Intermediate Spanish Stories

Cinco de Mayo is a yearly celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, during the Franco-Mexican War. led by General Ignacio Zaragoza. While it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage, particul...

A California hotel reminiscent of the lodge in the horror film The Shining has had a long history of paranormal activity and what are believed to be ghostly guests. The Padre Hotel in downtown Bakersfield first opened its doors in 1928, and the Spanish colonial revival structure has been the setting for a series of deaths and related tragedies through the years. According to local archives, exampl...

Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Bakersfield is Sharktooth Hill. First documented by William P. Blake in 1853, Sharktooth Hill is one of the most significant Miocene fossil sites in the world Sharktooth Hill is a middle Miocene marine exposure of the Round Mountain Silt unit of the Temblor Formation. Using magnetic stratigraphy data, the age of this unit is estimated to...

Acapulco, a beach resort town on Mexico's Pacific coast, is set on a large bay backed by high-rises and the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains. Made famous by the jet set in the 1950s and ’60s, it's known for its high-energy nightlife, beaches, and golf. The screen of the Flores theater projected that night the short entitled The passion for billiards. The astonishment of the large audience...

When the rain began drenching the California landscape in December 1861, none of the state’s 500,000 residents could have imagined the devastation that was about to strike the region. Just a few months earlier, the farmers and ranchers of California had been praying for rain to spare their parched land from the two previous decades of exceptionally dry weather. The Great Flood of 1862 began in lat...

Flag Day, or ‘Día de la Bandera’ as it’s known in  México, is celebrated on February 24 every year, since it was first established.   To fly the national flag is a sign of pride and patriotism. It is a positive affirmation of loyalty and commitment. It marks out a country that has confidence in itself and is comfortable with its place in the world, its history, and its future. The central emblem i...

If you’ve ever wondered how it would be to visit the Yucatan Peninsula and the Riviera Maya, if you are a nature lover and flora and fauna enthusiast, you’ve probably heard about some mystic places called cenotes. A cenote is said to be quite significant to the Mayan people. Whilst cenotes were their main water source , they were also considered to be the entrance to the Xibalba, translated to the...

This is part 4 of the Leyenda Series The Palacio de Lecumberri is a large building, formerly a prison, in the northeast of Mexico City, Mexico, which now houses the General National Archive. Known in popular culture as The Black Palace of Lecumberri, it served as a penitentiary from 1900 to 1976. It was inaugurated by President Porfirio Díaz. The Diary of Lecumberri by Colombian Poet Álvaro Mutis,...

This is part 1 of the National Park Series Yosemite National Park, one of the ecological treasures of the United States, is located in northern California.  The seven square miles (18 sq km) Yosemite Valley is the most popular part of the park.  The park features granite monoliths, waterfalls, streams, and Giant Sequoias. Yosemite National Park offers breathtaking views, incredible rock formations...

With cheerful red bracts and delicate yellow flowers framed against velvety green leaves, colorful poinsettias are an indisputable symbol of Christmas. In fact, poinsettias are the most commercially important potted plant in the world because of their endearing association with the December holiday season. But how did this warm-weather shrub native to western Mexico become so closely associated wi...

Traditional Mexican handcrafted toys are those made by artisans rather than manufactured in factories. The history of Mexican toys extends as far back as the Mesoamerican era, but many of the toys date to the colonial period. Many of these were introduced as teaching tools by evangelists and they were associated with certain festivals and holidays. These toys vary widely, including el trompo, el b...

This is part 3 of the Leyenda Series In southern Mexico City, a gritty working-class neighborhood gives way to the famous canals of Xochimilco,  Xochimilco is one of the most popular destinations in Mexico City , principally for the miles of waterways that run through the area , the last remnants of a vast water transport system built by the Aztecs,   which have led to it being dubbed the Venice o...

The Mexican Revolution was a complex and bloody conflict that arguably spanned two decades, and in which 900,000 people lost their lives.  The Revolution began with a call to arms on 20th November 1910 to overthrow the current ruler and dictator Porfirio Díaz. Díaz was an ambitious president, keen to develop Mexico into an industrial and modernized country. While he worked on implementing a capita...

November 11 is Veteran's Day in the United States and it is celebrated every November, Veterans Day honors all who have served in the U.S. military. Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day and it is an opportunity to commemorate the contributions of living veterans publicly and to show appreciation toward them. For much of the rest of the world and especially in Europe, it is Armisti...

A dedication to the deceased Day of the Dead (Dia De  Muertos) has its origins in the pre-Hispanic cultures of Latin America, and it is a Mexican holiday that honors deceased family members, friends, and ancestors. It is a two-day holiday that reunites the living and dead. Families create "ofrendas" (Offerings) to honor their departed family members that have passed. These altars are dec...

Columbus Day celebrations in the United States – meant to honor the legacy of the man credited with “discovering” the New World – are almost as old as the nation itself. The earliest known Columbus Day celebration took place on Oct. 12, 1792, on the 300th anniversary of his landing.  But since the 1990s, a growing number of states have begun to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day – a...

While wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape, the fire season in California and across the West is starting earlier and ending later each year. Climate change is considered a key driver of this trend. Warmer spring and summer temperatures, reduced snowpack, and earlier spring snowmelt create longer and more intense dry seasons that increase moisture stress on vegetation and make fo...

Independence Day (Día de la Independencia) is a Mexican holiday to celebrate the “cry of independence” on September 16, 1810, which started a revolt against Spanish rule. Independence Day celebrates the day Miguel Hidalgo is believed to have made the cry of independence ( El Grito de la Independencia ) in the town of Dolores, in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato. Hidalgo wa...

Twenty years ago, the nation watched transfixed as planes hijacked by terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.  Nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the attacks, including the 19 hijackers from the Islamic extremist group, al-Qaida. It remains the deadliest foreign attack on U.S...

This is part 2 of the Leyenda Series Owls have also long been viewed as harbingers of bad luck and even death. One myth tells us that bad luck will befall anyone who hears an owl hoot three times. Another wild myth claims that owls are the only creatures that can live with ghosts. Since long before the first Halloween, witches have been linked to owls. The Romans and Greeks once believed that witc...

Bumblebees are going extinct in a time of ‘climate chaos’ Loss of vital pollinators, due in part to temperature extremes and fluctuations, could have dire consequences for ecosystems and agriculture. Bumblebees, among the most important pollinators, are in trouble. Fuzzy and buzzy, they excel at spreading pollen and fertilizing many types of wild flora, as well as crucial agricultural crops like t...

The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California have fascinated scientists and visitors for over a century, and today, this area is the only actively excavated Ice Age fossil site found in an urban location in the world!  Over the last 50,000 years, Ice Age animals, plants, and insects were trapped in sticky asphalt, which preserved them for us to find today. More than 100 excavations have been ma...

The federal prison on Alcatraz Island in the chilly waters of California’s San Francisco Bay housed some of America’s most difficult and dangerous felons during its years of operation from 1934 to 1963. Among those who served time at the maximum-security facility were the notorious gangster Al “Scarface” Capone (1899-1947) and murderer Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud (1890-1963). No inmate eve...

The Golden Gate Bridge is an iconic structure connecting the city of San Francisco to Marin County, California. It spans almost two miles across the Golden Gate, the narrow strait where San Francisco Bay opens to meet the Pacific Ocean. The dream of connecting San Francisco to its northern neighbors became a reality when construction commenced in 1933. The Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public i...

Mummies in Mexico?!  Yes! The expressions on the faces of the mummies of Guanajuato show the terror they felt when they awoke in coffins and realized they had been buried alive.  The Mexican mummies you see in the Guanajuato mummy museum all share a horrifying story. What is the story behind the Guanajuato mummies? The year was 1833. The place, Guanajuato, a colonial town in the center of Mexico....