard in awhile. It was Hero by Enrique Iglesias. I was kind of shocked because I didn't know that he sung this song. I thought he just started becoming popular these lat two years but I was definitely wrong. I figured he could be somebody I could blog about.
Enrique Iglesias was born on May 8, 1975 in Madrid, Spain. In 1985 his grandfather was kidnapped by a terrorist group, so he was sent to live with his father in Miami. He started off as a Spanish singer and was extremely popular in Latin America. In the 1990's he switched to mainstream English, and started selling albums in the U.S. He has sold over 60 million records worldwide. He won both a Grammy and a Latin Grammy. He holds the record for producing 19 #1's on the Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks. Some of his greatest songs were "Expiriencia Religiosa, Vivir, Miente, Bailamos, Hero, Escape, Do You Know, I Like It, and Tonight."
Enrique Iglesias is an amazing singer. He is well respected in many countries. I hope he comes out with new songs soon.
"Enrique Iglesias." Lyrics Freak. 2010. Web. 14 October 2011.

Hispanic media

The other day, I was watching an episode of South Park about border control. Of course, the episode was not school appropriate, however it attempted to show some spanish culture. One of the characters goes on to become a Mexican icon. He starts off mistaken as an illegal immigrant and works low-level jobs an illegal alien would do. It shows misunderstanding and prejudice Mexicans have to deal with.

I also watched a show about an area affected by drug cartels in Mexico. They would follow around officers and doctors who would go to murder scenes. The censorship was much lower than that of a typical American show. One thing that struck me was that 4 or 5 deaths per day wouldn't be surprising. Another thing was that even immediately after shootings, surrounding businesses and people of the are went about their day as if nothing had happened.

Carlos Esteves

You may know him a Charlie Sheen, or the Machine, or Charlie Harper, or even maybe as that rock star from Mars but you may not know that he is of Latino descent. His birth name was actually Carlos Esteves, but he changed it to Charlie Sheen to gain more credibility as an actor because his father, famous actor Martin Sheen, changed his name but gave his son his birth name. His first movie was The Execution of Private Slovik when he was 9. Although when he was in high school, his acting and baseball careers both looked promising he was expelled for poor grades and attendance and never graduated. Since he has appeared in many classic movies,Platoon, Wall Street, and Major League. What Charlie Sheen is best known for is Two and a Half Men where he became the highest paid comedy actor on TV by making 350,000 per episode until he was fired. Since the 90s, he has dealt with sex, drug and alcohol addictions. Regardless, I view him as a great actor who has had some shortfalls. I think that he has a lot of talent and knows what he is doing when it comes to a lot of things and I believe that it would be hard to dispute that. I find that a lot of people view him as this horrible person who does not care about other but just based off of hearing him speak, I would argue that he does bad things but he truly believes what he is doing is the right thing to do. One way or another, the way I will remember him is his quotes. Although they often make no sense and leave you wondering what is going on, they make you laugh and at times can even be motivational. "I have one speed. One gear. Go! I dare you to keep up with me." "People say it's lonely at the top, but I sure like the view.""Dying is for fools. " "Winning!"

spanish entounter while shopping

My family and I were on our way to Cedar Rapids to go shopping and we were trying to find were Optic Lenses was so we called information ,and then they started to talk in Spanish. They asked the city and state and the place we were looking for. I found it interesting because you would expect it to be in English but you had to change it. Then when we got to the mall there were people talking in Spanish and it was cool ,because they were talking really fast and I understood some of what they were talking about as I walked by. Did you know on some of the tags on clothes the sizes and stuff are in Spanish. Spanish is all around us and know I can see that. Next time when your shopping stop and look around you there is Spanish every were.

Music

I got Demi Lovados CD on Itunes and I was looking threw the songs and I noticed that there was a song in spanish. I listened to the song a few times and I understood the words that Demi was singing. After listening to the song for a few times I listened to it in English and I was correct on the words. I was shocked that I would actually know and understand what she was singing. I thought it was very interesting that spanish was on that CD.

Mexican Farmhands

A few months ago I had the chance to work for one of my dad's friends as a farmhand. My dad farms too, but he doesn't really need any extra help and working for this other guy i got paid nine dollars an hour. I've been working there regularly now and ever since I've started more and more Mexicans have started there too. Usually workers only stay there for a little while until they get sick of it and just leave. There is only one other white guy there near my age that occasionally works when I do. Otherwise when it's just me I almost feel a little intimidated being surrounded and outnumbered by Mexican strangers that or older than me. I never talk to them and they never talk to me. I've gotten use to it, yet it still seems weird were they all come from to work there. I never really thought about it until I had to do my blog and instantly I thought about farming there. At least ten Mexicans work there and only four whites. Its out in the country in earlville, I just don't get where they are from since whites are dominate in our rural community. The only other place where I notice Mexicans are at the mall. Maybe someday soon I'll build up my confidence enough to get over my antisocial-shyness and say "de donde eres?" Of course I know they speak English. I wouldn't want someone to get mad at me thinking that I assumed that they did not. By saying that may make me seem ignorantly narrow-minded and almost incriminating to the point racism. Still however though they are very quiet when working and hardly talk, even with eachother.

Summer Time in Mexico

This summer I went with the Spanish Club to Mexico! It was one amazing experience. The culture, food, way of daily life, and everything was so much different then here! When we first got there I was so excited! I had no idea what to expect. Let's just say it was the end of July and you could tell. The climate was so very different there. You wouldn't feel like you were completely hot, but you would be sweating horribly! The food was way, way different then it is here. Here you think of Mexican as sala, chips, and beef tacos! There its mainly pork and chicken tacos with corn tortillas (not the best.) A beef taco down there was like a steak taco here! It took awhile for everyone to get adjusted to the food, just ask Stacey Murray and Taylor Lubben! Going the bathroom I was not used to at all. Throwing your used TP in the toliet was bad! Well you always had a garbage can right there for you! The culture is very different. They are more family, family, family! Us, we are more friends, hanging out, things like that! They were always with there family! When I got my nails done in Isla Mueres, the lady that did my nails her aunt, grandma, mother, sister, and others all came in to talk to her. It was like whoa! Family Reunion! If you even knew a little of spanish it was the biggest thing to them! It made them so happy! We are used to forest, but there it's all jungle, and weird fields. The life down there is just so very different. I would DEFINATLY suggest going to Mexico! One experiance you will never forget!

Spanish TV

One day, while I was flipping through the channels on our Dish, I noticed an all Spanish channel. Realizing that it would be a perfect opportunity for a blog idea, I decided to check it out. I didn't watch enough of the show to follow what it was about, however I did recognize some of the words they said. One thing that was an eye opener for me was how fast they talked! I didn't realize it until now. On top of the fast talking, some of them had very heavy accents, which made it even more difficult to pick out words that I recognized. Another thing that surprised me was the commercials. Their commercials are just like those we have here. For example, there were commercials for Jeep, Avon, and Covergirl. Drew Barrymore starred in the Covergirl commercial, and her nationality is American, so it was nice to see that they incorporated some American pop culture in their television. It was also nice to finally put what I have learned the past three years to use. I was also surprised at how many words and phrases I recognized.

Sofia Vergara

A show that I enjoy watching is Modern Family. I like it because it is a really funny and entertaining show. One of my favorite characters on the show is Gloria. Gloria is a very outgoing and outspoken woman. She says what is on her mind, and she doesn't care what she says. Gloria is also a latina woman. She is played by Sofia Vergara. Sofia was born on July 10, 1972 in Barranquilla, Colombia. A surprising fact abot her is that she is a natural blonde. It is surprising because when you think of Latina women, you think of deep, dark brown hair. From a young age, Sofia went to classes at a private bilingual school, where she mastered the english language. In her teenage years, Sofia was noticed for her good looks. She was a model, and when she was 17 she appeared in a Pepsi commercial in Latin America. At the age of 18, she got married and had a son, Manolo. After modeling, she transfered over to acting. In Latin America, she appeared on many shows. She also appeared on a spanish channel in the United States. Later, she crossed over to American television and movies. She appeared in the movie Four Brothers and the show Entourage. You can now see Sofia on Modern Family, which is on ABC on Wednesdays.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso is a Spanish Formula One driver. He was born on July 29, 1981 in Spain. He sat in his first racing kart when he was three years old. Like his dad, Jose Luis, Fernando shared a passion for racing. He won 8 races of a junior competition when he was just seven years old. His dad served as his mechanic until he was 12. Fernando won almost all of his competitions. Soon he realized that his families income could not support the fees of his costly racing. So he worked hard to win races to find sponsors, and he succeeded. He constantly broke records for being the youngest racer in a competition's class. A former Formula One driver, Adrián Campos, entered Fernando into the Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan race in 1999 and he won. Fernando then climbed his way rapidly to the top, and by 2001 he was entering his first Formula One race. In 2003 he won the Hungarian Grand Pix Formula One race with Renault. He was the youngest driver to place in 2002 and to win in 2003. Fernando is a two-time World Champion. From the age of three, stepping in to his first racing kart, to winning the World Championship, Fernando Alonso has fulfilled his father's greatest dream for him. Way to go Fernando, you are very inspiring.

http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/celebrities/fernando-alonso.htm

Selena Gomez

I decided to do my blog over Selena Gomez. Selena was born in New York and then at a younge age moved to Grand Prairie,Texas. Her parents are originally from Mexico. There she got rolls in the shows, "Barney and Friends" in 1992, and "Gianna" in 2001. Then her acting career hit a low, she wasnt getting auditions and she wasn't staring in any television shows or movies. Then she got a small roll as "Mikayla" in Hannah Montana. In this roll she played she had to dispise Hannah and had to be better than her. And next a roll in "The Suite Life Zack and Cody." There she played "Gwen." After those kick starts her career seemed to sky rocket. She then got the lead roll in "The Wizards of Waverly Place," as Alex Russo. In "Wizards," also she plays the daughter of a Latino Family! Then she stared in the movies, "The Princes Protection Prgram," "Horton Hears a Who!" "Another Cinderella Story," and "Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie." Selena enjoys hanging out with her best friend, Demi Lavoto when she gets the chance. Also her favorite subjuct is Science, and she loves to play basketball.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1411125/bio

Salma Hayek

I decided to do my blog on Salma Hayek. The idea came to me this weekend after I got done watching Grown Ups, which she stars in. Salma Hayek was born September 2, 1966 in Mexico. She first became famous in Mexico after she starred in "Theresa" a soap opera. Salma left Mexico in 1991 and moved to L.A. in hopes of furthering her career. At first Salma was discouraged, she was having trouble getting jobs, and didn't land any huge movies. In 1995 she got her big break and starred on Desperado. Since then Salma Hayek has appeared in many movies. In 2009 she married Francois-Henri Pinault. She is continuing to further her career, and is a great role model to many young kids today.

URL: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000161/bio

Spanish Experience at the Mall

Tyler, John, Luke, and myself were walking along at the Dubuque Mall when Tyler said that he wanted a phone cover. So we went to the phone cover booth in the mall and a Mexican man was working and on his phone. After he got off his phone he looked to us and said que pasa. I instantly replied with nada and then he started talking in English. I am guessing he forgot he had to talk in English or something but I also think he was surprised that I said something back to him in Spanish. Its cool to think that I can do that now and be confident in what I say. Luke and Tyler were surprised I even responded and I honestly was too. But, the hard work in Espanol III is paying off and that is good to know.

Carlitos Funke

Daisy Fuentes

Although Ms. Fuentes was born in Havana, Cuba, her family fled to Madrid, Spain when she was three years old due to political annoyances. Daisy learned English by watching I Love Lucy episodes, so when her family soon moved to New Jersey, she was prepared for the American life. She began modeling during her senior year of high school and was offered a weather girl position at a local news channel while attending Bergen Community College and majored in communications. Fuentes soon moved to New York where she was named host of the MYV International, a one hour Spanish speaking show that aired in Latin America and the United States. Daisy Fuentes continued her career with modeling, being a spokesperson and even hosting America's Funniest Home Videos and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve. Among her accomplishmenst, Fuentes appeared on the cover of People in Espanol's "50 Most Beautiful" women, created her first fashion line in 2004 along with haircare products and a new perfume, and also came out with Daisy Fuentes Pilates for Nintendo Wii in 2009. Today, Fuentes lives in California continuing with her many talents. Although she has never been married and has no children, she couldn't be happier living the life she's always dreamed of.

Carlos Marin

Il Divo might be an Italian band name, but this group is made of four men from four different countries. One of the men is Carlos Marin. He was born on October 13th, 1968. He was discovered when he was young. His first album came out when he was only eight years old, and the second was when he was ten. He also performed in many musicals including the following: Les Misérables, The Beauty and the Beast, and Grease. He sang for Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas and the Spanish version of Cinderella. He was a baritone for many operas including La Traviata, The Barber of Seville, La Bohème, Lucia Di Lammermoor, and Madame Butterfly, and many more. He is now a singer in the group called Il Divo. They were put together by Simon Cowell in 2006. The group is touring and the first time I saw them was on America's Got Talent about a week ago. They sing in different languages and are big in other countries. Carlos Marin has been a baritone for many years and is still persuing a career in music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYMLMj-SibU
"Carlos Marin Il Divo Fans." Il Divo Fans Il Divo News Community By and For Fans. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

A few days ago I heard the song "Hips Don't Lie" on the radio, and I realized that Shakira would be an interesting person to do a blog on. She was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her father was Lebanese and her mother Colombian. Shakira honors her Latino heritage throughout her music. Her major breakthrough was her album Pies Descalzos. The album had Latin, rock and Arabic music. She was very famous in the Spanish-language markets, but also wanted to be famous in the U.S. Pop Charts. Shakira moved to Miami and taught herself how to write songs in English. In 2001, her first English album Laundry Service was a big hit. Shakira has won two Grammy Awards and seven Latin Grammy Awards. By 2006 she had won 32 awards.

Learning about Shakira made me realize that she worked really hard to get to where she is today. Teaching herself how to write songs in English could not have been easy and today she is a very popular singer because of that. She had a goal of becoming a singer and creating English albums and she achieved that goal.

http://www.biography.com/people/shakira-189151

Fools Rush In

A couple of nights ago Dad and I were watching Fools Rush In. I have always liked the movie and was glad to watch it again, although this time was different because when parts had Mexican culture in it, I kept thinking about what Senorita said about them in class and she was completely right. Isabella's (the girl in the picture) father was extremely angry when she became pregnant and put many Catholic pressers on the baby's dad and her boyfriend (the guy in the picture.) They are very much into their religion and will keep the faith within the family.

When Isabella or anyone would speak Spanish it was very hard to keep up with the speed that they talk. The words on the bottom helped but I still had a hard time making out the Spanish they were speaking. The movie just reiterated that Spanish people are extremely religious and they do speak very, very fast and that we still have so much improvement to do so we can speak just like them.

Experience

One night I was with my mom and we were shopping and while I was in the store I saw a mother and her little girl. As I was browsing wasting time waiting for my mom I noticed they were speaking Spanish and the Mom's Spanish was fluent. It was amazing because the little girl just like us kids learning Spanish spoke it slower. I could really understand what she said which made the experience ten times better. It made me realise that even as a little kid she wasn't totally fluent and that's the same way in America with our English. They were having fun looking at clothes and the little girl was saying, "No mas." Later she said,"No quiero." Her mother and her laughed about it. It was a great experience and Mexico helped me not be afraid of fluent Spanish, because they could be afraid of English just like we were with Spanish. It's cool to be able to understand and disect their language. =]

Actually Understanding

When I first started taking Spanish my freshman year I thought that no matter how hard I tried to understand I would never be able to understand it when spoken to me. Well after two years of hard work I proved to myself that it all paid off. I was walking through the Dubuque Walmart the other day when I passed a group of teens that spoke fluent spanish. Being the curious person i am I tried to catch a few of the phrases that were being said, at first it was overwhelming just like when we first got to Mexico. But after remembering what they said and breaking it down I realized one of the girls in the group was asking the other if she wanted to get the item they were holding. I felt so proud of myself for applying my Spanish skills in real life. So now when ever I hear people speaking spanish I try to figure out what they are saying. Its kind of like a game and it is actually quite fun! Its different fromlearning it to actually applying it. :)

Spanish for the NFL

Tonight I was watching football. As I was watching it they were discussing how there is a new website in spanish for football. The website is www.nfl.com/espanol . So just to see what they were talking about I went on the internet and checked it out. Fair enough, that exact website is all the same as nfl.com except its in spanish, obviously. I read through some of the headings, looked at some of the stories, and was amazed at what I actually understood. Directly opposite of that, there was also many words I didn't know. When I first heard this on tv I thought it was really cool that they have a spanish website for something that is very common in America. I think it is cool that they take such a simple website, that is viewed by many, and make it to suit spanish speaking people also. So, my opinion on this is that it is a neat thing to do and I just wonder how many other commonly used websites will also have a similar website, except in Spanish.

-Vanessa Bonert

Flashcards | Sp.III Ch.3 Part 2 Vocab

Flashcards | Sp.III Ch.3 Part 2 Vocab

Flashcards | Sp.III Ch.3 Part 1 Vocab

Flashcards | Sp.III Ch.3 Part 1 Vocab

The other day my friend Emilee Muller and myself went to Las Flores before the football game that night. We enjoy doing this that way we don't have to get food at the game because it costs a lot more there. We had a fun time eating. We loved the chips and salsa. It was very good. We both got yolands and I loved them. I get them everytime that I go there. Emilee on the other hand thought that since I was getting them that they would be great, but she wasn't a fan. We sort of wanted to use our Spanish, but we were kind of nervous. We thought that if we did then they would start to talk to us really fast and we wouldn't know what they were saying. We decided not to. We also noticed that all of the workers there might not have known how to speak Spanish. That just gave us another thing to be nervous about if we started to speak Spanish. The other thing that happened there that kind of made me laugh a little was we each got one pop. She drank hers a lot faster then me, which was a first might I add. It was pretty much gone and everytime a waiter went by they asked her if she wanted a refill. She was asked about eight times. Everytime that she was asked we both looked at each other and laughed and then she said no. She was started to get annoyed though I think. Then we went to pay and I was playing on leaving a tip, but I only had a twenty dollar bill so I was going to pay at the register and then tip a few dollars after I had paid. The thing is by the time that I had paid the lady at the register the table was already cleared off...so I thought it was best that I just didn't tip. We hurried out as fast as we could because we thought that it was kind of rude. Also before we went into the building we saw Mr. Cassutt. He didn't see us...but we saw him and we tried to say "hi" but he must not have heard us. I had a fun time and I think Emilee did too.

Mexicans in Summer

Over the summer while I was at home helping around the farm two Mexicans stopped looking for a job, not one, not two, not three, but four times. One guy did all the speeking while the other just stood there. The one who spoke was farily fluent in english but hard to understand at times. He was good at slang english though with his "you duh boss?" or "is duh boss around?" lines. The other guy who didn't speek english would say things to the other guy in spanish but I didn't really understand anything with them speeking so fast. I was always told I should be the translater but I don't think I would be very good at it with the little spanish I know that deals with farming. If any more Mexicans would come and aply for the job I would like to try and figure out what they are saying but thats it.

Francia Raisa

Francia Raisa is an actor who plays on the TV show The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She plays Adrian, who is a teen
that struggles with her boyfriend, who just had a son with another girl, and her parents. I chose to do my blog about her because I was watching an older episode and she was talking in Spanish. She was talking really fast and it was hard to understand but I was able to catch certain words. Adrian aslo becomes pregnant and ends up losing the baby on the show.

Francia has Mexican descent too. Her mother is from Mexico and her father is from Hondurus. Francia was born in 1988, on July 26. As a young girl she was involved in many different types of dance, and didn't really start acting until she was a junior in high school. Her father is a hit radio speaker in L.A. known as El Cucuy. She also has two sisters.


I really enjoy Adrian on The Secret Life, because she adds drama and makes the show interesting. She can also drive me crazy because she is always trying to get back with her ex, Ricky, who had the baby and is now with the woman he had the baby with, Amy. She just can't seem to get over Ricky. Otherwise she is very interesting and fun to watch.



Cited Sources:
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=francia+raisa&hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1T4TSNA_en___US389&tbm=isch&prmd=ivnsol&tbnid=5YtLI94hq9raUM:&imgrefurl=http://chickswelike.com/2011/01/22/chickswelike-francia-raisa/&docid=eQF83wwj1h_e4M&w=300&h=266&ei=qwxtTp76Gs6msAL18ZnWBA&zoom=1&biw=1154&bih=525&iact=rc&dur=343&page=1&tbnh=121&tbnw=137&start=0&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=85&ty=74


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2116006/bio

Sarinana

Today i was watching Top 20 Countdown on VH1 and they were talking to a girl named Sarinana and how she is making an album. She is from mexico and has had many difficulties learning the language. She said she made a song talking about how she is "different" and apologizing if she meant something the wrong way because she was still learning the English language. Its really interesting how she decides to create a song on how her life is different than most of ours in the United States.

This made me realize that people from Mexico coming into the United States isn't as easy as what we think. They have to learn our language which some people aren't really familiar with and it takes time. They also have to get used to our way of living. Even though it was hard for Sarinana she managed to learn our language and now she is having a successful career with her new album coming out soon.

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez is both an actress and a singer. She is a Latina, born on July 24, 1969, in Castle Hill. This is a part of The Bronx, in New York. Her parents are Guadalupe and David Lopez. This is how Jennifer is connected to Spanish. Her parents both lived in Puerto Rico, but neither of them had known each other until they both met by chance, when they each had moved to New York. Jennifer was raised as a Roman Catholic, which is the religion that makes up the majority of Spanish people. She went to a Catholic school for her entire education. She got her start in acting thanks to "In Living Color". Jennifer was preciously married to Ojani Noa and Cris Judd. In 2004 she married Marc Anthony. In 2008 Lopez and Anthony became the parents of fraternal twins , Emme and Maximillian. Recently, Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from Anthony. She is known for her part in the movies "The Backup Plan", "The Wedding Planner" and her recent song "On the Floor", which became an instant hit in the music industry. Lopez even came out with an entire album in Spanish titled "Como Amo una Mujer". Lopez is a very talented person, who is both a great actress and artist. Watch one of her movies, or listen to one of her songs TODAY! Personally, I believe "On the Floor" is a great upbeat song, that is perfect for dances!!

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000182/bio

http://www.biography.com/articles/Jennifer-Lopez-9542231?part=1

Varieties

Over the summer I got another job working at Caseys. I have been working there for about a month now and I have met a variety of people. Also I have been around the different languages and accents!

About a week ago a russian girl came in and was talking on the phone, I didn't understand one word, but it was interesting, with her accent. A different lady came in with an australian accent, I kept talking to her just so I could hear her accent :).

Some mexicans come into Caseys a lot, to get drinks. I'm not sure if they know a lot of English, because they don't say much. When they talk to each other it is really fast and hard for me to understand, but I catch a little. I always wanna say have a good day in Spanish, but I don't know if they'd be mad or look at me funny, so I just keep it to myself :).